1780/The Butterfly Effect

The Butterfly Effect
Date of Scene:	02 August 2017
Location:	Metropolis
Synopsis:	A group of heroes stop a riot and vandalism before it spreads like wildfire.
Thanks to:	Starfire
Cast of Characters:	Starfire, Traci 13, Wonder Girl, Hawkeye (Bishop), Deathstroke

---

Starfire has posed:
    Well, it was a bit of a mess, really.

    It was all over the news at the moment - all over the papers. Not quite Supermen were fighting! Right over in Brooklyn! From here, what was actually happening was a bit murky. Were buildings being destroyed? Every so often, there was a 'thump' of a shockwave - perhaps a punch landing on another, or the sound of two cars crashing into each other, making a noise that some people were shrieking about 'that sounded like a building coming down!'.

    So one can imagine the fallout right now was a bit immense. The streets had basically closed down - an accident started when someone pulled a u-turn into another lane, and ended up hitting someone and causing a further accident. Pedestrians had basically stampeded away, and the bridges /out/ of New York were starting to see a small amount of foot traffic.

    Needless to say, people were being dramatic. And the boys in blue were out in force just trying to keep order in this section of Queens.

    It was into this chaos that Starfire hovers, her eyes flickering around the streets proper. There was... so much! A couple trampled pedestrians who would have to wait some for EMTs - a gaggle of people searching the skies with their cell phones, but really...

    This was a case of a rumor blown out of proportion. So far.

    And criminals were taking advantage of it. It was easy to find people grabbing supply from street vendors and running - or breaking or entering - or using this moment to exercise a grudge.

Traci 13 has posed:
    This was /her/ city. And, Traci had gotten the news reports - and, unable to find Paisley or get ahold of either Atlee or Nico, she'd come herself down to the street, a lazy iguana straddling her dark head of hair as she moves, alert and awake around, looking for the source of the damage. And, or, for something worse. She might not be able to exactly help with Bizzaro - possibly, she was a pretty decent magic user - but, given the man's other attributes it was probably best she stayed away.
    Still, helping people is what Traci does. And that's why she's here.
    She watches as everyone runs around, a hysterical mob, most panicking because other people are panicking.
    "This is -so- out of control," she tells her iguana. Or, depending on your view, nobody. There's a pause, and she answers, "I /know/, but, well, we might be needed here. Besides, it's not like somebody isn't going to see this, or didn't plan for this to happen. What if it's all a distraction?"

Wonder Girl has posed:
    Soaring through the sky with magical ease, one second there is but a single orange-skinned beauty hovering above the street-level chaos, and the next there's... well, two beauties, although still only one of them orange skinned. You get the idea! Cassie arrives, drawing up to hover beside her fellow Titan. Though traversing the skies over Manhattan and a river or two to arrive over Queens is but a moment's effort for the demi-Olympian, she arrives just a little late, the reasoning made clear in a moment: "Kori! I came as fast as I could when I got the message, I was just getting out of class and I couldn't really..." Bust out the window and fly over? "What's happening?"
    From her place in the air, she surveys all that is happening below, the details evident even from a great height. Still, mostly, it looks like just a big traffic accident-slash-mob. "Hmm, I see a few injured people, but the police are on the scene." Her instinct is to jump in and help anyway, though she's probably had a lecture or two about not *every* problem requiring a superhuman solution.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"Give it back." Hawkeye says to the young man she's tackled. She pulls one of his arms behind his back and puts her knee in his back as a woman runs up to them. "Thank you!" she says and reclaims her purse. "Alright. Go turn ypurself in." Kate tells the boy as she lets him up. "I mean, really... stealing purses? Isn't there an app to write or an e-sport to try out for?"

Deathstroke has posed:
Oh, chaos like this is really an every-day affair when you've got a city of some eight million people plus, well, a couple dozen or so super-powered freaks on top of that. It's a recipe for disaster and there's no getting around it, as the day goes to prove. Even when there's really nothing that serious going on, when there's no need for a bunch of superheroes to save the day, things just have a way of escalating. Sometimes, just the heroes being there is catalyst enough for things to get that much worse - as the fight a few neighborhoods over demonstrates, and perhaps as the response this one earns will prove.

The man Hawkeye has tackled squirms in pain, the back pushing into his knee a rather effective incentive to surrender the purse. He does swear up a storm, however, as she holds him, and as he gives up one item he reaches for something else as he rises. At the same time, the scene he's making draws some attention from a couple 'friends.' Well, friends of his.

"Lay off 'im, this is our turf," one calls. "When the freaks are out to play, we gotta have our fun too, right? It's only fair." The pair look vaguely menacing as they approach, one brandishing a crowbar, the other a knife.

Starfire has posed:
    There was a long moment, Starfire lifting her chin towards Cassie - a wide grin spreading across her lips. But only for a moment. The smile was that of recognition - but her features were very serious. "They say that there was a fight over in another part of the city - and just that very message has caused panic. Which has only become worse and worse! I was eating pizza just down there," Star points. "When this all began." Another moment.

    Traci did have an idea going on - not that Starfire could hear her. But there? Down that alley? There was a flash in the back of her mind for her - and anyone else sensitive to magic, for that matter. Just a brief flicker of power, and then nothing. Someone was trying to do something on the sneak - using just enough to get in, and then tamp it back down again.

    But perhaps Traci had other things in mind. A young man in a hoodie - running past her - moves to grab something off of her. A purse, perhaps, or a bag - or even just her cell phone. Whatever he could grab and then run for a crowd!

    But as for Cassie proper - Starfire points down. "Look!" she says. A bus, not seeing the backup in time, slams on the brakes - the thing starting to careen towards a group of cars, idling. "Quickly, Cassie, let's go!"

Traci 13 has posed:
    So much chaos.
    Traci turns her head towards the flicker of power and just as she'd closed her eyes to try and focus more towards that area ... someone is bumping into her.
    But she is in the city. Her city. And she can feel, understand, tap, the flowing power this city offers those who can see into it's urban veins. Traci's magic flows so much easier, here, and she calls to the hoodlum, "Give me my phone back, you jerk!" ... and, of course, he keeps running.
    "Alright, you saw me give him a chance, Leroy," she tells the iguana on her head before she moves her hands, flattens them down and the pavement awakens to her as she moves into the confines of elemental earth and urban magic combined, the pavement moving to a soft state suddenly, and then resolidifying and anchoring the theif's feet in solid, frozen cement.
    Calmly, Traci walks over to him, hand out. "Give me back my phone. And, eveyrthing -else- you've stolen. Now." She looks pointedly at him. "They're going to be returned to their rightful people. Or, you can just stay here, until the police come."

Wonder Girl has posed:
    "Aw man, now I'm hungry! I haven't eaten since before my classes started this morning." Cassie may be looking for the pizza place now, amidst all the other chaos. But she's quick enough to give that up when Starfire points out the bus, the sound of its squealing brakes reaching her as well. "On it! Don't blow anything up!" she calls over, as she's occasionally seen Starfire's solutions be a little more... pyrotechnic. "But maybe the road? Or the tires?" That said, feats of raw strength are more or less her specialty. And a bus doesn't even come close to pushing it.
    Dropping like a blonde bombshell-shaped bullet, one second the bus is careening into the crowded intersection at full speed, and the next, well, it isn't, slamming into the young woman now suddenly hovering in its path, as she reaches to catch the bumper, absorbing some of the force herself and trying not to totally wreck the bus in the process, which may be the harder part of the whole thing. She's strong enough, certainly, to just stop it, but she's also been taking some Physics classes and has learned about that whole conservation of momentum thing. Better slow and steady, than an outright hard-stop.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate stands and frowns as the thugs start to close in. She takes a step or two back to clear a little space and reaches for her batons. "This us what you boys want, really? I've got a headache and I'm really cranky today." She takes up a stance, left foot first as she extends the batons with a snap of her wrists. "But OK, I'm up for a dance."

Deathstroke has posed:
The thugs, well... they're thugs, and no better than the most average examples of the species, in manners or logical thinking. Intent on rescuing their comrade and asserting their 'authority' over this particular territory, they charge Kate head-on, fully unprepared for a woman of her skills and talents, and unimpressed even when she draws weapons to defend herself. "Lookit this, she's one of them vigilante sorts!" "You wanna play girly? That's fine, but no complaining when we teach you a nasty lesson about playing with toys like that." So not exactly prize-winning specimens. Still, there's two of them, which should make it at least entertaining?

They come at her high and low, left and right, more or less, the one swinging the crowbar overhead, the other aiming a thrust toward her gut. Pretty routine.

Oh wait, there was a third one, the one she had on the ground. *He* proves a little (little, mind you) smarter, waiting for her to be in the middle of whatever clash with the others and generally feigning injury as he shakily gets to his feet and quietly drawing his own weapon, before leaping at her from behind, intent on putting another blade in her back. Points for at least basic-level tactics, to this one.

Starfire has posed:
    He did get a chance, after all.

    And for Luke - it was a good day. Every day where he could make a little money off of a little B & E or purse snatching was a good day. And when the heroes came out to play, and everything went to hell? That's when he could really, /really/ clean up. Laughing to himself briefly, he was already starting to take apart the phone. If he can get the antenna out before they could call the company and get it bricked, he could flash it and sell it on the...

    Suddenly, Luke jerks forward, flailing his arms as he straightens up again. "What the hell? I mean... what the actual hell?" he says. With fair sleight of hand, the phone disappears into his sleeve. But the pair of women's purses he had strapped onto his shoulders beneath his hoodie probably were more obvious now that he was sitting still.

    "Look... I don't know what you're talking about, lady. Lotta guys with hoodies out here, yanno?"

    Which was patently untrue. It was summer. But it worked for him before.

    But as for what Star was doing - her solutions were not always pyrotechnic, thank you very much! But she had spied a couple of people who had swooned from exhaustion or otherwise, and were checking on them, making certain they were fine. A little low-level hero work, but sometimes - it just took someone who cared enough to stop, right?

    But as for Cassie and the bus...! Through the window she can see the driver, wide-eyed and nearly standing up on the brakes, said brakes squealing even with the Amazon-assisted slow slide stop. And right behind her, of course... a little old lady pushes by, just at the very last moment of bus stoppery. If Cassie had not been there...! Starfire was busy with the swooning people, yes, but it looked like, well - the small time criminals were giving the Amazon a /wide/ berth.

Traci 13 has posed:
    "One." The purse and phone snatcher sinks, deeper, into the concrete, then. "Two." A little further deeper, now up to his calves. "Three." And, then up to his knees.
    Traci's eyes glitter. "I don't think," she says, quietly, and seriously, "That I can count higher than six. Perhaps, you have a better memory, now?" Traci crosses her arms, as she keeps the link with the concete and clay open to the magical energies within the urban city.
    She is aware, too, of other things going on. But also aware there are other heroes, helping. Other people, helping. And if she can get some people their possessions back? Well. That's a win, in her book.

Wonder Girl has posed:
    Cassie gives the bus driver a big grin through the windshield, even as the bus squeels to an assisted stop, the force of its weight and speed dissapated between the road and, well, the mystical counter-force provided by the hovering Amazon. Some toll is still taken there, as her classes dictate, but in a more esoteric manner - a little divine spark expelled and left to recharge, just not so much as to cause the young woman any stress just yet. "I've got you! But try and drive safe and slow, Mr., you never know when something is going to be in front of you!"
    Friendly advice dispensed, she eventually eases up, while looking over her shoulder at the passing old woman. "Oh gosh, are you alright?" Once she's sure the bus is actually stopping, she lets go and quickly lands beside the older woman, offering an arm. "Let me make sure you get out of here safe, OK? It's a real mess!" So for now, her further heroism will occur on that much smaller scale, simply making sure no further random chaos befalls the nice old lady. Woe to any that does! "How are things looking, Kori?" she calls from the curb, absorbed enough in these things that she hasn't picked up on any of the criminal brawling. She may have great hearing, but its' hard to distinguish a cursing thug from the squeals of tires and other much louder commotions all around them.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Hawkeye parries the crowbar with her left baton, the right the low blade and she takes a step back - right into the blade of the third foe. Luckily, her costume is armored, but that just keeps her from being skewered. It sill

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
... hurts like hell. She twists away from the blow but Kate ends up tripping over the guy's leg and she rolls backwards to pop back up.

Deathstroke has posed:
Although the two attacking thugs find their assault thwarted, their partner seems to hit the mark, and they use the distraction to press on. The one with the crowbar is a bit more brutish in his approach, lifting his weapon to swing again after the parry, and again, not so much trying to avoid her defenses as batter them down, while his partner recoils a bit and looks for openings, darting in wherever he has a chance. Indeed, he goes in again just as Kate rolls backward, just barely missing an opportunity. Still, it's given the third time to recover a bit, and now all three of them circle her, like a pack of wolves, whistling, taunting, and probing at her defenses.

And elsewhere, a figure watches: 'They're doing a little better than I would have thought.'

Starfire has posed:
    One can almost see the bravado disappear on Luke's face. At the one count, he sinks a little lower - and the true gravity of what was actually legitimately happening to him - it wasn't a pothole he sank into. It was the frigging sidewalk! "What the..." A beat, and at two, he legimately starts to blubber. The count of /three/ makes him stop. "WAIT! God, wait, what are you doing?! You some kinda freak!? Stop it, stop it, take everything, freak, and get me out! Get me ooooooutttt!" This was said by him basically shedding all of his ill gotten gains in a few moments, starting with the hoodie, then phone, then purses. "Please, please, /please/!"

    As for the bus driver and woman. The bus driver seems to breath a sigh of relief, some of the passengers getting up to peer out the front window. Yes, cell phones come out as well. But the driver nods his head towards Cassie. The old woman murmurs something in Italian, and waves her hand with a limp wrist, towards Cassie. But as for Kori... she stands up, putting her hands on her hips, a serious expression on her face as she surveils the crowd. "Well," she says. "Is it just me, or does it seem like most of the people who were experiencing the panic are not anymore?"

    And really - now that superpeople weren't, actually, barrelling through windows or anything, besides the ones trying to stop this momentary panic - it seems that a lot of the panic was starting to turn into curiousity. People were paying more attention to things like the teenage looking girl who stopped a bus, a guy in /cement/, an orange-skinned alien, and even, yes - some were peering into the alley where Kate and the criminals were fighting.

    Most of the people leave the last one well enough alone, though.

    

Traci 13 has posed:
    "No, I'm not a freak, but you really shouldn't use that term. They don't like being called freaks. I'm a Sorceress. I'm Traci 13. And, if I ever see you taking advantage of the people in my city again," she tells Luke, with a fixed certainy, "I'm going to feed you to Leroy, here." She reaches up, to scratch at her iguana's chin, tenderly. "So, that means either I'll shrink you, or, enlarge him. I'll let your imagination decide which."
    She gathers each item - intrinsically, thanks to her urban magic understanding where each person was who owned that particular article, before she 'frees' Luke from his concrete sinkhole of a prison.
    "Get out of here," she tells Luke.
    And, knowing that one of the victims was in that crowd nearby, she walks over, handing the young woman her purse, "Think this belongs to you." And, the girl beside her gets her phone returned, "And, here you are. I'm pretty sure he's really quite sorry."

Wonder Girl has posed:
    "Oh it's alright, Ms.," Cassie answers the old woman, picking up maybe... a word or two out of the whole thing, from that one time her mother hauled her a town outside of Rome to look at some newly found ruin. "*Where, um, do you going? Are you needing more helpful?*" she tries to ask her, smiling sheepishly as the makes a clumsy attempt at the woman's tongue.
    Hearing Kori, she glances back from her octagenarian charge, peering around the chaotic scene, which does seem to be, by a matter of degrees, becoming a little less chaotic as time passes. "Maybe you're right. I guess if everyone was just spooked, it should calm down quickly enough. Heck, we might be stirring them up now more than not. You see anyone else who needs help?" Assuming at least the old lady doesn't ask her to walk her home and try her lasagna!

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"Stupid. I'm so stupid." Kate curses at herself under her breath as she continues to parry and give up ground in exchange for time. Her wound is distracting, but adrenaline is tending to block the worst if it out. _One_ of these guys has a weakness, an ooening she can exploit and attack. Hopefully she'll find it before it's too late.

Deathstroke has posed:
*All* of them have weaknesses, so Kate has her options. The big guy with the crowbar has nothing in terms of technique, just a decent amount of strength and greater-than-average amount of aggression, probably aided by a few issues with women that he's happy to work out on an intervening heroine. Guy with a knife #1 by his side is quick, handy enough with the blade, but hardly as tough or intimidating as his friend. And the one she had on the ground before? Well, he was clever enough to surprise her, but his motions are still awkward from whatever nerves she poked with her knee, and without the element of surprise and a willingness to fight very dirty, he has little else going for him!

Still, crowbar comes at her again, swinging hard now that he's battered her defenses a little, and his friend with the knife slashing slashing from another angle, somewhat more timid, just distracting her so Mr. Beatdown can do the dirty work. The injured guy again waits for an opening, attacking aggressively at the first sign of weakness.

Starfire has posed:
    Luke pales at what Traci says at that, the man nodding his head quickly. "Yeah... yeah..." he agrees quickly to what Traci was telling him, his eyes going to Leroy afterwards. An iguana wasn't frightening in and of itself, but... with the way that she had made the concrete move...

    He wasn't gonna take chances. Although as he darts away, one last 'freak!' was flung over his shoulder, the man tripping with the first few hurried steps. One of the victims, a distraught looking girl, was letting her eyes track along the sidewalk, looking for. "Hey! That's mine, that's... thank you so much," she says, treating Traci with a smile before disappearing into the crowd. The other woman gives Traci an odd look, before rifling through the purse. "Everything is here. Huh. Thanks!" she enthuses.

    And Cassie made one fatal error. One fatal and terrible error. She had spoken Italian to the nonna. *What! You're so strong, and you're Italian too! You should come, come home! Meet my son - come!" she says, grasping Cassie's arm with the crook of hers. *I'll feed you, to thank you, yes! I make fantastic lasagnae, you will eat lots, I promise this of you!* Now, there was no way she could drag an Amazon away. But she was trying.

    And Starfire couldn't help but smile, catching side of this. And yes, Koriand'r was giggling. "Hello! I do not know what you are saying, but I see that you both are wonderful friends. Ah..." Now, Cassie probably knew this of Starfire. It had been said around the Titans a lot. The whole learn languages by kissing thing, and she was aiming at the old woman, who was growing increasingly wider eyed...!

Traci 13 has posed:
    Distributing a few other articles, each what the pilferer had used, Traci exhales finally, stating to Leroy, "Now I've lost that magical trace. But, on the other hand? Things seem to have calmed down, mostly." She rests her hands on her hips and turns around, just to double check that nothing odd is going on. That, of course, is when she sees out of the corner of her eye Kate fighting with the thugs, "Come on, Leroy, let's go see if she needs any help," and she begins to move over in that direction to get closer.

Wonder Girl has posed:
    Now she's done it!
    Cassie looks increasingly alarmed, albeit in a laughing, helpless sort of way, as the conversation continues, her vocabulary and degree of understanding obviously rather limited. "*No, not Italian... Home? I live in... Oh, your home? Where, where is home? I can go you to home..." What she doesn't realize is that she's also basically agreeing to some sort of traditional courtship process involving stuffing her full of pasta products. Although she might not mind the pasta part!
    Still, a slightly worried glance is spared Kori as she approaches, followed by a briefly bewildered one as the Tamaranean moves in on the old woman, turning toward realization as she remembers. "Oh gosh... Kori you'll give her a heart attack!" Not that she actually tries to stop her friend exactly, she just looks alarmed by the whole thing!

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Hawkeye takes a chance and decides to deal with Crowbar-Lad first. She tries a stop-hit with her right, intending to skitter her baton along the crowbar to rap the man's wrist. She steps into a left baton aimed at his head., then hopes to sidestep him as he c

Deathstroke has posed:
Zero technique. Kate's batton skills are top-notch, so she gets just what she's looking for, sliding her weapon down the crowbar and into the man's hand with a satisfying crack that indicates a likely broken finger or three at a minimum. He's already dropped the weapon and is just beginning to open his mouth for a cry of pain by the time the other batton comes down on his head, and the man crumples like a heavy sack while Kate gracefully spins out of the way of the other attacker in front of her.

The second of the remaining, the injured one, continues with his lunge at her rear, although the sudden evasion puts him off target enough that he's not able to backstab her a *second* time, though he quickly attempts another thrust to try and finish the job.

Starfire has posed:
    Enter Jacki. A young woman who had been kinda hanging around some of these thugs. And against the better judgement of one of them, she had tagged along with them. As each man though starts to crumple beneath Kate's blows, Jacki was kinda cringing towards the exit more and more. Especially since that last one? That was her man.

    And she was beginning to rethink this whole criminal enterprise. It's fun when she could taunt some loser they were beating down. But this... it was scary.

    Jacki, backing up, walks into Traci. Twisting around, a switchblade was in her hand in a second, the blade pointing at the other woman. "You better back yourself up! And keep walking!" Instead of intimidating, she sounded terrified, however.

    But as for Kori, Cassie, and the nonna...

    *Back back back!* she releases Cassie's arm to bat at Star. Who was obviously not hurt, but she was blinking rapidly. *Alien strangeness, this is not how we behave here on the ground! Rude!* Star, lips still pursed in a kiss, stops, kinda ignoring the battering the woman was giving her, to look towards Cassie. "I do not wish to attack her heart. Is this what she fears as well? Please tell her it is not a kiss of romance, and her heart is most safe." Nonna adds in, in English. "You go away!"

    And perhaps, just perhaps, Cassie might see in her peripheral vision, that fight going on down the alley...

Wonder Girl has posed:
    "Um, I think just, you know... its not very normal for people of her generation!" Cassie tries to explain, awkward written all over her face, and truly having no real clue of how to explain the breadth of relevant historical Earthling sexual mores in a way that won't lead to even MORE questions, particularly given what she's grasped to be the relatively libertine Tamaran take on such things. "*No, um, no afraid. She is good woman. Um. From, from far place.*" And then she goes on to Kori, "She wants to feed me I think." And she DOES want to eat! "Nothing to worry about. Do you think everything is-"
    There'd been distractions, of course, the crashing bus and numerous honking horns, shouts, and other sounds, all this while. But as things have calmed down some, and those have faded out, the general din has given way to greater clarity and Cassie's keen senses are at last no longer overwhelmed by the general cacaphony. "Nonna, scuzi! Kori! Still trouble down there!"
    And just like that, she's off, likely to arrive mere instants later!

Traci 13 has posed:
    Suddenly, Traci is face-to-face with Jacki and a switchblade. She is not up to playing games, presently, but neither does she want to hurt the girl. Here, perhaps, is where some of what Artemis had said about training /body/ and mind would be better brought to fruition and serve purpose. It's something she'll have to think about.
    But today, now, she has Jacki, and the blade to think about. She inhales a breath and steps back, as if giving Jacki room and then she lets a small blast of pure magical energy fly from her hand with about the force of a baseball bat, right into Jacki's chest.
    "Drawing knives on a Sorceress isn't very smart," she tells the girl, quietly. "Leave. Go find a job. Do something good. Now I know you, too. This is my city, afterall. I can find you again."

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate pauses a moment to indulge in a wince of pain as she arches her back. She snarls at the thug who stabbed her earlier and circles around to keep him between her and the last foe. She advances, aiming a snap kick at his front knee, batons for his knife hand and elbow.

Starfire has posed:
    With that blast of magic, Jacki's eyes tear up, the woman holding her hands up as if surrendering.

    But far different than the previous one who flung abuse in passing, Jacki pauses a moment, letting the knife stay on the ground. Leave, get a job. Such things were kinda faraway concepts for her. But she didn't feel... as though Traci was a threat. "Never seen you before, chica," she says, her voice low. Not threatening, more... curious. Standing up, she tucks her tattooed hands into her pocket, and starts finishing slinking out of the alley, leaving nothing more inbetween the thugs and Traci.

    Starfire wets her lips with her tongue, kinda floating out of the nonna's way, ignoring the battering even though her hands were up in a gesture of 'I surrender'. "I wish to eat as well, and to become friends again. Perhaps if I bring food to /her/--..." A pause.

    Tamaraneans were easy to influence through one thing - their stomachs. With one last smile towards the grandma, Kori lifts up, and starts chasing after Cassie. The poor thugs were likely to have thunder and magic raining down upon them soon.

Deathstroke has posed:
Things go poorly for the thugs after this point. Once Kate maneuvers them both to face her head on, they've lost surprise, lost the advantage of surrounding her, and with the body on the ground, they've lost their 'best' fighter, for however much that was worth. They're probably debating running or fighting, but the first doesn't even get the chance, the woman's lunging strike taking out his knee in that moment of hesitation. At that point, the other one *does* turn to flat out run.

'One goes down, and the rest crumple. It looks like numbers and surprise were all they had going for them,' continue the internal musings of the distant, mysterious figure as he watches the fight unfold in the alleyway. 'Somewhat dissapointing. Almost looked like I might have something to work with, but it seems I'll have to bring in my own men after all.' The scene shifts upward slightly, as the restricted viewing circle drifts from Kate toward Traci and the new arrival. 'But I can charge extra for that. So it won't matter.'

It's only when the remaining two women are drawn toward the alley scene that things really get interesting, though. He'd watched the orange one as the whole thing first started, hovering in the sky, and witnessed her friend stop the bus like it was nothing. She was specimen, to put it lightly. 'Now the question is... Are all of these people going to show up for any trouble in the neighborhood?'

Traci 13 has posed:
    Traci isn't up for running after Jacki and taking her down. She thinks the girl will at least think more than once about attacking people again, and hopes she takes Traci's advice. Meanwhile, she's moving towards Hawkeye, whom she met only the other evening, "You okay?" She asks the heroine, quietly. "Would have come sooner, but I didn't see you fighting. And, I had some other stuff to deal with."

Wonder Girl has posed:
    The distance takes little more than the blink of an eye for Cassie to cross, although in that blink, one of the thugs ends up on the ground. It seems to leave the situation largely under control, particularly as Traci leaves the other young woman to run - she didn't really notice that one doing anything. But the remaining of Kate's would-be assailants is making a run for it, and well, there is a certain sense of annoyance that rises at the realization of what was happening in the alley, that anyone would use the chaos and near auto-wrecks for simple thuggery.
    So the poor fleeing man gets the lasso. Sure, she could outpace him, pick him up and dangle him upside down if she wanted, but there's something symbolic in the weapon, in seeing a criminal bound and restrained. "Hold there, scoundrel!" She probably heard Wonder Woman say that or something. Pulling the looped rope from her belt, she flicks her arm and wrist in the precise motion to send it flying and land the loop around the man's body, constricting his arms to his chest as she pulls back and tightens it. And at first, she just tugs him back into place, but when he keeps struggling, well. "Fine, have it your way."
    *zzzzzzzzzzzzzap*
    With a crackle, the lasso electrifies, and the man slumps to the ground. Cassie looks just a little too pleased with herself.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Hawkeye exhales in relief as the fight seems to end. She manages a smile as Traci draws up beside her. "As well as I could hope. I was dumb. Glad to see you." She puts away her batons and rubs at the indention in her costume where she was stabbed. "I'm gonna be mafe of bruises for a few days, though. How are you?" She sighs. "Remind me sometimes that I'm not the goddamned Batman, huh?" A moment later she unpacks her bow from its case in the quiver. "Thus crap isn't over, is it? Are the big blue Underroos still fighting?"

Deathstroke has posed:
And with that, the last of the thugs is in hand, the first two laying on the ground in various forms of injury and pain, one blissfully unconscious, the other moaning quietly with just his broken knee. Cassie's target stands no chance, to be sure, and after being restrained, the jolt of electricity that follows leaves him thoroughly tased and incapacitated, more than ready to be delivered into the custody of nearby police who have gathered to deal with the traffic problems.

With the men unconscioous, there's not much more for the distant figure to see, although the rodeo routine does make his waiting worthwhile. 'Interesting. Not quite the standard-issue,' he muses, giving a quiet whistle that might be in appreciation for the Olympian girl's talents or for... well, things she's more used to being whistled at, no doubt! Either way, it seems the show is over, and the man finally lifts the rifle scope, through which he was watching it all play out, from his one good eye.

Traci 13 has posed:
    "Next time we meet, I'll be sure to tell you," Traci agrees to Hawkeye with a faint smile. She looks towards the unconcious men, then to Starfire, and Wonder Girl as well, "Well, looks like this turned out well enough. I think the Blue Underoos are all done. I don't -hear- anything else. So, it must've gone okay." Or, so she hopes. She nods to Kate, "I need to get back, or Paisley will be all worried. There's a clinic up three blocks, if you need one."

Wonder Girl has posed:
    "Is everyone alright?" Cassie wonders, concern replacing that flash of annoyance that accompanied her dealing with the final thug. Then, blinking, she adds, "Also, hi." After that, she looks around at the men on the ground, and wonders, "I guess we better make sure these guys end up in the right hands." She's willing to help with that, even if it just means carrying them out and dumping them next to a police car. Indeed, it's just as she's throwing one over her shoulder that, for whatever reason, she looks back and up, scanning the distant rooftops. "You... didn't hear that, did you?"
    Then she grins, and gives a shrug. "I guess I oughta go check on the other fight, if everything is under control here. Even if they're done, they might need help with cleanup like they did here. Kori?" Either way, it seems lasagna may have to wait!

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"Thanks!" Kate replies to Traci. "Be safe, then. See you later." She looks over at Cassie and her victim as he is shocked by the lasso. "That's gotta hurt." She smiles to Wonder Girl. "Hi." she replies to the greeting. "Good luck out there."