14933/Bluebird and Wasp take on Rocky the Gotham Kaiju

Bluebird and Wasp take on Rocky the Gotham Kaiju
Date of Scene:	13 April 2023
Location:	South Point, Nantwich
Synopsis:	While looking to meet possible GIRL members Nadia gets attacked by the Red Room. They unleash animals grown in size with Pym particles and catch the attention of Bluebird. Who swoops in to save the day before more than damage to a poor civilians car can take place!
Cast of Characters:	Wasp (Pym), Bluebird

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Wasp (Pym) has posed:
It's a typical day in Gotham. Overcast. Ideal for brooding. But people continue about their daily lives. Bustling and hustling. Typical in all regards except for one. A girl in her late teens, casually dressed for today in jeans t-shirt & a bomber jacket, is on her way out from an apartment building. A satchel bag slung over her shoulder which she's re-packing papers into. Fliers mostly. Perhaps she's selling something?

This in itself isn't the odd part. Young women leave apartment buildings on a daily basis! No what's weird is the trio of animal control agents in a nearby ally. Letting animals out of cages.

A pretty bold choice of activity for animal control agents. Who are generally supposed to be loading animals into a van for transport. A van which is no-where in sight.... Mysteries upon mysteries. Whatever could they be upto....

Bluebird has posed:
Harper Row isn't brooding, but her eyes are hooded beneath her Bluebird mask. An elevated position while she listens to comms, a piece of gum being mashed tasteless between her teeth. Dipping into the police scanner brings up hardly anything to bother her, considering her relative position and the flavour of felonies that the boys in blue can certainly handle. She's hunkered down on the fire escape, the shade of which helps the tactical overlay inside her eyepieces deliver some telemetry data. Her tongue-stud curling and flicking to help swipe right or left on the images coming through from her circling drones.

A bit of audio distortion makes her upper lip curl, feedback when the drone passes through a strong rival signal of some other enthusiast. Fortunately, they're not on the same Tier as her own stuff. Still, the discomfort puts her teeth on edge and she grinds the gum like flour in a mill. "Getting congested up here..."

The whine of one of Harper's drones slides along, running parallel with the street. This drone, ~Daisy~ swivels to do a quick facial grab of those just living their lives. The movement of the animals draws extra interest, and Harper calls ~Daisy~ to heel and give it another pass.

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
There is.. chatter. Encrypted beyond the usual Gotham street gang levels. Beyond even military channels. Short sharp bursts.

There's often a lot of talk about which are bigger. The rats in New York or the rats in Gotham. And oddly those animal control agents seem to be opening cages and lifting out large, angry and hungry looking rats. There's at least a few Gotham villains who deal in animal control powers. But nothing firm for the superhero community to pin down.

It's almost like they're total outsiders to the city and the complex web of criminals & gangs. Which is perhaps they only thing they share with city employees over in animal control....

The teenage girl, seems at least blissfully unaware of the three men for now, and continues on her way. She's humming a song by a superhero pop star. Checking each way before she crosses the street at a designated crossing point. Clearly also not from around these parts either. Could be a college student perhaps?

Whoever she is. She's probably in some sort of trouble. The three men turn and start to run. Trying to get as far from those hungry rats as possible. Because today at least the winner in the largest rat competition is Gotham.

Their bodies seem to swell up, growing in size dramatically, teeth jutting out like swords. Claws like daggers. Each of the half dozen becoming the size of a horse. Tails thrashing with maddened fury as they gnash and screech.

Bluebird has posed:
Harper nearly chokes on her gum when more data reaches her eyes, and the situation goes completely pear shaped and beyond. A gagging retching noise and she's clearing her vision of screens and hopping to the fire escape guard rail, poising, and then leaping to the alley over, engaging her hook boots. "Got some business in sector 5. Don't know if it's activist or terrorist. Getting a closer look." she snarls into her mic.

The crunch of mortar beneath her steel talon toes is only temporary, as whips a quick-tangle cord around a nearby balcony and leaps off into space, when tension hits, she's swinging in an arc out of her alley, and into the street. Gravity asserts itself and she plays out her wire. Bluebird's momentum brings her down dramatically in front of Nadia. Calling in her drones onto her position, she specifically commands Daisy drop like a puppy going on all fours and start bleating a series of barks, chirps and squeals before the mob of mutant looking menaces. Hoping to disorientate and throw up a focused cacaphony.

Harper hits the ground running, coat flying behind her, bringing up a modified handgun and activating the charge for her electric rounds. She waves with her free hand, gesticulating to Nadia ~LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU~

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
The rats do not seem intimidated by the drones. Perhaps one might expect them to be confused by growing to huge size in moments. But there's no hint that they're concerned by the change.. If anything they seem unreasonably motivated by the whole killing rage thing. Rushing out from the ally and barging into parked cars and bikes. Claws skitter-scratching at the sidewalk. Teeth gnashing they advance. Trying to climb over the drones or dart around them.

Despite the change in size they're still lithe and flexible. Zigging and zagging as they move in rapid, unpredictable, bursts.

The girl seems.. remarkably unconcerned by the situation. If anything she's staring at Harpers drones like she's in the store trying to decide on what type of go-pro she's getting for a film project. "Those are interesting," she states cheerfully. "Did you make them yourself? I don't recognise the make or model."

Her hand has ducked into her bag again. She's not turning to run or doing anything a typical civilian would do. Perhaps she's got a death wish. It is Gotham after all. Either way the rats come storming in towards her and Harper. "Look for a red ring. It'll probably be in a hard to reach place."

Bluebird has posed:
Harper was expecting a reaction from the girl, but this is not it. Her mouth screws up, lips writhing into new fleshy shapes. "What?!"

Harper notes the beasties, and how, wow, they're a lot bigger when she's closer to ground level. A just of her chin and she's making an order for the Drones to go yapping and dashing about in a pre-determined pattern that makes them surge in directions but not make contact. It's all feints and bluster. But that's what they're programmed for.

Bluebird risks a look towards Nadia, confused but not concussed by the comment. She orders Daisy to peel off and sweep the area, parameters basic and prioritized. And then she's speaking to Nadia while she aims and starts taking shots at the lead rat-things. "Cobbled, crafted, constructed myself. Can't trust base models!" The handgun discharges again and again as she makes snap-shots with her electro-rounds to center mass of the furry dextrous creatures. "It isn't safe, girl!"

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
Sadly for Harper putting a single round into the body doesn't stop the first rat moving. It makes a horrible hissing shriek and writhes around. Trying to get whatever the shocking bullet is away from it. But after a few moments it re-joins the rest of the pack. Letting the others take the risk but not giving up entirely. One takes a double tap in quick succession, then drops steam hissing from it's mouth, and then it shrinks.

One minute the giant rat is there and then next? Nothing but a typical pet store rat. Zapped unconscious.

Two come in at Nadia from the side. And then there's a /CLANG/ noise.

"Oh don't worry about me," she assures. "I have a pretty good idea what's going on. Given they're using one of my own inventions to try kill me..." She's covered by an absolutely huge helmet. The sort Harper might look at and think 'super suit' without batting an eye. Except it's big enough for her to use like a shelter. The rats pounce at it and try scratching and gnawing on it to get inside. "Like I said. You need to shoot the red rings. I'd say the optimal place to hide them would be inside the mouth. Unless they've surgically implanted them. But if that was the case they'd be lab rats not pet store rats..."

Bluebird has posed:
Bluebird manages a double-take at Nadia suddenly sheltered by a big donking helmet, and then gives a rat mutant another double-tap. She colourfully curses when the strange woman's words hit home and make her take a more scrutinizing look at the feral enlarged beasties. Her lips pull back from her teeth as she notes a few of those tell-tale red rings.

"You did this?!" Harper brays incredulously and spends the rest of her clip, the weapon sizzling like a pan of peameal bacon. The flourish of her hands under her trenchcoat are for more than flair, and she pulls forth a bullpup SMG that carries the same sharp ozone scent as her pistol. Her gloved hands finger-flick, swipe and give a hard twist and then she's firing before the charge is completely spun up for her. At least she can keep the monsters busy while they throw themselves at the armoured helmet. "Spray day, bitches!" The muzzle flash is a blue-white spackle-flash of discharged electricity as she tries to hose down the rat-mouths. Harper isn't sure whether her missed shots may damage that big protective helmet, but she's not sure of much today at all. "I see 'em!"

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
Weirdly when they return to normal size these rats don't seem in any way mutated. If anything they seme like adorable pet rats once the change has been reversed! If perhaps a little unconscious after Bluebird tasers them.

"I didn't do /this/," Nadia protests. "I was held captive and forced to make weapons for bad guys. It was /extremely/ difficult to escape and I haven't been able to hunt down all my research data from them." She puts her hands on her hips. Pouting a little. "Besides I'd hardly be trying to assassinate myself in such an inefficient method."

The helmet seems entirely unharmed by the tazer rounds. Aside from making a few clangs and clunks. The internal electronics are shielded against electricity. And the lining is non conductive.

"Do you need a hand?" She wonders. Like she's asking if Harper wanted help carrying some bulky grocery bags in.

Another rat drops after the spray of rounds. Twitching and squirming before it blinks back to normal size. Smoke leaking from it's mouth.

Bluebird has posed:
Harper's mouth, visible beneath her mask, forms into one of those superhero grimaces. Her lips pressing tight and the corners drooping down severe enough to be a living emoji. "I got this." Her mind tries to juggle what Nadia is asking her to take on faith with the very real and present danger of rats of unusual size.

"Oh, you'd chose a different method?" She slaps in a fresh clip and fans her SMG in as controlled manner as possible, if the numbers are becoming more manageable, sighting down more carefully to be conservative. "So much for for big damn heroics." she grunts and advances on rats to kick if they get too close and finish off with electric mouthwash. "Where's a bunch of cats when you need 'em."

Harper peers in at the helmet, flummoxed by the size, and starting to get an idea or two of the strangeness, as a loose concept. "I hope they didn't have you for too long. Hey nice, shielded huh? I guess that's cool." she says in a pouty voice.

Harper's drones are commanded to create a perimeter, shooing away pedestrians, providing a second though for any bicyclists or cars trying to come up the road. "Who the hell set this off?"

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"To kill myself? I'd just mix up a neurotoxin. Take a sip before bed and drift off to a peaceful sleep," Nadia points out earnestly. "But I'm not really very keen on dying anytime soon." She does a little counting on her fingers. Visible through the visor of the helmet. "Oh this? Thanks I made it myself."

Harpers streams of bullets do seem to be knocking the rats out one by one. Until there's just two of them left. It's taking a lot of ammo though. Those long flexible forms leap and wriggle. Trying to knock Nadia's helmet over to get at their target inside. And it makes getting those one hit KO shots tough. Even if Harper is an experienced markswoman.

"Oh most of my life. Which is one of the reasons I think you might want some..." Whatever she was about to say is drowned out by something moving in the ally the rats came from. THUMP. THUMP. CRASH. A dumpster comes flying through the air and hits a parked car like a meteor. Pancaking the roof and sending out a cloud of broken glass. "Some help."

For her comes. A raccoon. A very very big raccoon. It barely fits in the ally. It towers over cars. A trash panda the size of a bull elephant.

Bluebird has posed:
Getting a bead on these last rats, it's got Bluebird making some very unheroic curses. Her mental tally of how much precious ammo she's bleeding isn't helping her mood. The calm rational voice from within the helmet is mildly infuriating. Harper should be leveling out her respiration, like the woman, but she's all fired up.

"What in the ever living F-" Harper flinches her shoulders up, half-turning at the arrival of something bigger, badder and more mass. The shards of glass spiral, pinging off the rotating blades of a nearby drone, and it frantically buzzes and wobbles to ressume stability. "Up Dolly! Up!"

"Yeah...Yeah! Alright, I think maybe a little help!" Harper yells and wrestles in a pocket to put her hands around her grenades. By touch she's finger-located smoke and a flashy bang-bang. The latter is pulled out. "Heads up Rocky!" She underhands it. She knows it won't stop it, but she's going to provide a delay for Nadia if time is needed.

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
In the time it took Harper to glance at the incoming threat the helmet is gone. Reviewing her drone footage the young woman inside seems to blink out of existence. Then, when she re-appears, it's in a black and red super suit. Her helmet returning to person size even as she grows. So it nestles snugly on her head. "Oh it's evil Russian super spies. They probably want to hurt me badly enough they can catch me," she says like it's a chat about the weather. "Silly really. They should know that Wasps can fly."

Insectile wings unfurl on her back and flutter into life. "I'll hold it in place for you. Line up a shot and try not to miss okay?"

Rocky the raccoon has finally pulled himself free and comes charging forward. The flash bang goes off and he rears up on his hind legs. Chitter-chittering with a mix of anger and fear.

"Don't hurt him! He's only an animal it's not his fault," the girl calls out from above. "Now hold still big fella. I don't want to hurt you." And then she is /huge/. Dropping down at least as big, if not large, than Rocky to engage in a mini kaiju battle. Winged woman VS The Raccoon. FIGHT. She grapples with the giant trash panda. Trying to avoid the snapping jaws and keep him still for Bluebird to take her shot.

Bluebird has posed:
"Holy freakin Godzilla!" Harper leaves out expletives, almost shocked, frozen in place. She couldn't say anything when the wings unfurled because that was too frigging cool. It was eye candy of the kind you don't get outside of fantasy. The kind of thing that invokes some pretty strong reactions and comparisons of pixies, superheroines and a whole bunch of good stuff.

So Harper almost misses the opportunity to frown at the possibility she'll mess up a shot, but she can forgive Nadia. The rule of cool is firmly in effect. "I've heard that excuse before." she marble-mumbles and palms her weapon, craddling it as she raises the sights up to her cheek. "Semi-Auto, slave to HUD." she intones carefully to her mic." A laser-sight module swings to the side, attached to the SMG, its projected light wobbling over the two wrestling figures: Beauty and the Beast. "Might not kill but it's not going to tickle." Over her eyesight the reticles line up and she holds a breath. A triplet of shots spark out and are sent towards that gnashing maw.

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
Those wings, now giant in size, seem like the main obstacle to Bluebird making her shot. They hum & thrum as they beat. They don't seem mechanical or tech based. Some kind of living equipment or maybe even they grew out of the young woman's back?

Sadly the first burst connects with the wing and causes Nadia to yelp something in Russian. It's hard to say precisely what. But from the tone? It sounds /rude/.

"Let me get him a little lower," she offers. Grappling with Rocky. "Oh gosh his breath. It's like a landfill. Stand well back!" Her wings flutter into life with enough force to make any nearby flying drones wobble and pitch about. Adjusting their fans to stay steady.

And then she does a twist and sweep. And Rocky slams down onto his belly. Before he can start to charge around the equally large Nadia throws herself onto his back like she's at a wrestling show going for a pin. "Take the shot!"

Bluebird has posed:
"Shit!" Harper exclaims and tries to reacquire the target. The thrashing around is crazy. She feels the ground tremble beneath her soles when they're both down on the ground. She's got to hand it to Nadia though, that big girl isn't scared of getting her mits on the mutant. Blinking hard to clear her vision, she resets and give it a go again.

Bluebird doesn't need another opportunity. This time she's been handed it on a silver platter. She'll make excuses for her poor marksmanship later. "Say cheese fart-breath." she whispers and fires off a good solid shot right into the Raccoon's mouth.

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
The device catches one of the stray rounds. Rocky looks cross-eyed at Harper for a moment. Too confused to really understand what's going on. Then he lets out a burp like burning garbage and shrinks to normal size so suddenly there's a POP noise as the air rushes back into the space he was occupying. Nadia meanwhile does a more controlled and gradual shrink. Casually going over to each of the animals, opening their mouths up, and removing the remains of the ring devices.

"These will be coming with me," she mutters to no-one in particular. Or maybe it's for Bluebird. It's hard to say. "I don't know if you're interested in the people behind this but... I do not recommend you involve yourself further. They're far more dangerous than Gotham criminals typically are. And they won't fight you fair on the street. It'll be something subtle. Like a family members car having the brakes fail. Or a mix up on their hospital records which results in them getting a drug they're allergic to."

The Red Room don't fight fair and don't fall prey to the quirks of personality that Gotham villains tend to have!

"Anyway I was very impressed by those drones of yours," she says cheerfully. Extending a gloved hand. "Nadia Pym, sometimes known as Wasp. No not the one you're thinking of. I'm not an Avenger." There's a pause like she wants to say /yet/. "Would you be interested in joining my research co-operative? It's an unofficial association right now. But with enough members and funding we'll perhaps get a proper physical lab set up! Until then we can work virtually and without any formal structure. Just helping each other out when we can."

Bluebird has posed:
Bluebird lowers the muzzle of her weapon, and there's a faint discharge of static electricity and motes of light. She keeps it that way as she surveys the aftermath, giving it time to cool down and not accidentally format everyone's phones.

Harper is in no hurry to try and confiscate the tongue-tech, though it gives her some heebie-jeebies about her own piercing on quick reflection. "Red Room? Is that some play on RedRum?" she half-jokes and calls her drones in to a tight triangular formation to revolve a few stories up. "Daisy, Dolly and Dusty are a bit of a passion project. They're useful."

Harper eyes the hand and slowly extends her own to grasp it to complete the gesture, giving a firm squeeze because she's going to show what she's all about. "Without formal structure is usually my preferred state. Unofficial sounds right up my alley, like where it seems these stinko's emerged from. I'm big on tech and gadgets, not so much on whatever science you got a leash on that let's you get...~big~. That...was pretty impressive. Can you go the other way?"

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"You've heard of Ant-Man?" Nadia wonders. Her biological Father has a reputation after all. Come to mention it the original Wasp has a reputation too! "I can shrink easier than I can grow. It's really not so hard to do once you solve the equations. Just a little folding of matter and space. Then..." She looks at Harper. Who is getting that slightly blank look people usually start to get when she explains her work to them. "It's not really important for now."

She looks around at all the mayhem. "Everyone seems to be okay?" she wonders. Doing a quick check. "I hope the locals have insurance. Should we.. leave a note?"

The Red Room agents have, by this point in time, made a pretty thorough getaway. Slinking off into the residential areas. Probably already made two changes in outfit and hopped into a getaway vehicle. They'll be back again though. It's only a matter of time!

"We shouldn't talk about them in public. They tend to assassinate anyone who finds out about them so..." She shakes back. Her grip is strong for a girl of her build. Lean but strong, like a prima ballerina. "I'll explain in time though. I've got a business card which also has the server location for my VR meeting place. All the equipment is in... my place. So if anyone has tests they need to run I can either do them remotely and forward the data. Or I can stop by and collect things from a drop off point." She blinks a few times. "And you are..? You don't have to reveal your real name or anything. No-one will unless they want to."

Bluebird has posed:
"I've alerted the authorities, and I'll put in a report to my gal pals." Bluebird mutters, taking another glance at the chaos that was caused. She nods. "At least I don't see any obvious casualties, and hopefully no one seriously injured or got their hair frizzed up." Harper clucks her tongue.

"The Wasp? That fits well. Hrmmmm, getting small must come in handy. Wish I could for some of the soldering I have to do sometimes." she muses.

"Listen, I need to debrief you a little more. Pick your brain more about whatever these people are and what their goals are. Can't have them running amok like this obviously. Gotham-based or not, they're messing about here...then they're messing with me, and I'll put 'em in Arkham no matter how edgy they think they are." Harper's upper lip twitches. "I've run into assassins before."

"How'sabout you explain things somewhere else, that's not public, where you can speak more freely. Paint a picture for me. Call me Bluebird. Yeah, I won't be revealing anything just yet till I understand more of where you fit into things. All I got is a box of puzzle pieces and not even sure how big this thing is. Why don't you follow me? Unless there's someplace you gotta be."

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"No," Nadia states with a shake of her head. "They won't go to prison. They never do. Cyanide capsules and brainwashing. Please trust me on this. I'll get out of Gotham, it's me they're after anyway, and the problem should go away."

She flashes a grin.

"Okay Blue, although I can't tell you how any of my gear works. And I can't let you have any of those devices to study. Knowledge should be free but.. there are some things which the world isn't quite ready for yet. But I can tell you a little bit about myself if you'd like. I think that'll help fill in a few blanks. Know anywhere which does a good mug of hot chocolate?"