I Moderate (i_moderate) wrote in we_archive, @ 2005-12-10 17:19:00 |
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Entry tags: | apollo, barbara gordon, bruce wayne, dream of the endless, gun battle, helena wayne, jesse custer, kyle rayner, plot, theodore kord |
i_moderate
The gun war began at rush hour. Or rather, at what should have been rush hour. People should have been driving home from work in the evening, getting ready to settle into their house shoes to eat dinner, or just getting back with little Jimmy, from soccer practice. Getting back with Candace, from ballet.
Throughout the City, no one could have not heard it. The first shot was more like a car backfiring than anything else. A sharp, rough sound at City Centre. And then there was a second, and a third. A downpour of these hard, piercing bursts of noise came.
No one wanted to step outside, to brave the criss-crossing of bullets.
The City was shifting, through all of this, scattering the firefight to every end and every beginning of its streets. Citizens kept their eyes down, and hoped from inside their safe, warm homes or their drab office buildings. The City didn't have a masked protector. Not that had shown his face yet.
Not really.
(( Bombs away, kiddies. All you do-gooders, go out and do good. All you baddies, soak in the chaos and join in the fun!))
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 12/10/2005 17:51:05
To eyes that could see, there was one figure that still walked the streets. One figure that braved the onslaught of bullets.
Not everyone saw her. Most were too concerned with their own safety to consider who else might be on the streets.
Death worked. Her day had started early, and it looked like it would be running late. Very late.
She walked through sprays of gunfire, unafraid and undaunted, lifting up the victims and sending them on their way.
From: [info]i_imagine Date: 12/10/2005 19:07:53
Green shield up, Kyle had no problem venturing into the frey. Well at least the outskirts of it. He wasn't stupid enough to walk into the middle of a gun war by himself even with his ring. The shield would hold, but he still wasn't jumping head first into it. The sneaky approach would work better for this he thought, if he could find some way that would work.
The shots kept ringing as he hovered around an outer block looking for the culprits. It seemed as if they were well hidden and because of that he certainly wasn't going down to peak around any corners alone. There were other heroes in this city, he knew it for a fact, and he couldn't be the only one who'd felt the call of duty tonight.
From: [info]i_huntvillains Date: 12/11/2005 08:04:29
Helena had been returning from her explorations of the city when she found herself stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. Just after she'd let out an expletive, she heard the first shot. In an instant, she had deserted the rental car and slipped into a back alley, pulling on her mask as she removed her button up shirt to reveal the black leather costume beneath.
She quickly pointed a gun upwards, the grapple hook catching even as she climbed up the side of a building. Once on top, her eyes scanned the streets for some sign of the shooters, while she mentally calculated her strategy for this.
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 12/11/2005 11:12:41
"Batman, this is Oracle." Babs spoke clearly into the microphone she had attached to the headset she wore. She waited patiently (i.e, ten seconds) for him to answer and then called him again, this time slightly more urgently. She repeated the process a few times before frowning and half shouting into the mic, "Batman, answer me now."
She couldn't help it, looking on the various monitors she'd set up around the half finished tower she could tell the city was delving into thinly veiled chaos. There was some sort of shooting war going on, and if Bruce was going to pick any time for Batman to make his appearance now should have been it. But for some reason he wasn't answering down in the cave.
"Batman," she said again into the mic. "I don't know if you're seeing this, or even getting this message, but if you are turn on your computers and switch over to my monitoring system. You'll be able to see what I'm seeing."
From: [info]i_walktheline Date: 12/11/2005 16:35:58
Alfred's seemingly imperturbable voice finally came over the comm. "Ms.. Oracle." He said, slightly betraying that for him, Barbara was still 'Ms. Batgirl'.
"The Batman is more than aware of the current crisis and will respond as soon as he is able. We are currently enroute to the hospital and from there he will make an appearance."
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 12/11/2005 16:40:54
Babs made a face when Alfred answered. At any other point she would have been perfectly happy to hear the man, but right now she needed Batman... or Bruce. Which ever one was headed towards the hospital. Speaking of which...
"Why are you two going to the hospital? He hasn't been hurt has he?"
From: [info]i_walktheline Date: 12/11/2005 16:43:31
"A young lady and her mother were exiting the department store when the fighting broke out. Her mother has been shot. "
His voice took on a touch of emotional weight. "I've done what I can for her, the hospital shall have to do the rest."
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 12/11/2005 16:49:59
Well, she couldn't fault them too much for that. It was a noble action, and Babs expected nothing less of them. She nodded, though Alfred couldn't see her. "Alright, please try and get Batman out there as quickly as possible. Let me give the two of you a little update... since the shooting started it's spread outwards so it's no where near as contained as it was when it began. The good news is I'm seeing at least two people out there that look like they may be supers at least. One is that Green Lantern I told Batman about the other day. I can't identify the other."
From: [info]i_walktheline Date: 12/11/2005 16:59:46
"We have observed the streets to be more difficult than usual. It is part of why we declined to wait for an ambulance. Have you noticed any identifying markers of the shooters... excuse me a moment." Alfred added as he made a sharp turn around a corner, in order to avoid an out of control truck, it's windshield riddled with bullet holes.
A moment later. "Any sign of leaders who might be detained ?" A lifetime with 'Batman' and his own sealed past made it second nature to ask the questions he knew Bruce would ask, if the window between the front cabin and the back of the car wasn't up and soundproof sealed.
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 12/11/2005 17:13:16
"Not yet, which is why I'd like to get eyes out on the street. There's only so much I can do from the clock tower," she said, peering over at her monitors again. Still nothing. She hear the shots, and see vaugely the buildings they originated from but other than that she was out of luck. They were staying pretty well hidden. "Not that he needs reminding, but should Batman come across any bullet casings, they'd be nice to have even if we don't get a shooter. Though there're so many of those... I'm sure we'll be able to grab at least one."
From: [info]i_walktheline Date: 12/13/2005 13:51:08
The hospital was looming. Sudden, large and white. Official.
"Indeed Ms. Oracle." There was a pause. "We are delivering our passenger and her daughter now. Is there any specific place you would like him to begin ?"
Outside, haggard and weary looking ER doctors and nurses were all business, seeing a man cradling a woman, heedless of the blood no doubt soaking into his suit and commandingly requesting help.
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 12/14/2005 20:34:57
"Start from inside the crux of the shootings. He should work his way outward. He'll know what'll work best once he gets in there, it's going to be alot of improvisation, he knows that." Babs watched her monitors carefully, still not finding the perfect entry point. Bruce would know what to do once he got suited up.
"Just tell him to hurry," she stressed again.
From: [info]i_walktheline Date: 12/14/2005 21:16:25
The doctors took the woman without looking twice at Bruce. He squeezed the little girl's hand, and promised to come check up on her and her mother.
With the solemnity of a child who has had the impossible happen, she simply nodded.
When Bruce got back into the car, his face was grim, but the shift from one side of his personality to the other was already happening.
"Tim is not to leave the house. I can't trust him out here until I know he's focused and in the moment. Tie him down if you have to."
A press of the backseat, pulled it down to reveal the trunk. Bruce pulled on the floor flap to reveal his suit. Behind tinted windows he began to dress.
"If he slips by you and Oracle sees him. She's to send him home. Immediately."
The car turned as it moved away from the hospital, heading into the city. Just by changing direction, the sound of shots got suddenly louder. Clearer.
Outside twilight was merging into night. The last few streaks of color valiantly trying to hang onto the sky.
Exactly four minutes after the they'd left the hospital, Alfred turned the car into an alley. Halfway through it, the trunk popped open. A grapple gun shot out and Batman emerged, pulled up onto a second story fire-escape.
He tapped his cowl under the earpiece and then clicked his heel against the wet rusted metal. The communicator to Oracle chirped on, as did his homing signal.
"Lead me."
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 12/15/2005 21:12:30
"Batman, good to hear from you," Babs answered. Her voice never changed, only because she was never seen. Oracle sounded pretty much like Barbara.
She turned back to her computer, locating the red becon on the screen that corresponded with Batman's position. "Alright, I'm reading you as about two blocks away from the main hospital, meaning you're right on the outskirts of the crime. Once you get on the roof you're going to want to go south, let me know once you get across the first three buildings. I think those should be stable for the moment."
She paused for a moment. "I thought you would have had Robin tested by now?"