211/We Could Be Heroes

We Could Be Heroes
Date of Scene:	30 April 2017
Location:	Unkonwn
Synopsis:	When is a bomb not a bomb? Wait, no, that's the Riddler's line, isn't it?
Cast of Characters:	87, 187, 203, Stargirl, Joker

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Vorpal (87) has posed:
The Red Line chain is known for having anything at all that you might need. Anything. It's like a modern Portobello Road, minus the annoying singing and dancing and witches. That is usually reserved for the holidays.

The massive stores have quite a large footprint, even when split up into multiple levels, it's quite a dizzying affair.

Tomy Hunter, known to some as Vorpal when he's not pretending to be a red-headed human teen, is curretly in the sports section lookig for replacements for his shin guards ater that recent brush with the Tazer Thugs in Gotham. Just an ordinary Saturday afternoon's shopping.

What's not ordinary is the van hat parks outside one of the large entrances. It's a distinctive van, even for people who come here to shop in bulk. It's color-coded with the uniforms of its passengers, for one.

Yes, color-coded. A group consisting of at least half a dozen of sulky teenagers disembarks. They are wearing orange and green in patterns that clearly show the nineties never died, but simply came to retire in Coventry. They move with singular determination (and formation) as they hastily walk inside. So far, they simply look like a family outing that took the whole 'matching shirts' thing a little too far.

The mother, a rather powerfully-built woman with blonde curls and matching colors, remains in the van. She's seen speaking into a cell phone, nothing -that- out of the ordinary.

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    Ford didn't typically go shopping by himself, but frankly, after the recent filming sessions he's been doing, he needed a bit of time to himself. Besides, he'd been considering having a look at some of the more... pulp sections of the store. He'd had another costume brewing in the back of his mind that wasn't going to be seen on the set... and he wanted kind of a pulp hero look to it. So it's with a grey fedora, trenchcoat, black gloves and a black mask hidden in his back pocket that he goes marching into the changing rooms on the first floor, interested in give the look a go in the mirror.

    He was completely unaware of the 90s being spewed out into the store, but even if he was, he wouldn't judge. Not when he wore a loud purple and white costume on the sets of his movies, after all.

Erin Beaumont (203) has posed:
Erin Beaumont is inside the store, looking through the women's tops and generally scowling at the selection of sizes. She lets out a loud breath and lets go of a cute top that had no hopes of ever fitting her, then starts stepping out, heels clicking against the tiles once she gets out onto the aisles.

Stargirl has posed:
Courtney Whitmore has obviously in the store not in costume, but rather something casual and comfortable - a pair of blue sweatpants with a white stripe down the outside leg, a white hooded sweatshirt with Captain America's shield on both front and back, her hair pulled back into a ponytail. She's near the clothing sections too, standing on the back of a shopping cart and rolling along back and forth until an employee comes into sight at which time she dismounts. When they're gone, she goes back to surfing the aisles.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
"Geez, this stuff is cheap," he complains to no-one in particular, reviewing he quality of the guards. Being a superhero on a budget and a college student was hard. "Maybe I'd have better luck if I tied pillows to my friggin' legs..." He pauses when he notices something colorful crossing the aisle. Peeking out into the corridor, he sees the teenagers striding towards the electronics section. He looks at the... what someone might call clothes, while others might call a fashion crime.

"Huh, I didn't know Limp Bizkit was rebooting."


Things start going south pretty quickly, though, when the teenagers reach the electronics section and start, for lack of a better word, shattering cases with their stompy boots. Several expensive game systems are snatched in the blink of an eye, a couple of large TVs as well, and very soon the colorfully-dressed teenagers have gone full hooligan.

"Out of my way!" one of them shouts and brings out a weapon out of her backpack.

It looks like a Nerf gun. The most unthreatening thing in the universe. A security guard looks like he's about to lose it, faced with the gun, when it goes off and...

Suddenly there is a grown man, encased up to his neck in a quickly-expanding prison of foam that leaves him completely harmless.

"Oh crap!"

And cue panic, as people start running in all directions to avvoid getting... whatever the hell they call that. The group starts making its way with the cushy payload, towards the front of the store.

"Goddamnit, not a single day off, eh?" Tommy curses and quickly looks around. People running everywhere means there's very few places where he can hide and change his appearance. He starts running, hoping he can crash into the changing rooms for a quick change.

Erin Beaumont (203) has posed:
Erin Beaumont quickly looks around as the panic starts. She quickly focuses on one of the fleeing pedestrians and telepathically asks where the chaos is. The pedestrian pauses long enough to give a paranoid glance around, then just shouts "Electronics!" before bolting.

Erin starts lightly jogging over. Being as athletically disinclined as she is, she's not the type to run. She throws her hand out toward the group of hooligans, throwing a wave of visible psychic energy their way.

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    Ford blinked at the sound of cries and panic fleeing the store outside his dressing room. Already most of the way through his costume change, Ford pondered a moment. Should he go through with this? Was there even a real crime going on? The sound of psychic waves impacting the store aisles made him decide that it was time to intervene. For better or worse, it was time to introduce the new him to the world.

    Wrapping the black mask over his eyes, Ford stepped out of the changing room and looked towards the chaos going on in the store, before charging towards the distraction, lightening himself a little to pick up the pace. A little trick he'd picked up during his training on set.

    Finally arriving at the electronics section, Ford lightened himself even more before leaping gracefully to the top of an intact shelf. "Alright, kids! That's enough for one day!" he called out, deepening his voice to disguise it. "How about you turn yourselves in and you won't have to face the might of Mr. Amazing!"

Stargirl has posed:
Chaos ensues, to be expected of course. Courtney pushes the cart HARD and leaps into the basket of the cart to really surf the thing on her way towards the electronic section. Once nearby she leaps out again and lands with her feet together. "Stuck the landing!" she says, her hands straight out to the side. "... the judges score it... and eight-point-oh? No! She was robbed!" She shrugs and kicks the cart with vigor - intending it to head for a concentration of the colorful kids, hoping to knock some of them down.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
"Mister.... you've gotta be kidding me." One of the teens levels his gun at Ford, but he collides with Erin's wave and goes sprawling on the floor. The gun fires as it falls and ends up trapping one of the other kids in the bubble of foam. "HEY! Watch where you're aiming that you a-" and the psychic wave cuses her bubble to roll down the aisle, fast.

Another member of the group, face completely covered, and armed with a skateboard starts bobbing his head in time with his diskman. The grunge metal blaring out even audible through his headphones far out as he drops the board following a quick smash and grab of the new Lex-Box. His ragged looking neon orange and green backpack the perfect place to toss it as he starts boarding around the room, pulling a Yo-yo ball from his back pocket to start attacking security with while he does sick grinds, and gets mad air.

Two more get hit by Courtney's careening charging cart, causing complete confusion.

When Tommy pokes his head through one of the aisles, he notices that there are already THREE people handling the situation. He might be overkill, so instead he decides to get some brownie points with his boss and takes out his phone to start filming.

Erin Beaumont (203) has posed:
Erin Beaumont trains her eyes on the skateboarding goon, then holds a hand up to conjure a large, psychic shield at head level to him. Good luck jumping over it, asswipe. She flits her gaze over to Captain Trilby over on the shelf, and the cart-riding woman. Her voice goes out to both of them. <I've got the skateboarder. Get the others.>

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    Ford looked over as the voice started talking in his head... and it was familiar! His masked eyes looked and spied the familiar, well-endowed figure of Erin, of all people! Third time this week... must be destiny! Even so, he nodded. "Not to worry, ma'am! Mr. Amazing is on the case!" Ford lightened himself and took another graceful leap into the air and over the family of foolish kids.

    "Impact! 1000K!" Ford quickly increased his density, dropping very quickly in between the kids, aiming to create a heavy shockwave on landing and shaking them off their feet.

Stargirl has posed:
Courtney looks around a moment as someone speaks in her head. <It's not nice to get in someone's head without permission>, she thinks back hard. Still, there's work to do yet. "Hey! Give me my cart back!" Courtney calls with all the outrage she can muster up. She chases after it and ends up with the foam gun in front of her. She intends to stomp on the trigger area, hopefully harf enough to break it. "Oops! Sorry." she grins. Just in case she accidently sets off the thing, she leaps back a good distance. "Hellooo.." she calls. "Any All-American Rejects left?"

Vorpal (87) has posed:
Much to the surprise of the other goons and even the teen himself he's able to kick his foot down hard on the back of the board, sending himself kick flipping high up into the air, a single hand landing on the shield to vault him over it and back down on the other side. As he lands he kicks again bunny hopping a few feet before flicking the board round in his hand, a hard landing on the ground sends him spinning to a stop as he stands with his arms folded one over the other.

The other kids are cleary completely aghast. "W-whoa, when did Kenny learn to do -that-?"

But they don't have much time left to wonder, as Ford Kablooeys right among them, sending a good number of them sprawling.

Meanwhile, Tommy keeps taking video, glad he's nowhere near that shockwave.

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    Ford straightened up as he looked at the knocked over kids. "I recommend you all stay down. That's 1000 kilograms of weight. You might know it better as a full ton of weight. Be glad none of that was on your heads." he warned, before moving quickly around to address the boarder. "And as for you!" He smirked, placing his hands on his waist. "I think you know better than to skate in a store. Didn't your mother ever teach you manners?"

Erin Beaumont (203) has posed:
Erin Beaumont grimmaces and (lightly) jogs closer toward the skateboarder's path. She waves her hands around, shooting out one, then another wave of psychic energy toward him. "Grah! Come -on-!"

Stargirl has posed:
Courtney waits to see if the Masked Avenger Man has things under control or needs further help. Probably the former. So, she crosses her arms and watches, tapping her foot impatiently.

Joker has posed:
     Kenny finally speaks up his mouth muffled beyond the ability for his words to be legible. It's clear though that he's speaking in a mocking tone.

     With a great show of skill he flips right back up onto the shelving grinding best he can around the units, an occasional kick to bridge the gap, or a superman for added shock and awe.

     It's like attempting to swat a gnat, as he just drifts round before finally, finally coming to a full stop.

     For a moment he just stands there before he reaches up, black gloved hands reaching up behind his head, loosening the straps on his hood. "Sorry boys, but I don't think Kenny will be joining us any time soon." His hands reach into his backpack, before pulling something dripping out from the pack and throwing it into the middle of the floor.

     Liquid seeps out from the bag, as from behind those thick tinted goggles he looks back up towards the group. "He had to get AHEAD on his SAT prep, so I filled in for him, still he always was a cut above the rest.", the teenager just starting to chuckle, and then the chuckle builds to a gafaw, and then a laugh, and soon a full blown cackle.

     It's the kind of cackle that burrows, first into the ears, then to the mind, then all the way to the very depths a persons bones, striking that completely unnatural fear into the hearts of anyone that hears it.

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    Ford followed after Kenny with his eyes, keeping a ready stance until the boarder came to a stop and threw the seeping package to the ground. Oh no... don't say it. He knelt down to investigate the bag and see what was inside, before looking up and wincing at the cackling developing. It sent shivers down his spine as he realized this was a very familiar laugh...

    He stood up and clenched his fists, looking between Courtney and Erin. "I suggest you two leave immediately. This just got very dangerous."

Erin Beaumont (203) has posed:
Erin Beaumont glances over to the Superwhateverguy, then downnat the bag. "I can try to cover it with a shield. What is it? This is no time to play the Pronoun Game." She holds her hands at the ready, but takes a few steps back anyway.

Stargirl has posed:
"Wasn't there an old movie that ended like this?" Courtney asks, not enjoying the Joker's little prank. Not at all. She shudders involuntarily at the laugh even though she's really perfectly safe, what her her forcefields and all. "Tell me you're not who I think you are... the Comedian or whatever it was?"

Vorpal (87) has posed:
The Joker. Oh my god. There was no way he was ready for this. This was big league stuff, this was...

He had to get out.

The redhead knows what happens to people who go up against him. They become statistics.

Nobody is likely to notice the fleeing redhead as he half crawls, half runs back to the dressing rooms

Joker has posed:
     One of the pressured teens stuck down under Fords mask screams out with a cry her pure shock and horror evident on her now visible face. "Oh my god, he killed Kenny!"

     One the boy next to her just screams out in pure anger. "You bastard! I'll kill you myself." Struggling as much as he can with no real easy way for him to break free.

     "Ah, ah ah children." A single gloved finger is waggled towards them his voice turning more masculan as that of a full grown man, growing more cruel as his mask falls revealing an inhuman smile. The grin stretches from one ear to the other so far it would rip a natural mans face in twine. As he holds his finger up for a soft Shhhh he just mentions one word. "Language" in a terrifying voice full of that little bit of gravel to add to the backing and gravitas of it.

     His skin is pure chalk white the color of freshly fallen snow, lips a bloody neon crimson, and teeth a dulled almost yellow color to them.

     Then with grace and poise he hops up onto the table, mid jump his entire ensemble rips like tear away clothing falling down around him. Landing with grace and poise he's now clad in a flowing neon purple jacket with a massive matching bow that drapes down either side of the shirt. Sneakers break away to reveal white spats and mirror polished shoes spiked at the toe so sharp they could slice through skin.

     Pine green hair is done up in a devil may care style, as he leans down far. "Why it's Kenny of course!" A light pause as those blood red eyes look down on the group. "Well... most of him anyway." His feet stood on a single raised corner of metal as he comes back from the bow. "He always wanted to get a leg up on the competition."

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    "The Joker."

    Ford felt his knuckles crack as he increased his density up to it's maximum. Now, 11 tons of weight made him crack the floor a good deal as he stood on it. Lord only knows what the crazy madman had planned or could do now. His eyes drooped down to the poor disembodied head of Kenny, before looking back up to the Clown Prince of Crime. "Like I said... I recommend you two ladies leave. Immediately." he said, before stepping forward to put another crack in the floor. This was decidedly not how he planned his first appearance as a hero to be... on the other hand, going up against the Joker himself and merely surviving would be a great way to break onto the hero scene!

    "Alright, Joker. You're not in Gotham, and you aren't dealing with the Batman anymore. You face me, Mr. Amazing! So I advise you back down and leave quietly!"

Erin Beaumont (203) has posed:
Erin Beaumont grunts and rolls her eyes. "Oh my fucking GOD," she shouts. "Just say what the fuck's in the bag! No shit that's the Joker! Say something -useful-!" She squeezes her eyes shut and tries to contact anyone and everyone within the area with a single psychic message...to everyone but the Joker and crew, of course. No links to allow them to talk back, so it's more like a single, loud message, but with her contacting so many people at once, her voice sounds a little muffled, and some details in her tone and pitch are lost. <Get out now. The Joker is here. Alert the police quietly.>

Erin glares up at the Joker, then starts stepping behind a clothes rack.

Stargirl has posed:
Courtney gets a good look at the head of poor Kenny and turns suddenly - her lunch ends up all over the floor in an aisle. She stands up again, her eyes watering, tears down her face. "Did you have to kill someone, just for a laugh?" Of course he did, but still. "You're gonna stay here until the police come." she tellst he Joker, matter-of-factly. She shakes her head at Mister Amazing Ford. Back to the Jokester. "Don't make me hurt you."

Joker has posed:
     "Oh, I'm not am I?" Joker spins round on that small metal pole on the ball of his heel a single hand held up above his eyes to cover sun that isn't there. His expression falling from the smile to a bit more of a saddened look.

     He hops down and onto his knees hands up. "Alright Mr. Amazing, I know when I'm beaten." Just utter despair in his voice. "Slap the cuffs on me and take me away, you're so much wiser, and braver, and stronger then Batman."

     "If I'd have known I wasn't in Gotham I wouldn't have even murdered that boy, and his family." So much sadness in his voice as he throws out that lower lip looking up to him pleading. "Just please don't kill me!" Tears rolling down his eyes as he just throws himself prostrate before the might of Mr.Amazing.

     "I'll just have to find some other business to bury a 2 megaton warhead under." He pauses for a moment putting a hand on his own chin. "Then again it's going to be a bit difficult disarming this one since the silent alarm was what I had set up to trigger it." A smile crossing back from one ear to the other as he looks towards the group, growing wider then even before.

Erin Beaumont (203) has posed:
Erin Beaumont grits her teeth. Dammit, it could be a bluff, but it's not worth risking it. <Do NOT set off the silent alarm,> she announces quickly to anyone within the store, again losing some detail and clarity in her voice. She repeats. <Do NOT set off the silent alarm. Call the police on your cell phone.>

She looks to the other two. "I'm not willing to tangle with a madman. Let's cut our losses and scram." She's not about to risk her own life to save anyone stupid enough to -stay- and starts jogging toward the exit. Again, it's rather slow, with her...handicap. Or, her handicaps.

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    Ford turned back and eyed Erin. "At 2 megatons, it won't make much difference..." But she was moving off. Best for her to make a distance between this store and her. He winced as Courtney threw up at the sight of Kenny's head. Yeah... this was bad. "Yeah, I think I will." Ford replied, stepping over and cracking the floor with each pace, reaching up to try and grab hold of Joker's hands, lest he try anything "funny". "I'm nothing like you. You don't die today. I'm taking you in."

Stargirl has posed:
"You're bluffing." Courtney says. "You couldn't get away from a two megaton bomb, not in time. You wouldn't even be safe in Gotham." She takes a look back at Erin as she trots off, but she lets the woman go without a response. Back to Ford and the Joker and their coming confrontation. "Be careful." she warns the former. Of course, she could end this in a moment by surrounding the Clown Prince of Crime with a forcefield to hold him here until the police or Batman arrives, but she doesn't. Perhaps it's the shock of the brutality or just the Joker's reputation, but something has kept her from thinking clearly.

Erin Beaumont (203) has posed:
Erin Beaumont slows to a stop quickly, still panting. "Huff...Right. It's a bluff, then. She steps back toward the electronics section where the Joker is, then looks down at the bag and Kenny's head. She holds her hands out and envelops the bag and head in a psychic shield. "It's probably just a regular bomb, and knowing the Joker, it's something like this. Or the skateboard." She brushes a lock of hair from her head. "Supercrimes are more my thing than atomic physics."

Joker has posed:
     "Of course, of course" Joker agrees as his hands are grabbed hold of moving right up to a stand to let Ford move him along. "Why I don't know what you mean, I'd never try and funny business." reaching his hand out of his sleeve to scratch the back of his head while Ford holds onto what had been his hand before placing it back into the proper sleeve position.

     "What do I look like to you, some kind of clown?" Asked with that wide ear to ear grin the tears completely stopped and practically gone already as he goes right back into that smarmy self confident prying digging voice.

     "Oh reeeeally?" He asks pausing in his stride, a quick slip fourth from the jacket revealing yet another beneath it. He kicks hard at the ground and pops up a tile. Setting there flashing count down timer and all is a rather large warhead partially stuck out from the ground. The timer says One minute thirty seconds. "See I wouldn't be so sure about that pumpkin pie."

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    Ford blinked as the Joker revealed that his hands were... wooden?! How the hell did he do that!? ...WHEN the hell did he do that!? Ford didn't even have time to register until it was already done that Joker had kicked up a floor tile and revealed that he DID have a bomb! Knew it! He stumbled back at the sight of the bomb, his mind already racing with possible ways to get rid of it!

    "G..GO!" Ford yelled, turning around and waving the others out of danger. He turned back and growled at Joker. No... no, how to get rid of the bomb. "...Ms. Beaumont! Can you use your powers to lift that out of the ground? And you-" he said, pointing to Courtney. "Are you able to project a forcefield strong enough to contain that blast?"

Erin Beaumont (203) has posed:
Erin Beaumont tilts her head as the masked man speaks to her. He knows her name. "I can't lift it, but we can try digging it out. Shovels, gardening section. Book it. I'll try and move tiles." She looks at Courney. "Unless you can help pull them up." Her heart is racing. This is the -Joker- they're up against. Would he be mad enough to risk himself for a bit of chaos? The answer came quickly: yes, he would.

Stargirl has posed:
Even if Courtney doesn't trap the Joker or even cordon off an area for the villain and Ford to fight in, the revealed gadget - which may or not be a nuclear weapon - is a threat she can see and deal with. The Cosmic Staff is near her, but invisible... this she uses to throw a field around the thing under the tile. "You'd blow yourself up too! Even you're not THAT crazy." she says.

Joker has posed:
     Dusting himself off and adjusting his bow Joker speaks calmly and collectedly looking at his mcdonalds happy meal watch. The 90's star wars watch for the launch of the phantom menace, the digital one that usually fell apart in a week.

     "You know that's what I love about you New Yorkers." As he hops over the hole in the floor with a gleeful bound. "Even when looking death right in the face, you just don't want to see it!" A bone chilling laugh echoed out as he lands right on a counter. "It's almost a shame after..." He looks to the watch. "A minute twenty five seconds there won't be any more new yorkers, or a Gotham for that matter." And he laughs and laughs. "Ah if there's a better way to go out I can't think of it."

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    Ford snarled as he looked at the forcefield forming around the bomb. "How... how did you get hold of a nuke? No... no, how do you turn it off!?" He yelled, clenching his fists as he tried to conjure a plan. Forcefields. Psychic waves. Weights and densities. How could he turn those abilities into a way to get rid of a massive bomb?

    A catapult? Something... something to launch it super far from here! If he could get the others to make some kind of launching set up, he could use his weight to fling it super far! 11 tons ought to send it far enough, right?! Or maybe... "I... I need a slingshot! Or a catapult! Something so I can weigh it down and launch this thing!"

Stargirl has posed:
Courtney looks at Ford. "Forcefield? Me?" she asks, hopefully convincing. "I'm just too scared to move right now." She shakes her head. "If it's real it'll never get far enough away without Superman throwing it into space or something." She looks between Ford and the Joker and the bomb. "Just make him disarm it... step on his toes or something." See what the Joker did? He made Courtney suggest torture.

Erin Beaumont (203) has posed:
Erin Beaumont is already on her hands and knees (and breasts), clawing at the tiles. "Bit busy here. Besides, it's not like radiation poisoning in the atmosphere is much better. Though I'm expecting it to...herf...either be a dud, or a -normal- bomb." She can't seem to find a good spot to grip it, especially with Courtney's forcefield covering the bomb. She looks up at the girl. "The bomb's still gonna end up going -through- the dirt and -around- your shield. We need it out. Or..." She looks around and stands back up. "Jelly. Ballistics jelly. Or something similar. Pour it in, cover the top, and it'd help minimize damage." She points a dirty, manicure-ruined finger at Not-Ford. "You. You're faster than me. See if there's -any- kind of jelly substance. Fucking Jell-O would work better than nothing."

Joker has posed:
     "All exquisite options gentlemen!" Looking back towards the group as he hops back down to ground level watching with amusement while people dig and crawl and grab for the bomb. He leans on thin air watching with amusement. "I'm absolutely THRILLED to see such incredible teamwork!" He pauses for a moment already backing towards the door in his movements. "But I think what we really need here is a bit more tension, how's... 20 seconds sound?" A quick slap of the watch suddenly jumping the display on the bomb forward, completely removing the LED's forming the one of the countdown timer. A raspy little laugh as he leans hard on that invisible counter beside him.

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    Ford shook a little as the time went down a whole minute! God, no! This was not how he wanted his first show as a hero to turn out! Not with a massive explosion! Something to shield the blast! To keep them all safe!

    ...safe... SAFE!

    Ford bent down and made his weight as light as possible. "Everyone, take cover! I have a plan!" he yelled, before taking a flying leap and immediately shifting his density to several thousand kilograms, sending him flying up, but tough enough to smash through the ceiling above. After a couple seconds, one can hear the sound of heavy scraping, as if something heavy and metal was being shoved along the floor. In fact, that's exactly what it is! Ford is shoving an open display safe (price tag still attached!) to the hole he made and onto the bomb below, letting it slam over the bomb. He leapt down and onto the safe, smashing it even deeper into the ground, before leaping off.

    He pointed at Erin and shouted orders. "Psychic slam it down!" He pointed it Courtney. "Forcefield! Now!"

Stargirl has posed:
Courtney should have just destroyed the thing, but she was trying to pretend to be an innocent bystander in front of the supervillain who could murder her entire family and enjoy doing it. She switched off the forcefield over the bomb as the safe came crashing down on the bomb and she quickly replaced it once the bomb and it's new jaunty metal hat gets slammed down by the other woman. that done, she smiles defiantly at Jokey Smurf. "I dare you." Stupid! What a stupid thing to say to the Joker!

Erin Beaumont (203) has posed:
Erin Beaumont holds a shield out in front of her and crouches slightly anyway. She's gonna take no chances. She turns to glare at the Joker. "Well, you've gotten us all to partake in your little play," she says. There isn't much time left anyway, and there's really nothing else for her to do. "I hope we've brought a little bit of brightness to your otherwise empty life."

Joker has posed:
     Joker is loving every minute, and he's getting ready to applaud with all the joy of a satisfied customer, and then someone has to open their big mouth. His eyelashes flutter.

     "Care to repeat that for me honeydew?" First speaking in a very friendly voice before switching to a much more... dry Tone "Didn't quite hear you the first time." As he reaches into his pocket, pulling out a very, very, large handgun. "Now you could of course actually repeat that little brain dead boast, being the petulant youth that you are." A light tap of the gun on his forehead as he makes sure to put a counter between himself and the heroes visibly STILL having a blast in spite of his current seeming defeat.

     "But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world" He rolls the chamber in his hand, just idly quoting that historic film. "Would blow your head clean off," He levels it towards her. "And you've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?"" He drags out this next bit as he speaks "Well, do ya, punk?" Depressing the trigger.

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    Ford clenched his jaw almost as tightly as his fists at Courtney's comment. For crying out loud, did she HAVE to go and say that! As his eyes trained on the heavy barrel of the gun leveling it's way at the young lady, Ford quietly wondered if he actually COULD turn tense enough to stop a .44 caliber weapon... normal weapons, he was pretty sure he could shrug off, not that he's ever tried it. But... he was right. A .44 would put a dent in something. If there was anything left after the blast!

    Speaking of blasts, he was still unsure if the safe and forcefield would be enough to contain the explosion... he prayed it would. Nothing more he could do about it now. Ford lightened himself to quickly leap between the gun barrel and Courtney, arms up and steadying himself, floor cracking at his maximum weight. "Who needs luck when you're Mr. Amazing!?" he replied bravely. Granted, he wasn't sure he COULD repel the gun... but this is what heroes do, right? At least... that's how it worked in the shows.

Erin Beaumont (203) has posed:
Erin Beaumont rolls her eyes and continues to focus on her shield. She starts stepping back away from the safe. "Back up, you two. Mr. Amazing, you should probably jump off and away with her. Better than nothing." She holds both hands out together and tries to focus harder on making her shield bigger. It adds...a whole half an inch in diameter. Not much help.

Stargirl has posed:
Courtney stands her ground. She expected that Batman's nemesis might shoot her with the weapon he produced and so she was ready to dodge. That seems like it would be impossible at this range but she's just full of impossible. It looks like he'll take care of the whole situation on his own. "Put the gun down. I mean, you could just give up. Arkham can't be THAT bad." It may not matter, time is probably almost up.

Joker has posed:
     Joker looks her dead in the eyes, that first trigger pull simply clicks, the second time he place it inside of his own mouth, the shiny chrome barrel. This time when he pulls the trigger a loud BANG errupts from the gun, and the joker falls over the side of the counter towards the ground still smiling as he vanishes from view.

     Yet there's no smoke from the barrel, no splatter of viscera on the clear white wall behind him, just the sound of a gunshot. Instead it seems a single flag is now lodged just inches from Courtney's skull, managing to travel so fast yet missing by a calculated margin.

     Before any attention can be given towards the fluttering flagpole now stuck from the wall there's a sound of bells being rung. The telltale give of an alarm. The earth quakes! The building SHAKES! The entire foundation seems as if it is going to give before echoing out through the halls is the earth shattering sound of SPLOOOORT

     Pushing hard on the thick bubble of force, and bubbling up tiles is a sticky white substance that forces hard with the full explosive power of a bomb... or well an air canister set on way too high PSI. Cream pie filling... literally getting EVERYWHERE even with the help of the bubble to stop it, it just keeps coming for a few moments, just enough to make a mess of the place.

     Then over the stores intercoms a brief sound of party poppers plays as well as the voice of children calling out "SURPRISE!"

Erin Beaumont (203) has posed:
Erin Beaumont winces at the expl--wait, no, that's no explosion. She looks at the cream filling and sighs, posture deflating and hands falling to her sides. "Motherfucker," she curses weakly. She drops to her knees and sighs, suddenly very lethargic, now that the adrenaline's worn off.

Ford Benett (187) has posed:
    Ford braced himself to take the bullet... but it completely missed! Did... was he too far to one side? He wasn't sure... this cape made it hard to tell. Maybe he should rethink it? But the explosion makes him wobble just slightly, even at his weight! But when the pie filling came up through the floor and the children yelled out surprise over the intercom, Ford had to admit, his heart skipped a couple beats.

    Resisting the urge to shake, he knew that the Joker still needed to be apprehended! He rushed over to where he'd fallen behind the case, prepared for what might be behind it...

Stargirl has posed:
Courtney doesn't have a problem with the explosion because as the floor shakes she drifts up a couple of inches off the floor. That's especially nice since it keeps her feet clean when the floor ends up covered in cream. "Whew." she says in relief. "Where did he go?"

Erin Beaumont (203) has posed:
Erin Beaumont slumps down, holding herself up on her arms. She's sitting down, on top of her lower legs. She takes a moment to send out a very fuzzy message to the masked man and the floating woman--<S-Someone...give me a hand...?>--before she passes out on the floor sideways. Seems the adrenaline was all that kept her going, and she wasn't quite as confident against the Comedian of Gotham as she seemed.

Joker has posed:
     It's an excellent question to be posed: Where did he go? An even better question is: Where did all the STUFF go? Where did all the CRIMINALS go?

     As Ford reaches round to the other side of the desk counter where joker fell he is fully in his rights to expect a corpse laying on the ground or some trap, yet left in place of a body is a single playing card.

     On one side is the face of the joker smiling broad as day, on the reverse is a little message. Written in comic sans, and printed to the back of the card an alternating font color for every letter it reads as thus:

     "Bettter Luck next time." When picked up the card itself will of course burst into sudden flames the flash-paper itself reacting once there's enough warmth just from poor Fords hand. Yet not nearly enough to actually cause damage.

     Out front of the building the Van is already gone in the chaos the store picked clean of the most pricey and exquisite little knickknacks, except for an entire shelf of WII-U's left marked up with clearance stickers. Every last one has been left completely unscathed, without a single mark on any of them.