Step One: Distraction

[Deleted]

{ guest character: natalie scorn, nebula }

No one expected a thing as the tall, blonde woman stepped into the jail. There was nothing off about her, perhaps except for how she looked. She was in designer clothing with dark sunglasses covering her eyes. She was bored, lifting her sunglasses and placing them on top of her head as a security guard approached her. Before he could get any words out, his eyes became locked onto hers. "Listen and listen closely," she said, grabbing the man's chin and forcing him to keep looking into her eyes. "You're to release every single prisoner and shoot anyone who tries to stop you. Understood?"

The guard nodded and she let him go. She watched as he stepped to the back, making his way to where the prisoners were kept. She didn't even flinch at the sound of gun shots. Her heels clicking against the ground, she made her way to follow the guard. He hadn't killed anyone, simply wounded them. She knelt down in front of another security guard, who was on the ground and leaning back against the wall, having been shot in his side. "When prisoners walk by, you're going to give them the keys to any weapon vault you have and offer them your own gun, understood?" The guard nodded, a glazed look in his eyes.

It took only minutes for everything to fall into place. The criminals were set loose and given weapons. Before they could get out of the jail, she stood in their way at the entrance. Their eyes were all on her as they pointed their weapons. She frowned. "Don't even bother. Now you're all going to hunt down every single hero this Godforsaken city has and you're going to capture them." One by one, she whispered a location into the criminals’ ears. When she was done, she opened the door. "Kill anyone but the heroes. Their deaths have to mean something. And if any one of you disobey, my punishments will make the Devil look like a little kitten." With that and her commands running through their minds, her powers compelling them to obey, she watched as they exited the jail, yelling and attacking any civilians nearby.

She grinned at the chaos, putting her sunglasses on and making her way to the back exit. Once there, she slipped into a sleek black mustang and drove it away. She would find out how it went on the news later, she figured. For now, she would report back to Gregory and let him know the plan was in motion.

{ open to heroes and anybody who wants to try to stop the criminals. }

[Athena 'Shift' Logan]

If the yelling and running hadn't tipped anyone in the immediate vicinity off, the alarms that were blaring their klaxon sounds certainly would. Shift surveyed the scene for a long minute, worried and angry - how had all of them gotten out? There didn't seem to be anything on fire - yet - nor was there evidence of an explosion... So it wasn't the usual style of super-powered mass break-outs. Those involved henchmen, explosions - they were big and flashy, making a statement, thumbing the villains' nose at the cops and guards. But now, none of the guards were chasing after the milling criminals. A few were explained by the forms on the ground - dead or wounded, gun and taser holsters empty.

That thought made the heroine shiver, even as she made her way into the fray. A few small scuffles were going on around her, Shift knew - the rest of her team, spreading out and taking down as many prisoners as they could, the grunts and shouts telling the experience heroine how they were doing. She had her hands full with a large bald man, taser aimed shakily in her direction. A feint to the left, a sweeping kick that got behind a knee that was as large as her forearm, and the large man was down for the count, his head knocking against the concrete painfully. Athena moved on, eyes roving. The regular criminals - the non-powered humans - the city police force could round up. It was the ones who had a tendency to blow things up with silly putty, or take over banks with giant ferns, that she was worried about.

While it was nearing dusk, it wasn't yet dark - the setting sun made a beautiful backdrop to the scene of destruction the Titans were in the middle of. But wandering blindly wasn't working - they couldn't waste time on stopping the low-level criminals, not with super-powered baddies on the loose, as well. Pulling out her black-and-yellow communicator, the shape-shifter flipped it open. "Shift to all points. It's pandemonium where I'm at - and all I'm seeing are just regulars, no supers anywhere. The police can round them up, so we need to focus on our usual baddies.", the heroine said. 'All points' included everyone who had a working communicator - other Titans, Young Justice. She'd been reluctant to give any to Riders' Deck, but that didn't mean they might not have one or two. "Anyone have a lead on what happened here?"

[Deleted]

joshua wayne

There usually wasn’t much time for relaxing in Josh’s life. Even going shopping or taking a walk around town seemed to end in chaos. He had been in a local small grocery store when he heard the chaos – his team’s base didn’t have unlimited food, after all. The store was quiet for the most part, aside from some classical music playing in the background. He was with Ishi, who had a small shopping basket hooked on her arm, a few groceries already in it. It was odd to say the least – what with how he could go out shopping with her and either no one noticed who he was, or they simply didn’t care. Back in Gotham, he would have been ambushed by paparazzi and blinded by flashes.

But of course his peaceful shopping trip with his girlfriend had to be ruined. He instantly turned his attention to the front of the store as he heard screams and yelling. He looked to Ishi, who seemed just as confused and disturbed as he felt. What the hell was going on out there? That was when he heard Athena’s voice over his communicator’s earpiece – he always had it hooking on his ear. Ishi set the basket down and the two slipped into the back bathrooms. Perhaps it was due to a paranoia that he got from his father, but he made sure they hadn’t left without their costumes. That was the only use he saw for a backpack.

He had no doubt that his team was already in action with the Teen Titans. Rider’s Deck had probably heard about it from his team, so he hoped Harvey was helping out. A couple prisoners kicked open the doors to the store and started ordering everyone to stay where they were. They must have thought the city’s heroes were spread thin and wouldn’t come to kick their asses. Naturally, they were wrong.

Robin was moving quickly once done changing. He was up on top of the isles, jumping and twisting to dodge bullets. Their attention was on him. Good. They didn’t see nor expect Stone Alice until she was right on top of one of them, literally. She had teleported herself above one of the men and came crashing down on his shoulders, shoving him to the ground as hard as she could. The Boy Wonder couldn’t help but grin. It was somewhat attractive when she took a grown man done, in a badass sort of way.

The two of them moved quickly, in sync. If one didn’t know any better, one might assume they were teammates. He jumped off from his perch on top of an aisle, the bottom of his foot making contact with the second man’s face and shoving causing him to stagger back. The teenager landed gracefully on his feet and had his bow-staff out, clicking it and elongating it to twice the length of his arm. He struck out, hitting the man multiple times with the metal staff until he fell, unconscious.

Ishi took care of the only woman in the trio. She quickly had her snatched by her hair and shoved her head down, bringing her knee up and slamming it against the woman’s nose. A few well-placed kicks and punches later and the woman was down. Once they were out of the store, he gave his girlfriend a nod before watching her run off to join Jester and Whisper. He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. It didn’t take long for Travis to swoop by and pick him up.

The half-Kryptonian dropped him – literally but close enough to the ground – by Shift. He landed easily on his feet. He could Wonder Girl and Wonderboy off a few ways down, working with some Titans, and Quickshot on a nearby roof, shooting off arrows. He turned to Athena. "Got your message, though no clue what happened. Think this could have been an inside job?" He didn’t like suggesting corruption, but growing up in Gotham, it was usually the cause behind prison breakouts.

WORDS:; 676
OUTFIT:; Costume (see app)
TAGGED:; Open
NOTES:; None.

credit to Delusional

[Athena 'Shift' Logan]

ATHENA -- s h i f t -- LOGAN
-- 21  -- teen titan  -- shape shifter  -- lesbian

Shift shook her head as Robin fired off his question. "I don't know. Probably. Not many people could get to all of the prisoners.", she answered, eyeing the rest of the heroes as they fought and rounded up prisoners. The guards were helping as best as they could; they were doing much better with the regular prisoners than the super-powered villains they sometimes faced down. It wasn't anything her team couldn't have handled, of course, but the extra help was...appreciated. It rankled at her pride sometimes, but, well, she couldn't turn down the help, not without offending everyone and looking like an idiot herself. it wasn't that she didn't like most of them, or didn't want the help - she would have just rather had some more Titans. Having other teams in Jump City was awkward enough, with the press constantly confusing them, deliberately or not.

Checking her communicator, the shape shifter clipped the black-and-yellow gadget back onto her belt, biting her lip as she thoughts, wheels spinning - getting nowhere in her mind. There had been a massive break out. The motive was obvious: freedom, the chance to wreak some havoc...the chance to get revenge. Sighing, the twenty-something rubbed a gloved hand in cirlces against her forehead. "I think so, yeah - yes. It would explain how everyone got out, not just a sole person.", she mused, reiterating what she'd already said, trying to work out what she was thinking as she went along. She watched the criminals that were left - they fought tooth and nail. It was almost unusual, she thought. But...why? Of course they'd fight for their freedom. But not against such difficult odds... "Something's not right.", she murmured, squinting as she thought.

The criminals all fought like madmen. Like they were almost posessed. Had someone put them up to this? Were they just fighting to fight, get out the aggression? Or did they think they stood a chance still? Maybe they were just desperate. "But - I don't know, it could just be that the prisoners planned it themselves.", she suggested, although weakly. Villains weren't known for working together, after all. It was like herding wet cats.

[Deleted]

joshua wayne

Josh’s mind was twisting and turning as he tried to figure out what had caused this, who had released the prisoners. It was part of being a Bat, he figured. He was a detective – or a detective-in-training. He needed to figure out the cause, but his mind was going nowhere. Of course a thought struck him, but it wasn’t one he wanted to voice because of the memories it brought. What if it had been Nebula?

He looked toward Athena as he caught wind of her murmured words. This was her city, her criminals, so if she said something wasn’t right, he knew she meant it and he instantly believed her. He had no reason not to trust her. He followed her gaze to look out at the prisoners and frowned, realizing how hard they were fighting. A couple that had been briefly unconscious started fighting again after waking up. And the way they were grabbing at some of the heroes… it was as if they were trying to capture them.

But they couldn’t be, right? Why would these lowlifes want the heroes to be captured rather than dead? And why weren’t they running, trying to get away instead of fighting? Alarms were going off in the Boy Wonder’s head. “No I think you’re right,” he commented, his grip tightening on his bow-staff. “There has to be a mastermind behind this. No doubt someone whose already left the scene.” His mind was working a mile per second, trying to think of anyone else who could have planned this.

Anyone but them.

He came up with no other options. He paled ever-so-slightly and looked back to Shift. “It could be Nebula,” he suggested, the name of the villains tasting bitter in his mouth. God, he hoped it wasn’t them. But considering he had no clue as to what their plans were exactly, he knew he couldn’t rule them out.


WORDS:; 321
OUTFIT:; Costume (see app)
TAGGED:; Athena 'Shift' Logan, heroes, open
NOTES:; None.

credit to Delusional

[Deleted]

Not one thing came to mind, Clark was supposed to be at work, he couldn't abandon the city. He couldn't just pretend nothing was wrong. He gave a long-time customer the keys, and ordered her to let people in to keep them safe. He instructed her on how to get into the basement, and then left. He couldn't just stand by when he was capable of saving people. And so he jogged as normally as possible to a small, ignored warehouse building, within was housed his uniform. Some people called him and anarchist looking for attention, some said he was a hero who just wanted his cut, others saw him as much a villain as the people he stopped. He was just a guy born with some natural agility and strength who wanted to make a difference.

He pulled on his mask, the black bandana that hid his face, his Kevlar armor, steel plating, his pants, and black combat boots, he pulled his hood up, and put on his gloves. He evolved from a regular everyday guy to the Freerunner. He was a vigilante, and a thief, though he only stole from thieves, never the innocent or defenseless. He made a few minor adjustments to his attire, his goggles being the last bit, black goggles with a mirrored face, and UV protective lenses. He rolled his neck, stretching his arms, legs, and back, limbering up. He slipped out of his hideout, locking the door from the outside. He turned toward the city, breaking first into a quick walk, exploding into a full sprint. Over years of running like this he was capable of maintaining the speed, nearly, indefinitely. As far as he knew no one could outrun him.

And as soon as he hit the streets, he could see people scattering away from the general direction of the prison. This was going to get messy fast, and he knew it. He had actually run scans of the city from his little base to see where the prisoners would likely go first. It all made sense to him, Titan Tower, most of the guys in there were locked up by the Titans' own hands. And, of course, the Titans would never let them get that far. He cursed under his breath as he opened his reserves fully, his speed increasing, running straight up the front of a moving truck, jumping from car to car as he maneuvered his way toward the prison. Sadly enough, even at a distance, he could make out the shapes of two heroes. He would've liked to avoid them, but beggars couldn't be choosers, better to have two people he didn't trust at his back than no one at all.

Then again, maybe the anarchist-like uniform and unnaturally friendly attitude were unwelcome. He hit the ground, dropping to a roll, finding the ground beneath his feet again. His sprint was unbroken, regardless of how they fought, they were still just prisoners, and only the largest could match his strength, though not one could ever rival his speed. Though he came in like a bat out of hell, he didn't say a word. He used his opponents like poles, jumping from head to head, launching himself into every unfortunate person to charge him. He had no pattern, and he never struck the same way twice, it made each attack difficult to guess, particularly because he drifted through his opponents like water through cracks. Whenever his feet struck ground, he lashed out with his arms and legs, fists smashing into jaws, deflecting any weapon that might have taken out any other many with steel reinforced arms. The only sound coming from him was the occasional laugh at his opponents' inability to keep up.

Unlike the Titans, he didn't think about why the prisoners were so vicious, or who was behind such a massive breakout. Let them come, he'd bring the strongest of the to their knees, and even the most vicious would beg for mercy. The Freerunner didn't pay attention to his companions in the mission to end the madness, he didn't acknowledge them, and he didn't let their movements distract him. He had never met them, and doubted they'd be happy to see him there, he was a freelancer, which meant his loyalty was unpredictable, he was a loose cannon mixed into their objective. But hey, they were the same thing to him.