8943/Attacked from N.O.W.H.E.R.E.

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Attacked from N.O.W.H.E.R.E.
Date of Scene: 04 January 2022
Location: Level 4 - Recreation - The Roost
Synopsis: The Outsiders secret base is attacked by N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s army. Robin, Balm and X-23 are captured! Superboy is missing! Blue Bird buried alive! NPCs: Templar, Match, Bright Eyes, Warblade, Crush, Thunder, Lightning, Windshear and Leash. NOTE: This scene is forward-dated to some point in the future to avoid scene-lock. Date of Scene will be updated at the conclusion of the arc! (This scene is still technically pending a future timing!)
Cast of Characters: Conner Kent, Phoebe Beacon, Megan Gwynn, Harper Row, Tim Drake, Laura Kinney, Bart Allen




Conner Kent has posed:
It is a normal weekend afternoon at the Roost, which means there is a fair number of Outsiders around. But since they don't have any mission, they are just hanging out. Doing school homework, working out at the gym, playing videogames, reading old mission reports... the normal things for off-duty vigilantes.

Conner himself has been in his room for a couple hours, probably working in some college paper. Lately he does that a lot, claiming it is easier to work with the sound-proof walls of the Roost keeping city noises away.

Also, Conner taking seriously the school work? Who would have thunk it possible a couple years ago?

In any case, he is out now, which is perfectly normal except he is wearing his smartsuit, the black with red lines, Tron-like one, he had not used it since he went to space with the rest of the Kryptonians.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe had arrived earlier in the day, hoping to get her motorcycle repaired and get some software updates pushed to her helmet. Last time she'd brought her 'younger sister' Geraldine out on the bike, she'd noticed some of the maps weren't updated. Should be a simple thing, right?

    Until she got distracted re-writing and updating reports, medical exam information and digitizing her own notes on her Outsiders. She had elected to take a break from work and made her way up -- and she blinks a moment, looking at Conner in the suit.

    And she sips coffee out of a 'World's Okayest Healer' mug, eyes narrowed a moment.

    "Are we dipping into The Grid?"

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn is getting used to the roost these days, even if she's just a reserve member of sorts. Still, there is a magic rift to find and so she's been pouring over occult books, trying to better learn about the mechanics of portals and rifts. But really, she's not a big fan of homework, even if she is in college Afterall. Which means she's distracted by upbeat music playing in her earbuds, and sugar cookies that are no doubt gonna make her even more hyper.

She arches a brow at Conner's outfit and grins, "Ooh, cool suit...Whats the Grid?"

Harper Row has posed:
Harper Row has been in the Roost's gym. With her brother busy with end-of-term studying in the library she popped in and took a long jog on a tredmill followed with some strength training -- being able to dodge membership fees wasn't one of the main selling points of the Outsiders but it sure doesn't hurt. After the workout she's showered and enters the common area dressed in her uniform -- mask tucked into a concealed pocket. She waves to the other Outsiders present and says, "Hey all, has anyone heard from Tim today?"

Tim Drake has posed:
    Like most days, Tim can be found in his cave. AKA the computer lab, no lights except that of the computer monitors washing him out. He has a pair of noise-cancelling headphones on, but the door has been open all day, which means he's not working on anything that needs a critical amount of attention.

    Then he left, for some time. Official business, given that he suited up beforehand.

    But now he is returned, and rather than using the coffee machine he has hidden under his desk, he wanders out into the Roost in search of glorious caffeine. As if he has some sort of preternatural sense for it.

    "Nope," is his answer for Harper, and he smiles as he breezes past Phoebe--only eyeing her cup of coffee covetously for a moment--before he starts making his own. In a mug with images of birds on it, because someone in his family thinks they're very funny.

    The keen-eyed will notice that it's all birds with... fowl-sounding names. Like the blue-footed booby and the bearded tit. Three guesses as to who gave it to him.

    He loosens the buckles of his cape and drapes it over the back of a chair. "Well, add Tron and Tron: Legacy to our list of movies for movie night," he says, when Megan reveals she hasn't seen them, and then Tim raises a brow at Conner.

    Pause, sip, ahhh. Blessed caffeination. "Seriously, though. What's up, SB?"

Laura Kinney has posed:
Laura Kinney is busy in the kitchen. It's a pretty rare sight, but her special blend of chili sauce isn't something you can find in stores. Thankfully the Roost has some excellent ventilation to prevent the fumes from spreading as she carefully stirs the pot.

Despite the risks involved with making her signature dish she's in her usual yoga pants & tshirt combo. Padding around on bare feet, sniffing the air every now and again to make sure everythings proceeding to her plans.

Conner Kent has posed:
"This smartsuit is vastly superior to anything the Outsiders can build here," Conner looks a bit defensive when saying that. "But that is not important," he looks at Harper and frowns. "Bluebird?" As if he didn't expect to meet her here. But then he smirks. "Added bonus, I suppose."

"X-23 is in the kitchen," he mentions, "no one else in the premises right now." He pauses, looking at the area where the ping pong and pool tables are. Which right now... explodes.

A gateway opens, sending some furniture flying, and through it a group of colourful figures jump in. The man in purple with the bandana and tentacles from his back the Outsiders have never seen. But the armoured figure in green and silver, with the oversized claws, they know too well: Warblade. It is followed by trench-coat user Dr. Templar, twins Thunder and Lightning and several other figures wearing smartsuits of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. design.

"Hey kids," states Warblade, his claws growing a few inches, "nice digs. And sorry about the pool table. Wanna surrender now or shall we dance?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "The Grid? Kind of like... Technology Tir Nan Og." Phoebe explains with a slight grin to Megan. She feels the hair on the back of her neck rise up a little bit. "Basically a world where code sprites are sapient and form a stratified caste system dependant on functionaliteeeeeeeeee--" Phoebe's cut off by the sudden explosion.

    She raises her shields, stepping forward to give as much protection as she can, the swirling, pale magical circle with its script and sacred geometry clear enough to give her an idea of what's coming through the gateway. Her dark eyes go wide.

    "We've been *BREECHED*!" she calls out.

    She's not armored, but she's not unarmed.

    Her eyes glow as a coppery light crawls along from her fingertips to her elbows.

    "Exolvo mi, da mihi lumen!" she casts, and un-binds her aura, and she flicks out her own extending staff -- and of all things puts herself between them and Conner, assuming they're after him!

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn smirks at Connor and shrugs, "Heey, no criticisms from me, you look awesome!" she arches a brow at Tim and phoebe's explanation and giggles, "Ooh, sounds fun!" Megan would say more as she reaches for a cookie..When suddenly the pool table explodes and she gasps, jumping to her feet and narrows her eyes, "The heck? Who are you guys?" well definitely not friendlies. And she laughs at the offer, shaking her head, "Not likely!" but there's no way she's getting near those deadly weapons. Instead, Megan climbs into the air, wings fluttering more quickly as she attempts to attack them with a flurry of fairy dust. Maybe she can confuse them with illusions or at the very least, blind them, slow them down.

Harper Row has posed:
Harper smiles in SB's direction and says, "Yeah, its me Conner, came to workout..." and what ever else she was going to say is cut off by the explosion which throws her back against one of the walls of the room.

Due to happenstance she's behind the new comers allowing her to pull her mask out of its storage pocket and put it on as she climbs back onto her feet, wincing at the bruises on her back caused by the armored ceramic plates in the back of her costume. Missing, however, is her rifle as she wasn't walking around with it on her back.

She's the new commer. She's unarmed. She glances in the direction of her room as she ponders a better way to handle the rifle than leaving it away from her presence. She remains quiet, looking towards the others -- especially Conner and Tim as the team leaders -- so that she can follow their lead.

Tim Drake has posed:
    It is with knowledge gained from painful prior experience that Tim gives Laura a wide berth in the kitchen as he fixes himself some coffee. "Do you mind if I take a bottle of that, when you're done?" he asks. The smile on his face is mischievous.

    He looks over at Conner, brow furrowing above his domino mask. For a moment Tim hesitates, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, but then he takes a breath and opens his mouth to--

    The explosion throws furniture against the wall, smashing bits to smithereens. An alarm begins to sound overhead.

    Red Robin rises up from where he'd crouched down behind the kitchen counter. He does a quick scan of the area, focusing primarily on his teammates, before he reaches behind himself. With a flick of his wrist, his staff telescopes out, and he moves forward to stand next to Phoebe.

    There are no quips this time around, in response. Just Tim gritting his teeth before he launches himself at Warblade, using his staff as a vaulting pole.

Laura Kinney has posed:
"I'm always happy to share," X-23 notes. Nodding at the veritable vat she's produced and the line of cleaned jars she seemingly intends on portioning it into. "I make large batches for optimal efficiency."

While Laura isn't immediately in the room when N.O.W.H.E.R.E burst in her enhanced senses make her aware pretty darn quickly. And although she might not have all her gear to hand the kitchen is full of sharp objects to throw. Mostly knives and cleavers she snatches up from the cabinets.

And as she follows Red Robin round the corner she flings a flurry of the Roosts expensive chefs knives across the Rec Room. No quipping from her either. She's more about the cutting than the cutting remarks. She's not exactly picky about who she targets, sending them flying at anyone who looks like they might be vulnerable.

Conner Kent has posed:
Warblade is by far the fastest of the attackers, and Phoebe is saved from being eviscerated only because she and Robin manage to put the staves on the way of his claws. He is stronger than both, however, and he sweeps both weapons aside.

And then Phoebe can feel Conner slapping her in the back. Except it is not a friendly slap, he hits with bone-shattering force, possibly sending the girl flying to the middle of the attackers.

Pixie's quick counter-attack manages to hit the young woman charging her a face full of pixie dust. Suddenly the dark-haired girl falls to the ground, her body elongating in several odd directions, as if she was a female version of Mr. Fantastic. She is seeing a lot of colourful and extremely cute dog-sized dinosaurs, though, going ooh and aah, trying to pet them with limbs she can't quite control.

But before the cloud of dust can reach the others an oriental boy in silver and black gestures and a stream of wind sends the cloud back at Megan, possibly Harper too.

Templar scrambles to catch Laura's knives with his black tentacles, although one gets past them and draws a long line of blood from his cheek. "What are you waiting for, attack!" He yells.

Three of the others step forward. "Alright," says a pretty young woman with dark skin and bright golden eyes. Bright Eyes, for those that read Nadia report when N.O.W.H.E.R.E. attacked her. "Light!" Blinding light fill the room. "Thunder!" Yells a boy with an orange and black outfit, shooting a blast from the white circle in his chest. The sound is deafening, and it hits the coffee tables, blowing them and several couches up, sending shockwaves towards the Outsiders. "And lightning!" A girl that must be Thunder's twin, short blue hair, blue and black outfit, aims twin electric blasts to Laura and Pixie.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe raises her staff at the same time as Tim, and they catch Warblade's blades of war. The two weapons are swept to the side and she spins hers, raising her left hand for another spell --

    When Conner strikes her. She feels ribs separate from spine, she feels spine separate from column. She feels organs protest, the air escaping her punctured lungs as she seems to register the strike in slow motion.

    She turns in the air, her extending staff dropping from her hand as she reaches her right hand over her heart, and tries to focus her own healing energies as she hits the ground, skidding along the floor and cracking the the wall she lands against, unable to catch a breath as her ribs extract out of her lungs.

Harper Row has posed:
Bluebird, caught in a wash of sound waves, is again thrown back into a wall with a painful grunt. As she rises to her feet again she reaches around to her lower back and pulls out one of her original stun guns.

With a grim growl of determination, Harper rushes towards Thunder, thrusting the gun towards the N.O.W.H.E.R.E. agent intending to punch it into Russian's stomach and then trigger the tazer as a follow up to the gut punch.

"You. Are. Not. Welcome. Here!" she screams in his face as she swings the punch.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen was out doing some errands when the alarm sounds on his phone. It takes a moment for him to wonder "Hey whats this noise?" As Tim probably set it up for him. HE looks at it and "Oh Sh.." And he is off towards the base coming in at speed, costume donned as he runs towards the base. Getting there, and seeing what is going on "it" he will gather up the pool balls that were scattered, and starts hammering them at Thunder and lighting at speeds a professional baseball pitcher would be in awe of.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Several things have begun to happen at once, in the Roost. Areas like the medbay and the computer lab have gone into lockdown, computers beginning factory resets. Down below, in the depths of the sub-basements, the mainframe begins transferring all data to an off-site backup.

    And Red Robin, disarmed and thrown to the floor by Warblade, has a moment of clarity. He looks up from Phoebe's mangled body.

    Terrifying clarity, as he stares at the person he thought was Conner.

    There's no time, though. Tim barely manages to roll out of the way so that Warblade leaves a trio of deep gouges in the floor, instead of in him. He's up on his feet quickly, tossing out a concussive batarang behind him at Warblade as he tries to put distance between them.

    But there's not a whole lot of distance to be gained in the rec room, not with a group of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. agents crowding in. He dives into the kitchen and manages to grab his cape, which he waves like a matador before he tries to throw it over Warblade's head, the weighted tips dragging it down through the air.

    The sticky grenades inside should hopefully slow Warblade down, because...

    ...is Tim running away? He's trying to make it to the stairs, that's clear enough.

Laura Kinney has posed:
One of the big advantages of spending some of your time around the X-men? It really prepares you for metahuman battles. Even as she's whirling around the corner X-23 is scanning the individuals and comparing them against the files she's memorized. Partly to pick out targets but also to pick out visual cues.

Despite being a tactical liability mutants and metahumans have a tendancy to announce their powers. Shouting out move names that reveal strengths and weaknesses. And while Laura doesn't really understand the appeal she does at least appreciate the warnings it can provide.

She might not be fast enough to dodge lightning but those shouts give just enough time to whirl back around the corner into the kitchen. Narrowly avoiding being zapped and giving her a moment to plan. Cooking oil gets sloshed over the hot stove. Making a cloud of smoke that'll trigger the sprinkler system. Hopefully making it a lot harder for Lightning to fling electricity.

When she darts back into the Rec Room it's with a handheld CO2 extinguisher held like it's a rocket. Her claws pop on her other hand with a distinctive SNIKT. Cleaving through the valve on the fire extinguisher and releasing a jet of gas. Propelling the cannister forward like a missile.

Conner Kent has posed:
"Don't run, Robin," says 'Conner', using a condescending tone the real Conner has never used, "you will just end up tired and..."

And then Impulse is in the base. 'Conner' hears him a fraction of a second before Lightning is hit and sent sprawling to the ground. Thunders shouts in alarm, turning to help his sister, but Bluebird sucker punches him, and delivers a stunning electrical discharge along the way.

Then 'Conner' blurs, moving at a speed the real Superboy could never manage, charging Bart so quickly he breaks the speed of sound instantly, rocking the room.

Warblade follows Tim instead, batting away with a claw the conclusive batrang, but getting snared for a few seconds in the cape.

A few yards beyond, where the ping pong table used to be, Phoebe is concentrating in breathing and healing when the purple-clad man with the bandana reaches for her with one of the tendrils of his back. There is a flash of light, and Phoebe is gone.

Again, Templar manages to catch Laura's improvised missile with his darkness tentacles, this time tossing it back to the girl. "Bright-Eyes, concentrate your lasers on X-23, don't worry about killing her, she won't die." And yes, the 'light' woman can shoot lasers from her eyes. Those are much harder to dodge than bullets.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Oh, it hurts.

    Everything hurts, but Phoebe heals, her bones snapping back into place slowly, the holes closing in her lungs, and she raises her hand.

    She heard the taunt at Tim. She registers Bart's presence, and her eyes glow a moment as she brings up her right hand, without her gloves it's a little bit longer to try and cast a fireball, trying to formulate it in Latin, to burn her target from the inside out -- thanks for the idea, Conner! -- but then she's grasped.

    She switches her target, grasping at the magic -- but then the healer and magician is gone!

    But where to?!

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn meeps and darts back as the wind redirects her dust back on herself. Fortunately Megan is immune to her own dust but that wind is pretty violent. She gasps, shielding her face and darts around, trying to confuse her attackers. But the lightning blast is pretty fast and zaps her arm, causing her to cry out, staggering to the ground.

"Gah!" clutching her arm, she struggles to her feet, pointing a hand at the pool table. "Sihal Novarum Chinoth!" she yells, portaling the pool table out of existence and making it reappear above the villains, focusing on the ranged attackers, specifically wind and thunder guy, being careful to keep it away from her allies as much as possible.

Harper Row has posed:
As the punch lands, Harper grins in anticipation of the result.

Thunder's painful scream over the stun gun's discharge as he doubles over from the punch seems to reinforce Bluebird's expectations until... he comes up swinging and backhands her full force.

Bluebird is, again, sent reeling back and as she stumbles Thunder looses another wave of sonics, lifting her off her feet and sending her flying into the wall for a third time.

Cracking... of bone or drywall, it's unclear in the chaos of the moment. Bluebird drops as Thunder, still reeling from the partial stun caused by her tazer, continues to shoot sonics outward and tracking up to the roof of the room which, along with the damaged wall, collapses upon the purple and blue haired Gothamite with a low rumble and a cloud of dust billowing outward.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen will blink, and say "Hey..what. .. the.. now" as he dodges to punches from Conner. "Hey, your not Conner, who are you." He back peddles back away dodging and ends up in the kitchen, he sees and smells Laura's cooking, and he will kick the pot over at Conner, spinning both arms to try to send the sauce as a mist at not SB. "Here have some of Laura's Lava lover Lordy thats hot." He is at least keeping fake superboy busy for a bit.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Oh, Red Robin's going to run. Whatever taunts get aimed his way are summarily dismissed, or at least filed away to be emotionally damaging later. Right now he's on a mission, and that mission is the small box in the hidden safe behind the mirror in the bathroom off the spare storage area.

    Four levels down.

    In hindsight, maybe he was being too paranoid. Tim should have stored it somewhere closer at hand.

    He crashes through the door and goes careening down the first set of stairs, nearly falling, but he catches himself on the railing and uses that grip to propel himself forward. Another set down. Just one more and he can make the leap across and get to the door.

    Tim can hear Warblade behind him, but it doesn't matter. He just has to get up and over the--

    Not enough time. Tim manages to get one boot up on the railing to make the jump when Warblade swipes at him. That he doesn't feel immediate rending pain either means Warblade only managed to clip him and his armor took the brunt of the Ravager's blades, or Warblade deliberately isn't trying to kill him.

    Neither of these things bode well.

    Neither of them matter, either, because Red Robin is thrown into the wall and he drops down, vision fading at the edges and the breath forced from his lungs.

Laura Kinney has posed:
The water coming from the sprinkler system won't stop laser attacks but it will at least weaken the beams a little. And with Bart having hurled the pot of hot sauce through the air... Well if Laura's lucky Brighteyes won't be able to unleash her carebear stare attacks quite as often.

Either way X-23 is all out of ranged options and rapidly running out of allies.

Popping the claws on her other hand she bursts into a sprint. Zig-zagging as she goes and trying to shield herself with the flat sides of the claws. A leap here and a twirl there to make it hard to focus a beam on the same spot for long.

All with the aim of getting into claw range for that one decisive snikt.

Conner Kent has posed:
Warblade was not trying to kill Robin, that is right. Although the young man will need a lot of stitches nevertheless. After checking for a second Robin is really unconscious, he tosses it to the purple-clad man. And Tim vanishes. "One of the prime targets caught, Leash. So far so good, lets nail the little clawed ex-assassin next. I really like her."

Meanwhile Laura finds her tactic of moving fast pretty effective. The lasers are causing serious wounds that would cripple a normal human, but since Bright Eyes can't focus long enough, they are failing to damage internal organs. And then she gets within reach!

It is a beautiful jump, really. Bright Eyes focus, shoots, hits Laura in the chest. But it is not enough; before the laser reaches her heart, the claws will cripple the dark-skinned girl.

But then the very air around her becomes viscous, wind wraps round Laura. "I got her!" Shouts Windshear, the 'wind' guy. Bright Eyes lasers burn through Laura's chest, setting her heart and lungs on fire, and the wind sends her flaying against a wall.

Windshear raises a hand to hand-five Bright Eyes, and then a pool table falls on him. Ouch. Another one KOed.

"Who is the pink-haired girl?" Asks Lightning. "Not sure," replies Templar, "but we can ask her later," he decides, sending his black tentacle-leeches to grab Megan.

Bart is barely managing to avoid 'Conner'. Or rather, not-Conner. The real Conner is nowhere this fast. And since most Outsiders are out of commission, Match drops the disguise. His black outfit becomes white, his hair turns platinum blonde, and his face becomes a few shades paler. "I am Match. I am the superior version of your Superboy. Watch!" That hot sauce hits his skin, and it is immediately sent back to Bart through tactile telekinesis. Then he claps his hands, the shockwave alone annihilates the kitchen. Poor Ahab, never had a chance. And Bart is going to get crushes unless he outruns that blast of pressure.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn's eyes widen in surprise and fear as most of her team mates are ported out..Harper is hidden from view, buried beneath rubble and Bart is also out of view and range. As they focus on her, she narrows her eyes, backing away. "Sihal Novarum Chinoth!" she yells again and winks out of view.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen frowns as he realizes he is out.. matched.. He will look about seeing all have fallen and knows he will need help to rescue his friends. He turns as the hot sauce hits his back, leaving some welts on the little but on uncovered skin it hits, but that will heal. He hicks it into full throttle. He saw Match was fast and does not plan to let him catch him. Bart runs and runs, coming oh so close to the point of no return, before he skids to a halt. He has circumvented the globe a few times, and stops hands on his thighs panting looking about at the small town in Okinawa. "Ok.... now who to get to help." He pulls out his phone to start trying to find the reserve Outsiders, and maybe some Teen Titans or Bats.

Laura Kinney has posed:
Laura Kinney slams into the wall hard enough to leave marks, then drops to the floor with a thump.

Thankfully the laser hole in her chest is already knitting itself together. She lays there, playing dead while the teleporter heads over, giving herself as much healing time as possible.

Biding her time for one last desperate (and likely futile) ploy. N.O.W.H.E.R.E's teleporter seems to need physical contact. So when he reaches in she'll make one last kick. Not into Leash. Instead she plunges one of her foot claws into a wall socket when Leash grabs for her.

Conner Kent has posed:
"A teleporter," grumbles Templar when Pixie vanishes. "She also did something to Crush," mentions Bright Eyes, seeing the elastic girl is still tripping, a huge smile in her lips.

Winshear groans, pushing aside the pool table. Thunder and Lightning also seem a little battered, but nothing broken. Leash tendrils touch Laura and she vanishes, the goodbye jolt making the purple-clad villain yelp in surprise. Match steps out the ruins of the kitchen with a sour expression. "Impulse escaped, I am not going to try to follow him, he could be in the Hall of Justice in a minute. We should leave now."

"Four out of five is not bad, uh?" Says Leash. Warblade punches him on the shoulder. "Yeah? Tell that to Harvest." That shuts the other man up. And a few seconds later, the tendrils wrap them all and the villains vanish.

The Roost residential floor is a burning wreck, the alarms keep wailing.