9127/N.O.W.H.E.R.E. To Run

N.O.W.H.E.R.E. To Run
Date of Scene:	05 January 2022
Location:	Level 4 - Recreation - The Roost
Synopsis:	The Outsiders and their allies return to the Roost to retrieve Red Robin's stash of kryptonite ahead of the final confrontation with N.O.W.H.E.R.E. to rescue their friends and teammates. The N.O.W.H.E.R.E. agents left lying in wait for their return were not prepared. 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!
Cast of Characters:	Tim Drake, Strix, M'gann M'orzz, Gabby Kinney, Harper Row, Barbara Gordon, Jonathan Sims, Bart Allen, Cassandra Cain

---

Tim Drake has posed:
    Two minutes and seventeen seconds.

    Two minutes and seventeen seconds was all the time it took to compromise the Roost, overpower the members of the Outsiders present, and make off with several of their unconscious bodies.

    It's now roughly twenty four hours later. Those who were present during the attack have had a chance to rest and recover after being healed of their injuries, while those who arrived in the immediate aftermath reviewed the data and security logs that had been retrieved--along with two dogs, a cat, and several snails--from the Roost's core. Several agents of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. had been successfully identified thanks to those logs.

    Warblade.
    Lightning.
    Thunder.
    Bright Eyes.

    There are others, but the biggest question mark remains the Superboy lookalike, which the Roost's computer could only tag with 'Clone.' There's little doubt that said clone is Kryptonian, based on the registered strength and speed. It also means that Conner himself is missing, though if he's with Tim, Phoebe, Laura, and Nadia is currently unknown.

    If anyone present is even aware their GIRL ally has also been taken.

    So, what does it all mean?

    It means they need a game plan. The secret of where N.O.W.H.E.R.E. is has been cracked already. They literally exist nowhere, in the space between space, folded into a hidden pocket of unreality. They can be tracked down. What the Outsiders need, now, is a plan of attack. They need firepower.

    And they need kryptonite.

    It's the only guaranteed way to deal with Superboy's clone. Not everyone on the team is even aware Red Robin had access to any, but the senior members do. It was included in the recorded brief-out he gave to Gabby when she assumed control of the scene afterward. And no one could have missed the way he was clearly trying to get to *something* before Warblade slammed him into a wall in the stairwell and knocked him out.

    The Roost remains on lockdown. The holes in its facade have been sealed over, the police and fire department have been... persuaded to ignore the explosion and the brief period where smoke drifting away from the building, and all is quiet. As of yet, the system has not raised any further alarms.

    But it's time to go back. Atop the Roost's roof, the discreet keypad pulses red every few moments, waiting to be reactivated.

Strix has posed:
Strix was absent the night the Roost got hit. She was out making some money and having some fun by doing... things. Not quite legal things, if truth be told. When she got done she got word that the Roost was compromised, which didn't sit well with her. Here she had finally found a home to belong to and a family, and now that's bee disturbed. So when the call came to take it back she heeded it.

Of course her swords and Talon costume was still in the building, so she had to make do. She had little stashes of equipment hidden throughout the city back when she had first broken with the Court of Owls and had been basically homeless. It's to one of these stashes that she goes.

When she arrives, she's dressed all in black. Black pants, black tabi on her feet, and a black turtleneck sweater. The only thing that's not colored black are the white bandages wrapped around her head to cover her copious scars. Strapped to her back are a pair of swords. While they're not the swords that she originally had, these are rather high tech functional and will hold an edge.

So now she's perched on the edge of a nearby building, waiting for the others to arrive.

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
To say that recent events have been rough on M'gann would be an understatement. Lately she has seemed almost like a different person, a much less cheery far angrier person, like the cork on the bottle where she had been keeping all of her dark emotions became unstoppered and she hasn't quite figured out how to put it back on. Most of her closest friends getting kidnapped might have something to do with that.

Returning from the Volcano Lair, M'gann guides the BioShip in psychic unity as it shoots through the upper atmosphere at the edge of space. Finally it begins its descent and the ruins of the Roost begin to come into view.

Without landing, the ship decloaks, the sides open and descent belay lines seemingly extending from the ship itself drop down to the roof level. "I'll go first. Gabby, come with me. There is a chance they could have come back looking for survivors, we don't know what we might find inside, and you're the only one who can open the door. Everyone else gather on the roof, after the entrance is clear we move as a team to get what we need and get out."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
The time had come to return to the Roost. It was bound to happen, she knew, and in a way it felt as if she were coming full circle with the unexpected responsibility that she had found herself with. Though she wasn't usually one to run solo into things in this case it seemed best that she make sure the coast was clear before the rest of the team join in--Better, that way, in case there was another trap so they weren't all caught in it.

While not as good as the Bats perhaps, she wasn't shabby in her ability to stick to the shadows. Blending in and even going so far as to keep downwind of any potential problems she ends up at the blinking keypad where she quickly types in the command to unlock the system. Only then does she let out a quiet sigh.

<<Lockdown is lifted. We're clear to go.>>

Harper Row has posed:
Having been injured the day before, Harper was healed by Sims and sent home.

The next day she and Cullen had waffles for breakfast and then played a round of Unstable Unicorns with two of the kids who reside on their floor: It was a close game until Harper swept in with the Mother Goose Unicorn and turned her stable of five unicorns into a full stable of seven. Then they had lunch and she spent the rest of the afternoon doing some paperwork for her job while her brother and the kids played games on the Row's refurbished game console. At dinner time the children were sent home and the Row siblings shared some homemade soft tacos before Harper returned to her room under the guise of more 'work'.

Naturally it was then that she geared up and departed for the Roost.

Arriving at the Roost Bluebird's costume's Personal Area Network paired with that of the base and she sent a message to the preferred messaging interface of anyone present (easily picked up by Oracle also): <<G.I.R.L. update - N.O.W.H.E.R.E. apparently nabbed Nadia.>> She also calls out, "Outsiders, anyone in?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Oracle sits at the center of the bat world. Batman built this world, but Oracle administers it. When the alarm went off, she was half way to suiting up when their adversaries simply teleported away. The second group to arrive completed the rescue not ten minutes later. Efficient. This gave her time to look over the security footage.

Oracle never pries in to Tim's business like this, not unless something dire has gone down. Something dire has gone down. A clone of Superboy? a host of powered rogues working as a team? No one abducts her brother and gets away with it. No one attacks her favourite newbie hacker Harper and gets away with it. No one abducts heroes from Gotham and gets away with it.

It was clear as day what Tim had intended to get when he rushed toward the cellar. They'll need clearance to access the Kryptonite and their paranoia means no remote access to such a thing. The Bats take Kryptonite very seriously. They must because their close allies, the El's, need them to. The real question is.. where exactly did Tim stash it?

The soft drop of boots to roof top heralds the arrival of Oracle. Clad in black armor, she rises up to stand. A yellow bat symbol across her chest. She looks like Batgirl all grown up, because that's the truth. She hasn't been Batgirl for a long time though - she's Oracle through and through. Her cape whips in the wind and she drops down in front of the door.

"Honey Badger," she says calm low voice, "Red Robin left you in charge. I'm here to help." And just because so few people even know who she is, she hooks her thumbs in to her yellow utility belt and says, "I'm Oracle. No need to contact Batman - we know."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    The Archivist has his game face on. Egyptian-themed superhero outfit complete with cape and ibis mask, ankh-topped staff, and he's made sure his ICER is easy to get at, just in case. He's following in the wake of the Outsiders, particularly Gabby, after making sure everyone was fed and rested and healed. That's most of why he's here--support, advice, glowering at adults who don't want to listen to the Outsiders in their own base.

    He heads down to the roof, painfully aware of how /obvious/ he is in the bright Archivist getup. He shifts his grip on his staff. Right now, given /everything/ going on, he needs to focus himself. Tim is one of his best friends, and he needs to watch out for Phoebe in Chas' absence--and he promised to help the Outsiders in general.

    He turns to regard Oracle and nods once, briefly. "I'm the Archivist," he introduces himself. And then smirks. "Glad to hear Batman's been contacted. There was /so/ much worry about it earlier." The eye-roll can't be /seen/ behind the long-beaked mask, but it's there in his voice. Gabby, at least, should understand. Then, more seriously, "Good to know. And good to meet you."

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen has came in civilian attire at first. Bart Allen has been seen around the neighborhood, he works at the zoo after all here in Gotham. Bar has did a circuit of the block looking like just some guy bored, and heading home perhaps. After finishing a circuit to make sure none are watching, he steps into an alleyway and behind a dumpster he makes a true quick change, and over the com says "Coming in through the south wall, armory level."

Tim Drake has posed:
    The Roost is silent. It's not meant to be, because it was designed to be a safe haven for the teenaged heroes Tim had bonded with during his time as Robin, and then after, when he was grown up and on his own.

    Teenagers aren't exactly known for being quiet.

    However, the lockdown lifts as Honey Badger's code and biometrics are registered within the system, and the lock clicks, weighted door swinging open before Gabby. Inside, the lights begin to come on. Ahead is the elevator, and then to the side the stairs leading downward. Two floors down they'll find a splash of blood--Tim's--on the wall. Not a life-threatening amount, necessarily, but signs of a significant injury.

    The kitchen area and rec room beyond are still trashed. AHAB is little more than a pile of mangled machinery, the robot's wires spilled out around him like intestines post-disembowlment. Though the structural damage has been hastily repaired, there is still debris and destroyed furniture scattered everywhere, glass crunching underfoot, motes of dust hanging heavy in the air. And blood. So much blood. Phoebe's and Laura's both. Nothing has changed.

    At first glance.

    Though maybe someone might notice that the debris is gathered in clumps that it wasn't before. Unnatural piles, like it's all been shifted about. Aside for digging Harper out of it the previous night, no one really bothered with cleanup.

    The pile of food wrappers in one corner are new, too.

    From the hallway beyond, leading towards the dorms, comes a pair of voices:

    "Man, these little jerks have rooms ten times nicer than ours! What the hell?"

    "Stop admiring the thread count on the sheets. That's not why we're here!"

    "Well nobody is here, so--."

    Some might remember Thunder and Lightning, from the attack, or previous run-ins with N.O.W.H.E.R.E. Then, a less familiar voice cuts in:

    "Hey! Why are the lights coming on? Why aren't you two at your watch posts?!"

    It's then that they emerge at a hurried clip back into the destruction of the Rec Room. They spot the assembled team, and Lightning looks back to shout "They're here!" while Thunder stampedes forward. A blast of concussive sound emits from his chest, aimed at the doorway.

Strix has posed:
Strix silently catches up with the rest of the team and follows them in. Even without her costume, she's an expert at stealth and blends in easily with the many shadows being cast by the rubble. She pauses when she hears the voices, and silently stalks around the room so the entire team isn't all in one place.

That makes it all the easier to dodge the sonic attack, and just like that she's in motion. She fluidly slides up to Thunder, her swords flashing in the light. She's going for a high/low combo. One aimed at the nape of the neck and the other the back of the knee. Strix isn't playing around.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
One. There's one missing that wasn't taken. The instant lockdown happened, she'd vanished. The shadow girl who isn't Strix isn't following, isn't trying to dodge attacks..isn't there. Where did Orphan go, then? It's hard to tell.

Unless you're in the ceiling. Then you'd see her, going left and right. peeking down through the ceiling, in holes she's spent a month putting in things. Watching. Scouting, monitoring. Getting around and behind. She's so quiet; she's been preparing for this kind of thing for a long time now.

This isn't the time for her to reveal herself. They can handle this much. Having a backkup team is always, always a good idea. Tim called her a team once; she's owning it.

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
M'gann's mind reaches out to connect the various Outsiders in the area, for once she doesn't ask, she just does it. 'The Rules' may be in suspension for the time being.

Once the lockdown is lifted, M'gann gestures with a wave of her hand and the door slams open instead of just walking through it. <<Blue Bird, Impulse, Strix. Good, you made it.>> The position of the team as they enter and descend through the Roost is broadcast across the link.

The sight of Tim's blood sends a shudder of anger through the mental link, but M'gann doesn't say anything. Instead she grits her teeth, someone is going to pay for this.

<<Prepare to fight. I am sensing three outside minds ahead>> Comes across the mental link moments before the voices are heard.

<<Wait until I am inside, then breach the door.>> Rather than give the attackers the luxury of a clean entry to fire upon and use any sort of standard tactics, she instead walks forward and phases through the door allowing the team to open it behind her while she draws fire. Once on the other side of the door, the first enemy she lays eyes upon, Lightning, she attempts to summarily lift off the ground in a force choke straight out of Star Wars and slam into the nearest wall. Just in time for Thunder's concussive blast to impact her, slamming her into the wall where her body creates a Martian shaped indention.

M'gann just grins at Thunder. It's one of those frightening grins your Mom gives you when you've gone way too far and are in all the trouble. "I am going to disassemble you."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"Oracle?" That was a new name to Gabby as she turns her attention momentarily to the new figure approaching. She wasn't familiar at all, really, but... the symbol was there as well as the way she moved. Not entirely different from how Tim moved. Similar training. While she might be a bit rusty in the methods of her old training there's enough of a familiar nudge that it seems very likely this woman really was who she said.

A single curt nod is given to her, as well as a flash of a grim smile. "We could use the help, I'm sure," she starts only to tip her head toward the sudden mental link that M'gann sets up. It's accepted with another silent nod as if to say she approved of the situation. Moreso as they descend finding that it's very useful indeed. <<There was a teleporter among them. That's how they got back inside,>> she reasons, perhaps needlessly, but it was also a warning and reminder to the other team members to be cautious. Teleporters were very tricky.

Both arms cross over her chest to slide out the throwing knives tucked into straps at her shoulders. The others were ahead of her since she'd paused to speak to Oracle, but the attacks already flying helped to clear a path letting her throw them toward Lightning hopefully before that one could jump into the fray to help Thunder out.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
The mental contact sends images of the inside of the ceiling tiles to the group. Orphan isn't even thinking words, she's just there. A presence, scouting and unseen. She managed to get in, somehow, and is looking for the traps.

M'gann grabbing at her mind makes her pause, acknowledge wordlessly, and continue on. She may or may not see anything useful, but this is good! She's the trap for the trap. She's ready to work.

She can be anywhere in a space of seconds. And she's feeling decidedly vicious tonight. Vengeance..

Harper Row has posed:
Harper's active thoughts reach the rest of the team though M'Gann's group link: <<Oracle's an ally. Works with Batman, Red Robin and crew.>>

At the same time she unslings her rifle from where it hangs across her back and crouches in the shadows near the door she entered the Roost. From there she pads into another pool of shadows and puts eyes on the confrontation between Thunder and M'gann.

<<I've got your back, Miss M,>> she thinks to the group as she one hand types into the group chat: <<Any intel on them, Oracle?>>

Yes, apparently she counts on the other woman's ability to monitor anything she types.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Babs came bearing gifts. She is not disappointed that the mooks have come back - perhaps they feel they're untouchable by the Outsiders right now after their first fight. They would be wrong. Thunder's blast hits her and thanks to her ear protection kicking in, gains a frown of annoyance in response.

Where there's Thunder, though, there's lightning. From behind her back she draws out a batarang and throws it at.. the ceiling? there it sticks in to the roof and a long metal rod *shnnk* extends from it. It's a portable lightning rod. When dealing with powered baddies, preparation is key.

"Red Robin keeps a store of Kryptonite somewhere downstairs. We need to get to it - you're going to need it to deal with that clone of Superboy. You're going to need me to unlock it for you Honey Badger," she says amidst the sudden chaos of battle. Priorities. This is one of those 'rush in without a plan' teams it seems. Some say the Bats are too cautious with all their recon and preparations.

The mental connection is a surprise to her. It's been a while since she's experienced that in her head. She thinks... <<The teleportation is a tactical advantage, which is why I brought this>> She unclips a black cylinder from her belt and offers it to Gabby. <<Teleportation disruptor. Activate if if they try to leave, or if they send in reinforcements to trap them>>.

A small smile is given to Harper, <<Bluebird, good to see you're okay..>> she types back in to their group chat; demonstrating her access to their systems and implying she certainly saw the footage of what went down in the Roost last night. <<These people were not been on my radar until now, but they've stirred the hornets nest, not the least of which is the Wasp when they took Waspette>>

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    The Archivist's response to the blast of concussive sound is to lift his staff, make a wide circle in the air with the ankh, spin it vertically, and slam the bottom end into the floor. Several of the group--Honey Badger, Strix, Bluebird, Oracle--find themselves washed in a cool feeling, like stepping into a lake on a hot summer's day. Shimmering light pulls up around them from the floor--protective shields, courtesy of the Archivist's magic.

    And a good thing, too, given that concussive blast might have deafened people otherwise. <<If any of you /don't/ need that again let me know.>> It's almost reflexive, shielding the front line combatants--he knew Miss Martian wouldn't need it, and alright some of them can heal /very/ fast but why force them to do that when it isn't needed?

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen will think back over the link, "I will find the third." And Bart starts to go from room to room, checking, letting the others deal with the two they have seen, "That clone called himself Match, and he had some of superman's powers SB and shown yet, don't know if that means SB just aint got them yet, or if they made changes in him." Bart does not open doors, he vibrates through them, moving at speeds, to be just a blur if someone happens to see him.

Tim Drake has posed:
    By the panicked looks on both Thunder and Lightning's faces, they weren't expecting the Outsiders to return in force. Nor were they expecting to face an extremely pissed-off Martian as their first point of contact with the team. There's little Lightning can do to resist the mental force that throttles her and sends her flying into a nearby wall, though Thunder steps in front of his sister as if that might somehow protect her.

    What it does instead is make him more of a target. He puts his hands up to defend himself, which manages to keep Strix's blade away from his neck, but it does nothing for the one aimed at his knee. That slice brings him down, crumpling, and even through the pain of that he has the good sense to look terrified at the expression M'gann turns on him.

    That he also has an assassin with blades poised to take him down for good prompts him to let out another one of his thunder claps, which propels him backwards into the hallway. And *away*.

    Thankfully this second attack bounces off of the shields Jon has in place over some of the group.

    As he goes flying backwards, he calls out to someone, unseen: "Ridge, We need backup!"

    And Bart will be the first to find that unseen, but sensed person: a large bipedal beast with a long, lizard-like tail and armor plating. He's already frantically typing into some sort of communication device with pointed claws.

    He's also in Phoebe's bedroom, which has been searched thoroughly (as have most of the dorm rooms). Rude!

    Lightning has no idea if backup is coming. She's just seen her brother escape by a hair's breadth, and she's only barely getting back to her feet after being thrown into the wall. Of course, then Gabby's knives hit home, and she cries out as she's pinned back against the wall, right into the indent M'gann had made with her body just a few seconds previous. She reaches out, body glowing with the crackle of electricity, her hand aimed at Gabby... only for the arc to be redirected halfway across the room, drawn in by the lightning rod Oracle has embedded in the ceiling.

    That's all of the invading minds M'gann had sensed, but Cassandra, still skulking about, hidden in the ceiling tiles, is at the perfect vantage point to notice a strange pooling of shadows in the corner, tucked away where the rest can't see. Slowly, it begins to form upwards into a humanoid shape, from which shadowy tentacles begin to stretch outwards, slinking along towards where Harper and Jon stand.

Strix has posed:
<<I've got the loud one,>> comes Strix's thought when she remembers that she can actually /talk/ through the telepathic link. Her inner voice sounds like an eight year old girl, which really was the last time she had ever spoken a word. <<You want him alive?>>

She rushes down the hallway, keeping low to the ground. When she finds him, she'll leap, swords in an underhanded grip, intent on pinning his shoulders to the floor.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Pooling darkness, moving with intent. The minds of Harper and Jon are given warning. No words; she has none. Simply a feeling, there is something behind you...

The tentacles are reaching out toward them, both of those targets. The figure, so quiet. So much a nothing that it couldn't possibly be stopped. Its shadow behind it slightly smaller..

The shadow's shadow smiles, and then reaches out toward the hostile darkness. Cassandra has dropped down behind the lurker, and her grin is decidedly evil.

As the tentacles that are nearly on Harper, on Jon, suddenly find that there are larger issues that it has to deal with.

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
M'gann extricates herself from the wall, by floating out from it. Bits of masonry are brushed from her shoulders as she watches Thunder's retreat. <<Alive he will be able to provide more information.>> M'gann's mental voice answers Strix. <<Oracle and Blue Bird and Arch Vice>> She may have misremembered Jon's hero name. <<If you can go secure the Kryptonite, the rest of us can clean up here.>>

With that said, M'gann turns her head and angles her gaze towards that third mental presence before blasting twin searing red beams of Martian Vision at it straight through the walls. They already have to repair the Roost anyway...

M'gann then turns the baleful gaze of her red glowing Martian eyes upon Lightning where she fell after colliding with the wall. "You are going to tell me everything I want to know. Don't worry you don't need to actually speak, but if I suggest you cooperate. If you don't want your mind to shatter that is." She gives Lightning another of those baleful grins before turning the full force of her Martian telepathy upon the girl with the intent to extract every last piece of information she knows about N.O.W.H.E.R.E.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney reaches out to snag the new techie toy offered by Oracle for her. A teleportation disruptor? There was a unique and useful device. "Thanks," she offers back with a broadening grin. While she was confident enough in herself to fight it was nice knowing she had an ace in the hole. Her powers never let her forget to use what she could to her advantage.

A quick glance alerts her to the fact that most of the rest of the team seemed to be handling the current situation well. Well enough that she can perhaps get further in for the ultimate goal. <<Oracle, you know where it is? I'm gonna juke there.>> Juking was likely better handled by Bart, but he was already occupying some with the rest of the team. It's Miss Martian's remark that causes her to send a concerned thought of, <<Be GENTLE!>> in the Martian's direction.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Oracle nods her head to Jon, "Thank you, but I'll be fine without it." She taps the side of her head, "Hearing protection." She nods her head and offers Gabby back a small friendly smile. Each person in a team of heroes like this is unique in their own way and Tim has collected a fine assortment of interesting people.

She looks up upon hearing M'gann's suggestion and reaches behind her. Another toy, she tosses over to Bluebird. "An energy shield gauntlet. In case either one of the ones who shoots lasers out of their eyes returns. It has a limit to how much energy it can absorb, so don't rely on it to do more than give you the element of surprise."

A quick nod is given to Gabby, "I have a vague idea of where it is." She looks to Bluebird and Archivist, "Let's move." With a swish of her cape she enters and moves for the stairs with deliberate steps through the ruins of the Roost.

She pauses when she sees Ridge though. To the wall behind her she stamps on an odd looking pad with purple concentric circles. She tosses a thumb activated remote detonator over to Impulse, <<Activate the detonator when he's in range - it's a gravity pad. I doubt this big guy is strong enough to fight it... hopefully>>

Her eyes drift over the smear of blood on the wall from Tim and she pushes on down in to the depths of the roost.

Harper Row has posed:
Bluebird had trained her rifle in the direction of the ruckus being made in Balm's room, covering the entrance to take a shot when the interloper exits. Then there's the laser eyes and boy does that make her feel a bit out of the league M'gann is clearly a part of... but that noxious thought isn't productive so she dismisses it.

Then the gauntlet is tossed at her; grininning, Bluebird slaps it onto her wrist: <<Understood,>> she vocalizes softly into the comm. Then Harper's thoughts resonate though the link as well: <<I can help retrieve what Red Robin was trying to get if needed.>>

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    The Archivist replies crisply, <<Got it,>> to both M'gann and Oracle. And he's about to follow... but he was too focused on the fight in front of them to notice the tendrils of darkness coming for him and Bluebird, but the /feeling/ from Cassandra is enough to make him spin and lash out with his staff. He's been practicing staff fighting every day, against a much better opponent, so it's not a random swing of the weapon. It's targeted, and imbued with magical force, enough to cut through a tentacle or two.

    The third tentacle latches onto his arm, right above the gloves he wears. <<Shit!>> Then he gasps, and the shields drop from around the people who'd had them.

    <<Be right there! Just need to deal with this bloody... what /is/ this?! It's not magical. Can I just say I /officially/ hate these N.O.W.H.E.R.E. wankers?!>> Because that /hurts/, whatever the tentacle's doing. Fortunately he's got magic to drain before life force. Double fortunately, Cassandra's probably about to keep this thing /way/ too busy to care about him any further.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen will catch the item that is thrown to him with ease, and then he is grabbing Ridge, and the big meta and the smaller speedster are moving, as Bart pulls him through one wall, and into the next room. Bart counting on the vibration and other attacks to rock Ridge enough for him to pull this off. Then they solidify in Cass's room. The room Bart helped the young lady set up. It has pull up bars, monkey bars, climbing spots, looking more like a practice room than a bedroom. And then something that is seldom seen. Bart does watch the others, and he does work out, while most of the times, a thousand punches or so will do, but these guys have hurt his friends, invaded their home, and took his friends. Bart is all around the room, swinging from this ring, ducking under that bar, all the time, raining kicks and punches on Ridge. After a full minute of Bart hitting the man from every possible angle, he plants the gravity device between Ridge's shoulderblades before activating it.

Tim Drake has posed:
    As it turns out, Strix does indeed have the loud one. His thunder clap has slid him down the hallway, but not to safety, as Thunder is soon pinned to the floor in much the same was as his sister is pinned to the wall in the room beyond, though with Strix's blades instead of Honey Badger's throwing knives.

    He bites off a sharp yell and lets out another concussive blast of sound upwards, though Jon's magical shield over Strix holds just long enough to reflect it right back into Thunder's face. Normally the implants in his ears should have been able to handle that, but Strix was so close and the attack reflected so quickly that the automatic sound-dampening hadn't even kicked in yet.

    Between that and the blades embedded in his shoulders, Thunder is dazed, out of commission. Within moments Lightning is the same, having exhausted her power trying (and failing) to overcome Oracle's lightning rod. Her mind is an open book for M'gann to flip through.

    Ridge is far enough away that M'gann's Martian Vision has to burn through several sets of walls before it gets to him.

    But it does. And he fumbles the communicator in his hands, which clatters to the ground as Ridge braces himself, clawed feet digging into the floor. His armor-plated carapace can handle the heat at first, but the force not so much, and after it's singed a hole in his shoulder he loses his grip with his claws and is knocked down.

    This of course gives Impulse ample opportunity to grab hold of Ridge and vibrate him through one of those walls Miss Martian had to burn through. Right into Cass's room they go. The N.O.W.H.E.R.E. agent is so stupidified by being targeted by two separate attackers he can't even see that as Bart reigns down blows upon him, all Ridge can do is cover his head with his hands.

    Once Bart is finished and the gravity device planted, Ridge has no energy left to even try to resist the pull.

    The question of where exactly it's hidden, though, is still up in the air. Oracle and Bluebird won't encounter any further issues when they begin their search, nor will Gabby if she's taking another way.

    There is now a cleared path towards the nearest stairwell, after all. It's not the stairwell Tim ran down in his quest for what is hopefully his kryptonite stash, but they all go to the same places.

    Of course, it might be a while before the Archivist can join them.

    He's successful in his initial attempts to defend himself, but one shadowy tendril manages to make it through, latching onto an arm. It begins to make truly awful noises, a sort of sucking sound, and little bulges of mystical energy drained from Jon begin to travel down the tendril's length towards the shadowy figure from which it originates.

    The vampiric draining stops abruptly as the tendril's master, Shadow Walker, slowly begins to turn. A spare tendril waving around in the air has latched onto something behind him, and that draws his attention. But it's different. There is a deep, dark, gaping pit from which he is trying to drain from... something unlike anything he has experienced before.

    As he comes face to face with Orphan, he lets out a scream worthy of Wilhelm as he stumbles backwards, his tentacle detaching from Jon as he scrambles, tumbling over his own feet and landing on his ass.

Strix has posed:
Even though Strix is shielded by Jon's magic, at this close proximity the blast lifts her up into the air to slam her into the ceiling before she drops down, making a perfect three point landing. Lucky for her that's all it did. Without the shield all of her bones would have most likely have been crushed.

Leaning over the downed metahuman, she gently pats him on the head. <<There, there. Have a good nini. We'll be back.>> She turns and trots towards where the others are just in time to see Jon being attacked by the shadows. <<OH NO! Look out bird man! The shadow's gonna get you!>>

Cassandra Cain has posed:
The simple person standing there glances at Jon for a second, then back to the tentacled horror that walks like a man. Eyes under her hood look out, and the smile..oh, that smile. Tim. Phoebe. Conner. Nadia. Laura. She counts them off in her heart. Gives this guy exactly that much time, before her right fist comes at his cheek.

She really wishes bad guys took longer to knock out sometimes. The punch seemed too little a cost for what he's done. One punch and done? She somehow refrains from kicking him, on the ground, as he skids across the floor from her right cross.

Then she looks up at Jon, lifts her chin in his direction. And then she just goes away. Back into the ceiling, probably. More targets are out there, and this shit is making her miss her dance lesson!

Some bitch gonna pay for that one.

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
Once M'gann finishes extracting whatever she was looking for from Lightning's mind Lightning's mind, she turns and begins floating through the room in the direction Thunder ran before he was Strixed. For a moment she glances towards the altercation between Jon, Cassandra, and the tentacled horror, but as usual Cassandra seems to have her opponent well in hand.

The green skinned redhead floats down the hall, not in any apparent rush until she is hovering over Thunder. Glowing red eyes lock upon Thunder's as her consciousness enters his and begins sorting through his mind like a discarded library book someone left on the floor.

<<All four enemies have been neutralized. Soon, I will know everything that they knew.>>

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Kryptonite is no bat toy. They were entrusted with its safe keeping for situations exactly like this. When a Kryptonian gods bad... or in this case, is cloned bad. They keep it stashed about, shielded, carefully concealed so as not to draw attention to it in passing.

Oracle whips out a hand held tracker.. so paranoid about it are they that their heads up displays in their helmets don't pick the stuff up. But the storage devices do emit a very low powered signal when you're near. She enters the storage area and her eyes sweep the room. Careful steps around the room with the device sweeping over shelving and walls, floor and ceiling.

It's not until she reaches a doorway that one little bar of purple lights up on the device. "It's in here somewhere," she says softly and steps in to the spare storage area bathroom. Her eyes swivel around the room. No obvious traps. She waves the detector wand over the tiled walls. Nothing. Over the toilet. Nothing. Over the bathrub, drain, and light fixtures. Nothing.

It's not until she reaches the water basin that the bars light up more. She lifts it up to the mirror and it lights up further. Her hands grip the mirror and she pulls it off the wall revealing a safe.

She leans in closer and an iris scanner hits her eyeball which prompts a screen behind hardened glass to activate. The symbol of the bat appears and it expects a passcode. She taps in to the key pad 20062011. A small smile on her lips. "My voice is my passport, Verify me," she says for the vocal part of her code. Neeeeeerd alert.

The safe clicks open and from it she takes a sealed heavy metal vial with a button on it. She presses it and the radioactive glowing green stone can be seen with in. She deactivates it and it seals once more.

"One last gift for the Outsiders. Let's go check on them." She turns and there is Gabby. "Honey Badger," she says once more and holds out the rod containing the deadly rock. "It's dangerous to go alone. Here, take this +1 kryptonite."

She lets the nerd joke sink in a moment before adding the real rules, "We take the possession of Kryptonite very seriously. Do not lose it. Do not use it near our Kryptonian allies. Return it when the mission is over. Red Robin put this trust in you. Do not let him, me, or Batman down. Do not make the House of El regret entrusting us with this weapon."

She touches Gabby's left shoulder, then her right, like she's knighting her, then the top of her head, and for a final moment of levity, boops her snoot with it before letting her take it. Whoever Oracle is, she seems to have the same geek flavour as Tim does.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
The sounds of combat follow Gabby down the stairs. It was fading as several fights wound down, but it was still good to hear that their side was winning. This was necessary after the loss of the other night and it meant they were on the right track. Speaking of right track... "I figure he was heading down to the core, but I could be wrong. I know it'd need to be somewhere safe but also accessable in case of emergency," she reasons as her hand stretches out to run along the wall during her descent.

Tipping her head toward the taller Oracle she quickly apologises, "Sorry, I tend to talk a lot and sometimes kind of babble until things end up making sense to me or an idea pops into my head. Like that time Red Robin mentioned those computers being set up in Gotham which seems a lot to me like someone was trying to set up a giant think tank computer system. Probably for porn." It all made sense to her at least.

While she chatters she watches Oracle and her little tracker with a sharp eye. For all anyone knew or could overhear it was just her babbling about who-knew-what and nothing at all to do with retreiving a chunk of radioactive alien space rock. Once at the bathroom mirror she pauses watching Oracle go through the safety protocols to unlock it.

"I know," she responds quietly about it being a serious matter. Of course she knew. "I don't know Conner well, but he's a teammate, and a fellow clone. We gotta stick together. I'm not going to risk hurting him with it," she adds only to blink when the geek references are offered up.

"Was that Monty Python?" She asks with eyes narrowing a bit. "... No, probably not," she mutters thoughtfully as she accepts the box to tuck away into a pocket carefully. "I promise I'll take care of it."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    <<It's /Thoth Dad/,>> the Archivist replies to Strix through the mental link, before tossing his best impression of a feeling of thanks toward Cassandra. Will she understand? Hard to say. But... he tried.

    After all, that tentacle might've done some /serious/ damage if she hadn't distracted the shadowy guy that had latched onto him.

    He turns, then, and runs after Oracle and Honey Badger, cape fluttering like wings in his wake. "Did you get it?" he shouts toward them. Skids to a halt as he gets into the room.

    "That was Sneakers," he comments, hearing the end of the conversation. Gives Oracle a wry look. "An old movie. You're dating yourself around the kids."

Tim Drake has posed:
    The immediate danger is over. The Outsiders have done what they came to the Roost to do: retrieve the kryptonite.

    They're also now in possession of four N.O.W.H.E.R.E. hostages, which Bart transports down to a makeshift holding area on the storage level until a more permanent solution (AKA, not Arkham) can be found for them.

    Now, all that's left is to go find their friends.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
The moment that Jonathan is gone, Cassandra is back there again. She's alone with Shadow Walker, and there's something that she needs to do. "Balm. Ra-bin." She says these words over the man, knowing how hard she'd hit him. He'd be waking soon. He'd be waking...now.

So she hits him again. This isn't to keep Jonathan or Harper safe this time. It's to hurt. The darkness in her, what made him so scared. There was a reason. Her fingers shake, as she begins to dispense pain to this man, part of the team that dared touch what was hers.

If the others thought that M'gann was being vicious, they would be glad to not be in the room now. She keeps it silent though. He first loses his ability to scream, for a little while. Then he gets pounded in the perfect places. She makes him afraid of her, more than before.

Less than a minute laters she's done, and she's standing over Shadow Walker. "Ra-bin. Balm." She repeats this message. She hasn't left a place on him that isn't hurting, but he'll be fine.

Eventually.