4886/Gotham City - Murder Circles

Gotham City - Murder Circles
Date of Scene:	12 July 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Batman, Robin (Wayne), Witchblade, Zatanna Zatara, Shatterpoint

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Batman has posed:
A dark shadow has crept over the city of late. The crisp winds of autumn blow in from the north several months early and there are strange scents of cobolt, ozone and cider in the air that do not get noticed by those who go about their daily lives, but those who pay attention to such things took the omen for what it was. Anyone looking would notice the extreme murders at oddly fractal patterns on Gotham's maps matching specific patterns to specific days along specific streets all of which had existed since the founding of the city. Those who understood the motion of the stars in relation to the motions of exterior dimensions....someone was up to something.

Batman has posed:
Batman stood watching over a small church that had been around for a long time, a basic chapel but the bat computer found that its fractal patterns matched...something. As the sun set, he watched through thick and highly advanced binoculars. "What is it?" His voice was strained, troubled. This one was odd even for Gotham.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Robin had been...slightly more active than Batman was as he stood watch. The young teen sat on a ledge, idly toying with his BatTech mask, going through different vision modes. "I've sat for days waiting for a North Korean general to get in my crosshairs, but this shit...is boring."

  He was at least quiet mostly as he said his comments. At least before he quit playing with the mask and moved onto birdarangs. "Don't you already have a villain that does calendar themes?"

Witchblade has posed:
    This basic chapel had a few up in arms. One of them was Sara Pezzini, who, unlike batman, wasn't brooding over the church. In fact, she had actually walked her way up in plain view before she decided to move down an alley....and near Batman. "Fancy meeting you here." She says to Batman. Robin, however...she doesn't recognize.....at least not immediately.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna might only be a part-time member of the Justice League, but that still makes her a member of the Justice League. And when another super-hero has problems that require an occult touch... she's usually the one they go to. Batman sent the map of the killings to Zatanna. That happens every now and then, a bit of info and a request to see what Zee can make of it.

Zatanna has been looking at the map for some time. Something about it... She can't quite put her finger on it, yet. But something is wrong with it... There's something bad going on. And she'd hate herself if she didn't go and try to protect her friend from any bad magick that utility belts aren't equipped to stop. "Ekat em ot Namtab," she says, and thus, it is so.

Shatterpoint has posed:
    Following the murders from point to point, Caroline has been a woman possessed. Though she has yet to catch up with the culprit, she has a keen mind and the whispers in her ear have told her but the sparest hints to direct her where she needs to be.

    A nightmare stalks the rooftops tonight, as such. Moving through the darkness, silent as a dream, at a pace unreasonable for a human being to move. She can feel it- as much as someone might be able to investigate having seen the signs, Caroline can -feel- the oncoming presence of Death.

    It's just a matter of -where.-

Batman has posed:
Batman nods as the detective arrives. He looks down from the rooftop, tapping the shared communications channel. "This is Robin. He is good at what he does. I would not take his youth lightly." He looks at Robin and with the microphone off says, "This is worse. The North Korea problem is not going away soon. This is old, something from the deep archives of the city and something I have not yet cracked. Gotham comes first, you know that." There is a looming presence in the city and those with mystic senses can feel the spatial weight around the church grow heavier. Something is making the barriers between worlds thin.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "I just was comparing the two. The General eventually got in the crosshairs. And the League started more turmoil five years ago."

  Damian had stood up once the Dynamic Duo were joined. He looks at Sara, sizing her up. He puts the birdarangs back into his utility belt. "Fourteen years of assassin training will do that to you." He comments, his voice barely touched by lower registers.

Witchblade has posed:
    "Assassins have nothing on us....me..." Sara says rather cryptically as the feeling of the spatial weight starts to increase. "That....is not good." She looks at the church, then looks to Batman and Robin. "I'll....go in the front door if you two will....head in there like Bats did at the GCPD." She even takes off her coat.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Someone steps out from the shadows behind Batman. Not just someone, but Zatanna Zatara, mistress of magic. She didn't intend to try and 'pull a Batman' on the Dark Knight himself, but magic works in mysterious ways sometimes. The sorceress is dressed fairly casually for investigating crimes: black blouse, black slacks, a variety of nifty jewelry for occult protection.

"Batman," Zatanna says, before realizing there are two other bodies present. She stops herself, then says, "Didn't realize you had company already." She nods to Robin, "Hey, kiddo." Then she turns back to the master detective. "I've been looking at that map you sent me and... something's wrong, here. Something's EXTREMELY wrong. I can already feel it in the air here."

Shatterpoint has posed:
    Admittedly, Caroline adds a lot to that feeling of wrongness. Sadly, she wasn't entirely aware of where Batman and the others were. As a result, she's making her way not for them, but for the church proper. A corpse of action at all times, Caroline can probably be seen- by nobody but those who spend most of their times watching blurs move from rooftops, so basically everyone present- slipping down towards the church from a rooftop.

    She doesn't necessarily know better to stake a place out. Instead, she's taking the direct approach, and seems intent on making her way into the church- as it is where that feeling seems to be coming from.

Batman has posed:
Batman is hard to pull a Batman on since he immediately heard and clocked Zatanna the instant she was on the scene. Rule one of being Batman, make sure you are not Batmanned. He did, however do her the courtesy of not immediately looking at her until she spoke. "I know." His voice was dark, gravelier than usual and full of concern. "I'm not arcane and even I can sense it."

He took out his Grappel and fit it on another building as he moved to swing in, "And I don't like it."

For anyone in a five block area, there was a faint pounding, like the infamous telltale heart of Poe lore pulsing, faintly, just at the lowest level of human perception as there was a subliminal sighing and breathing. An alien crackle that might almost be a yawn. And other sounds, sounds not describable by the English language. Something inhuman and non eucledian; synesthia of slime and mold in the form of ticks and hums.

As Caroline approaches the church she will feel gravity under her feet increase and decrease with each step she takes. The gravel seems a bit putty like in its extremely small and litered parking lot.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Robin rolls his eyes at the comment concerning Assassins. Though with his mask, his eyes aren't quite able to be seen.

  As much as the shortest member of the Robins disliked childish epithets, he lets certain members of the Bat Family and the League get away with it, much to his own chagrin. He nods to Zatanna after she greets him. "Zatanna." He responds, quite evenly, and without sarcasm or anger. "I agree, something is off around here."

  Robin drapes his cape over himself, the classic gold lining of the cape, and the red and green of his uniform masked by the black fabric. Only to pull out his own grapnel and shoot it across the way, following Batman's ingress.

Witchblade has posed:
    Sara looks up as Robin grapnels out, and chuckles. "I guess you're with me....Zatanna, right? I'm Sara Pezzini." She says somewhat softly. "And...it looks like we're not alone." She says as she spots Caroline. She starts to move forward.....and stops...

And looks down to her her right arm...

...where her bracelet is starting to become a gauntlet with three gems....a very familiar sight to Zatanna. "So it's going to be like that is it?" She says as she starts to strip off her clothes as quickly as possible.....and let the Witchblade cover her in armor....right in front of Zatanna.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna has seen weirder things than Sara Pezzini throwing her clothes off, but that doesn't mean that she's ready for it. Only when the armor of the Witchblade covers Sara -- 'covers' being a loose application of the term, sometimes -- does Zatanna realize what's going on. "I'll be damned... the Witchblade," she says, thoughtfully. "Never thought I'd see it in person. Hey, speaking of things I never thought I'd see, let me know where you get your waxing done when we're finished with all this, okay?"

Zatanna watches the Dynamic Duo head into the fray, and she turns to Sara. "I didn't bring a grappling hook of my own, but I can abracadbra us over there. Just... be ready for whatever, okay? Because we're kinda going in blind -- Annataz dna Inizzep ot hcruhc!" And so, they teleport.

Shatterpoint has posed:
    There is a time for subtlety, and a time to put the fear of death into people using a church for something rather nefarious. As Caroline hits the pavement and finds that gravity is being toyed with- less for her, perhaps, than others- she shakes her arms for half a moment, chains of ice slipping free as if they'd just been hiding there.

    With a lurch, she sends their tips flying, the ends of which burst into this tiny radius of blue, before Caroline pulls the chains backwards. Doors are strong- and likely barred- but Caroline isn't human, and is stronger still. Though she isn't trying to- and doesn't- rip them off of their hinges, she still pulls them right open with a loud, angry cracking of old material.

    That done, and without further ado, she heads inside without so much as a word- the feeling of being watched, no matter how true it is, is ever-present. She's not the kind to care anymore about it.

Batman has posed:
Time behaves in a slightly odd order as the gravity ripples the closer everyone gets to it. As Zatanna and Witchblade teleport, their destination is altered slightly so that they appear behind Shatterpoint the instant she bursts open the doors. Batman and Robin, meanwhile, slide in at what seems like an impossibly sluggish pace, hours becoming minutes and gravity rippling to the point that it shakes the ropes on both their grapples to the point of breaking but Batman (and thus also likely Robin) are able to couch their fall with an immediate acrobatic roll.

A gurgling shriek is heard in the chapel as four robed figures ooze out of the stained glassed windows on the west side of the building. All the windows shatter at once, but they shatter at precisely the same time Shatterpoint breaks them. There is a rippling and tearing of things but around Shatterpoint gravity is normal close enough that things are somewhat normal time while for Batman and Robin gravity moved up and down just sitting and then standing there like there were on a roller coaster. It would make anyone less trained hurl with nausea.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian rolls once his cable gives way. Almost immediately he draws his katana, even from the gravity, Robin feels the nausea setting in, even turning a slight shade of green. The Boy Wonder however, manages to keep it together.

  Damian takes a moment to acclaimate, only to take out a birdarang and throw it at one of the figures, a test to see how corporeal they are, and of course, if his katana will work on them without being too close.

Witchblade has posed:
    "This is even freakier than dealing with Irons." Sara says as she looks about, even with the small point of normal gravity. "You seen anything like this Zatanna?" She says as she tries to fiure out what the heck's going on.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"SEEN, Detective? ...or do you have a codename, when you're wearing the thing?" Zatanna is trying not to feel ill. She has to swallow deeply, and still ends up holding a hand to her stomach. "No. Not seen. But I think... I think I know what this is. Y'know," she says, swallowing again, "I think this is gonna get worse before it gets better."

Zatanna looks ahead, to Caroline's position ahead of the two. "I dunno who that is," she asides to Sara, "but I also don't think Batman and the boy wonder are prepared for a thing like this. I don't know if you know what you're doing with the Witchblade, either, but if you can keep that thing in check, you're probably gonna need to be on defense to keep those three and anyone else who wanders into this from getting killed. Or worse. Did you know there are things that are worse? Because this might be one of 'em."

Shatterpoint has posed:
    The others seem to be falling from the sky, though Caroline isn't aware of Zatanna and Sara until they land. For the record, Caroline isn't fun to look at with magical sight, for those who are unprepared. It's like staring at the woman with the VCR tracking off- as if the universe itself objects to her presence.

    Regardless, Caroline doesn't necessarily regard them much, her gaze not necessarily lingering. She knows enough to know that if they're here they're either part of the problem or part of the solution at the moment. Neither one is one she feels is an issue having at her back- even if they're not friendly.

    Instead, she is walking forward, trying to move through the door of the church and draw herself ever closer to the cause of the issue- oozing cloaked figures aren't her focus. What is her focus is whatever is going on- which means an ever-steady pace forward.

Batman has posed:
The birderang is insanely accurate and cuts through the cloth. It is corporeal and it does bleed. Granted, as it bleeds, thick snake like yellow and black banded tentacles begin to spill out of it instead of blood, but it was cut and it does seem to experience pain. They ooze and rush towards the five heroes but Batman, overcoming the nausea through will alone spots a figure with a book running from the chapel, "Ignore those..." he grunts in pain to Robin, "He's the target..." as he begins to run, dodging and weaving despite moving through spots of zero gravity to five times Earth standard and still slowly gaining on the man running away.

The wraiths shoot blasts of dark energy at the experiment, the sorceress and the vangard. The circle in the basement pulses power and all three of them can sense it. It is a circle, tied and activated with blood.

Witchblade has posed:
    "you feel that?" Sara says as she doesn't even acknowledge the question of a codename. And she's looking down. "There's a basement....has to be." Of course, then there's dark bolts flying at them and Sara is diving for cover. "This is going to get ugly quick." Then lets out a rather loud belch.......that echoes in the church. "Blech." She says...and she lobs a fireball at one of the wraiths......

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "Alright." Robin says as he makes chase for the figure with the book. The changes in gravity make it so Damian couldn't jump and use acrobatics like he could normally. So he takes to the ground, running as swiftly as he can.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Dleihs em!" Zatanna cries out reflexively, and lifts her hands. Disc-shaped shimmering fields of energy block the bolts from striking her. They do nothing to stop the permeating sense of sickening Wrongness that is seeping into the sorceress's pores.

That Wrong feeling is why Zatanna almost-kinda shrugs off the 'glitchiness' of Caroline. She figures it's part of what's happening here. She might react differently once the adventure is over and Caroline still seems off to her magic-sense.

"You're right," Zatanna calls to Witchblade. "Whatever's happening, it's below us, it... oh, screw it... Roolf nepo pu!" And so, the floor near Zatanna opens up, looking like it's yawning. Assuming her magic is strong enough in this perverse atmosphere, anyway.

Shatterpoint has posed:
    Firing bolts at Caroline is only the beginning for the troubles of whomever happens to be inside. The bolts strike their target, but instead of sending her flying or tearing her apart, they warp and pulse off of her body. This draws her attention instantly.

    Turning and lurching an arm forward, the ex-detective flings a chain forward at the nearest offending occultist. If it hits, it'll have the same effect as the ones she flung at the door- attach, and pull.

Batman has posed:
Zatanna gets the secret bonus level of skipping the fire trap on the stairs by making the stairs...irreleant as the granite floor is pulle away to reveal a glowing arcane circle filled with blood, glowing a DEEP purple violet as it throbs and rings with agony.

The wraiths move with IMPOSSIBLE speed when not seen they are immediately there one on Zatanna, two on Witchblade, then one on Witchblade as the fireball trapped in time until it got close enough to Caroline's reality stabilization field and then it is atomized. The chain hits the one and makes it bleed but the reality stabilization makes it SHRIEK with pain and all three remaining wraiths back away.

Batman clears the gravity field first but then notices congregation to the side and moves to get them out of the way. "Get him." Batman says to Robin which is a bit like telling a rock rolling down a hill to keep rolling and the faster youth catches up, well within striking distance. The man, face blurred by some spactial warping effect wears a white dress hirt and slacks as he turns around and is chanting.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian takes his sword, not wanting to risk a killing blow, but to cripple the man's egress. The katana slices through the air as Damian makes for a lunge, to the 'masked' man's calves. He may only get one shot at it, so Damian goes big.

Witchblade has posed:
    Sara really has one hand to strike with, but that hand is full of razor sharp fingers....or it would be once Sara realizes the sigil is marked in blood. That's when her razor sharp talons are covered in fire.....but the wraiths back away, and Sara starts to make her way towards the sigil. "Come on Zatanna. I don't know how to stop this......"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna has some degree of protection on her at all times. Charms, trinkets, blessed jewelry... none of it's really going to stop a demon from chewing her head off if it comes down to it, but it's usually good enough to buy her a few seconds to think or to chant. She's able to evade being grabbed by a wraith, and then they back up...

So Zatanna looks to Sara and says, "Keep these guys alive!" Then she steps into the hole she made in the floor, and... drops. Muttering backwards things the whole way down, Zatanna lands a bit roughly, but her intent is singular: to disrupt the sigil, to break the circle, to redraw the blood images if she must. All while speaking backwards, trying everything she can think of: "Nruter ot Asocrac...!"

Shatterpoint has posed:
    Caroline pulls the one she had to her, as the chain had struck it in the chest. When he 'arrives', she'll grab at him and then immediately slam the cultist into the ground. She is strong- stronger than she should be, but far from impossibly so. The slam's intent is to knock out, not kill of course- but she doesn't linger long. The cultists seem afraid of Witchblade, and Zatanna has opened a hole.

    Once she's done with the cultist, she'll leap down into it to follow Zatanna, in hopes of aiding her should she need it. It's not as if the cultists won't follow- they're here to disrupt the ritual. The cultists can flee or try to stop them.

    Shatterpoint doesn't mind either way.

    "Whatever happens, stay behind me."

    The girl isn't especially tall, but that voice- that horrid death rattle twisted into words... Well, it's unsettling even if it is nice to have on one's side.

Batman has posed:
You know how at the end of Beauty and the Beast there is a magic spell that undoes everything? Well this isn't that.

Zatana's spell works alright, but that slimy disgusting WRONG feeling about the whole place just feels even MORE wrong and if it weren't for Shatterpoint's stabilization field, major sanity loss would be occuring right now. As it is, it feels like taking a nice long bath in rat droppings and moldy gummy worms as the candles around the circle flare up and the wraiths flail tentacle after tentcle at the three of them but simply CANNOT touch them. They begin to fade.

Damien's blade is surgical and true and while the man tries to shield himself with the book the Katana simply goes THROUGH the book and causes a nice bleeding leg and knee to splurt blood as the man shrieks and tries feebly to punch Damien only to be easily countered. Then he says a single word of power, "HOTEP" and for a moment grasps him and seems about to hurl him away. Magical strenth does not help with the Katana though the hand. Lopchop and a shriek later Damien is able to land and flip his feet out from under him.

Batman simply emerges with the crowd and his cape extended. Not a scratch on him or them.

Reality finally stabilizes and he moves first toward the book that the man was holding who is now bleeding and unconcious his face now visible, a man in his late 20's, white, unshaven.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Once Robin manages to wound the man, it seems things are becoming more stable. Damian makes a quick swipe with his katana, flinging the blood off of it, and placing it back in the scabbard on his back. He rests a foot on the man, close to his wound. "Try to move, and I'll make it MUCH worse for you." He warns, looking the man right in the eye.

Witchblade has posed:
    Sara lets out another belch as reality returns to normal. "Glad I didn't eat anything...." She says before looking to Zatanna. "I swear I'll never get used to magic. they don't teach us this stuff in the academy." She says with a groan. "The hell were those things?"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Reddal epor," Zatanna groans, as she falls to her knees in the aftermath of all of that... unpleasantness. A rope ladder suitable for climbing unrolls itself from the lip of the hole she made, offering quick passage back up. She looks over at Caroline, and winces like someone seeing the sun after having spent a week in darkness. She'll ask about that whole business... later. Right now, she feels queasy. She looks up at Witchblade, and says, "They were from somewhere else. Someone was trying to cut a hole from our realm to theirs. Ugh."

Shatterpoint has posed:
    Caroline stands there for a time, looking over the ritual- memorizing every detail that she can, so as to investigate later. When Zatanna extends a rope ladder, the cold woman instead takes one of her chains up, extending it and retracting it, much like a grapnel.

    When she gets to the top, she waits a moment to make sure that Zatanna is following okay, even if her presence is sort of... Terrifying to behold until the magician turns off the magical sight.

Batman has posed:
Batman grabs the book. He wraps it up in his cowl for study. Later. He knows such things can be dangerous. He nods approvingly to Damien and immediately begins searching the area for clues. "Search him," he mutters to Damien as he begins to move around the perimeter.

Damiem would find a wallet, the name is Corian Flint. Gotham Native. Bus Driver. He is staying very still but staring at Damiem, bleeding but the sirens in the distance means the EMTs can probably take care of that.

As Zatana moves down she will find the scene has been scorched. Intruicate lines and blood work were fried out by her spell but what is odd is that she notices an entirely different more hastily writing on the wall; clearly what summoned them so this circle was doing something else. The summoned creatures were more powerful and present but they were also guarding while something ELSE took place but it is not immediate to intuit what that might be.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian looks around on the guy, finding the wallet. "Corian Flint, of Gotham City." Robin looks down at the man again. "So, Flint, you got a thing for killing?" He asks, continuing to search the guy.

  Robin continues searching the wallet, finding a class C license, and an ID card for the bus company. He brings up his gauntlet computer, accessing records to see if the murders coincide with Flint's bus route.

Witchblade has posed:
    Sara sighs a bit. "Zatanna...I think we should get something to eat." She then chuckles. "after we feel better." She shakes her head and goes to gather up her clothes. "At least you didn't shread them....." She says to her right arm.