Owner Pose
Susan Sullivan     The summer night is warm enough. Standing on a metal rod, a figure clad in black is just barely visible to those who can see well in the night. Of course, she stands out like a beacon to those with thermal imaging cameras. Swooping down like the Silver Surfer, when she gets low to the ground, she hops down onto the grass and holds out her hand. The staff-sized metal rod rises to meet her hand, and she swirls it around her body before letting it come to rest across her shoulders, her hands up on it. Her face is covered in a skull-themed gas mask, through which she looks at the crumbling ruins.
    A wooden bead tied to a zipper on her backpack lifts itself, pulling the zipper just a bit open. A sharp, wooden stick, like a very acute pyramid, slides out before the bead pulls the zipper back down. Flipping the staff off of her neck, the figure holds it like a walking staff, grabbing the makeshift stake with her now free right hand as she walks toward the abandoned sanitarium.
Sara Pezzini There are, on any given night, a hundred reasons for Sara Pezzini to be out in the various parts of New York. Two nights ago was the Bronx, the night before that Midtown, and tonight was Queens, or rather part of it. The ear piece she wore channeled numerous forms of communication through it, from the police radio for the Special Investigations Unit, to the Justice League Dark's communication, and even SHIELD and the Avenger's comms could be routed through it. Witchblade only allowed one extra item on Sara, and this was it.

Normally the reports she listened to were the sort of things for your average NYPD officer to deal with. Hit and run, shoplifting, store being held up, all things she could involve herself in, and sometimes did, but tonight she was listening to the back channels of the NYPD and the strange reports coming from a patrol officer who passed through the ruins of Roosevelt Island. Something or someone was out there, and it didn't seem like the normal 'kids hanging out and drinking' sort of situation.

Leaving her motorcycle at the end of the bridge, she set out on foot toward the location the officer has last seen something, knowing full well that whatever it was likely wasn't still there... but Witchblade's eye was open, he was reaching out with his magical senses, he was, for lack of a better term, hunting. Thankfully, Sara had no intentions of killing anyone, even if Witchblade might have other ideas.
Susan Sullivan     Witchblade wasn't the only one hunting. The woman in the black skull gasmask was doing her own detective work. From inside the neck of her outfit, she pulled a chubby cross of polished silver that was formed into a mathematiclaly perfect cross, dropping it against her chest. Only she had let go of that staff to do it and now grasped it again. Her breath noises are both muffled and amplified by the gas mask as she moves to the door. It had been picked plenty of times by youths, and the lock has more recently been forced. The door is thusly chained shut and boarded, but the upper floor windows aren't. She doesn't seem to notice the officer on the grounds, instead swirling that staff behind her upper thighs and sitting on it as it raises her up the building. She reaches in one of the broken third story windows and unlocks it from the inside.
Sara Pezzini It is the swirl of the staff that catches Sara's attention, so good was the stealth of this person, and then the being just rises up on the staff like a Halloween witch riding her broom. This one seemed magical in nature, though it was perhaps a mutant with telekinesis, it was still good that the officer called her instead of trying to investigate it himself.

On the silver band bracelet that she wears, the 'resting' form of the Witchblade, the red stone begins to swirl like red smoke... Witchblade's eye is open. Thousands of years in existence does not mean the living breathing son of Gaia and Chthlon instantly knows every magical thing he 'sees', and looking upon this person floating upwards on her own staff seems to frustrate him.

Inside Sara's head she can hear the complaints, the rambling of all the things she could be. Familiar to him, he knows he should know what she is, and yet all he can truly pinpoint is that the energy used is Qi, and that she is some sort of supernatural being. His aggravation is real, something Sara must shoulder and has dealt with a hundred times before. Outwardly there are no signs of this, she moves to a more secure location where she can still the person and waits.
Susan Sullivan     Inside the building is even darker than it is outside. Without the woman touching it, the window slides open without a sound. She turns and lays lengthwise on the staff which lifts, turns and thrusts toward the window, ushering the woman into pitch blackness. The window then closes itself. There's nothing at all inside that can be seen from outside unless it's right by the windows. Everything is quiet for a long time, though the witchblade itself will sense the awakening of the evil inside.
    It's an odd choice, really. "Taking on a vampire at night is a choice for morons and fools." A light flashes from inside, then another. There's the sound of something breaking, then silence. A window opens more quickly, the woman from before vaults out of it, grabbing her staff like the bar of a hang glider and riding it to the ground, where she keeps running away from the quiet sanitarium.
Sara Pezzini As the window opens, Sara is prepared to head inside at a run but Witchblade stops her. It was rare for him to get to do that, but his warning caught her off guard and thus she stopped. The sensation of evil washed through him and thus through her, a creature that has committed Christian sins, but more than that, atrocities against humanity, against this realm.

Frozen in place for what seemed like minutes, but was really only a few seconds, the bracelet on her right wrist became thousands of tiny tendril of metal that wrapped up her arm to the elbow to form the clawed gauntlet of his true form. He was prepared to do more, but the presence was gone as quickly as it was there, leaving only one answer... that woman had killed whatever was up there.

Seeing her vault out the window and start running, Sara became unstuck and took off after her. She wasn't intending harm, but there were questions that needed answering.
Susan Sullivan     In the confines of the gasmask, the woman shouldn't have had that much stamina, but boy howdy could she run. The flow of qi into and through her was strong, enriching her muscles like nitrous to a gasoline engine. She vaults up and over a fence intended to keep people out without even relying on that flying staff of hers. She does not, however, notice the woman chasing after her. Peripheral vision is likely harmed by that mask itself. That black plastic isn't exactly great for visibility.
Sara Pezzini Without Witchblade Sara is just a normal human being, a trained police officer, athletic and strong. With him however, she had the stamina, fortitude, and agility of most super heroes out there, on par with Captain America, though she still hadn't tested that yet. Following the woman through the alleys and over the fence proved as easy for her as it was the Qi wielding female.

As she moved after her, Sara was torn between the two sides of what she was. Should she approach as the police officer, lesser known but still just as important, or should be approach as Witchblade's wielder, publicly known to be part of the Avengers, being with NYPD, and part of the the JLD? She was new to this public aspect, and in the past would just have armored up to deal with the possible threat... but was this woman a threat?

In the end she decided to wait, to see what happened when the woman finally stopped running. Witchblade would protect her, so she didn't fear harm, but she did not want to scare the woman either.
Susan Sullivan     She wasn't running FROM Sara, but the other woman was running. Sprinting, really. Ordinary officers would have been left behind long before. She slowed to a stop in a nice, isolated alley somewhere in the city. Pulling her backpack from her back, she turns to face the way she'd come. It's only at this point that she sees the NYPD officer barreling down on her! She flips the backpack back on and jumps, the staff under her feet as she goes the only direction she can: up.
Sara Pezzini As Sara reaches the alley, and comes to a stop, Sara was just about to her and about to say something when the woman started heading up. The decision was made for Sara in that moment.

"Wait!" she calls upwards, praying she doesn't have to armor up just yet. "I'm not here to harm or arrest you, I need to talk to you. I swear, no harmful intent here."

This was the part that Jon and Rien were better at, the conversation part. Sure Sara knew how to handle some kinds of conversations, but how exactly to you go about saying, 'Hey I see your a magic user, what's your purpose, who are you hunting, why are you here?' in a nice way?
Susan Sullivan     Dropping to sit on the staff like a witch on her broom, the other woman began moving, but not any faster than she could run before. If Sara caught up with her then, she should be able to now...assuming she could move to the rooftops relatively quickly.
Sara Pezzini And the final decision was made.

From the gauntlet the thousands of tiny tendrils of metal reach out, shredding through the clothing on Sara's body, and wrapping the shiney golden and silver armor around her form. Given that the current level threat is minimal, at least in Witchblade's eyes, the armor is extremely scanty, only covering the important parts of her body, but wrapping up over her head to form a sort of tiara like helmet in her chestnut hair. The last things to occur is wings exploding out from the back of the armor, beautiful with a feather pattern in the metal.

The entire process took less than a minute, and when the wings form she leaps into the air to drift upwards after the woman. "Okay then, no more NYPD, would you please just stop?" She calls after her. "I really do need to speak to you."

Jon would have handled this better, Rien might have just tried to kill the woman... live and learn.
Susan Sullivan     The woman looks back and down, but sees only tatters of fabric. She then notices the huge bat-winged valkyrie-lookin' woman and yelps. Losing her balance, she falls to one side and flails twenty feet down until she hits the roof of a building. She tumbles backward and springs to her feet. She holds up her fists in a karate-like stance as the staff swings around and comes to her. She grips it and holds it out, ready to defend herself, but apparently done running. Not from the Witchblade, anyway.
Sara Pezzini Lifting herself over the edge of the roof then coming back down to land Sara does her best not to laugh at the beautiful blunder that just occurred before her very eyes. Her first instinct was to try and catch the woman, but that likely would have been a very bad thing. Swooping in while she was already freaking out is how someone ends up hurt. The truth was, she had not expected that kind of reaction, she wasn't used to being recognized. The public face of the Witchblade was entirely too new for that.

"You can put your fists down," she states as her feet touch the roof. "I told you, I have no intentions of hurting you, I'm not here to arrest you, but I need to ask you a few questions. Going to start with, are you alright?"
Susan Sullivan     Calm was not a look one took on easily when one was facing down Witchblade. Behind the skeleton gasmask, the other woman's eyes rolled over that...well, was it really armor? REALLY? Looking like that? And those wings! Everything was so magnificent! One only needed to look at her expression to see the awe mixed in with the fear. "I'm fine," she quickly responds.
Sara Pezzini In the past, this would have likely ended with the woman being hurt, because Witchblade has a temper as big as Texas, but Sara was in much better control these days, which is how she ended up a leader in the JLD in the first place. She didn't want to scare the woman, didn't want to fight or hurt her, but she would if she had to.

Lifting her hands, one still the clawed gauntlet, she turns them front to back and back again, showing no weapons currently in hand. Yes, she could have one in the blink of an eye, but right now there were none.

"I'm glad to hear that," she replies, sounding calmer than she actually was. Police training has taught her how to maintain an aura of calm, to appear in control, even when inside her head she might be panicking and screaming. She wasn't doing that right now, but calm always served best in situations like this.

"He felt the evil that you killed back there in the building," she then states bluntly. "He can feel that you use Qi for your flying, running, endurance... those things come to Witchblade as easily as you and I breath. In this city, these kinds of things have become normal, but I have to ask... who or what did you kill, and why?"
Susan Sullivan     Susan would have corrected her about where the qi was coming from and who was doing it, but she didn't have a death wish. She was essentially telling it where to go and what to do. She didn't spend all that time becoming one with the life-force of the world around her to use her OWN qi for stuff...though there were a lot different circumstances back then.
    "Vampire," Susan calmly states, still on edge. "Because vampire," she continues. However, that seems to be the extent of her explanation.
Sara Pezzini Keeping her hands in plain sight, Sara shifts her weight slightly. That wasn't enough of an answer, it hinted at being close to enough, but not quite. There were numerous vampires out there, some of which did in fact deserved to die, others however did not.

"I see," she replies just as calmly as she had been. "Then it would appear we do in fact have a situation that needs dealing with."

The words were the harder part, finding the correct ones, but she was determined to try. "You aren't alone out here," she finally begins, attempting full truth instead of any sort of deception. "There are numerous magical individuals in the city, hell... in the state. Where as I can respect your choice of killing a vampire with that level of pure evil and corruption, I am duty bound to inform you that not all vampires are created equal, and thus, hunting them without going through the proper channels might become an issue."

She pauses there to take a breath, her voice staying smooth, tone not modulating, just stating facts as they are. "That issue being your death. You see, the Justice League Dark exists to handle things such as the vampire you just killed, along with hundreds of other things out there that break the balance of this reality, prey on the weak, intend harm to innocents, or any measure of 'really not good' things. No one person determines the right of death for someone or something, because you, working alone, can't really know for certain who aids us and who is an enemy."
Susan Sullivan     The woman in the skull-themed gas mask huffs impatiently. She clearly doesn't like anyone standing in the way of this quest of hers. "I'm aware," she says. She lets go of her staff that stands next to her, and she adjusts her gloves. She takes a few slow breaths. Calmly, she responds, "Good vampires take care of the humans around them," she says. "Bad vampires just take." She opens her eyes and looks intensely at Witchblade. "They're easier to find, so they're who I'm going after first. I will not rest until vampirism is wiped from the face of the Earth," she concludes, resolutely. "I came back from death. If he won't take it, I will go after Dracula himself."
Sara Pezzini One brow lifts on Sara's face. She had got the woman talking, but there were so many contradictions in what she said that it made the woman's head hurt.

"You came back from the dead," she repeats. "Like a vampire, and yet you hunt vampires. That's an oxymoron right there, but besides the point."

Another deep breath is taken, to smooth the ruffles forming in her brain. "The JLD has no problems with you killing evil vampires, the problems comes from determining what evil is. Sometimes it is black and white, other times there is too much gray, and everyone perceives evil in a different way. And that brings us back to the primary issue at hand, you clearly state that you will kill all vampires, not merely the evil ones. I can't fault you for wanting to fulfill a purpose or duty, but I also can't let you kill the allies we have that are Vampires."

She shifts her weight again, now folding her arms lightly across her chest. "Which leads us to only two possible solutions. One, you meet with myself and the other leaders of the JLD, possibly join us to learn who we consider 'off limits' to you killing, or two, and I really do not like this choice, but two... you and I have it out right now and see who lives."
Susan Sullivan     Susan has no intention of fighting Witchblade. For starters, she probably would die. Not might could die, but would almost certainly die. Secondly, she's pretty sure Witchblade was on her side. She was (he was? Susan is confused about the pronouns) obviously offering help in tracking down and killing vampires. "I'm a unique case that required divine intervention," she says. "However, it proves it's possible to give up vampirism and live through a normal lifespan. I intend to rid the world of vampirism. Make it as extinct as small pox. I've been hunting monsters. You help me do that, I will keep destroying those who kill others. If you keep providing me with that, there's no need to hunt them on my own. I'll aim myself at vampires you point me at. I am not going to stop there, but there's enough there to keep me busy for my natural life, especially if they keep breeding at the rate they're going. Until I can get a cure into the blood supply of all of humanity, I have to do this one at a time."
Sara Pezzini Canting her head slightly, Sara listens intently to what the woman says, but also to the tone of her voice. Her eyes continue to read the body language offered, the whole of the picture bring conviction of purpose. She meant every word she was saying, no deception, no lies to detect.

"Then we have an agreement," she states. "You know me was Witchblade, but I am also Sara Pezzini, leader in the JLD."

Stepping forward she extends her hand to shake, not too close, the woman will have to close the gap. "I would like to arrange a meeting for you with the other two leaders, or at least one other. I think we can work together quite well, as there are in fact vampires out there that need to not be."