Owner	Pose
Matt Murdock	Though the rank and file of the Hand are not as skilled as their leadership, they are still well-trained ninjas. Which means their ambush of Daredevil happened with only a scant second of warning Matt got when he heard a heartbeat, previously slowed to the point of him not noticing it, suddenly surge with adrenaline as the first strike was launched. The Hell's Kitchen street was already only sparsely populated with it being cold and nearing 10pm. When the fight spilled down to it from the rooftop where the ambush took place, it cleared out exceedingly fast. Daredevil slides across the icy road and does a back flip, just avoiding an arrow that hits the concrete and shatters where he was a moment before. A half dozen black-clad figures chase him out into the street, some moving to flank him. Others have bows further back, while two more have long spears capable of thrusting at their target between their allies without needing to get close. And two more are standing back, swinging bolas. In all it's at least a dozen ninjas that have sprung the ambush.
Frank Castle	Frank Castle doesn't hunt much in Hell's Kitchen. He's not afraid of the Devil and, while he might respect him to some degree, he's not about to show it to the pointy-horned bastard in any meaningful way. He just doesn't need the hassle. Still, Frank is Frank and he isn't going to be able to walk away from bloodshed happening within his eyeshot. He'd just been driving past, leaving a weapons cache and heading for the freeway and the interstate, having some bloody plans in Pittsburgh for later tonight. But then there are just ninjas on the damn street, with bows and bolos and...of course, Daredevil. "This city is going to fucking hell," Frank mutters. He throws the Battle Van in park and kicks out on the passenger side, stuffing two pistols into his jacket and drawing out a pistol-gripped shotgun, unzipping his jacket to show his trademark death's head. "Hey there, Sho Kusagi called and said he wants his gimmick back, you pajama-wearing asswipes," he says, jacking the pump on his twelve gauge.
Shredder	Karai was tracking this team. It's always harder to be fully stealthed with a larger number. The Hand wasn't just a thorn in the Defenders' side. They controlled a number of areas in the city, making it difficult for the Foot to exert as much control as they'd like. Hell's Kitchen isn't the Foot's normal territory, meaning that Karai was taking the team into a territory of enemies means that she didn't want to bring a lot. She watched as they engaged the Devil of Hell's Kitchen. It's several seconds before she engages. She could wait for the fight to end, but she'd lose her edge. She nods to the two assassins, garbed in red, black, and gray uniforms. The lanky pair extend their hands, long steel blades on their fingers, and they leap from their perches.     And then Frank's announcement comes, just as it's too late to rescind the order. She frowns. Not someone she wants to muck about Foot business. It's too late though, because the two assassins land framing the fight, outside the immediate action. They look inhuman. Alien almost. Elongated masks with small black eyes. Black scarves around their neck, and iron guards on their shins and forearms. The weaponized claw gloves drape to their knees giving them a most unnatural looking shape. If intimidation is the purpose, it'd probably work on most people.
Natasha Cranston	One of the bolo throwers starts twirling, trying to gauge a moment where Daredevil will be too busy dodging other attacks to cleanly evade the weighted chains.     With his focus completely on his target, he is somewhat surprised when ''something'' jars his wrist and breaks his concentration, costing him control over the bola which immediately entangles him and the ninja next to him -- and while he's staggering to keep his balance, a swift kick to the back of his legs sends both of them crashing to the ground.     There's a blur of movement and one of the archers turns to track it, but it's gone before she can draw a bead.     A sinister chuckle fills the air as a shadow flickers from one pool of light to the next, and another archer finds himself yanked back by the neck and thrown to the ground, then stepped on by something invisible but apparently heavy.     Another blink, and one of the Hand ninjas trying to flank Daredevil takes an uppercut from a fist that wasn't there a moment earlier, a tall figure in a greatcoat and opera cloak stands back-to-back with the leather-clad vigilante.     "My sources informed me of an impending ambush," the figure comments in a voice that can't possibly have come from a human throat. "I do hope I'm merely fashionably late?"     The figure turns to regard the ninjas, blue eyes blazing out from under the rim of a dark slouch hat. "Leave now and you may yet survive the night," the figure warns them in fluent Japanese.
Artemis Crock	Artemis Crock is patrolling the streets in a seedier part of town..Not something she does on a regular basis these days, but she's been trying to glean as much information about the thugs who kidnapped her mother as she can.. She was certainly not expecting this however - a swarm of angry ninjas ambushing the Daredevil..And who is the guy in black - friend or foe? Well, there's no time to figure that out now, but she really hates unfair fights, and as she positions herself on a nearby rooftop, she aims and fires off some smoke bumb arrows at a cluster of ninja - foot? hand? Whoever they are, she's determined to slow them down and make this more of a fair fight.
Cecily Winters	"Buenas Noches, Uncle Ramon!" Cecily calls out, waving over her shoulder as she steps out of the Hell's Kitchen branch of El Supernatural Mexicano. A good night, a good meal! It might not be Taco Tuesday but the best Mexican food in the state is good any day, any time. She finds it isn't too bad to walk home, even with the chill, and she makes her way a block or so before...     "Huh..." she frowns, pursing her lips. "Well this is..." she pauses, shaking her head, sighing. "...not.. unexpected... really." She just watches. Daredevil. Frank. People she knows, though the former not quite intimately. The nine-tailed fox woman takes a moment to assess, drawing the pistol from her shoulder holster and checking the chamber to be sure. A long puff of vapored breath comes from her and she stalks forward slowly, ears lifted.     "I knew today was too quiet..." she grouses to herself.
Matt Murdock	With the numbers so greatly against him, the best Daredevil was going to be able to do was try to keep the fight moving so they couldn't surround him. But obviously they were ready for him to move from the rooftop, flipping down from one level of a fire escape to another, to get to the street. Surrounded he can do little better than dodge and parry. A metal baton blocks a sword, lighting the night with sparks. One of those long-ass spears thrusts forward and Daredevil does a Neo to avoid. Though that puts him in an awkward position to dodge a stab. The hero spins away from it but it knicks him in a weak spot in the armor that Melvin Potter makes for him. But then there's a glimmer of hope as The Shadow downs a few of the ninja and reappears at his back. "This is one time definitely don't mind someone not having RSVP'd," he says to her as he brings up his batons at the ready as the ninjas surrounding the pair reposition themselves to keep them in a circle. Other members of the Hand spot the Punisher approaching and turn towards him. A ninja points at the members of the hated Foot, and an archer turns to attack while one with a sword closes the distance. An arrow shoots past Artemis Crock from a roof on the other side of the street, the breeze of its passing felt on her face it was so close. One of the ninjas with a spinning bola sees Cecily draw a weapon and throws the entangling weapon her way!
Frank Castle	Frank Castle isn't one to hesitate. When the Hand start to approach him, he opens fire, unleashing with his shotgun to take one full barrel in the chest and rapidly moving on to the next. "You play footsie with the devil all you like, I'm here to put you in the ground," he reminds them, standing over the one he caught in the chest and aiming down to splatter his brains graphically all over the sidewalk. He pumps the shotgun and shoots another ninja in the gut. "Next."
Artemis Crock	Artemis Crock narrows her eyes as she manages to confuse or blind some of the ninja, at the very least slowing them down enough for her to reload and shoot more arrows their way. This time she focuses on entangling sticky nets, trying to tangle them up and keep them out of the fight. At the very least this should keep them too busy to pursue their prey.. But then from an opposing rooftop, someone has spotted her! She gasps and ducks before another arrow can hit her, and moves around her rooftop, positioning herself behind a chunk of low wall as cover so that she can return fire, this time focusing on taking down as many archers as she can from this distance while others come in close down below. She's trying her best not to kill, focusing on aiming at their legs and arms, trying to slow them down, disarm them or take them out of the fight, if only temporarily.
Cecily Winters	While Cecily doesn't initially see the bolas coming at her, her ears catch the telltale sound of them whirling towards her at the last moment. Unable to avoid the weapon entirely, she outstretches her arms and brings them close together, grunting softly as the cord and weights wrap around them, locking them together. She gives a little flex to test the strength and tsks softly, turning towards the offending Hand. "Bad choice," she tsks.     Her hands, still together, are holding her pistol even more firmly and she directs the barrel towards her assailant. She fires three shots in rapid succession, slaming two into the ninja's chest and the third in the face, snapping his head back and watching him crumple to the ground. "I am not--" she grunts and pulls on the bindings with her arms. Blue-purple flame swirls around her arms, lighting up the night and making her shine, momentarily, like a beacon as she turns the bolas to ash while leaving her clothes and arms unharmed.     "--in the mood to be merciful to the likes of you." She huffs and advances on the greater skirmish, eyes glancing to the rooftops for more. "Mister Castle! A pleasure to see you this fine autumn evening!"
Shredder	The fray makes it a little hard to back out now. The Foot Assassins are rather ruthless. A burst forward from them shows a rather lethal accuracy, wasting as little time on a fight as possible. Blades go through one then a second ninja who were not aware of their presence.     Above, Karai watches as the brawl becomes a war, and scowls. "I suppose this is an odd time to make our presence known," she says, and draws her ninja-to. She looks across the rooftop where the Hand ninja has attacked Artemis, and unlike Artemis, she isn't about to aim to disable. She bursts across the rooftop to Artemis' attacker, blade drawn to aid the stranger as she strikes at the nape of the neck.
Natasha Cranston	"I'll be sure to be more punctual in the future, then," the Shadow replies prior to dodging out of the way of a spear jab and seeming to dissolve into mist and laughter. The spear wielder only stumbles briefly as his target appears to vanish, but before he can regain his bearings a blurry fist strikes him in the throat and sends him choking to the ground.     Two more of the ninjas attempt to strike at an afterimage, only to nearly collide with one another before they realize it. A moment later two gunshots ring out, and both collapse to the ground with shattered kneecaps...
Matt Murdock	The Hand's goal is to kill Daredevil, without a doubt, having already tried to wipe out the Defenders en masse, and launching attacks against them all the way from New York to Gotham. While he's still their main target, the other heroes - and villains! - stepping in at least gives him a chance to go on the offensive. As The Shadow deals with another adversary, Daredevil blocks a sword and steps inside of the swing just in time to avoid one of those long spears trying to stab him. An elbow to the ninja's head knocks him back, but that opens the way for a thrown bola that wraps one of Daredevil's batons, the weights making it more difficult to use now as others close in. The sound of gunfire fills the night as Cecily and Punisher start taking out ninjas. "Watch out for civilians!" Daredevil yells, and that it wasn't just an outright complaint about using deadly force probably speaks to how badly outnumbered they were. The Hand are elite fighters, and respond to the gunplay by throwing down smoke pellets that obscure them to make it tougher to target them. They swarm forward in the smoke, trying to close the distance. A pair of ninjas come over the edge of the rooftop with Artemis Crock and Karai on it, moving to try to separate them as they draw swords and attack.
Frank Castle	Frank Castle snorts at Daredevil's warning, "Make me, why don't ya!" he yells back at him. He hears Cecily call out to him and gives a grunt, "Glad to see you standing tall again," he says, even as he ducks a katana swipe, kicking the ninja in the balls. When the thug falls to his knees, Frank reaches into his jacket and pulls out a Beretta. The ninja's brains splatter a bit over his crisp white skull emblem, even as the Hand he's already killed dissolve in their usual eerie fashion, leaving trails of smoke behind as Frank draws his other pistol and starts to give a proper John Woo treatment of marching around and shooting bad guys.
Artemis Crock	Artemis Crock has just finished entangling some ninja below, before clearing out some ninja on the opposing rooftop when she is assaulted by ninjas rushing towards her. "Just like ants.." she mutters, "Shoulda brought some bug spray.." All the same, she seems to be enjoying herself, spinning to greet one of the ninja creeping up behind her with a swift kick delivered to the gut, followed by a footsweep. Just as that ninja goes down, another ninja swipes at her from behind, slicing through her long ponytail, cutting it a bit shorter. "Damn, I guess I should thank you, I really needed to get rid of some split ends!" she twirls around to face the second ninja, bringing up her bow to use as a makeshift staff - thankfully it's made of tough metal and hard to bend - blocking the strike and parrying the attack, catching the sword and twisting the strike back at the attacker, going for a quick and vicious knee to the groin as she attempts to disarm them.
Cecily Winters	"Always," Cecily replies to Frank before she furrows her brow at the smoke. Daredevil's shout about civvies doesn't go unheard, though, and the vixen is not one to fire blindly. She's still a cop at heart, and isn't about to send rounds indiscriminately into a crowd! But here in such close quarters with smoke, there's no real chance for her to exercise her marksmanship either. There's a growl, her tails sweeping behind her quicker, more agitated, sending swirls of smoke around her.     Her ears are sharp, though, and she uses them to gauge where she's being rushed from. As a figure emerges from the smoke before her, she does the same as she had prior: Three shots. Double tap to the chest, one to the head. One of her outstretched arms is suddenly hit with a pair of throwing stars that come out from the smoke, causing her to hiss in pain and stagger back. The attempt to disarm her gives enough of an opening for another coming out of the shroud to bear down on her with a sword.     There's little time to dodge as it pierces her side, bringing a yelp from her lips as steel sinks into cloth and flesh. "Oh... this is... how we're going to play tonight..." she mutters, blood running down her arm from the stars embedded in it and now crimson staining her shirt and side. She grunts and swings that limb, smashing the weapons jammed into her forearm into the ninja's neck. Then she yanks her limb free before wrapping it around his shoulder from the other side.     The body, while it lasts, makes an effective human shield as she turns in time for a pair of arrows to slam into his back, giving her a chance to return fire even as blood starts to trickle from the corner of her mouth. "Lady... can't even walk home in the dark in this neighborhood..." she growls, baring her vulpine fangs.
Natasha Cranston	"Not much of an issue," the Shadow points out as they flicker into existence just long enough to take a Hand ninja in a sleeper hold before bodily flinging him into two others. "Most of Hell's Kitchen's denizens know when to make themselves scarce; at this point everyone still out is either trying to kill or defend you..."
Shredder	The Foot Assassins shift as Daredevil tears into the Hand ninjas, they go to close the distance on the atackers who have thrown smoke pellets. This is their realm. They burst forward in a flurry through the smoke pellets, using the enemies cover as their advantage.     Meanwhile, on the roof, Karai goes straight for the two attacking her. A parry, a slash, roll. The young small shinobi deftly blocks and disarms, taking a slash to her left shoulder, which fortunately has a pauldron on it. The spark announces her presence, and then she delivers a groin kick followed by a stab into the neck.
Matt Murdock	The Hand sent what they thought were more than enough people to get the job done. But they weren't expecting so many others to come to Daredevil's defense. They make one last determined push for him. One of the ninjas sees The Shadow and goes towards their back with a sword raised high to strike. The others down on the street nearest to Daredevil try to get his attention with attacks. That spear that has been making it tough on him whips forward, and Daredevil leaps over top of it, landing on it to ground it and then breaking it off with a stomp. Another ninja on the sidelines has a blowgun in hand and shoots a dart his way. Daredevil kicks up the broken length of spear with his foot, grabbing it and using it to block the dart aside. The other ninjas make their last attacks and start to fall back then. Too many of them have gone down. Those that are still on their feet stop to slit the throats of any that are down but unconscious, leaving no one alive that can reveal their secrets. Daredevil throws a baton, too late to stop the killing of one of the downed ninjas, then has to dodge a few swings of a sword from another ninja who covers for the others, before darting off behind a cloud of smoke as well.
Shredder	Karai gives a wound to the last one fighting her, though isn't able to finish him before he makes his retreat. The carnage is significant. They hadn't expected such a host of assistants to fight the Hand. The Shredder will want to hear of this. It's certainly information that they could utilize. The Hand has many enemies now.     Down on the street, the two assassins, still wordless in their assist, move to retrieve a few Hand weapons. One of them looks at Murdock before pulling her own smoke pellet, and vanishing into a cloud.
Artemis Crock	Artemis Crock is getting swarmed as more ninjas identify her as an opposing sniper. She is rapidly getting swarmed, and she snarls, utterying a warcry, refusing to back down. "Alright uglies, now it's personal!" she handsprings back, away from the rooftop, angling herself behind the wall so that snipers on the opposing roof cannot pick her off easily as she deals with the in-close attackers. She's kept pretty busy spinning and twirling, kicking and punching a hole through the swarming ninjas, and once she has a clear shot, she takes it, aiming and firing off an exploding arrow at the group, enough of a blast to knock a good deal off them away from her and into the opposing wall. Hopefully she didn't kill anyone with that moderate concussive blast. But it's enough of a diversion at the very least for her to make her get away. These are not the people who kidnapped her mom and it looks like the crowd is thinning. Good time to make a get away and she does just that, launching another smokescreen arrow at the pursuing ninjas, temporarily blinding them and covering her tracks as she slips away..
Natasha Cranston	The ninja makes to swing - but just as he's about to strike the Shadow half-turns and their gaze meets the ninja's, freezing him in place.     "... And where did you think you were going, little onmitsu?" the Shadow asks, slowly turning to face the ninja as that sword falls out of suddenly nerveless hands. "I still have a few questions I'd like answered. You'll do - for starters."     The ninja makes a choked noise as he tries to flinch away from the Shadow as that gaze burns into him, paralyzing his will -- and then suddenly slumps to the ground, revealing the poison dart shot into his back. The Shadow makes a displeased snarl and looks for the shooter -- but they're already gone.
Cecily Winters	The kitsune woman has no qualms with killing members of the Hand, and the weapons sticking out of her and the meat shield she's still supporting shows. One sword, two throwing stars, and her shield has two. Now three arrows sticking out of him. She continues to fire her .45 one-handed, precision shots hitting thighs and faces as she's assailed from the dissipating smoke. The telltale click of an empty magazine inspires a surge by two and she shoves her 'shield' off and pulls the sword out of her torso.     She's no elite ninja in the slightest but Cecily tries to keep the pair at bay and reload at the same time. Steel clashes against steel and she uses both blade and pistol to block attacks from two sides. A swirl of that spectral flame wraps around her arm and engulfs her borrowed sword, raising the stakes and giving her a moment's respite. Just the time she needs to drop the spent magazine and snatch another from her chest rig. It slides, snaps, and locks before she takes a sword through the thigh, dropping her to the ground and forcing her to take a knee.     Another yelp from the wounded fox as she forces her own flaming sword through the ninja's gut and turns her pistol on the second. A series of shots rings out, the fifth and final being louder, brighter, as a lance of blue-purple fire explodes from his back and engulfs his torso, the light burning him through, inside-out. Staggering to her feet, she's left standing in the smoke, sword in one hand, handgun in the other, bloodied and battered like some haggard war goddess.     "...next time I'm going for dinner in Chelsea..." she sighs, wincing with pain, slowly pulling the sword from her thigh as the retreat is called and the rest of the Hand vanish into the smoke and night.