5618/Black Sky: Going Underground (the Search for Genus)

Black Sky: Going Underground (the Search for Genus)
Date of Scene:	21 October 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Kate, Stick, and Daredevil go into the tunnels to rescue Genus, but not without some interference!
Cast of Characters:	Hawkeye (Bishop), Daredevil, Stick
Tinyplot:	Black Sky

---

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
The information that Kate had was good. And a meeting time had been set. All that remained was gathering her small crew (and it haad to be small by nature of where they were going) and finding their mark. Well, man. They weren't planning on taking him down, even if they were intent on dragging him out of there.

Kate meets the rest of the group underneath a well known local bridge, where she often worked handing out food to the homeless from a local charity mission. It was there, she told Matt, that they'd be met by an escort who would take them down into the tunnels.

Daredevil has posed:
The tournament was over a week gone, Elektra had done her damage to the Hand's plans, now it was their turn. He'd left a message in the usual spot for Stick giving the old man the time and location of the meet, and counted on one of the Chaste to bring him the news. Matt for his part, had donned his suit and at the appointed time drops down from the bridge to land behind Kate.

"Hey," he greets, head cocking to get a sense of the place, let his ears do the seeing for him. "Thanks for doing this," he says. "My plus one should be a long in a minute."

Stick has posed:
    

  Matt's message had been received, and the Sensei made arrangements to be there.

  Stick wasn't far behind Daredevil, equipped with a sword and crossbow. "I'm here." The grizzled old man comments, his garb was more military surplus than legendary fighter.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate an be patient while they wait, only when Stick shows up, her eyes widen in disbelief, and she turns on Matt. "You have to be kidding me. Another blind buy? Seriously. I am not a babysitter."

Her contact will be arriving shortly, though, so it's not like she has a whole lot of other choices at her disposal.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt can't hold in a chuckle. "Trust me, he doesn't need one," he says. "And Daredevil can see," he corrects. After all he clearly needed work on keeping his secret ID's secret.

"Anyhow, Stick, this is Hawkeye, Hawkeye this is Stick."

Both Stick and Matt can hear their guide coming, a teenager by the sound of his heartbeat, hungry, in need of a bath. A short time later he steps out of the shadows and looks at the trio. "Okay, wow, a suit, huh..." he says eyes falling on Matt first, before moving to Stick and finally settling on Kate. "Hey Katie," he says, "He's waiting for you guys, just the three of you or do you got more coming? Not sure how much room we've got for more."

The guide, was pretty much what Matt and Sticks senses told them he was, young dirty, hungry, he'd given the name Mikey when Kate met him, but who knows if it was his real or not. He's nervous though, eyes darting this way and that, heartrate up.

Stick has posed:
     Stick just looks unamused at the comment by Kate. "I wouldn't expect a..." He takes a sniff towards Kate's direction. "Oh? An archer, with a dog, and..." He sniffs again. "A need for better ventilation to know you don't need working eyes to see."

  The young man walking up gets Stick to hush a bit, the guy's heart rate garners a bit of suspicion from Stick. He nudges Daredevil a little noticing that tidbit.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate lets Stick's commentary roll over her without any ire from the young woman. "You are a grouchy one, aren't you? And his name is Lucky. Lucky the wonder Pizza Dog. Don't ask. Good guess on the archer, but enh.. everyone knows who Hawkeye is, so colour me impressed when you do something really fancy."

Matt had a point about himself, though. In this guise, Daredevil could see.

When the teen wanders up to them, she grins at him. "Hey, Steve. Nope, just us. My friend Daredevil, and his friend Stick. We're good to go if you are, huh?"

Daredevil has posed:
Damn it, had he said his name was Steve when he met Kate before? How'd she find out his real name, shit! Mikey/Steve, lets out a breath, "Right, Steve..." he says. "And sure, let's go."

He starts off towards the tunnel under the bridge, when Matt calls out, "Everything okay?" He'd clued into the sped up heartrate and Stick's nudge confirmed it wasn't just him. "You're seeming nervous for a tour guide."

Steve turns, "Hey man, this guy has a lot of scary people looking for him and I'm standing out here with a blind dude, a girl with a bow and the freaking Devil of Hell's Kitchen. So yeah, I am a bit nervous."

The words sound off to Matt, he waits for Stick to confirm.

Stick has posed:
     "Hawkeye? Never heard of you. Unless you're one of those army doctors. I hear that Hotlips is one hell of a dish." Stick offers with a shrug. "Sounds like a good boy though."

  Stick is more than ready at this point. Stick's assessment of Steve is cautious, but he looks to Matt, giving a small nod. He's going to keep his guard up, but there's no backing out.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
That little slip of acknowledgement from the boy was what Kate had hoped for. Of course she'd investigated him. And not just because in order to save Matt's friend Genus, she had to be sure of all the stops along the way, but becuase the boy was young. Like should be tossing back root beer and sneaking a cigarette behind the school, spending his lunch money on movies and lying about it kind of young. Someone was missing that boy.

That, and she's got a bad feeling about this. It was also true that Kate always had a bad feeling about things, but so far, she'd not been wrong many times about it. It was, she liked to think, just another reason she was the better Hawkeye. Always prepared. Like a Boy Scout - which she'd never been, but the motto was still cool.

"Huh?" Kate doesn't get Stick's reference at first. "Oh, yeah. That. Barton tried to turn me onto that before. Not sure I got it."

Which was also true.

The byplay between the two blind men isn't missed: so she wasn't wrong in being cautious.

"Yeah, lots of scary people," Kate agrees with Steve. "It's why I brought backup. I promise, we're not about to hurt him. I already explained what we want. But hey, shouldn't be we on our way? I'd be nervous if I were being kept waiting."

Daredevil has posed:
Steve nods, walking backwards towards the tunnel he came from keeping the others in view.

"Old TV show," Matt explains. He'd seen a couple of episodes when he was a kid. Though Kate gets there on her own.

Matt's on edge along with the others, but he's worried about the kid and if there's a trap waiting he figures between the three of them they can handle it.

"So are you guys coming or what?" Steve demands stepping into the shadows at the end of the tunnel.

"Sure," Matt says, stepping forward. "And to let you know, we're not going to let anything happen to you, Steve, so relax and lead the way and everything will be fine."

That's where an SUV that had been on course over the bridge veers suddenly, heading down the embankment to screech to a halt, doors are kicked open, and men with guns start jumping out, yammering to each other in Japanese.

Yakuza. Just one of the many puppet groups controlled by the Hand.

Steve looks at Kate, his face wracked with guilt. "Sorry," he says then sprints into the tunnel.

Matt curses under his breath, "Fall back," he says gesturing at the tunnel, taking his own advice.

The Yakuza open fire.

Stick has posed:
     Stick turns around, crossbow in hand, and fires a bolt at one yakuza member. He was at the rear of the group, and for good reason, he knew he would need ranged attacks somehow.

  The crossbow was easy to reload, and Stick had plenty of bolts to use. "Keep going." He calls out to Steve and Matt.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
It strikes Kate as odd, Steve walking backwards. Sure, he might just be making sure they're following, but usually his sort are more firtive than that, hustling to entrances or overhangs, and turning around only then to see if they've been followed or exposed.

She barely has time to think about the matter, though, before all hell breaks loose.

"Oh, crud!" she exclaims, pulling out several arrows, and taking aim.

She doesn't know Stick, and while she has seen more than a little of what Matt can do, she's still not trusting this newcomer with missile weapon accuracy and covering their tracks. Besides, misery loves company, or many hands make short work. Something like that.

Kate fires on their Yakuza friends, loosing three arrows at once.

Daredevil has posed:
The Yakuza weren't expecting arrows.

Stick's crossbow shot hits one of the men in the chest, the man gasps out his last breathes as he slumps against the SUV and down to the ground.

The men hit by Kate's arrows, fair better, wounded, now unarmed, but still breathing. They take cover by the SUV while the last two armed Yakuza lay down covering fire aimed at the two archers.

Matt enters the tunnel, his strides making it easy to keep pace with Steve. "Stop," he says.

Steve keeps running. He didn't have time for this, people were dying.

Grabbing his baton he whips the cord out to lash around Steve's legs. Gripping the wire, Matt twists his body as he yanks the cord, bringing the kid dow hard.

That's when he realizes he's not alone, and four shapes slip out of the shadows of the tunnels towards Matt and Steve. With a twist of his wrist, he unwraps Steve's legs as he advances towars the figures. "Stay down," he warns the kid as the four figured draw the swords slung on their backs.

Stick has posed:
     Stick makes quick work of reloading his crossbow, releasing one more bolt before its slung behind him, exchanging for the katana.

  The old man keeps fighting in front of him, and walking backwards, keeping forward progress going.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate holds her ground until Stick has moved some pace behind her in distance, when she follows similar suit - using their surroundings (she's familiar with this place after all!) to provide some cover, as well as to control their opponent's access to them. All the while pulling arrows and shooting.

After that initial onslaught, she's only pulling a single arrow at a time - the Yakuza no longer are in one spot, and the surprise advantage is lost. Single targets are now what she's facing.

She's not aware (yet) of Matt's predicament, which may be a good thing. She'd be torn otherwise!

Daredevil has posed:
Stick's bolt, takes another Yakuza in the face as he comes up to fire. He goes down dead, one of the unarmed ones scrambing to get his gun.

He grabs it and takes the first guy's place as he ducks for cover firing wildly above the car to keep people's heads down. Another Yakuza man pops open one of the back doors of the SUV and reaches for something inside.

The other gun man, goes down bleeding but breathing as three of Kate's arrows hit him in both shoulders and a knee. His gun clatters to the pavement.

In the tunnel Steve cringes on the dank floor as the ninja close in. "Guys," Matt calls to bring his allies attention to him. A ninja swings, and Matt ducks, driving his fist into the man's face, with a grunt of effort. The push kicks him at the other ninja trying to keep them penned up behind each other in the tunnel.

Stick has posed:
     Stick's attention is moved from the Yakuza to the Hand. The Chaste leader clashes with two of the group, keeping them occupied with slashes and strikes.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Matt's call draws Kate's attention, but someone has to keep the Yakuza off, at least until someone is at Matt's side.

"You go," she hisses at Stick. "I'll do cover, and pull up the rear." Because whether or not the old man had fancy mojo like Matt, missiles where Kate's domain, and there were few who could compare with her when it came to multiple shots. She could send off a covering barrage that would allow the three of them to regroup.

Besides, she wasn't the hand to hand expert. She might be fine to land a blow, and could hold her own in an alley, but she'd seen Matt in action. She couldn't compare to that. Her guess on Stick was he was better in close quarters than not.

"Go!" she urges Stick again.

Daredevil has posed:
The Yakuza at the back of the SUV pulls out a rifle, pulls back the slide and heads for cover while the other two shooters take aim and fire at Kate. They unload at full auto, the bullets smacking into Kate's cover, kicking up chips of cement. Good news was with that rate of fire, their magazines should be dry in.

One gun clicks empty, then two, Kate has a moment to drop the men before they reload. Though there was also the man with the rifle out there, it's an opportunity and a danger all at once.

Stick's two ninja are good but Stick's better. Driving them back blade to blade, one slips to the side, positioned at Matt's rear, he lunges just as the other one strikes at Stick. Can he block them both?

Matt's faced with a similar choice, one of his ninja lifts his blade to stab down at Steve while the other rushes with a slash. Matt ducks, low and hurls his baton taking the one over Steve in the face while avoiding the blow of the second. Though there is still that lunge coming, he doesn't 'see' it due to the noise and echoes of the tunnel.

Stick has posed:
     Stick keeps on the attack, clashing with swords and waiting for a moment to strike against the Hand.

  Stick doesn't have to block both attacks, instead, he jumps, allowing the lunging Hand to impale the striking Hand.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate dispatches the men before they can reload, but the remaining one is a bigger threat to them all once they're in the tunnels - by their very nature, the things are a death trap in places, and a free for all of threatening innocents in others.

Really, 'Reckless' should have been her middle name, because while smart money might be on head in and help Matt and Stick, instinct tells her find their rifleman and remove that threat. Even if it does come with some significant risk to herself - generally, unarmoured folks don't fare well by bringing a bow to a gunfight.

Then again, they're not Kate.. who now wishes she had her costume with her. Oh well, hindsight. Twenty twenty and all that.

Kate hunts her final target down. If she can take him down for the count, they can deal with Matt's problems, get Genus, and get out of here tout suite.

Daredevil has posed:
The two men drop before their weapons are reloaded. Then the hunt is on, but which one is the hunted. Kate spots a glint of a scope under the SUV then there's a crack as a high-powered round smacks into the wall beside her. The shooter, ratches back the bolt, and slams home another round sighting on Kate to take the shot.

Inside, Stick's ploy works, he twists out of the way and the slashing ninja's blade cuts down the lunging one, filling the air in the tunnel with the coppery taste of blood. The ninja who cut down his ally's eyes go wide, he breathes a curse, then turns to swing wild slashes at the blind man.

Matt didn't see the lunging ninja coming until his blood splattered warm across his face. He could feel the man's life ebbing as his blood pooled on the grimy floor of the tunnel, the last mans last beat of his heart, the stench of his bowls letting go, the spark of his life guttering out.

Anguish flashes through the Devil of Hell's Kitchen and he turns that pain into action, he leaps up from his crouch back kicking the ninka behind him into the wall. He barely lands from that kick before he's flipping through the air to spin the last of his foes, landing beside Steve. "Get up," he tells the boy, and extends his hand. Steve is shaking, sprayed with the dead ninja's blood, but he takes Matt's hand.

Stick has posed:
     Several wild slashes are blocked, with another stab with Stick's own katana coming at the remaining Hand, just when the time is right. The old man keeps onto Daredevil. "Keep the kid going!" He yells, ready to do the same.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate rolls out of the way of the gunshot and flying bits of concrete, her tumble taking her out of the line of immediate fire, but not immediate danger. Her opponent is reloading, and she's only got moments to decide what to do next, and reaches for her next shot.

Had Kate's finger's grabbed another arrow, things might have been a different scenario, but they alight upon a grapple arrow first, and that cinches her choice for her. She aims at an overhead buttress, intending to use that purchase to swing around and over behind the SUV, to come up behind her assailant and take him down for the count. A few well placed arrows after that to drop the SUV into a position to pin him down until the authorities arrive, and she'll be able to join her friends in the tunnels.

This mission was already much more difficult than she'd expected - and she was loving every moment of it. She had missed this sort of excitment more than she'd admit.

Daredevil has posed:
Kate's ploy works, escaping the shots, she come to her feet and swings clear of the bridge to land behind the vehicle, the man underneath turns, trying to shift his weapon around when the arrow pins his hand to the gun, then two more drop the car on him with a kerchunk of shifting metal and fiberglass.

He kicks and shouts under the vehicle but he's stuck.

The last of the ninja go down under Stick's blade as Matt helps Steve to his feet. The kid is terrified, trembling, "I-I didn't want to do it, but they made me," he says, it's a lie. "They got here just before you, I told them where he was." Truth. "Please don't kill me," he begs.

Matt wrinkles his nose at the carnage, but right now he doesn't have time to fight about it.

"We're not going to kill you, just show us the way like you promised, and we're good."

Steve nods wiping his eyes, "Okay," and leads the way down the tunnel as Kate joins them. Once she does, sticks close by to her, the only 'non-psycho' by his estimation, he tries to slip his hand into hers for good measure.

Matt sighs, wiping at the blood on his face, the tunnels were full of echoes and phantom sounds. It made it hard for him to pin down where sounds were coming from.

Stepping into one of the tunnels they enter a labyrinth of sorts, connecting tunnels and man made structures, most of the people who live here are hiding, their heartbeats rapid, though a couple of people lay dead on the ground, fresh wounds from bladed weapons on their bodies.

"Kate, you know much of the layout here?" Matt asks, "Any chance of circling and coming at them from another way?"

He turns his head to Stick out of habit, "And any luck with your senses? Mine are a mess down here."

Stick has posed:
     "Relax kid, if we wanted to kill you, it would have been done already." Cliche, yes, but it was very true.

  Stick sniffs at the air, paying attention to the surroundings. "Five of them. Reeking of the Hand." He comments, then he takes another sniff. "Ziro..." He mentions, gripping his katana very tight that the weaves wrappings creak under the pressure.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate spares no sorrows for the man under the SUV. He won't die, but he will be sorry. He might feel like he's taken a linebacker to the chest for a couple of weeks after this, but that's not her problem. Someone else would have killed him, or dropped all the tires on the SUV, making it a timing game as to that fate.

But Kate isn't that person. And she's got friends to help.

Finally she catches up to them, and gives the two men an impish pout. "Darn, you finished all the fun without me." Only it's a shortlived thing, because, as she finds out, Steve told the Hand where Genus was. It's a matter of a timing game for them now: would they rescue Genus before the Hand wiped him out?

"They won't be bringing him out," Kate says with authority. "If they get to him first, they'll kill him. They won't give us the chance of possibly rescuing him from them."

She nods to Matt. "I checked out the blueprints before I told you about the meet. There are some access tunnels that offer a straight passage down to the lower levels without the winding corridors. Do you know where that entrance is, Steve?"

Daredevil has posed:
Steve nods to Kate, "Yeah, I know where it is. You want me to show you?"

Matt for his part, Matt says, "Sounds like Stick has their scent, go get down there through the passage, give Genus cover, we'll be we'll join you shortly. " He starts towards the passage only to stop and add, "And Kate. Good luck."

He nudges Stick to join him then runs off down the tunnel.

"Who's Ziro?" he asks the old man.

Stick has posed:
     Stick follows where Daredevil goes for now. "Ziro, one of the Hand's best. Arrogant bastard. I've encountered him before." He adds, still clutching that sword of his.

  He doesn't ask Matt anything regarding the maiming he gave the ninja, Matt's reaction to it all was enough of a tell for Stick.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate isn't too happy about striking off alone with Steve, but there isn't a lot of time to argue, and well, if she runs into a pack of ninja on her own, that's going to be them feeling all the guilt now, isn't it?

Besides, she still has a few arrows left. Plus some throwing knives.. Okay, a *lot* of throwing knives. But hey, they were like potato chips, a girl couldn't have just one. Right? Right?

Kate follows Steve, and to the best of her recollection he's leading her the way she's sure she remembers the access tunnels to be.

Daredevil has posed:
Steve leads the way right to the access tunnels. "I am sorry," he says as he goes. "They had money, like a /lot/ of it, but you're cool..." he says as he reaches the access tunnels down to Genus. "If you go that way, you'll get down to him, but if you take that one," he points to another tunnel heading up to the surface. "You can get out of here, these guys are dangerous..."

--

"Great," Matt snarks as they run. He'd met one of the Hand's best before, he still bore the scars. "Guess we should run faster."

That's when he senses the throwing blades tumbling towards Matt and Stick, thrown by the man himself: Ziro. The cocky Hand swordsman is still wearing the same damn cologne Stick smelled on him the last time they met. He unsheathes his blade. "Ah, the Old Man didn't think you had much interest in computers," he says, after all they were chasing a hacker. "What with your defect," he waves a hand over his own eyes to illustrate the point. "But still glad you and the Devil came. I thought this was going to boring. Another night of cleaning up the bitch-traitor's messes."

He takes a fighting stance, the blade cutting the air.

Matt barely breathes his words for Stick. "You got this?"

Stick has posed:
     Stick readies his sword, not looking to Daredevil. "Go." He replies, blocking Ziro's first strike with his sword.

  "Still wearing that putrid cologne." He comments, not much towards the 'traitorous bitch' comment.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"Pshaw," Kate brushes Steve's warning aside. "Danger is my middle name. You get yourself to safety. Anything I need to know heading on down there?"

She's got her bow ready, plus she knows where her other weapons are. Always at hand. And barring any new information from Steve, she's off down the service corridor to the lower levels.

Daredevil has posed:
Steve looks at Kate like she's crazy, glancing at the way back up to the surface then back to her. "Uh, it's a real mess down there, lots of little hidey holes, but if you head down there you'll be right near Genus, look for the yellow pillar his squat is there."

He licks his lips. "He's also got a gun, so try not to surprise him."

Steve lets out a breath. "Anyhow, I'm sorry."

Then he's off to let Kate rush down below.

She gets down by the yellow pillar when she sees Genus and his gun, backing away from his hidey-hole. He whirls, and points his gun at Kate. "Are you one of them?"

---

Matt does as Stick tells him, using Ziro's attack to slip by and run up the tunnel. He tosses his baton as he goes, smashing a light above the door, to darken the sword fight and give Stick an advantage. The baton bounces back to his hand.

He sprints on down the corridor.

Ziro for his part grins, as he meets Stick blade to blade. "Sensitive nose old man?" he asks, he leaps back swinging at Stick again. Twisting and striking again. The smelly bastard is quick.

Stick has posed:
     Stick gives a grimace as he clashes with Ziro. Sparks falling down from the crashes light until the tungsten has burned out. "I'd say you stink like a twenty dollar whore. But that would insult twenty dollar whores." He comments, aiming a kick to the Hand swordsman's sternum.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
The grin remains plastered on Kate's face until she's left Steve. No sense worrying the boy after all. She might be a tad reckless, but not crazy. However, this here was a necessary thing. A lot of lives depended on getting Genus out and to SHIELD as fast as possible. Preferably before any others were injured.

Down by the yellow pillar, Kate hold up her hands. "Woah. No. Not with them. I'm with a mutual friend of yours.. Victor. Me and a couple of my friends are trying to get you out of here before the bad guys get to you. Think you might want to lower tht gun a little and save it for people who count. And, you know, maybe come with me out of this rats nest."

She gives what she hopes is an endearing grin.

More seriously, then, "I won't lie. We've got company, and they want a piece of you too. Preferably dead if I don't miss my mark. I'd like to see that not happen and watch them cry in their cornflakes. Or whatever it is ninja eat for breakfast. Grab what you need, and lets go."

Daredevil has posed:
Genus keeps the gun up, the guy looks worse for wear, thin, dark circles under his eyes. "Who sent you? Which friends?" he asks sounding scared and desperate.

*BANG*

The gun goes off as Genus yelps and drops it, an arrow sticking through his arm.

The Hand have arrived. Two of them rush forward swords drawn, another three are fanned out behind them, one of them has a bow.

Not a great situation. The bowman draws an arrow back taking aim at Genus again.

---

Ziro staggers back from the kick. "You would know," the swordsman says, he swings one-handed at Stick reaching into his pocket. Then swings again while the other hand throws something at the ground.

*BANG*

The little explosion echoes in the tunnel distrupting Stick's 'view' of the fight as Ziro rushes in again with a two-handed slash.

Stick has posed:
     The explosion in such a close quarters area indeed changed Stick's 'view'. The man instinctively holds his katana vertical, catching and slowing Ziro's blade, though not enough to block completely, a gash is cut into Stick's side, the old man hisses from the sudden pain.

  Stick retaliates, although he is only using his sense of smell as a guide, slashing horizontally in the direction of the odorous cologne.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"Crap!" Kate hisses loudly as Genus' shot grazes her shoulder - not that it stops her from spinning in place, bow drawn, and a pair of arrows already nocked, aiming to bear. "Your hacker friend. Short, sassy, and dating tall blonde and handsome. Enough for you?"

She lets her arrows fly, aiming for their bowman. He's their interference, and while the swords are a definitely threat, they'll be harder to deal with dodging a peppering of arrows.

Of course she steps between the oncomers and Genus, making herself the target - provided Genus is smart enough to not deke out from behind her or take a run for it before she gives the word.

"Get your stuff," she mutters, already marking out in her mind where he's dropped the gun. She's going to need that, quite possibly. If only to keep it out of the Hand's.. hands.

Daredevil has posed:
The bowman's arrow goes wide as Kate's strike true. He drops, alive but bleeding.

If Genus looked bad before he looks worse now, with an arrow through his arm and ninjas bearing down on him.

"Fuck my stuff," he says, as Kate moves to block the ninja from getting to him. "Let's go!"

Then he has a second thought, ducking into his shelter and grabbing a ratty messenger bag and throwing the strap over a shoulder.

"Ready," he says as the ninja bear down on Kate, swinging blades at her and her bow.

Behind her, while the bowman bleeds, the other two men are attacked by Daredevil. The first doesn't see it coming, a baton hits him in the back of the head dropping him like a rag doll. Then second turns and swings and the fight is on, the hero in red, ducking and striking as he tries to find an opening to bring a swift end to this fight and help Kate.

---

Ziro thought Stick was wide open, he'd swung for Sticks hand trying to lop it off and remove his sword from play. But the hand and the sword was gone. The strike that hit's him was crude with only sound to guide it, but it works, there is the strong scent of blood in the air as the Hand swordsman reels backwards.

"Damn it," he curses as Stick's hearing clears.

As his 'view' improves he can see Ziro's wounded on his left side, bleeding badly. Though like a caged beast Ziro, growls, and raises his blade. "Come on Old Man," he goads.

Stick has posed:
     Stick was also bleeding, not as badly though. The grey haired Sensei seethes at his adversary. The slice from Stick seemingly just made Ziro more angry. Stick raises his blade and rushes at Ziro, taking another swipe at the Hand.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate's arm hurts, but she's going to hurt a whole lot more if she doesn't haul butt out of those tunnels. As soon as Genus grabs his bag, she's ushering him towards the tunnels to escape, pausing long enough to grab his dropped gun (Hey, no sense leaving a weapon behind for the bad guys to use, right?) and providing covering fire for Matt, who is surprisingly - and thankfully - there to help.

"Run," she tells Genus. "I've got your back." Stopping to fire off at sword-ninja-boy fighting Daredevil. She's not worried about missing the short, even if that is a little bit smug of her.

Daredevil has posed:
Genus doesn't need to be told twice to run, he hoofs it up the tunnel without a second thought.

Kate's shot hits Daredevil's ninja in the knee, and Daredevil doesn't waist any time taking advantage of that. He slams a fist into the ninja's face, then twisting in the air, dispatches him with a spin kick.

Those other two ninja who'd rushed forward are the real concern, they split up, one falling back to face Daredevil, the other hurling throwing blades at Genus, causing him to stumble and fall as they strike his legs, then rushing forward to swing at Kate's gun arm.

---

Ziro was always quick, bleeding, hurting he waits for the strike to come and when it does he moves viper quick, to counter, grunting as a shot of pain flares up his side as he raises his sword.

That was the fatal moment, the wound slows him and Stick's sword buries itself in Ziro's side.

The ninja's eyes widen and he staggers free of the blade, "Bastard," he says half cursing half-coughing the word. Blood already colours his lips as he raises his sword again. "Come on Old Man!" he bellows.

The fight though is already won.

Stick has posed:
     Stick didn't look angered, he didn't look sad. This was part of his goal: eradicating the Hand.

  Stick raises his sword, makes one last swing, it would be all he needed. One inch above the clavicle, at the vertebrae, the katana almost sings as it slices the air.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate doesn't need a gun arm, in fact, she had other ideas for stopping said opponent - there was a reason she had throwing knives on her person. A lot less lethal than gunfire, especially in tunnels like this. And given she's not picky about which hand to use..

Kate tries to slow her assailant down so taht she can get to Genus and help him out.

"You okay over there, Daredevil?"

Kate had to admit, this was entirely different than fighting at Hawkeye's side. She was reserving judgement until later about how she felt about it.

Daredevil has posed:
The ninja's eyes are on the gun, the knives come as a shock as they stab into his legs and stomach. The latter one isn't deep enough to kill, or pierce anything vital but it slows the man down as planned. Giving Kate a window of opportunity to get to Genus, who is trying to pick himself up off the ground.

Daredevil for his part, rushes the ninja waiting for him, there are sparks as katana meets baton, then Daredevil kicks the black clad figure in the knee, bending it backwards, then clocks the man in the jaw.

"Doing alright," Matt calls. "Can you put that last one down," he says jerking his head at the ninja.

He's pulled out the throwing blades, but there's blood on his clothing as he finds himself caught between Kate and Daredevil.

"Or want me to?"

That's when the ninja lets out a kiyai and rushes headlong for Genus sword raised. A suicidal attack meant to either get the hacker and finish his mission or fail utterly and be as good as dead to the Hand.

---

The cut is clean and Ziro's head rolls free of his body with a spurt of blood, before that body topples forward to lay on the grimy floor never to rise again.

The Hand has one less fighter for the war.

Stick has posed:
     Stick flings his sword clean, the blood swiped off clean.

  Having been triumphant, Stick follows the sounds to meet back with Daredevil and Hawkeye, quick as he can.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"Kinda busy here," Kate manages to get out as she races the remaining guy for Genus. He might be making a suicidal run for it, but Kate has acrobatics on her side, and a tumbling run Genus' way will either land her there before the ninja (and stupdidly blocking his attack, with, she guesses her bow - gee, that's going to sting; they're not made to be used that way. Oh well, she can always find another favourite bow, right? Right?), or take him down on his way.

She's pretty okay with either outcome.

Daredevil has posed:
Stick arrives at the scene as the final blows are struck.

Kate flips in the way of the final ninja, her bow coming up to block his blow as she kicks him, hard in that stomach wound, the ninja reels backward clutching his stomach.

That's when Daredevil reaches him, flipping through the air again to kick the man to the ground.

The fight was over.

Genus gets to his feet, leaning heavily on the wall, his legs still bleeding. "Jesus," he says in disbelief at the carnage. "We need to get out of here."

"No argument, from me," Matt says sensing Stick's arrival. "Everyone okay?" he asks.

"Dude, I have knives in my legs," Genus grouses. "But sure, yeah, not dead."

Stick has posed:
     Stick pulls on one of his sleeves, ripping the fabric off to make a tourniquet. "Ziro isn't, if that's what you're asking." He comments, tying off the bandage. "You?" He asks, more of a nicety, he can tell if something was amiss. "That's all?" He asks Genus, his face quite deadpan.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"Ugh," Kate groans at Genus' plight. "Normally I'd say leave them, but you can't hustle and leave knives in your legs. But we're going to need to get you to somewhere you can be looked at and pronto."

She's no medical expert, but basic first aid is pretty common sense. And, of course, she's downplaying her own injury. Now that some of the adrenaline is rubbing off, the gunshot graze is beginning to sting.

Mind you, what is she going to say, 'Hey Genus, you shot me, you know?' - uh. No. No real graceful way to bring that up in conversation, and based on his aim, he had no clue what he was doing with a gun anyway.

She gets up off the ground, and sighs at the damage to her bow. "I really liked that bow. I'll have to see if Alex can fix it." She imagined he was going to give her stink eye and sigh even more loudly than she herself had just sighed when she showed the poor thing to her resident fixer. No help for it. Man's life was at stake, and then some. C'est la vie.

"Right, let's get out of here!"

Daredevil has posed:
"Dude, knives," Genus says to Stick, but then seeing what a bloody mess the old blind man was, he shuts right up and yanks the blades out of his calfs.

Matt cocks his head slightly, "You weren't hit anywhere bad, you should be okay. I just hope you didn't like those shoes."

The wry joke is accurate, there was already plenty of blood on those shoes, even Matt had only guessed by how much copper was in the air. The joke was a cover though, he knew Ziro and others had died tonight and enemies or not, that bothered him. However they'd gotten Genus, that meant they were one step closer to getting revenge on the hand.

He would live with the deaths.

Turning towards the wall Matt crosses himself, then turns back, and nods, "Yeah, let's go, Kate, lead the way."