10989/Assault on the Steel Serpent Society

Assault on the Steel Serpent Society
Date of Scene:	05 February 2020
Location:	Two Bridges (Chinatown), Manhattan
Synopsis:	Davos, the Steel Serpent, attempts to reap the fruits of his labors with the Serpent Society--by drawing their knowledge and chi into himself. A rag-tag team of heroes (Batgirl, Kestrel, Hawkeye, the Punisher, Samuel Morgan, and Iron Fist) fight to prevent Davos from achieving his goals.
Cast of Characters:	Iron Fist, Spoiler, Punisher, Samuel Morgan, Carrie Kelley, Hawkeye (Barton)

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Iron Fist has posed:
Beneath the north end of the Manhattan Bridge, something's happening.

But what, exactly? It's difficult to say--but it's something that the Serpent Society cares about, because their subservient gangs are giving it a wide berth.

Or, at least, they have been. But the Punisher's trackers--and those of anyone else who might be surveilling the gangs--have registered a critical mass of activity at, or beneath, the bridge.

Further, there's been reports in some relevant circles about Davos, "the Steel Serpent," a shadowy figure purportedly from a lost city in Tibet. He's been gathering support among the Serpent Society for purposes not entirely clear--but likely involve, for those who attend to obscure and arcane lore, channeling the power of an immortal dragon.

Half a dozen of the serpent-insignia'd gang members hang out near what appears to be an entrance to a service station or tunnel at the base of the bridge.

Suddenly, a man in an orange costume and cloak--Sidewinder of the Serpent Society--appears. He says something to the gang members, who snap to attention in response. Then, he disappears.

Spoiler has posed:
Since having caught a tiny glimpse of Cassandra Cain on a camera, and subsequently tracking her down, Batgirl had been renewing an old friendship. At the moment though, the one known as Orphan is not about, but her information has brought the blond-haired Batgirl out to look into matters that Orphan had previously become aware of.

<< So not entirely sure what their deal is. But these snake metahumans have been making some moves among the gangs here. Not quite sure what drew Orphan to it. I said I'd keep an eye out though. >> Batgirl says into her comms. At the moment she's hanging on the side of the bridge in a dark crevice, cape drawn around her to further conceal her outline should anyone be looking.

She flips her cowl's optics over between night-vision and thermal, checking out the area and then going back to a low light vision to make sure some pictures of faces of the gang members are recorded.

<< After this we should totally get fried chicken. >>

Punisher has posed:
New York is a constant battlefield in the Punisher's war. Unlike Batman, The Punisher has no double life to maintain... and has no interest in trying. He inspires a different kind of fear than his closest rival in the 'hero' community. A fear of knowing exactly who he is, what he did... and why he's doing it. No one in the underworld is safe from The Punisher. Not even in Gotham, as his attempted assassination of Joker and Harley a few months back will make clear.

Tonight, The Punisher has already been in this area for days, on and off. When you plan a job like this, knowing the layout and knowing what you're potentially getting into is basic recon... and the Punisher has been scouting and prepping the area since he left Iron Fist's studio previously. Few would notice him, of course, since he's only scouting and planting some hidden ammo caches.

Microchip on the other hand, has brought the heavy duty surveillance and counter-surveillance packages to bear on this area. Milspec stealth recon drones, hacking into city records for blueprints, using Punisher's ultrasound devices to compare real time maps to blueprints to check for any unofficial changes.

This is his element. This is the Punisher preparing a major assault, and by the time the others are in the area, Danny gets a ping from Microchip 'Black Van at the end of the block, soft edges. We went with low key for this one.'

Inside the Battle Van just a block away from that den, Punisher sits in the driver seat, doing one more check of the drone feeds as he awaits everyone.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    How long does it take a determined teenager to get from Westchester to Manhattan at this time of night? Not as long as you would think, because Uber is a thing. It'll take them a few days to figure out that the client profile used was lifted off another phone from the other side of the city. You survive these things by always being prepared.

    Responding to the summons from Danny, Bean saunters along the empty streets, hood up and hands in his pockets, a very keen looking German Shepherd by his side. He's looking for something... a van, a very particular van, and he's expecting to find it nearby. Not only because that's what prudent operational doctrine proscribes, but because he's seen the drones. After that, it doesn't take long before the black van is found.

    When he approaches, he does it on a way that makes him visible to anyone in the van. No attempt to hide, no sneaking up on what is perhaps the most dangerous vehicle on the entire island. And in the mirrors, he can spot Frank's face behind the wheel, so he makes sure to approach from the driver's side, stepping up to the door.

    "Hell of a night for it."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Another set of eyes from the shadows of the bridge watches those below. Kestrel had already turned on her nightvision to watch those below, though she was finding as time went on she needed it less and less in the evenings. Unless the shadows were particularily thick or the darkness near complete, her eyes had begun finding the nuances of difference in shapes and shadows of the Gotham city nights. New York wasn't all that different in that regard.

When Batgirl, aka Stephanie, speaks over the comms to inform her of the situation she nods in spite of it being unseen. Some habits were hard to break. Subvocalizing back she responds, <<Chicken? Okay but not from that grease pit on Third. That place gives me heartburn.>> Back to the matter at hand she adds, <<Sifu hasn't been back to the states in quite awhile, otherwise this would be right up her alley. Any idea how many there are?>>

Iron Fist has posed:
Iron Fist is in his yellow-and-green costume, but he slinks through the shadows as best he can toward the Punisher's van. Sliding along the driver's side from the rear, he stands next to Samuel as the man knocks on the window.

"So," Iron Fist says. "I can't fully describe it, but ... I can feel it. The movement of chi. Something's happening, like the undertow of a tide, or ..." He frowns. "We'll need to move in and stop this. Whatever it is."

Those with their eyes on the area over the past few days have spotted an increase in the serpent gang's presence in the last twelve hours, primarily around the entrance here--which, it appears, has no sophisticated security mechanisms. At least three dozen different members have shown their faces.

Whoever and whatever else might be within--such as the costumed Serpent Society roster--is likely either using some other entrance or, more likely, teleporting in with the help of Sidewinder.

Spoiler has posed:
Batgirl glances over to the side where the thermal optics make the figures of those by the Battle Van stand out before she slips the setting back over to regular vision and zooms in. She hrms quietly before herself before saying over her comms, << Looks like a costume over there towards the left where they are out of sight of the ground level probably. By the van. Maybe we aren't the only ones coming to the party. Is that the martial arts guy? Not him the other one. >>

She looks back towards the gathering then, scoping out the area. << Don't see anything on the entrance in terms of security. Just the people around it. And I like that place on Third. Has good sauce. Maybe we get sauce there and then over to Los Pollos for the chicken? >>

Punisher has posed:
"Nothin' special here, kid. Just your run of the mill egotistical megalomaniacs with delusions of pretending they can ruin everyone elses lives without consequence." Punisher glances to Samuel after he finishes with a last round, "My lifes work now is reminding them some people fuck them right back." Then, a head gesture to the back, "In the back, kid. We put in doors for this one." With that, Punisher gets up from the seat, the window autocloses, and Punisher moves into the back of the Battle Van.

A slam of the fist to that specific pressure point to open the door later, and the back of the Battle Van opens, allowing Iron Fist and Samuel to both get in.

It's a rather spacious interior, considering the sheer amount of high technology being employed that Samuel can feel. Against the 'back' of the sides are two fairly massive -yet compacted- armories. Everything from shotguns to LMGs are stacked in here, with a M4 Carl Gustav in a crate in the center. At the front is an M60 assembly ready to be sprung into place on the rooftop.

"I have some recon maps to the front here. Just don't take anything."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint couldn't believe May had actually said it, 'be SHIELD's eyes', Clint had given the acting director a long look after that before nodding and agreeing to the job, follow up on the recent activity in Chinatown and make sure it wasn't the sign of something bigger. Simple enough.

So enter Clint dressed in his SHIELD get up, tactical gear, (with purple accents of course) and a pair of StarkTech shades giving him all sorts of fun optics options. Right now he's got it on thermal as he scopes out the scene trying to get a count of the players on the feild from his rooftop 'nest' in Chinatown cursing himself for coming on an empty stomach with the smell from the vents of one of the Chinese restaurants filling his thoughts with all sorts of greasy goodness.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Nothing run of the mill about people like that. Unless you plan on grinding them, of course." Bean replies and moves away from the window, towards the door he knows is there. The door he could, in theory, open himself... but that would be a serious breach of etiquette, and Frank is not someone Bean wants to be on the bad side of.

    He's preceded into the van by Bear, the German Shepherd looking around with interest and finding a spot to be somewhat out of the way when Sam gets in. And, of course, the teenager's first glance only serves to confirm what he already knew, what he had already sensed.

    "Mind if I borrow some hardware for this one? I had to come in light." Not to mention the school would rightfully freak out if he started keeping weaponry in his room. They don't even trust him with a baton anymore...

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Just as Batgirl was noticing the van, there was another noticed by Kestrel. The redheaded vigilante hums thoughtfully. <<Got a few new suits. Look at archer boy over to your nine. Not Green Arrow,>> she adds hastily as she had dealings with that face before at least. This one? Not familiar. Not yet at least. Her weight shifts on the i-beam of the bridge she perched on to releive the pressure to her legs from her crouch.

<<You want to check one or the other? You met the martial artist before didn't you?>>

Iron Fist has posed:
The service station at the base of the bridge has a working set of maps, too, filed with the city. A stairwell leads down to several large rooms with filtration pumps and electrical system maintenance/access points for the pumps.

The rooms are large enough for a group to gather--and if any of the machines have been removed, there's room for something substantial to have replaced it.

The half-dozen gang members hanging around outside the entrance to the station suddenly all collapse simultaneously, no sign of life from any of them.

In the van, Iron Fist doubles over and groans. "Ahghh," he croaks. "It's ... something's happening." he stumbles back out of and around the van, keeping himself barely upright by leaning with one hand against the vehicle before he lurches into the middle of the street.

"We've got to get in there ... now!"

Spoiler has posed:
Batgirl considers, looking towards the archer and then back towards the van. << The martial artist from the demo? Nah he's different than this one. This is... I'm so going to hear it from Oracle I don't have his name. Iron Punch? Think that's it. Never met him just remember the costume. >>

The young woman swings her gaze over towards the archer. << There was some story in the paper about a drug gang and one guy was shot with an arrow. Connection maybe? We could- oh hey! They all keeled over! >>

Batgirl loads a little sensor into her launcher and fires it over to stick against the gas station. She checks readings. << No sign of poisons. Think we'd better get down there and check it out? >>

Impulsive as always, she loads up a grapnel before waiting for an answer. It's hot down to the top of the gas station and then she slides down it, alighting on the awning over the pumps.

Punisher has posed:
Punisher takes a carbine from the armory, an M4... loads the magazine, and charges the handle. He puts it to the side for a moment. The SPAZ-12 is grabbed next, and the same is done for that. The shotgun on his back, and the M4 in his hands. All in all, the motions are precise and practiced, it takes all of five seconds to do them.

As he screws on the custom tooled suppressor, Punisher starts to move, "Micro, watch our backs. We're goin' in. Kid, take what you need. I'll want it back later."

Seems Punisher doesn't need to hear that twice. "Goin' loud. Chi boy says we have no time. I'll open it up." The grenade launcher on the carbine is loaded as Punisher starts to move to the entry. He's dashing, and /hard/.

Up above, anyone who even remotely pays attention to the news and the infamous figures of current times will see the trenchcoat and skull vest, and know who the Punisher is immediately.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Definitely Not-Green Arrow, doesn't notice the pair of vigilantes checking him out, if he did he'd have thrown them a salute, but he /definitely/ notices the gang guys suddenly fall like puppets with their strings cut.

"/That/ seems like something I should keep my eye on," Clint mutters to himself as he loads a grapple arrow and fires it off into a building across the way swinging down like Spider-man, just without the fancy reflexes meaning when he arrives he does so doing a quick roll to eat some of his momentum and then he's on his feet an arrow flashing to string like magic, especially when he spots the Punisher.

"Oh great you're here," he gripes to Frank. "This is going to be fun. What the heck is happening?"

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Understood." And what Bean needs is nothing excessive. Aside from a combat knife he straps to his left thigh, he helps himself to a Five-SeveN and a drop holster, checking the weapon before putting it away. One in the chamber, safety on, two spare mags in pockets he can reach easily enough. He's not going to need that many shots. He has never needed that many shots, not even in the Nightingale shoot out. He looks over to Bear, who is giving him a very curious look in return. "Bear... stay. Micro, watch my dog. Anything happen to him and we're gonna have words." Not that the Shepherd needs protecting. Not by a long shot.

    Bean is out of the van just after the Punisher, his game face on now. Which means he's watching ahead, to make sure nothing is going to come up and turn this into a street level firefight. That would suck. He catches a glimpse of someone sliding down, but only just, and then spots Clint dropping into for a visit.

    The draw is not as fast as Hawkeye's, but it's impressively fast and professional for a teenager. Would have been impressive for a trained soldier, even. "Oh, it's you." The pistol is lowered and returned to the holster.

    "Magical shenanigans, involving ancient immortal dragons and potentially the end of the city and possibly the world. You in?"

Iron Fist has posed:
Still stumbling down the street, oblivious to Hawkeye's arrival, Iron Fist makes his way to the fallen gang members. He kneels--or at least drops to his knees--and checks for a pulse.

"Nothing. Dead." He calls out to his companions. "Let's go!"

The martial artist moves to the service station door. As he reaches to pull it open, it swings out and knocks him over.

The Serpent Society member Anaconda barrels out from within, vomiting. When she catches her breath, she looks at Iron Fist and narrows her eyes. "You," she hisses, and then vomits again.

"He ... Davos ... going to kill us all," Anaconda says between dry heaves. "You wanted ... to stop him. Now's the ... the time."

Indeed, standing atop one of the pumps in the service station, Davos stretches his arms out, looking down at an assembled crowd of Serpent Society criminals, who appear to be in significant pain. On the ground among them are gang members, each motionless.

"Yes!" Davos cries. "Through me, there is enlightenment! Through me, the dragon awakens--the power to rival Shou-Lao is in me!" He sighs happily. "I appreciate your sacrifice, my children."

Spoiler has posed:
Batgirl moves stealthily to the edge of the overhang that covers the pumps, seeing the other costumed figures - crap is that the Punisher!? - that approach. However the proclamation by Davos from below and what she hears from Anaconda is enough to pull Batgirl's attention fully.

She does a little flip down off of her perch, cape flaring bend her as her boots hit the ground. Careful of avoiding the puddles of vomit, she reaches down to her garter to pull out a batarang. "Watch the fire there," she comments to Punisher as she heads down the stairs, clearing them quickly to make room for anyone, and everyone else coming down after her.

"Yeah, well I don't know Shou-Lao so I'm going to withhold judgment on just how impressive that is," the blond Batgirl calls out as she lets go the batarang, trailing a wire. The weapon is crafted to circle in around its target to snag him in wrappings of the thin, but tough wire.

Punisher has posed:
"Get in line, I don't have time for you." Punisher grates out to Hawkeye as he comes in with questions.

As Davos talks about enlightment, the Punisher moves to get a clear line of sight. "Here's some better en/light/enment for you, asshole." He grates out as he aims the carbine. The onboard computer uses the rangefinder and wind sensor to determine the best effectiveness timer... and on the low tone beep, Punisher launches the flash grenade...

It explodes right in Davos' face, directly in front of the rest of those Davos is attempting to siphon from as well.

A moment later, and Punisher lets loose, a full auto burst right towards Davos, right at the head... intending for a quick kill as he dashes for cover.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
There's a look of recognition as he spots Samuel and gives him a nod, "Sounds fun count me in," Clint says as he joins the team, Punisher's response is grinned at and he keeps moving.

As for Batgirl? There's a smirk and a "Wow, even pulling folks from Gotham in on this one," he looks to the bad guys all in super bad shape around them. "You guys really screwed up."

Davos and his monologue are met with a snort and he joins in firing a taser arrow his way. "So who is this guy?" he asks as he lets go of the arrow.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    When it's time for the mission, there is only time for the mission. Bean moves with the Punisher, exactly in the spot where a spotter and trailer would be in a breaching team. He's not equipped for the front line role, and that's not the position he is best trained in at any rate. But when the first of the enemy appears, there is no hesitation. Two shots ring out in quick succession, fired on the trot, one for each of Anaconda's knees, having determined in the single glance that they were seemingly unarmed.

    He stops when the grenade is prepped and goes to one knee, holding up a fist and looking away and down to avoid the flash and let the rest of the team know that ordnance is being deployed. No shout of 'fire in the hole', why give your enemies time to react?

    When the smoke clears, the pyrotechnics burn themselves out, the arrows and other more exotic weaponry has flown, when the bullets have been fired, Bean takes stock, pistol trained on Davos. If everything so far hasn't taken him down, he doubts a few 5.7 millimeter rounds will, but it's always worth trying the Mozambique drill. Two to the chest, one to the head, supposedly always leaves the target dead...

Iron Fist has posed:
"What the--?!" Davos shouts as a batarang wraps about his forearm.

He shifts his stance, clutching his arms close to his chest and trying to counter-balance the line going taught. His hands both glow, engulfed in bright green flame.

"I suppose that--" he begins to say, but then a flash grenade detonates in his face. Instinctively, he ducks, protecting his head. Where his head had just been, the Punisher's burst scorches the air before ricocheting off the back wall of the room.

Then, Davos is struck with a taser arrow in the gut. He makes an agonized sound, but he slowly manages to tear the taser away. "Like Shou-Lao, I too will be--I am--undying."

"Oh ... shit," Puff Adder says, looking around. He reaches out to Sidewinder, and they disappear.

Moments later, Sidewinder reappears near another Serpent, Bushmaster. "Come on," Sidewinder says, extending his hand. They disappear together.

Iron Fist makes his way down the stairs behind the others. "Davos!" he shouts. "Don't do this!" Looking around, he shakes his head. "You're /killing/ them? To get your power? That's not the way!"

Davos responds by leaping in the air toward the other end of the batarang line, limbs outstretched for the attack of Crane Catching Fish at Sunrise. Samuel's pistol rounds are sliced in half by the edge of Davos' hand as he moves.

Spoiler has posed:
Batgirl tugs hard on the line to keep Davos from moving. Any direction but towards her as it turns out. He leaps towards her, pulling back on the line to assist his leap in her direction.

A small yellow baton on her utility belt is grabbed and it quickly extends with a metallic clink into a telescoping bo staff. She swings towards Davos' side, perhaps connecting but not hard enough to stop his attack.

His foot catches her in the side of the head, Batgirl trying to roll her noggin with the blow to lessen it. It's still enough to knock her backwards and off her feet. She hits hard, letting her legs go over past her head and rolls herself back into a crouched position, the staff lost in the hit she took. "Ok. So Shou-Lao isn't exactly... terrible," she admits, rubbing at a trickle of blood at the corner of her lip.

Punisher has posed:
The Punisher rarely misses... but when he does, it's usually from outside factors. Survival instinct can be a tricky thing to account for, even for someone like Punisher.

As it is, he's already behind a corner, replacing the spent magazine with a full one from his gear web. Three seconds pass before he toggles single fire on the carbine, and turns back around, aiming right for Davos... specifically, his legs.

Punisher knows from experience these sort of combatants are tricky to pinpoint tag, so aiming in that general direction and adapting quickly is the key.

As a Scout Sniper, even Frank Castle knows his limits as he starts to snipe into the fray, trying to tag the legs so the rest have an easier time of it. With the rest of the thugs out of play right now with the flash grenade, he's the biggest threat.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
The amount of guns down there... Normally Kestrel wouldn't care. But after the events in Gotham the prior month, seeing that has her freeze in place where she hides. Even as the others go in she finds herself unable to do more than watch. An apology is shot toward Stephanie as she finally brings herself to tear away and flip up to the top of the bridge. <<Sorry. I... this is bringing back memories of... I'll be nearby if you really need.>>

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint grins as his arrow strikes home. "Gotcha now be a good boy and..."

The guy starts leaping through the air and cutting bullets out of the sky with his bare hands.

"Neat trick. Try it on this one."

He lets loose with a freeze arrow hoping Davos will give it a chop or catch it either should trigger the spray of quick freezing gas and slow him down for a bit.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    It really shouldn't have come as a surprise. When your enemy's hands are literally on fire and they don't seem to care, it's usually a good indication that bullets are going to have to be used in a more... unconventional sense. Without any conscious thought, Bean's hand slips to the knife and pulls it free. Clint has already seen him fight and knows what style he prefers... and now he's fully armed.

    It's his turn to attack, dashing past the unknown who has just lost her staff, figuring that she must be on their side. For now at least. He's hard on the heels of the arrow, firing as he goes, double taps alternating to chest and head. It's a waste of ammo, and his instructors would have had something to say about that, but then his instructors never really trained him for action against metahumans. He's had to figure that out by himself over the past few months.

    Close to Davos, he collapses his left leg and slides, letting his momentum carry him forward, aiming an underarm upward stab at the target's abdomen. That, as far as he's aware, is not in any Kung Fu style.

Iron Fist has posed:
The unexpected bo strike to his ribs causes Davos to bend, and he hugs his side for a moment as he lands. "Congratulations on surprising me. I'm still attuning myself to this power," Davos says, assuming a defensive Mantis Style posture. A trickle of blood wanders down his lip.

In support, Iron Fist launches himself at the Steel Serpent, attempting to execute a flying elbow drop. Davos swats him aside like Iron Fist is a gnat, and he manages to land on his hands to flip over onto his feet.

Meanwhile, Sidewinder continues to appear, collect one of his colleagues, and then teleport out again. After five or six of these, the glow of Davos' hands appear to lose some of their intensity.

"Why aren't you helping?" Iron Fist asks. "He's killing you all."

"He's drained us--of energy /and/ knowledge," Sidewinder replies quickly, collecting Black Mamba into his arms. "I don't remember anything he taught us. None of us do. I need to keep them alive." Then, he's gone again.

At that same moment, the Punisher's gunfire strikes Davos' legs, and Samuel's pistol pummels his chest. Davos drops to his knees with a cry of pain and rage. He smashes the floor with a punch, but then Hawkeye's freeze arrow strikes his shoulder. Even with the magical flame surrounding his hand, Davos seems to have difficulty concentrating through the barrage of injury--even more so as Samuel stabs him in the gut.

Unable to focus, Davos is wholly engulfed by the green flame that had been isolated to his hands. He roars, swinging blindly from his knees with his one good arm--a mix of Drunken Boxing and World Star Video of the Day.

Spoiler has posed:
Batgirl seems to decide distance is good with that unnatural looking fire spreading even more. She jumps backwards and into the air, cape billowing about her as she lets go another pair of batarangs towards Davos. These two have electric charges on them ready to surge through whatever they hit.

The blond caped crusader lands on one of the filtration pumps. "You're losing it, ah... whatever your name is. Can't you tell you're losing control? Best you just stop before you end frying yourself to a crisp!"

She pulls out a launcher and loads a payload into it, but doesn't fire yet.

Punisher has posed:
From his vantage, he has clear lines of sight, and at least three more magazines of carbine ammo on his ammo pouches to burn through. There's no reason to go anywhere.

Punisher just continues to tap that trigger, trying to keep Davos off balance for the rest to handle.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"What the girl in the purple said," Clint chimes in at Davos. "Surrender pal or you're going to end up a crispy critter."

Clint, like Frank, keeps up the pressure though firing arrows to keep the warrior off balance.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Were it anyone else but the Punisher firing near him, Bean would have been elsewhere in a flash. As it stands, he kick-flips himself upright, sways back from the sudden punch and backs up a few steps before putting his knife away, taking a knee and taking aim.

    Making a quick copy of any electronic data Davos might have on him.

    The pistol barks again, disciplined shots that aim for the heart, the head, any target that presents itself and would fall within the accepted lethal zone of a silhouette target. He fires until the slide locks back, the last shell ejecting from the pistol, starting to reload. He's not asking for Davos to surrender. They're well past that point, if that point had ever been applicable.

Iron Fist has posed:
The batarangs puncture Davos' collar, and he tenses in response to the electrical currents they send coursing through his body.

"I--I--I--I--am ..." he gasps, teeth chattering, "I--I am ... Davos the--the Undying. Fear my--"

The Punisher's rounds, and Hawkeye's arrows, seem to do more and more damage as various Serpent Society members are teleported away.

"Fear--unghh--my /power/," Davos snarls, focusing the energy back into his hands once more. He pushes out with one hand, trying to stop the myriad assaults on him. The hand is pushed back, though, by the force of the rounds--until Samuel's unrelenting pistol fire causes Davos' hand to smack against his forehead.

The chi-based loop this causes leads Davos' green-flame aura to momentarily grow brilliant, though heatless, until it dissipates entirely. The man falls backwards onto the ground, mystical steam rising from his body.

Spoiler has posed:
Batgirl holds the launcher at the ready at first, but as she sees him go down she doesn't use it. Instead she walks over carefully, pointing it at him as she nudges him with a foot. When no attack is forthcoming, a pair of bat cuffs come out of her utility belt from around her waist and she bends over to get his wrists behind his back and secured.

She stands back upright and lets out a puff of air to blow some stray strands of hair from her face. "This stuff is much more straight forward in Gotham. Little penguin walking dolls with bombs in them. Poisoned food that makes people... ah... ok, maybe not easier," she says.

Batgirl glances off towards where Kestrel went to. "You boys got it covered now?" she asks. She makes a little finger gun towards Clint and shoots it towards him. "Nice job Mr. Tell. Love the fancy arrows. Or, wait, he was a crossbow wasn't he? Guess I missed the bullseye."

Punisher has posed:
"So." The Punisher comes out of cover, the M4 idling against his chest. "Asshole got cocky and let some magical bullshit get to his head. Literally." Punisher moves over to stand over Davos. Those cold, focused eyes watching him. For those seeing the Punisher up close for the first time, there's a very real 'focused rage' feel to him in that moment. Like it's taking willpower to /not/ put him down there and then.

"Chi Boy. Make sure you figure out how the fuck he managed all this. It's the only reason I'm not venting his skull on the floor." Punisher states, finally. "I don't want to have to do this again."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Drop the magazine in his left hand, put it away in his pocket, grab the other magazine that's in there, insert, drop the slide. Reloading takes a few moments at most, and Bean can do and has done it blindfolded. Some schools are tougher than others. The bat cuffs, at least, give an indication of who this mystery figure is. "Should be straightforward from here." he confirms, standing up.

    Standing up and walking towards the incapacitated Davos, weapon still in hand. "Never seen a thrown taser before, those were good throws."

    He ends up standing next to the Punisher, standing over Davos, aiming his pistol at the smouldering man's skull one-handed and looking over to Danny. "Your enemy, your call. My recommendation is to put him down here and now." And he's the only one not in a costume. Who the hell is he anyway?

Iron Fist has posed:
"Well," Iron Fist says with a sigh, "it'll take some time to study and make sure I've got this right, but ..." He rubs the top of his head. "Based on all this," he says, gesturing to the room full of dead gang members, "and what the Serpent Society said--I think Davos was using them as chi batteries. He overloaded himself but didn't know how to contain and control it."

Iron Fist laughs humorlessly. "Of course, that's always been his problem. Why he's not the Iron Fist. And, I suppose, not Shou-Lao the Undying ..."

As Samuel speaks, Iron Fist blinks and shakes his head. "Yes. Sorry. This is Davos. He comes from a secret city in the Himalayas. And I think he needs to go back--at least as close as we can get it." He looks to the assembled heroes. "There are punishments he can face there worse than death. Or at least as bad."

He reaches down to sling the Steel Serpent into a fireman's carry. "I can arrange for that to happen," Iron Fist says with a huff of breath. "Although a ride to the airport would help with that."

Spoiler has posed:
Batgirl snaps her fingers loudly. "Iron Fist! Right!" she says. She holds her finger to one of her ears in that classic, talking on the comms movie pose. "Iron Fist. Not Iron Punch," she says, though it's in a tone of self-deprecating humor, not seeming any insult was intended.

"Iron Fist, yeah... if you can keep the younger section from murdering the unconscious men? That plan will get stamped with my seal of approval," she says, eyeing Samuel for a moment. Perhaps expecting him to remove a mask, Mission Impossible style to reveal it's really Robin. Of course he'd have just stabbed him, not argued for killing him.

"Ok. So. Guess I'll get back to my side of the bay. Good job boys," she says, clapping her hands together once and rubbing them. "Night."

Punisher has posed:
Without a word, Punisher looks to Iron Fist... then he starts to walk away. "Let's get moving." Punisher confirms. "I can get you there quickly."

As he goes, the Punisher visibly takes out some sort of cylinder from the gear web under his trenchcoat. He stops at the entry, and looks back, "This place is going up." Punisher looks over to Batgirl... twists the cylinders top, and tosses it directly into the middle of the dead bodies, "or you can die with them. Your call, 'Batgirl'."

He walks out of sight.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    The plan, if such it can be called, gets a blink. A slow blink. And just as slowly, Bean lowers the hammer on the pistol, engages the safety, and holsters the weapon. All without taking his eyes off either Danny or Batgirl. "Your call. Fate worse than death it is."

    He can spot an incendiary when he sees one, and makes a motion for the stragglers to get a move on. "He's not kidding, get gone. This place is about to get a bit uncomfortable." And entirely on the off hand, he smiles to Batgirl. "By the way, tell Robin I'm still waiting for him to respond to my message." Wait what? But he's moving, double timing it towards the exit. White phosphorus is nasty stuff, and he doesn't want to be around it.

Iron Fist has posed:
As Batgirl speaks, Iron Fist clears his throat. "Iron Punch? I'll have you know that this title is a long-revered and--"

The Punisher does something ominous and sketchy.

"--let's get going, shall we?" he asks as he begins jogging, as quickly as he can with Davos' weight on his shoulders, up the stairwell and away from the scene.

Spoiler has posed:
Batgirl departs quickly as well. "It actually as an honest mistake, just couldn't remember your name. I don't know my New York heroes that well," she tells him. "Apologies," she adds once they are up top.

"Alright, good luck with him," she tells Iron Fist, eyeing Punisher and Samuel as they depart. "I'll pass it along," she says towards Samuel as the fiery explosion belowground goes off. "Ok, good job team," she says. "Now it's time for chicken."

She fires a grapple off into the dark towards the bridge, up where Kestrel waits. She gets reeled in, flying off into the night.