New Outsiders

With Connor taking point, Batman, Batgirl, and Starfire all follow into the Hall of Doom. They find themselves in a literal hallway- one which follows the circumference of the dome-shaped structure.

You all hear heavy footsteps approaching you at an unnervingly even clip- all stepping in exact unison. Focusing, Batman discerns that the sound indicates six sets of footsteps marching towards your party on either side of you. Which seems to indicate a welcoming committee of an even dozen.

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Six regular enemies are hardly a work up, but the moment she saw this base, Batman knew the odds of her enemies being regular weren't necessarily in the cards. And it's hard to tell what each person would be packing.

Looking over her shoulder to the rest of their party, Batman sliced through the air very directly, then remembered her orders would have to be verbal. "Shadows. Now. I lead first, then you. Arrow to back. Ready six. Batgirl, take left."

She reached for her grappler and quickly ascended to the ceiling. The claws of her gauntlets sink into the hard ceiling and she holds, ready for the kick off.

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As you get into position, six human sized toy soldiers, marching two by two and armed with strange looking rifles, approach from either side. Batman's visor identifies them as the work of Toyman- but their weapons scream Luthor.

None of the dozen soldiers seem to notice you as they enter striking range.

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stephbrown

Steph doesn't like the look of those weapons. She's hoping that the toy soldiers are as easy to disarm as actual toy soldiers, even though her luck never really runs that way. She gives it a try anyway, striking for the weapon of the nearest soldier with her staff.

Edited Date: 2014-11-01 08:20 am (UTC)

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You disarm the soldier, weapon going off as it clatters to the ground. An angry red laser jumps from the muzzle, blowing a scary hole in the wall behind you.

You now have the full attention of all twelve soldiers.

(Order of Initiative:

Starfire
Batman
Green Arrow
Soldiers
Batgirl)

Edited Date: 2014-11-01 09:16 am (UTC)

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Likely as a way of detracting angry robot attention off Steph, Starfire begins glowing brightly to present herself as a more obvious target, and flings a starbolt through the soldiers on your party's left. The front two go down.

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That's all the initiative Batman requires. Dropping from the ceiling, she lands hard on the robotic heads of the first two soldiers lined on the right. With her clawed gauntlets, she digs her hands into the large toys' faces and easily pulls.

Not wasting time, she kicks off the two soldiers and volts across the crowd in the right. She spins quickly and throws three Batarangs at the backs of the soldiers.

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The faceplates of the two toy soldiers fall right off, revealing a nightmare of wires and microchips as they fall to the ground. The batarangs meet their mark, but they don't seem to have much of an effect.

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After seeing what the Batarangs have - or haven't, really - done to the soldiers, Connor quickly discards the idea of just shooting arrows at them.

Connor dives for the gun of the fallen soldier nearest him. It's hot, and heavy - he knows he can't hold it for long. He's gotta make this shot count.

He fires a blast at the most convenient soldiers to target, then immediately drops it, hands tingling with the pain of the minor burns even through his gloves.

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Connor doesn't hold down the trigger for long, which seems to affect the strength of the blast- while not nearly as powerful as the blast you previously witnessed, it does manage to take down one of the soldiers on the left, bring the total down to seven.

In unison, those seven aim their weapons skyward, all converging on Starfire. Kori assumes a similar defensive pose to the one you saw when she blocked the turrets outside- but instead of fizzling out, or even combusting, Starfire seems to absorb them.

The look on her face betrays that she did not expect this to happen.

She falls to the ground, prone.

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stephbrown

Well, that's... not good. Steph goes for a kaboomerang; hopefully an explosion to the face will take one of them out, and maybe distract the remaining soldiers from Starfire until she can shake off whatever that was.

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The kaboomerang brings the total number of soldiers down to six.

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It's apparent now what can take the soldiers down and Batman wastes no time putting her half-baked plan into motion. Taking off as fast as she can, she reaches into her utility belt and produces the capsules containing plastique.

She slides beneath the remaining soldiers, dropping the capsules beneath the robots, then halts by Starfire.

"Cover!" she orders, pulling the Tamaranean over her shoulder before ducking away, she presses the remote control for the C4 after making certain that Starfire is shielded.

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All heed Batman's orders as the plastique goes off inside the age, laser, and Starbolt worn Hall of Doom. The soldiers, however, do not- and where they once stood, a large hole now looms into the main chamber before them- a thirteen seat dais, with a higher podium in the center, seat turned away from you.

Connor also spots a familiar face, held captive in some kind of contraption in a far room: Lemmy Mason, would-be ghost hunter.

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Oh God. Lemmy??

"... they have a captive," he says quietly.

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"Hello, children," a growling, gravelly voice said from the turned around chair. "Batman. Or whoever you are. I suppose you're here for the bull. Well, you're too late. I don't have it anymore. But, as long as you're here... I might as well entertain."

The chrome chair- as opposed to the leather chairs surrounding- swivels around, and the podium sinks into the ground. You see Grundy reveal himself within- body atrophied, neck lolling to one side, face paralyzed.

"Pardon me for not getting up," he says through gritted teeth.

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stephbrown

Wow, this keeps getting better and better. Steph was really hoping Starfire would be more awake for the Grundy thing. On the upside, it doesn't look like he's going to be beating up on them, unless this is all some sort of elaborate hoax to lull them into a false sense of security. That's probably Bruce levels of paranoia, though.

Still, as long as he's not rushing at them to beat them to a pulp, maybe they can use this as some sort of intel gathering mission. Steph takes a step forward. "What's going on here, Grundy?"

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"What's going on, Blondie," he grunts, "Is I just want my life back. I heard about these computers. The ones you could upload your brain to. They call it 'transhumanism,' maybe you heard about it in school. But I like being human, you know? I've gotten attached to this gross, gray, lumpy body. When it works, anyway," he scathes.

"So! I say, graft the computer with my brain on it onto the body, and the brain can't die! This way, my brain can stay stable every time I come back! No more mindless zombie Grundy! And I can finally take charge of my gang again. I honestly don't see what's so bad about that. We're just trying to get it right here. Sure, some people have to die, or turn into putty monsters, but it's all in the name of progress, right?"

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"No," Connor says. "I'm sorry for your condition. But these people are not your toys. You've kidnapped and tortured and killed, and you do not get to point to some vague concept of 'progress' to justify it."

"This is over. Let him go."

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"Eh."

He struggles for a moment.

"I was trying to shrug at you. But my point is, I'm already a monster. In for a penny, and all that."

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stephbrown

Steph takes a look around the room, trying to get an idea for the layout. She whispers to Connor, "Think he can stop us if we just rescue the dude? We can arrest Grundy after."

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You hear a raspy, throaty chuckle from Grundy, like a chainsaw caught in a lawnmower.

"You want to grab the kid? Sure. Go ahead. He's right over there."

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stephbrown

"Or not," Steph replies, narrowing her eyes. "You should be trying to stop us. Why aren't you trying to stop us?"

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Connor does not even slightly trust Grundy. Moving very cautiously, he steps marginally closer to Lemmy, examining his bonds more closely, but at a healthy distance.

"Batman?" he asks. "What do you think?"

Edited Date: 2014-11-04 11:06 am (UTC)

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