Anti-Gnosis Weapon
Morpheus Mattresses
The goon with the gun that Spider-Boy had webbed shouted in frustration as his aim was thrown off, he himself lurched to the side off-balance, and his shots went through the wall instead of through Red Hood. Curiously, the bullets left trails of what seemed to be sizzling black and white particulate matter in the wall as they passed through. Distracted, the second gunman looked up, which was all the time the Big Bad Wolf's nemesis needed to get off a few impeccably aimed shots at the sword-wielding enemy-
Which the swordsman flawlessly deflected in a show of superhuman agility and dexterity, with a series of little metallic ting!s ringing out as the bullets bounced off his blade. The sword goon followed it up by a smooth transition into a wide, arcing swipe that bisected the line of webbing that had gotten stuck to his comrade, and with a "HYAH!" of exertion, used the same motion to send a crescent-shaped wave of negative energy flying at the Webslinger's perch on the roof. "[Kill the fool in the hood!]" he commanded in Mandarin, evidently the man in charge, "[I will slay the Son of the Spider!]"
"[Yes!]" the two others chorused, refocusing on Red Hood and continuing their advance toward the entrance, still alternating short bursts of fire. It wasn't exactly a vast distance from the city street to the mattress shop, so in practical terms, they were getting quite close to the door by this point.
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
Toa of Anarchy
Docks
Ahhh, there we go. The rats had scurried away to a hidey-hole, safe and sound, safe and sound. Now, it was finally time to get down to brass tacks. The Goblin flew through the air to the narrow alleyway the Wharf Rats were catching their breath in. To the left of the entrance, he gently descended and parked the glider, disembarking as the device powered down. Casually, he sauntered into the alleyway, and confidently leaned against a wall once he was in sight of the Wharf Rats.
"Quite a night you boys have had," he remarked. "Fortunately, this is the point where things start looking up for you."
Morpheus Mattresses
"Whoa, okay!"
Spider-Boy steps to one side, dodging the energy wave.
"That's a thing now, I guess! Looks like you've got the Kalashni-cough-drops handled, I'll deal with Ichigo over here!"
Jumping at an adjacent building, Spider-Boy kicks off of it, sending himself into a flying kick right at the sword-wielding thug. Anticipating an attack, the Arach-Kid employs one of his newest tricks - reducing his own gravity and adjusting his momentum to dodge to the side mid-flight, then rapidly increase his own gravity to slam straight into his opponent before they have time to dodge.
This post is sponsored by Amalgam Comics.
Spidophile
Docks - Warehouse
"Welker quit six months ago pal. I don't know you from Adam. Now why don't you shut up and save it for the judge?" the cop who looked a lot like Welker told Jason. In Gotham, too many murder cases went cold or were difficult to investigate - this officer wasn't going to throw away a slam dunk "I saw the suspects next to the bodies" kind of case.
"I'll say it again - hands up or I shoot." the Welker lookalike said roughly and perhaps illegaly. Then again, this was Gotham - even the GCPD officers on the straight and narrow were still known to play rough on occasion.
"Come in tomorrow..." another taller cop repeated after Jason, shaking his head and laughing. More cop cars were starting to pull into the warehouse area now.
Docks - Alley
The Wharf Rats, understandably jumpy, reacted strongly to the presence of the Green Goblin. The two left with handguns leveled them at Osborn while the others, wielding bike chains and baseball bats bravely raised them up too.
"What do you want with us man?" one of the gunmen asked frantically.
"Cap 'em Mike! He's with Falcone!" a diminutive woman covered in tattoos screeched.
"Shut up Squeak! Tell us what you want man or I will, I swear to God!" Mike warned.
Fox Gardens
"Good to know you." Falcone bid farewell to Mr. Negative and waited for him to exit Fox Gardens before instructing Ox to go help the two unconscious guards outside the door.
"Dan, you ever hear of powers like that?" Falcone asked Fancy Dan of the Enforcers as he gingerly looked over his dazed men. Fancy Dan shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, do some digging. I know you boys have some metahuman contacts - see if they know what this guy's deal is. But first, take Montana and jet on over to Club Noir to borrow as much money from Keen as you can. Don't worry about paying it back." Faclone smirked. Ever the player, Carmine knew when the right time to press and advantage was. And if his boys were able to snag one or two hundred large from Keen, that'd let him hire another super mercenary to deal with all that was going on.
Morpheus Mattresses
Timothy Thomas, for his part, just ignored the two heroes and continued to clutch his wounded extremities while the big mobster on the ground was slowly fading away into the next life. As gunfire and swordplay were happening outside, sirens could suddenly start to be heard approaching. In hindsight, someone in the neighborhood had probably called the second they heard the first gunshots.
Right now, only one car was coming forth since a lot of local patrol vehicles were busy responding to the docks. It would be about fifteen seconds before the cop car went from the end of the street to the mattress store.
"You're an enemy of art and I pity your ignorance" - Domingo Montoya Help save the rainforest for free simply by going to Ecosia.org.
AKA Nixer
She-Venom: The Docks
While the cops were busy holding Jason at gunpoint, the cowering Anne was psychically conversing with her symbiote. The thing was nuzzling her, apologising for its recklessness and promising to not eat anyone's brains so long as she accepted it again. Plus, the police weren't fooled by Jason's attempt at bargaining, and as such the two needed to figure out a way to defend themselves ASAP.
Already traumatized by the violence she'd committed, Anne decided to let the symbiote cover her again on one condition. Coated in the black substance, her form suddenly shimmered and vanished; becoming distorted and difficult to see as if mimicking her surroundings to simulate invisibility. The sound of quiet footsteps—barely audible above the engines of the approaching cars—crept about behind the cop Jason had misidentified as Welkee, before settling behind him with invisible claws extended.
Rearing back, the cloaked symbiote readied to cleave at his back. Not to kill him outright; merely to disable.
bork
Toa of Anarchy
Docks- Alleyway
The Goblin quickly put his hands up, but even as he slowly swayed upright, he didn't seem the least bit fazed by all the weapons pointed at him.
"I realise you've all been through a lot tonight," he said, mildly irritated, "But I'd appreciate some gratitude for the man who's been trying to keep you all alive. What I WANT is to help you: you, and whatever other Wharf Rats are out there still. In point of fact, I was coming down to have a nice friendly chat before I saw those mobsters putting you under siege."
He affected an air of sympathy and sadness, turning his gaze to the ground for good measure. "It took all I had, my weapons and smokescreens, just to throw those murderers of your sent. The mobsters, and...those...those costumed butchers, who the media calls 'heroes'. I'm...I'm so sorry I couldn't do more."
Glory to Arachnos
"Ugh, everyone's got a gimmick now!" Jason went back to cover as the sword guy deflected his bullets. Why can't they just let themselves get shot like good boys?
Reaching for his belt, he'd pull a flashbang grenade. Judging from the sounds of the guns, they were getting closer and closer, and while his armor could take a few bullets, going out in the open is suicide with those guns. He pulled the pin, and started counting. One. Two...
"Mind the eyes!" He would then throw it outside, as it started rolling on the floor. If the gunmen didn't covered their eyes in time, they would find themselves temporarily blinded by the flash of the grenade. Red Hood would take that opportunity if it happened by quickly going out of cover and firing at the two with his pistols.
-Spider Lizard Noises-
Spidophile
Docks
Morpheus Mattresses
The mattress store, originally just a simple protection racket operation, was rapidly turning into a free-for-all gunfight between multiple different factions; Red Hood and Spider-Boy, Mr. Negative's thugs, the police,Falcone's boys, and the injured store owner who just wanted everyone to get the fuck out of his store and call an ambulance.
Complicating matters, another faction suddenly appeared.
The Red Hood would be able to instantly identify the vechicle that suddenly appeared in the sky as the Batplane and it was likely everyone else in the vicinity would be able to recognize it too as the iconic vehicle of the disappeared Batman. But was he truly gone?
The Batplane was only hovering slightly to the left of the mattress slightly in front of and above the police car. The police car had stopped and the Batplane just continued to hover for a moment before it suddenly began opening up and peppering all of Mr. Negative's thugs with a steady stream of machine gun fire. It'd be difficult to avoid entirely - even for the Swordsman without taking extreme cover and quickly. A small comfort for the negative men was that when impacted, they'd soon find that the bullets were rubber bullets - nonlethal but still hurt like a son of a bitch and if hit with multiple rounds, they'd be out for a good bit.
Docks - Warehouse
The cops may have been holding Jason Blood at gunpoint but they were still able to see Anne as the two of them had been caught conversing with each other. As such, while they were distracted enough to not notice her transforming, once she got up and began moving, it was pretty hard to miss.
"Backup! Backup!" one of the cops shouted into his radio. The Welker lookalike fired blind rounds at Anne but he was no nervous and she was moving quickly that it was anyone's guess as to whether or not they'd hit. The other two cops in the area began taking cover and got ready to open up on Anne.
With all this going on, absolutely no one was paying attention to Jason Blood
Docks - Alley
"You're not with Falcone?" Mike the gunslinger asked. Even the loudmouthed Squeak seemed to be paying more attention to the green man before her.
"You have a place to duck the cops and Falcone for tonight and we'll talk green boy." Mike said at last, lowering the gun from pointing at the Goblin's head to his torso - a muted, if noticeable show of lowering his guard.
"You're an enemy of art and I pity your ignorance" - Domingo Montoya Help save the rainforest for free simply by going to Ecosia.org.
Popcorn, Get Ya Popcorn!
The Docks— Warehouse
Blood was pleasently surprised that attention wasn't on him. On the other hand, Anne and "Lady" would look to be having a bit of trouble. He sprinted maybe fifteen feet and ducked behind a stack of crates. They needed to leave. He checked his pockets. Leather drawstring bag of bad luck salt (makes luck marginally worse when consumed), good for channeling negative karma. Regular salt, general-purpose. Matches, common and exotic herbs in various pouches, powdered fire... ah! There it was. Blood pulled out a small wooden box, flipping it open, thinking fast. Yellow, positive connotation, light sun, no. What's good, what's good... He pulled out a stick of red chalk and scrawled around himself, moving decisively, tense."Let's make a deal, Demon mine." "What are your terms, fragile little worm?" "Grant me your speed for ten breaths, and I'll allow as many minutes of complete, unrefined freedom." "Why not just release me and and have both speed and my fee?" "Simple: because you're in a particularly bloody mood. Now, will you accept my terms?" "Fine, fine, I'll make my speed thine. For ten breaths, no more, no less." Blood finished his scrawling, breathed out, breathed in, and held his breath. His eyes opened wide, and scarlet fire was in them. And for a short time, he moved like a speed demon.
He sprinted, slammed into a couple officers, the force knocking them off balance his focus loose, causing him to inhale. He hastily held his breath again, waved at Anne and Lady to follow swiftly, before sprinting toward the awaiting taxi, which against all odds had not yet left. Thank God for how much he tipped.
Toa of Anarchy
Docks- Alleyway
Gobby perked right up. "Why, funny you should ask!" With a flick of his wrist, a black calling card with a jack-o-lantern insignia appeared between his fingers. "This card has the address of an Acme warehouse, south on Park Avenue," he said, daring to walk closer to the gunman. "It's been deserted for years- you could hold off an army in that gloomy old place. Also on the card is the number of a burner phone. Text it to arrange the time of any future meetings. Now...will you be requiring an escort? Someone to keep a bird's-eye view of your scurrying?"
AKA Nixer
She-Venom: The Docks
The bonded duo hadn't expected to be spotted so quickly, and as such they were struck immediately by the shots from the officers and shrieked in pain. Lady had successfully absorbed the worst of the damage, but the impacts bruised Anne within the suit regardless. Aware things had gotten out of hand, they fired a sharp globule of the symbiote itself at the nearest streetlamp to break th he light and rain down glass in the area.
This with Jason's help gave She-Venom just enough time to get her act together. Scampering into the darkness again, she took a moment to flush the suit free of bullets before swiftly bounding towards the taxi; skittering on all fours before stealthfully slinking inside and sitting herself down on the back seat.
The suit's mask receded, and the rest of it shifted into common civilian attire. Anne, with visible lines in her makeup from her tears, finally allowed herself to breathe; anxiously wringing her hands together in her lap as she ducked her head low.
You ate someone.
We ate someone!
You forced me to!
We do whatever we want! That includes you! The only reason we could is because you wanted to deep down!
I'm not a cannibal, you monster!
No, but you're bloodthirsty. You're upset at them. They're blocking our way to the Spider!
They're cops. It's their job.
Dirty cops. It's a public service to devour them.
Anne couldn't argue further with the creature. Her eye was twitching throughout the conversation, and her knuckles had turned white from how tightly she was clenching her fists. It was like trying to disagree with a nest of hornets. The creature just dodged all of her efforts to reason with it, and proceeded to sting her tenfold in return for her trouble.
If it wasn't for that man, we'd be dead.
We should've eaten them all straightaway. We wouldn't have been hurt.
You deserve it.
She felt a momentary tightening around her neck, but it ceased when she barely flinched in response to it. The symbiote couldn't scare her like that anymore. She knew it wanted her alive. She had all that negativity for it to feed on.
But here she was, sitting in a taxi, bruised and battered while waiting to make their escape. Where would Jason take her? What would he do? To the cops outside and then to her?
She'd find out soon, she knew. But as She-Venom, she had nothing to fear.
bork
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
Morpheus Mattresses
Spider-Boy's clever re-directional trick kick knocked the sword-using thug to the asphalt with an "Oof!" But though he may have been down, he wasn't out! With a great "NNNNNGGGGGHHHHHHAAAAA!", he swept his blade in an arc through the air toward the arachnid-kid—
Only to be overwhelmed by the sudden stream of machine-gunned rubber bullets Ratta-tat-tat-ing out of the Batplane! Completely taken off-guard, the thug let out a strangled stream of noise as his body turned into a percussive instrument, and he finally collapsed, incapable of movement! Nearby, his comrades fared even worse, as not only were they blinded by Red Hood's flash grenade and pounded by the Batplane's fire, but Jason's shots easily pierced the stunned ne'er-do-wells in the spots he'd been aiming at, leaving them barely conscious on the ground and gradually bleeding out!
All in all, it really wasn't looking like such a good night for the thugs of Gotham!
Edited by darksidevoid on Jan 20th 2022 at 4:58:10 AM
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
Morpheus Mattresses
"Ow. Ow."
Being a bit more durable than your average Joe, any rubber bullets that manage to hit Spider-Boy aren't immediately debilitating...but that doesn't mean they didn't still hurt. The Wall-Walker casts a web line back into the mattress store, pulling himself back through a window to safety. The first thing he does is run over to the injured thug and shopkeeper, trying to dress up their injuries so they don't bleed to death.
"Hey, Rambo, isn't that your boss flying that thing?"
This post is sponsored by Amalgam Comics.
Spidophile
Docks - Alleyway
"Nah we can handle ourselves." Mike the Wharf Rat told the Goblin before running to the Acme Warehouse with the rest of his gang. With most of the cops in the city right now being occupied by the She-Venom/Jason Blood escape, the gunfight at the mattress store, the possible reappearance of the Batman, and other various crimes, the Wharf Rats would find their path relatively unobstructed and if the Green Goblin were to fly to the warehouse there after some time to meet them further, they would be there waiting for him.
If you don't want to continue talking with them at the warehouse, feel free to skip ahead in your next post. Otherwise, just do as you want to do.
Taxicab
The taxi driver was a consummate professional and said nothing even as a strange alien looking lady jumped into his car, under a hail of gunfire, and morphed into a schizophrenic-seeming woman.
"Where to boss?" was all he asked. For as much as Jason had paid, he was willing to overlook a lot. Miraculously, the cab hadn't been hit by bullets.
Morpheus Mattresses
The danger of the thugs seemed to have passed - the Batplane stopped firing once they were all down and the two cops jetted from their car to begin cuffing the thugs, both Mr. Negative's and Falcone's inside the mattress store. They hadn't quite made their way into the mattress store just yet so if Red Hood or Spider Boy wanted to flee the scene, they certainly could. Or they could wait around and answer questions - although given how loud the mattress store was swearing he'd sue the both of them, it might be a bit risky, especially for Red Hood whose ensemble and weaponry might lead the cops to think of him as a villain.
The Batplane continued to hover overhead slightly above the store buildings in the neighborhood, silently keeping watch.
"You're an enemy of art and I pity your ignorance" - Domingo Montoya Help save the rainforest for free simply by going to Ecosia.org.
Popcorn, Get Ya Popcorn!
In The Cab
Jason took half a moment to center his thoughts. "The Hill, my place. You're a godsend, Bernie." They took off through the streets, weaving through traffic. Jason let out a massive sigh of relief and turned to Anne/She-Venom."Firstly, I want to apologize about any injuries you may have suffered. Second, I want to apologize for how emberassing a showing this was for me. I thrive when I have time and information to plan these things out, and I went into that confrontation tonight scatterbrained and undergunned."
"Third—" looking at the cab driver, he took out a rubiks-cube sized cube of some glossy wood and traced through the rune patterns on it. It glowed a faint blue, and then subsided. "Just putting up a basic proxied sealing ward so our gracious driver can't hear this conversation." He ran a hand through his hair in nervousness.
"Third, I want to be clear on some basic information. My name is Jason Blood, and I'm the vessel and the principle binding instrument of the Demon Prince Etrigan, one of the more powerful members of the nobility of a netherworld roughly equivalent to Hell. I am also a practicioner of the Dark Arts— magic utilizing demons, sacrifice, suffering, pacts, trades, and the like. Though I have done some horrible things and my abilities aren't exactly all puppies and rainbows, I do genuinely want to bring evil to light, help save and better people, and keep this city safe."
"Fourth, we're going to my house on Crest Hill, which is heavily warded, including with some illusion magic designed to make it not stick out to regular people. I should be able to treat your wounds easilly there. As for the cops—" Jason sagged, a lot of his intensity and focus deflating out of him. "I'll have to deal with them tomorrow."
He actually took a few seconds to study Anne, then chuckled. "As someone who utilizes intense emotion in my spellcasting, and also just has eyes, I can tell you're bleeding tension." He took a second to feel at the energy surrounding her. "You're... Hmm. You're feeding the parasite, with all that fear and misery, even if you don't want to. Hmm... I'm used to dealing with demons and their ilk. Similar function to something like a succubus, but with a general focus on negative emotions as opposed to a particular class of sin like lust, and from a non-infernal creature as well..." He pulled out a piece of paper and began taking notes. "I need better tools to properly pick apart this whole... situation..."
He looked up from his paper sharply, locking eyes with Anne, the desire to understand this new phenomenon shifting into genuine anguish. "From what I can see just at a glance, your aura is shattered, and your positive energy channel overlay has massive holes eaten out of it. In short, on a spiritual and magical level, your ability to properly feel happiness and other positive emotions has been severely limited and eroded by the symbiote. All of this can be repaired— but the symbiote is actively making the situation worse, or at least not fixing it— I'll have to get my tools to tell which it is. And—"
He held up a finger, a mixture of professorish wish to explain and heartfelt pain for how bad things looked. "—The only reason I can tell all of this, even with my magical sight, is because the damage to your outer safeguards has made reading your mystical status extremely easy. Even a novice talent could do it. You're an open book in that regard."
"In short, you need help. That's all I'm offering. You're injured, on multiple levels, not of your own volition. Let's fix that. What do you say? Let's get you patched up, and start from there?"
Blood extended a hand.
Edited by Greydoom on Jan 20th 2022 at 3:27:01 AM
Slam Bradley's Office-The Swordsman
Andreas Strucker paused a moment knocking on the window outside the detective's office. He knew Slam was a tough, canny old warhorse, and making a good first impression would be critical if he was to make any progress in this Gothic maze of a city. It's all gargoyles, dark alleys, and monsters here. Well, maybe I'll feel comfortable. He adjusted his helmet and murmured a few words in French. Andrea always said it was my best language. Then the Swordsman leaned forward and gave the glass a sharp rap before slipping inside.
"Mr. Bradley? I'm the Swordsman." His voice was slightly distorted by the helmet, just enough to hide his accent. "I've heard you're looking for someone to do the legwork about a missing postman? What do you know about him? About what happened? I'll take any information you've got. His hand fell to the hilt of his sword almost as a reflex.I won't lie to you-I'm new to Gotham, and I'm new to this sort of thing but I've heard stories about this city." His voice now held a slightly bitter smile. "But I want to help, and I don't scare easily, and I don't mind ugly work.''
Glory to Arachnos
"You got to be kidding me." Red Hood grunted as his eyes glanced towards a familiar sight. No way in hell that's his old man, though. He's been MIA for quite some time. ...Is this Dick taking up the mantle? Fucking hell, he's gonna be disappointed if that is the case. From his interactions with him, he never wanted to be as crazy or paranoic as Bruce.
"My 'boss'-" He says that part with some visible annoyance. "Hasn't shown his face for a while. Don't know why, but I'm not sticking around to find out if he's still kicking, that's for sure." Jason holstered his pistols and immediately ran off towards the emergency exit of the store, grabbing his grappling hook to go to the rooftops and make his escape. A part of him is curious what the heck is up with that, but he's got a feeling whoever's riding the Batplane is gonna pull out the 'Bruce wouldn't want you to do this' card if they talk to him. Blegh.
-Spider Lizard Noises-
AKA Nixer
She-Venom: In The Cab
Anne was silent throughout Jason's whole explanation, merely staring at him wide-eyed as the symbiote got to work in tidying up the worst of her wounds. She huddled in the corner of her seat, feeling cold moreso out of fear than actual temperature. Indeed, she was tense, and she would've been surprised if Jason hadn't picked up on that.
But his words describing the symbiote, though carefully chosen, still caused her breath to hitch. As such, she flinched a little when he held out a hand towards her, only to calm just enough to mull the whole thing over. He seemed genuine, if not a little burdened himself. It reminded her of someone. A certain reporter who she knew by proxy, and the man who she was now on a rampage to find.
Jason was not that man. But she'd keep wary. She'd been betrayed before, both Lady and her. Lady by Parker's rejection, herself by Parker's negligence in regards to Eddie. He'd ruined her ex's career, and then his life. How then, could she so brazenly take a similar man's hand without giving out conditions first?
So give them she did.
“I-I want Lady with me...” she croaked, aware of the alien entity's shifting around and throughout her form. It was tending to internal injuries too, which was never pleasant to sit through. “P-Please. We need each other. And... a-and I've been through hell. I... I-I lost my ex-husband... j-just a week or so ago. It's not just the suit. It's me, too...”
The symbiote enclosed around her face again, for a brief moment resembling a black-suited Spider-Man before the lower half ripped open to reveal those dreadful teeth and wide mouth again.
“Us, together. We are Lady and Anne, as Venom. We spit bile and hatred at the Spider, as he spat bile and hatred towards us. Help us, and we'll help you.”
The symbiote receded, leaving Anne to trail off into mumbles and muttering as she turned to look out the window. She looked disconnected, alienated. She was entirely reliant on the suit for stimulation, it seemed. It was a crutch for her own lack of awareness.
She was in deep, deep mourning.
Edited by Enirboreh on Jan 20th 2022 at 12:51:35 PM
bork
Morpheus Mattresses
Before leaving, Spider-Boy calls out to the police officers.
"Hey guys, two dudes bleeding out in here, one more webbed up and another just straight-up unconscious! Later!"
And with a quick web line out the window, plus a few wall-kicks between buildings, he's outta there! The Wall-Walker at least tries to follow Red Hood along the rooftops, though - he gets the feeling his business isn't over with the vigilante.
"Hey! Slow down, Terminator, I've got a few questions!"
Dammit Jason this web-swinging jerk is behind you.
This post is sponsored by Amalgam Comics.
Spidophile
Slam Bradley's Office
"The Swordsman huh? Everyone really does have a gimmick nowadays don't they..." Slam asked somewhat despondently as Andreas walked into his office. The Swordsman would be greeted by a devastating aroma of cig smoke, spilled whiskey and the smell of a man that's been in his office for far too long.
"But I won't complain about the help. Guy's name is Willie Lumpkin. Disappeared while on his route. Cops found his mailtruck still running. I got his file right here with everything I know about it. But with Falcone and every other gangster in the city going at it, I can't spare the time to look for the old bastard." Slam said as the big man handed Andreas a thin orange folder.
Inside were various pieces of information on Willie. He seemed to be a rather old gentleman with glowing reviews of all the people on his mail route. Not married but had a girlfriend named Doreen Greenwald. No evidence of foul play was spotted near his mail truck although a strange, as of yet unidentified, metal fragment was collected by the cops near the truck.
"You find him and I'll give you and whatever clowns helped you 90 percent of the reward with ten percent going to me for a finder's fee of course. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a whiskey bottle that needs downing." Slam said, gesturing for the Swordsman to get going.
Morpheus Mattresses
The cops and ambulance drivers that were now on the scene waved Spider-Boy off as a wordless thank you as they busied themselves securing the perps and administering first aid as needed. The Batplane, for its part, continued to hover and then flew off into the night away from Jason.
"You're an enemy of art and I pity your ignorance" - Domingo Montoya Help save the rainforest for free simply by going to Ecosia.org.
Popcorn, Get Ya Popcorn!
Blood- In The Cab/At The House
Blood saw how conflicted the woman was. He tried to smile reassuringly. "Alright. If that's what you really want, I won't separate you and... 'Lady'. The next best thing is to help you both get stronger. So." He rifled around in his jacket, and pulled out an envelope. "Here's $500 in 20s & 50s. Bernie'll take you wherever you want. Or..." The car pulled up to the large, gloomy house Blood called home. "... You can stay here for a day, see how you like it. Be safe for the first time in a long time." Blood got out of the cab, walking up the driveway toward the house.
AKA Nixer
She-Venom: At The House
Anne seemed to contemplate Jason's offer for a few moments, initially taken aback by his monetary gift before hesitantly accepting it and pocketing it within the suit. She balked somewhat at the idea of the driver taking her wherever she wanted—given the fact that she didn't know where she wanted to be at the moment due to the day's ordeals—but upon hearing the option to stay at the nearby house for the time being, she nodded quickly and got out the car to follow him.
“Th-Thanks, Bernie...” she murmured in farewell towards the driver, before allowing the suit to fully adopt the form of her civilian clothing and hurrying after Jason. Making sure to stick close by to him, wary of them being followed, she glanced nervously around in case she could hear any approaching cars or strangely advanced gliders. As soon as the door would be opened to her, she was ready to rush inside for a sense of sanctuary.
“...for what it's worth... I... we didn't want you to see that...” she said quietly, her mind going back to the gang member she had effectively ingested the grey matter of. The urge to vomit wasn't as strong now as it was back then, but she still couldn't help but feel nauseous about it. “I didn't know... that the suit needed feeding. Maybe there's... a-an alternative. I don't want to go through that again. Or put anyone through it...”
bork
Spidophile
Gotham News Radio Broadcast
Good evening, Gotham. This is Vicki Vale with your daily news roundup. Crime continues to be on the rise with purported head of the Falcone crime family, Carmine Falcone, struggling to maintain hold over Gotham's organized crime layer. Two shootings took place today, both of which were linked to the Falcone family. 9 were left dead in a vicious shootout at the docks that police say were likely the result of a territory dispute between Falcone and a local street gang called the Wharf Rats. Police at the scene reported seeing a mysterious alien-like creature and what appeared to be a demon there. Both figures engaged the police and are currently wanted for questioning. Whether these two were mercenaries working for either gang or unaffiliated vigilantes is unknown at this time.
The second shooting was at Morpheus Mattresses, where an attempt to extort the owner by Falcone family associates quickly turned violent when local vigilante Red Hood and celebrity superhero Spider-Boy showed up at the scene before the police and engaged the criminals. Several other criminals with seemingly no ties to the Falcone crime family showed up to the mattress store to engage Red Hood and Spider-Boy but were cut down with a hail of rubber bullets shot from what many onlookers describe as the Batplane. Does this signify the return of the Caped Crusader? Only time will tell.
Mob Madness - Day 2
F.E.A.S.T. Homeless Shelter
It was a rainy day in New York City and the rain was hitting especially hard in the Gotham half of the great city. This caused the city's homeless population to seek refuge in the F.E.A.S.T. shelters set up by one Mr. Li. However, one man
, large and intimidating looking seemed a bit out of place. For one, he didn't seem homeless as he was decked out in gold jewelery and carried himself with the gravitas of a man who knew he had the backing of powerful friends. Secondly, instead of demanding food or water, he was asking the secretary to speak with Mr. Li himself as he had some very important business to discuss.
Al's Diner
The Aryan Brotherhood was a vicious, white supremacist gang in Gotham City, Their membership ranged from the criminally insane to the brutally angry to the fearfully insecure and they were responsible for some of the worst crimes Gotham had ever known.
They also loved pancakes, which is why they were eating at Al's today as Al was well-known for his amazing banana pancakes.
As good as Al's pancakes were, the behavior of the neo-Nazis was not nearly as good as they were swearing like sailors and shouting about racial supremacy and dealing cocaine.
"Hey fellas, cool it with that kind of talk, huh? There's families here! Take it outside!" Al spoke up finally to the booth of six Aryan Brotherhood members that were causing such a ruckus. Covered in swastika tattoos and silver chains, five of the neo-Nazis looked to their leader for guidance on how to handle this challenge to their authority. Their leader, a bald man with Oakley sunglasses on stood up and walked over to Al.
"...I don't want any trouble.." Al said, looking down at his feet. Oakleys put a reassuring hand on the diner owner's shoulder.
"Of course not, man. Sorry for the noise - we'll take it outside." Oakleys said. Al looked up and cracked a smile while the bald Nazi leader picked up his coffee mug and raised it to the diner owner.
"Thanks for the unders-" Al began before Oakleys smashed the mug into the owner's head.
"We'll take your fucking corpse outside you fuck!" Oakleys shouted. The other neo-Nazis hooted and hollered and most of the other diner patrons began exiting the booths. Oakleys directed his men to start looting the diner and they rushed over to clear the cash register. The only diner patron who didn't exit was an old man with a hat who continued to sip on his own coffee.
Howard the Duck's Office
Howard the Duck, private investiagtor and duck extraordinaire, was analyzing Slam Bradley's newspaper ad from yesterday and laughed at it. Honestly, Slam was a good guy but he was stuck in the past - who even read newspapers anymore? Not only did Howard put an ad asking for help on the same case on the internet, he also put up another wanted ad online asking for some mercenaries to back him up on a recon mission he was about to undertake.
Like Slam, he was enjoying a cigar in his office but he had cracked his window open, despite the rain, to make it more bearable for any possible freelancers stopping by.
Acme Warehouse
The remnants of the Wharf Gangs had indeed taken refuge in Acme Warehouse as per Green Goblin's instructions. They'd also reached out to the handful of other members scattered across the city to regroup with them at the warehouse. However, all was not well as the Wharf Rats in the building and, indeed, anyone nearby could suddenly hear screaming come from a nearby alley.
Jason Blood's House
At Jason Blood's stately home, both he and Anne would be woken up by a pounding noise from outside. If one of them went to investigate, they'd find a police officer standing outside the front door knocking on it. There was only the one police car in the driveway and the officer appeared to be alone.
Edited by FantasyLiver on Jan 23rd 2022 at 1:09:24 PM
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Popcorn, Get Ya Popcorn!
Blood's House
Blood performed a healing ritual on Anne— the Restoration of Marbas— which sapped his strength to exhaustion. He pointed her toward a dusty guest room and stumbled into the living room, falling asleep on the couch while binging movies about the gruesome conquests of Ghengis Khan, muttering to himself about all the things he had to take care off the next day.6 A.M.
He woke at 6:00 sharp, to a loud banging at the door. He went to the door, checking the peep hole to see that a cop was making the racket. Figuring he might as well look presentable, he made himself a bagel, had his coffee, showered, brushed his teeth, styled his hair properly, took a lint roller to his coat, and checked in on his scrying array and did a bit of work rebooting it. After about 20 minutes, he undid the multiple locks on the door, deactivated the wards, and swung the door open, smiling broadly."Hello, officer. Want coffee? I think it's cold by now, but then again so are 6 out of every 10 murder cases Gotham precinct pursues. And yet, you come here, all huffy and in a hurry. It almost seems like you're looking for any reason to disturb and limit the actions of dutiful, long-serving citizens of this troubled community from getting any work done at all. So, let's make this simple..." He began counting out 100 dollar bills.
"How much does Falcone buy you for every month? I'll match him if you forget ever being here and bury any traces to me deep, deep in the file cabinets. Hell, I'll double it. Two months' 'tips' for one measly little suspect getting dropped."
Behind his smile and sharp words, he was raging. He had so many more important things to do— help Anne, fix the scrying away, help Slam Bradley with that missing person's case if he could fit it in, put some Nazi's in their place— he could feel their petty, odious hatred from miles away. Find some way to contact Spider-Boy, perhaps form an alliance with the young and moral hero, with all the good things he'd heard. God, the list was ever growing. And this 'blue knight'— who possessed neither valor nor charisma— was a impediment burning precious time.
Edited by Greydoom on Jan 23rd 2022 at 10:20:40 AM
"Relax old man. All the screaming will make the wound wor-" Before he could get the chance to use his helmet's interface to make an anonymous call for an ambulance, the noises behind him made him turn around and- well well well. Even more garbage rolling around. It's like they come out like cockroaches.
"Been dead, done that!" Red Hood quickly slid towards cover before the bullets could hit him, grumbling at the Little Red Riding Hood joke. Somehow he's got the feeling he's gonna hear that a lot.
"Come on web guy, it's not like TMZ is very big in Gotham!" Are they though? Eh, either way, he doesn't care. If Spider-Boy's maneuver was a success, he'd take his chance of being free from the suppresive fire to start firing a few shots of his pistols towards the swordsman, aimed at his chest.
-Spider Lizard Noises-