Justice Avengers: A Black Day in Hub City

Deathstroke nodded at Roscharch, pointing at a leftover burlap sack. "Take as many as you can." He said, before walking closer to Niko, his sights trained on him. "You said Zabo stole your research. Is it related to the Miraclo drug?"

This day had not been going well for the local commander of the HYDRA troops. A mysterious group had smashed their way into the lab, decimated his forces, and his men had barely even scratched them in return. Thus, when his phone rang and he looked at the ID, he picked it up dreading what was about to happen.

"Sir."

"Give me a report, Commander." The voice of Zabo said from the other end of the line.

"Its not good, Sir. They have a cyborg, a man with some sort of flamethrower, and my men say they've seen both Deathstroke and the Winter Soldier among the attackers."

"I see. You will deploy the project at once."

"Sir, conferm that order."

"Deploy the project"

"Understood!" The commander hung up, then issued a new order to his men. "All units retreat!" He yelled as he smashed a red button. Upstairs, on the 5th floor, a surge of power ran through the building as something powered up. Then the locked doors to the 5th floor opened.

Bucky's attempt to shoot the barrier man would prove to be a failure, as the man had made sure to extend the bullet blocking barrier around himself. However, the gunfire then suddenly cut out.

Silvernane's attack proved more effective. The man tried to dodge, but failed, and the sound of cracking ribs signaled the damage. Before he could retaliate, however, he found himself yanked backward by one of his men, back behind the doorframe. The second he was behind it, another man smashed the keypad, slamming the metal door shut in their faces.

Niko shook his head while Rorschach started collecting the drugs. "Look, it's a long story. I don't even want to be here, but you don't get to quit HYDRA. Terrible retirment plan that consists of a single bullet to the head. You get me out of here, and I'll tell you everything you want to know about Zabo, HYDRA, and what they are planning."

Savage shook his head as they left the building. "Not right now. I will leave you two for now, as there are things I must adress on my own. I will let you know when you are needed again." With that, Savage teleported away.

Silvermane looked at the slammed shut door with a frown. "Huh," he muttered. "All right." he looked back at Bucky. "I'd look into getting some synth-skin over that arm. Gives a little bit of insulation." He threw his shoulder into the steel wall.

Deathstroke cocked his gun. "Let me put it like this. You are an unknown in my mission. Which means a lot of people are going to be interested on why you're here. People with the power to make you suffer for a long time. Me? I couldn't care less. But I can give you a way out of here." Now close enough to grab Niko by the neck, he nodded at the drugs in Roscharch's hands. "The Miraclo drugs. Can you make them?"

edited 27th Aug '15 11:00:34 AM by Stratofarius

The metal door was visibly dented by the ramming, but was not broken. Silvermane would be able to break it with another slam or 3. However, he would not get that chance. For at that moment he would hear a massive crash from upstairs as something left the 5th floor, taking part of the wall with it. It would then turn and start flying down the stairwell with the help of rockets mounted on the bottom of its feet, taking out parts of the stairs as it went. Firefly, still on the 4th floor, would be lucky enough to see his bit of the stairs remain intact, but would probably be shocked by the thing flying past him. Indeed, the thing did not even appear to notice him, so intent it was on getting down the stairs.

It stopped at the 3rd floor, and the 3 would be able to see what it was. It was clearly some form of robot, silver and green. It stood (Or, rather, hovered) about 10 feet tall. Wires still hung loose behind it from where it had been connected to something moments ago. Then it turned to look directly at Silvermane.

HOSTILE TARGET SIGHTED. TARGET IS NON-ORGANIC. LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED.

With this simple announcement, it lifted up an arm, and out of it came a wrist mounted rocket launcher. as big as any shoulder mounted rocket launcher a normal person may use. Then he fired directly at Silvermane.

"No, I can't make them! I'm an engineer, not a chemist! Even if I was, the drug requires many expensive and hard to get components that only an organization like HYDRA has the connections to obtain! But the drugs are only the first step of their plan! They are..."

At this point, the door opposite the one Deathstroke had entered from sprung open, and the HYDRA troops that had moments ago been fighting Silvermane came running out. But it was clear they had zero interest in fighting, as they were all making a mad dash for the opposite stairwell as quickly as they could. Rorschach aimed her pistol at one of them, glancing over at Deathstroke quickly to see if he wanted to shoot them or ignore them. Meanwhile, everyone in the room would be able to hear the sound of the missile that had just been fired exploding in the nearby stairwell.

edited 27th Aug '15 3:31:52 PM by Meanken

Firefly darted backwards as the strange thing rocketed down the stairwell. He very quickly realised that this would be a problem. He moved slightly forwards again to peer over the edge and saw the robot in more detail. This was probably out of his league, and he silently cursed that this happened the one time he had no grenades. He wasn't too surprised at the rocket launcher-arm as he was used to high explosives but instinctively jumped back again.

He considered his options for a moment while gazing up at the very broken staircase. Although he didn't have his flight setup, he was still pretty mobile without it. And if it was locked onto whoever that guy he couldn't quite make out below, the robot was probably distracted. Thus, Firefly took a running jump and grabbed onto what was remaining of the stairs ascending, trying to clamber his way onto the fifth floor.

edited 28th Aug '15 2:17:47 AM by TenebrousGaze

Bucky grunted as the door shut in their faces. "I'll get on that," he said, frowning at his arm. He slammed it against the wall in an attempt to shake the ice off, but just as the reverberations reached his shoulder, the robot flew in.

"Shit," Bucky said. Gritting his teeth, he darted closer to the robot, attempting to activate the short-range EMP in his arm. Even if the ice had messed with something, it would hopefully do something.

edited 28th Aug '15 7:55:31 PM by Serendipital

Silvermane was surprised when the door didn't just come right off the hinges. Did it even have hinges? Stupid future doors. But what was far more surprising was the robot that dropped down from the ceiling and pointed a gun at him. He barely had time for a weary "Ah, shit," before the missile hit him square in the chest and sent him crashing through a wall.

Seeing the cyborg get sent through the wall and into the small area that separated the lab from the stairwell, the robot turned its attention to Bucky. Bucky's EMP went off, but did not appear to have any effect on the robot, due to the fact that its electronics was shielded from EMP. The robot turned to him.

Target identified as designation "Winter Soldier". Live capture mandated.

With that announcement, the robot swatted at Bucky with one of its hands, aiming to hit him and send him into the opposite wall.

Meanwhile, Firefly would find he was easily able to get into the room that the robot had been in due to the rather large gaping hole in the wall. Inside, he would find what appeared to be some sort of tech lab, much of which had been destroyed when the robot activated and smashed through everything. Parts and equipment of all sorts littered the floor. An area on the wall had wires hanging off of it, clearly where the robot had been prior to activation. On the far wall, past the destroyed area of the lab, Firefly would be able to see several advanced looking computers. Any attempt to access these would result in the natural result of asking for a password.

Meanwhile, the increase in stuff breaking and explosions was noticeable even from the outside, and drew Deadshot's attention.

"Er, guys. does someone wanna tell me what the fuck's going on in there? Remember we need Zabo and his drugs alive and intact!"

As he looked at the computers, Firefly realised easily enough that he couldn't get into the computers. That kind of thing needed an entirely different type of technical ability and even guessing passwords was beyond him. Instead, he closely inspected the machinery and the area around it, trying to see if there were any machines attached to the computer, hoping something was broadcasting a signal . If not, he continued inspecting the area regardless, looking for any additional clues.

edited 29th Aug '15 12:44:32 AM by TenebrousGaze

"Take one out." Deathstroke told Roscharch. "We'll need the uniform."

He then turned Niko again, placing the gun right up to his forehead. "You're gonna give me a yes or no answer to this question. Do you know the recipe to the drug?" Deathstroke narrowed his eyes. "No matter what the truth is, you'll live. Die, and you'll burn with this place. Do you know the recipe?"

Live capture- Bucky jumped to the side, but not fast enough. The robot's massive hand slammed into his torso, and he careened into the wall, his spine and skull bouncing off of it painfully. Bucky groaned, slumping over, before attempting to contact the others. "Requesting backup," he grunted out, eyes flitting to where Silvermane had been sent.

Silvermane groaned as he stood up and picked away some tattered synthskin and bits of his suit. Stupid fuckin' robot ruining his fucking suit. He charged at the mechanical monstrosity and put his shoulder into its back.

As Deathstroke continued to interrogate the scientist, Silverback stood impassive. So much so he might be mistaken for a silver statue. After all, he was here for intel, and the other merc was effectively getting it for him. So, he continued to watch and wait.

(His sensors did detect what sounded like a fierce battle nearby. But that wasn't his concern. Not yet.)

edited 31st Aug '15 10:59:34 AM by Sijo

Anything that may or may not have been connected to the robot before it activated was not visible, having probably been thrown well clear of the area when it activated and ripped itself out of the walls. There was no signals coming out of the room at all. Indeed, most anything that might have been of use save the inaccessible computers appeared to be damaged beyond repair or beyond Firefly's ability to use to look for useful clues. About the only thing of use he would find was a scrap of paper some forgetful scientist had helpfully marked as "Door codes", with a list of all the codes to the various doors that had vexed Firefly for the duration of the mission.

Seeing that the target had been subdued, the robot moved to grab him. Before he could do so, however, he was tackled by Silvermane, smashing into the wall just above Bucky, who missed being turned into a pancake by inches.

MINOR DAMAGE! The robot said as it kicked backward, attempting to send Silvermane flying back into the opposite wall, or even better, down the stairwell.

Rorschach promptly shot two of the goons, just for good measure, while the rest barely even seemed to notice as they left the room.

"No, I don't!" The man yelled as he had a gun pointed in his face. "Only Zabo himself knows the full recipe! It's made in components, you understand?"

When the only response to his question was a request for backup, Deadshot groaned. Typical, just typical.

"Anyone going to fill me in on the situation? Can't help you guys if I don't know what the fuck's going on."

Firefly laughed quietly as he found the codes. It was pretty bad privacy but whoever wrote it down probably didn't expect one door - possibly the most secure - to be compromised. As he looked back at the hole in the wall, he thought about how it wasn't particularly helpful at this point, as most of the doors were now stretching the definition of 'door'. He tried to memorise the codes and then shoved it deep into his pocket before looking around to see if there was another door on this floor.

edited 1st Sep '15 2:00:18 AM by TenebrousGaze

When Niko said 'no', Deathstroke didn't wait before shooting the scientist right in the leg. "Dress him up on the HYDRA uniform." He told Roscharch. "Make sure to keep him gagged."

"We found the drug." He told Deadshot in the communicator. "Boxes of it, in fact. Where's Zabo?"

edited 1st Sep '15 6:32:03 AM by Stratofarius

Hisako would run over to the downed enemy and pinned him to the ground, half encasing him in crystal. -"stay put ok? We'll come back later and pick you up"- Then walk to Karima -"There's still one of them on the loose, let go bust him"-

edited 2nd Sep '15 12:02:09 AM by Sanojutsu

Now that he wasn't being surprised, Silvermane could keep up with the robot's movements. Probably something to do with servos or transmitters or a combat computer or some bullshit. His tech guys tried to explain how his body worked to him sometimes but he really didn't care. All he knew was that he was able to grab the robot when it kicked him.

"Minor damage, huh?" he asked gruffly, "How's this?!" Then he squeezed and wrenched and tried to rip its leg off.

Bucky slowly crawled further away from the action and spoke into his communicator, ignoring Deadshot's agitation. "3rd floor. There's a robot here. Has a rocket launcher." Bucky considered telling them about Silvermane, but decided against it. Deadshot didn't need to know.

"Oh, robots, great. You gotta be shitting me." Deadshot said as he facepalmed. "And Zabo was supposed to be in the lab with you guys. If you ain't found him by now, he's probably pulled out, if he was ever there at all." Deadshot sighed. "Alright, fuck it. I'm calling it in, time to pull out people. I'll be around in a second with the van, be ready, and for fucks sake don't lead the robot down with you."

Firefly would easily find a identical door that was intact on the opposite side of the room that lead to the opposite stairwell, which was currently empty.

Rorschach nodded at Deathstroke's instructions and walked over to the moaning scientist, dressing him in the uniform as instructed and gagging him. Once finished, she turned back to Deathstroke and signaled that it was done.

Silvermane would find that, while slamming the robot into the wall was easy enough, ripping it apart was somewhat more difficult then he suspected, as the leg did not appear to budge at the yanking. Meanwhile....

Proximity Violation! The robot yelled as it swung the leg Silvermane was holding onto, attempting to slam him repeatedly against another of the rapidly falling apart walls. Bucky, in this confusion, was currently ignored by the robot, who was focusing on the biggest threat.

Karmia got up off the ground and nodded. "Right, ass kicking time. Think he went for that building over there." She said, pointing over at the tall building the goon had went flying for. She started approaching, hands at the ready to blast the goon if he tried to attack them while they were on the move.

edited 4th Sep '15 6:16:27 AM by Meanken

Firefly opened the other door and peered out cautiously.

"Killer robot on the other side. What could go wrong?"

Firefly started descending down the stairs, trying to stealthily get down a floor. As he reached the fourth he stopped and hesitated. At this point there wasn't really a good option - he didn't want to fight the robot and the lower floors were probably just a lot of corpses by now, so it was probably back to the original plan - the third floor. He punched the code into the door anyway - one of his comrades could be among those fighting the weird robot and the ability to flee was an edge - and left it unlocked but didn't open it fully, as he didn't want to attract attention. He then descended to the third floor, slowly opened the door and peered inside.

First Bank of Hub City

The flying goon was staying hidden behind a nearby heating unit before frantically dialing the Chechen's number.

"BOSS! WE GOT OURSELVES A BIT OF PROBLEM!" he shouted in a thick Russian accent. The Chechen swore and, gesturing for four of his men to follow, headed outside with a revolver shoved down his jacket pocket. If he saw Karmia or her friend, he would start blasting along with his thugs.

Silvermane was dazed the first time he hit the wall, but he had no intentions of that happening again. He grit his teeth and brought his center of gravity low so that the robot couldn't swing him so easily and pivoted his hips, trying to swing the robot instead, down into the basement.

"Got it. We're taking the drug down to you." Deathstroke said, closing one of the boxes with his foot. "Here we are, taking the drugs back." He said to Roscharch, reaching into his belt and pulling out a grenade. "When an enemy soldier walked in with an incendiary grenade." He handed the grenade over to Roscharch and motioned to the downed scientist.

"It was a suicide mission. That's why we could only save one box." Deathstroke continued, slinging his gun and grabbing the box by one of the handles. "That's why the entire floor burst into flames."