Owner Pose
Cassandra Cain     Recently (Time being flexible on a mush) an event occurred, which caused a slough of assassins to be sent out into Gotham City. Explosions, fires, and murders were the common fare that evening. Car bombs and other silliness are ongoing, and the only pattern is one only really known to Barbara and her ilk.
    The Russian group known as the Red Room had a training facility in Gotham, and all their old students had been given a broad-reaching order: Clean up anyone who'd ever worked with them. That was a lot of people, and the young assassin trainees are still working.
    They appear to be under some form of mind control. These girls (all female, and young) have had time to become Gothamites. But their programming is forcing them to act.
    One was spotted entering City Hall a moment earlier. The security on site lost track of her, but they think that the girl is not alone, and the Mayor has vanished from his office.
Barbara Gordon Barbara is on her motorcycle tonight, racing through the city toward City Hall. She's dressed all in black with a backpack on, and her hoodie hood up. She's got her team comms on though, and has been broadcasting her progress on this situation.

"I'm approaching City Hall now." She says to anyone listening. "Possible Black Widow cighting entering the premises... I'll be going in the front door, not in costume."

It only takes a mere minute more before her cycle is parked and she's on her way up the stairs toward the entrance. She sees one of the cops posted outside, and waves to him. "Hey, Charlie!" She says to the man who spots her.

"Barbara... wait, where are you--"

"I gotta be at an appointment! No time!"

Zooom, the redhead, all in black, just runs right on past the guarding officer.
Zatanna Zatara The Justice League had been Zee's finishing school of sorts, filling in the gaps that her Magician father didn't have the time or inclination to teach. Martial Arts are low on the list of need for stage magicians or Homo Magi. In a sense, it made going against Red Room trainees more dangerous because she possesses some of their skills without the ruthless training or brainwashing these girls experienced. And pity for what they have lived through risks slowing her down.

The timing was perfect, Zee was in street clothes leaving a matinee charity benefit for Gotham orphans when the call over coms came through. No one at the stage door gives her an escape route.

            Pfffft.

A piece of paper blows down the street into the spokes of Barbara's mean machine on Zee's arrival where a policeman considers ticketing the hot motorcycle. Taking the steps two at a time, she is right behind Babs and past the security guard.
Cassandra Cain     Inside the Hall it's like a mausoleum. Only security on site, and everyone who doesn't need to be there is being evacuated. It takes a quick bit of thinking to keep from being turned right back around and out the doors!
    But given the skills of the two ladies in question, not ipossible at all. Shortly they're into the stairwell and sounds of retreating people are their applause for an act well performed.
    It's a big site though. City Hall Gotham City is basically a city block to itself. Where do you even start?
    A guard can be heard, telling someone to check on the guard on the roof, they're not checking in. Could it be that simple?
Barbara Gordon Barbara catches sight of Zatanna arriving behind her, and as she rushes in to the City Hall foyer, she smiles back at the woman. "Welcome to the madness." She says in a breathy voice before passing in to the interior of the building. While others flow outward, Babs and Zatanna rush inside.

Once inside, Barbara walks to one of the nearest Officers.

"Hey. I'm here to see my father, the Commissioner." She tells the GCPD officer before that call comes over. She spares a glance back at Zatanna then.

"Guard on the roof is in trouble?" She asks outloud, maybe wishing to inspire more security to head that way?
Zatanna Zatara So what Zee doesn't possess in street skills, the magic singing in her blood can make up for. And, she has not one wit of guilt about it: pity or no pity for the driven girls.

She shares a nod and a wide smile with Babs.

"The roof? Why wait for the elevator?"

Not that they hadn't done it before though it never hurts to ask. Past the metal detectors and against the flow of Municipal employees streaming out the door, Zee hustles Babs to the side. After a terse, "Hold onto your hat." She whisks them to the roof which is drying from a recent rainstorm.
Cassandra Cain     The portal rises up, and when it comes down again the roof is there. A raindrop spatters on Babs' nose as the last fits of last night's rainstorm touch the girls. There is a person laying on the rooftop, wearing a guard's uniform. He seems to be unmoving which is never a good sign.
    The Mayor doesn't seem to be here, but if there are clues to be had then this seems as good a place to start as any other. What with the obvious signs of someone being here moments ago.
Barbara Gordon As Zatanna pulls her aside for the portal, Babs whips out her cowel and slips it on while they pass through the gate to the rooftop. Once up there, she looks up to see the rainfalling still, but now her face is mostly covered by the mask. "Nicely done. You make this a lot easier on my joints, than my methods." She notes with a grin toward the other woman before spotting the figure on the rooftop floor.

Grim sight.

Babs walks across the distance before pulling a computer device out of her hoodie. She starts her investigation process that Bruce instilled on her years back.

"Make sure there's nobody else around?" Babs asks the Magician.
Zatanna Zatara "All in a day's work," she mutters, studying the form of the security guard staring upward into the cold rain.

They make a good team. Zee raises a hand to acknowledge Babs and begins to warily walk the perimeter of the elevator shaft tower and the huge building fans.

Over coms, "So far so good."
Cassandra Cain     It's quiet up here, with the occasional raindrop hitting a rooftop puddle. The guard is dead, having been strangled with what appears to have been a thin wire. An unhappy but quick end, cutting off the carotid artery at the same time as his oxygen flow.
    There's a skittering sound from near Zatanna, but it turns out to not be an underage assassin. It is, in fact, a crow.
    Rooftop.
    Babs spots footprints in water, leading toward the stairwell heading downstairs. Likely the entry point the girl used to...wait. Footprints, there are two sets of them, both smaller than an adult's.
    That's when someone tries to pull something around Zatanna's throat from behind.
Barbara Gordon Barbara is gathering the evidence up as she walks around the body, not wanting to disturb the crime scene as she takes a moment to crouch and look at how the man was strangled. "God..." She softly says. "He didn't deserve this..." She assumes, not actually knowing him, just figuring he was doing his job.

"Hey, Zat--" Babs is saying just before she catches sight of movement over by the Mage.

"Zee!" Babs calls out as she starts to rush toward her friend!
Zatanna Zatara Crows caw of portents and are drawn to death. The homo magi turns in place, mouth set grimly against her own nervousness. No one is there but a crow and her suddenly taut nerves. She should have paid attention to the crow sign. She looks up at Bab's voice.

Fingers clutching at the garrote closing around her throat, the magician rasps before her airway is completely shut, !kaerB.

Adrenaline adds drive to the foot Zee stamps on the instep of her attacker.
Cassandra Cain There is no instep to stamp, but as the wisps of Zatanna's magic reach out and curl around the garotte, it tries to pull in and stop her from ..from.. anything, ever again. She feels something in the small of her back, perhaps a knee. Then a 'twang' as the metal wire parts under pressure, and both the sharp pain in her throat and the pressure from behind vanish.

Babs sees a small figure detatch from behind Zatanna, then visibly pause as it looks at its tool. She was not expecting that to happen, given that metal wires don't normally just snap.

It gives them a chance, but not much of one. The girl is already starting to adapt, to turn and leap for the nearby edge of the roof. She has a hood over her face, and she moves with almost Cass levels of silence.

The files said that each girl had a specialty. This one seems to be stealth.
Barbara Gordon Barbara sees the wire snap just as she's reaching behind her in to her pack to draw out a telescoping baton, that has a stunning crackle light up its tip! "Back the Hell off!" Babs commands the shadowy little figure, who seems to do just so...

"Wait, not that far off!" Babs adds as she rushes to catch up to the Stealthy little one.

A bit of a parkour leap against a large industrial box on the roof, then a jump up toward the figuring clamouring away, Babs takes a strike with that baton! Crackle!
Zatanna Zatara Foot only connecting with the roof with a thud, Zee grasps her own throat, coughing painfully. Her attacker seems to evaporate magically from behind her and she whirls too late to stop her but in time to see Babs leap gracefully in the air, weapon extended.

Struggling to speak, she holds up her hand like a traffic cop and mangles a magical command, "ezeerf!".
Cassandra Cain If only it were that easy. The little witch was diving for the edge of the rooftop, when both Zatanna's magic and Babs' baton came toward her. She twists as she lands on the rooftop edge, a wheel kick thrown toward the baton. Her heel parry is unorthodox, but the rubber sole apparently was a good choice. A tactic worth learning!

She's barely on the edge of the roof, all of this happening in an instant. A snapshot of time, as she stiffens. Frozen, she isn't balanced. And then she's toppling off of the roof unable to save herself.
Barbara Gordon Barbara lands where the young combatant had been, her booted feet planting solidly as her right hand clutches that baton. Her left raises up to aim toward the falling person. She fires off one of the Bat-grappling cords! BOOM! The cord shoots out and snaps down toward the falling figure.

"Portal!?" Asks Babs as she looks back over her shoulder toward the lovely Magician.

Especially if her Bat-grapple missed!
Zatanna Zatara Magician have reflexes that rival ninja training. All those hours of sleight-of-hand training under her father's demanding eye have had some result. Zee flips the word inside out and zings it into the world, transforming reality between one heartbeat and the next.

The crow does a double-take when the rainy rooftop is his alone.

They land in a jumble of Harajuku designer clothes, cowled beauty and frozen assassin back in the lobby.
Cassandra Cain And the next day when people ask how exactly did there end up being a big-ol dent in the middle of the lobby desk, they'll say that it was Batman. It's always Batman. But for today the young assassin only groans, unable to do much with two larger women on top of her.

She looks nice enough. Hispanic descent, might be a kid from any of the Gotham areas really. As a guard responds to the sound, running in, the little lady is apparently trying to reach for a weapon.

Red eyes. They said it was mind control.
Barbara Gordon "Wait, w-ait!" Barbara is shouting before they all go through the portal together!

Crunch! They land in the lobby, her hood still on at least, covering her identity. She groans softly before getting up on to her knees on the broken counter. She looks down at the Black Widow child, then over to Zatanna.

"Can you put her out for awhile?" She asks the infinitely capable woman before looking back down to the girl to move and try and restrain her, using her martial skills to aid in holding the red-eyed girl in place.
Zatanna Zatara Bats and Gotham go together like a horse and carriage. Let the commentators have their say about Bat mayhem. Zee barely catches Babs demand as she tries to catch her breath and grapple with a wriggling heap of Black Widow child.

Looking straight into the girl's red eyes, she says through gritted teeth, ".peels ot oG"
Cassandra Cain The kid is reaching for a knife. None of their weapons really scream 'Black Widow', all the tools that have been reported are all stuff you can buy or make from a local Star-Mart. But even that fails in the face of trained jiujitsu lessons and a magical sleep spell. A moment later the child is closing her eyes, and then no longer struggling.

And then a guard is there, making sure that nobody else comes close. "If you need help.." he says, not recognizing Barbara from earlier. They're just that good, these Gotham PD guys. Wow.

And the Mayor is brought through, heading for the front door. Not dead after all. He doesn't even freaking notice.
Barbara Gordon Barbara relents on her hold when she feels the young girl go 'out'. She breathes heavily then as she sits back on her knees once more. She glances over at the Guard, then to Zatanna. "Good job." She says then, moving her hand around to take off her backpack.

"I got sent something earlier... I think I see what it's for now.." Babs says while taking a spray can out of her backpack. She shakes it a couple times before leaning down and gently spraying in to the Black Widow girl's eyes, lifting one lid up after the other before sitting back again, and sighing.

"Well, that was fun."
Zatanna Zatara Zee regards the can, the girl and then Babs, then bobs her head in a thoughtful nod. "The magic of science. Will she wake up without the mind control? I can't imagine how disorienting it is going to be. Give the word and I can wake her. Otherwise she will be out for 24 hours."
Cassandra Cain "I can't arrest her, I'm just a guard," the guy says. Which is true, security can't actually arrest. Unless it's a comic book, then all bets are off. "Is she really that dangerous?" The sound of more guards coming, jackboots and all, are in the halls. It's time to go.
Barbara Gordon "A friend sent it earlier today." Babs responds about the spray as she tucks it in to a pocket on her black hoodie. She exhales, and mutters as she puts her arms under the girl. "Lift with your knees, not your back. Right?" She asks with a grunt. "Or is it the other way around..."

A heavy sigh as she stands up then holding the girl in her arms. Without her full Bat-suit on, Babs is relying on her natural body strength now, rather then the assisted suit enhancers.

A nod is given to the guards. "Patrol the place then. Make sure nobody else is around, and... get people upstairs. One of your men ... well... you'll see."

Grim! Always grim!

With her cowl on, the green eyes of Barbara look over to Zatanna. "Lets get outta here?"

Oh portals. Where have you been all my life!
Zatanna Zatara Lips pressed together in concern the magician watches Babs lift the girl without offering to help. She is aware of Babs long road of recovery. She places herself as a screen between the incoming hob-nailed booted guards and Babs, reinforcing her suggestion with a frown and a manicured finger pointing to the roof.

"One of yours. I'm sorry to say."

"You want a Z-ride and we can pick up your bike later?"
Barbara Gordon Barbara holds the girl in her arms now, and looks past Zatanna to the guard who looks dismayed at the news of a fallen 'brother'. There's not much that can be said. But it could've gone far, far worse.

With the portal opening, Batgirl turns and just walks on right through it. She looks back to Zatanna then. "Yeah, I'll have someone pick the bike up."

Once through, she sighs. "Thank you for your help too. This little ankle biter may have given me a run for my money without you." She says then with a smirk crossing her lips.

"I'll get ahold of Nadia, let her know one is incoming. She should be good to wake up now too, I think..."