6076/Bad Medicine (Act 2)

Bad Medicine (Act 2)
Date of Scene:	30 December 2018
Location:	New York City
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Zeitgeist (Julius), Batman, Gambit, Black Queen, Sabretooth
Tinyplot:	Bad Medicine

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Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
The night has arrived on probably the worse part of New York, though many would debate which section that would be. During Winter, it's just about dinner time for many, and the streets of Harlem kinda changes tone. It gets a bit louder and not neccessary in a good way, as sirens go off in the distance.

    Recently, there has been a spike in drug violence, in particular 'metahuman' use of drugs, which means the more 'meta' concentrated sections of towns have also had some anti-meta protests as well.

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
A local blues/jazz club is open, an old school one that harkens back to the 'good times' of harlem. The sounds of the saxophone attempts to drown out the sirens along with a bit of laughter of those who just got off work or just having a good sunday out with friends.

Batman has posed:
Batman crouches a top a rooftop, his cloak wrapped tight around him. He's out of his usual hunting grounds, backtracing a pollutant that's managed to migrate from New York to Gotham. He's taken out the locals already, but he needs to cut the supply off at the source if he wants to actually free Gotham from the drugs.

The courier he caught wouldn't talk, but he had a history of arrests in this neighborhood. Criminals were territorial animals. They tended to stay close to their dens. Now he just has to watch the rhythms of the people until he can pick out the wolves from the sheep.

He's been crouching for an hour and a half, but he's kept his muscles limber, stretching muscles alternately, using tantra to keep the blood flow steady. He's as still as a gargoyle, his attention focused on the patterns. A predator waiting for prey.

Gambit has posed:
In the eyes of too many to count the difference between "Meta-Human" and "Mutant" is blurred to the point of near non-existence. And he deals with troubled kids far too often, both inside Xavier's and in his other endeavors. So while the other X-Men believe he is out drinking and carousing, he too has found himself a likely perch near where some of his own contacts told him to look. The irony of sorts is that he has staked out an area less then fifty yards from Batman himself. Still. Quiet. With the calm and patience that has let him slip past motion detectors without setting them off. His red eyes glowing faintly like banked embers..

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
Zeitgeist is currently in costume and in an alleyway, he's motionlessly in the shadows of a garbage bin, he monitors the ebbs and flows of the thoughts of those here, he's looking for something... or someone.

He tilts his head a moment as the sense of purpose drifts from above, it seems other hunt his game as well.." he glances upwards, though all the figures above are impossible to see from the streets, it's perhaps slightly reflexive.

Black Queen has posed:
It's night time, everything always happens at night. And the evening in this neck of the woods is disturbed by a box truck running down the road. It drives past the night club and then about 10 or 15 minutes later, the truck drives past again. The same truck. This time a bit slower before it stops in the middle of the road. Those white lights on the back turn on and the truck starts to 'beeep beep beeep' as it backs up and turns at an angle to back up into some alleyway meant for a truck. There's got to be some kind of loading dock back there.

For those with the vision and technology, sitting in the front of the truck are two people. One is a man driving the truck, and another is a raven haired woman, looking rather bored, checking her nails, and otherwise just really really bored out of her mind. The truck backs up far enough that it starts to disappear into the darkness of the alley and the front lights are bright enough that it makes it hard to look directly on the truck as it goes back and back, and then the beeping stops, the truck engine goes into idle, and the sounds of a big box truck door are sliding up and people talking. A few dozen or so clambering from the back of the truck.

Sabretooth has posed:
    The door to the night club swings open letting the music grow louder for a moment as the silouhette of a large man is backlit by the club. He has to duck slightly as he leaves the club and takes a few steps from the front door. He fishes in his pocket and pulls out something. It is apparently a pack of cigarettes as suddenly a flame snaps into existence and the smoke is lit. He seems to be watching the truck as it backs up but doesn't really seem like he cares that much.

Batman has posed:
Batman takes note of the truck and moves to get a better look. There's a flick of a line fired and he jets across the street to land on the opposite side, a momentary silhouette of menace against the city lights before he's gone again. Easy enough to dismiss, except for the superstitious of mind.

He wants to get eyes on whatever the cargo is. He doesn't need to waste his time raiding a shipment of lobsters. He tries to listen in, as well, hoping to overhear enough to either dismiss his concerns or spur him into action.

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau has a few things happen all at the same time. First of all the truck, what he was waiting for quite obviously draws his attention. He gets ready to reposition himself to get a better looks when a flash of motion dances across his senses. Unlike people who rely solely on sight, that sudden outpouring of motion, kinetic energy in it's most basic form, draws his eyes to Batman... It's more instinct though that changes his view one more time. Changes it to, what an outside observer might dismiss as the most innocuous player on this little table. His lip curls into a very respectable snarl of his own. "Creed." he whispers as though it were a curse.

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
The alleyway that the van backed into is empty for the moment. The last bit of sunlight slowly dies in the alleyway, and a few figures emerge from an alleyway door, there is about six of them, they crasp objects within their jackets. The one in the lead however does not, He makes his way over to the front of the vehicle, keeping his distance, "Glad you could find the place. So.. Need to see a face so I know whom I'm speaking with."

Black Queen has posed:
Stepping out of the truck, and being offered a hand by the driver who ran around to open her door, is Selene Gallio. Some, who might know more about the underworld might recognize her as the Black Queen. Stepping down to the ground and walking around, the very cold New York air doesn't give her pause despite the overall lack of clothing, even the fur coat would be beneficial if it wasn't left unzipped, but even with all of that she just smiles to the person who speaks.

"I too do not prefer to utilize phones. I find it so much less, intimate. This way I can see you, learn from you, understand you. And then we can have some..." She looks off, waving a bit off in to the distance with her hand, like she's searching for the right word, "Approximation to trust." And she walks up closer to the man who has taken the lead, unconcerned about the 'hands in pockets' it seems. Most of the men she has brought with her are big, and strong looking, but they don't carry any visible weapons more here to move things and less so shoot things. "Did you want to let my men start to transfer what I came here for, or do you have... hmmm, questions first?"

Sabretooth has posed:
    Victor leans back against the wall of the club as he smokes. He is not wearing a coat despite the late December evening. He also is not one that relays on the light to see or even just his eyesight. Despite the smell of the cigarette, he can smell the others about. His amber eyes look about finding the shapes that go with the smells. He doesn't move though and just flicks the cigarette away into the street as he listens to the conversations in the alley.

Batman has posed:
Batman knows Selene's reputation at any rate, even if specifics weren't immediately something he could bring to mind. She didn't tend to operate in Gotham, so he's only had a passing acquaintance with her criminal exploits, more name and appearance than anything substantive. He knows she strikes fear into the hearts of some, though, and is no one to take lightly.

He moves slowly to the edge of the roof, preparing to strike but waiting just one more moment to give the men a chance to answer her queries. They might illuminate something before he puts their lights out.

Gambit has posed:
"Nice reflexes boy. Y'made your choice huh?" The scene flashes back to Gambit in scintillating detail. A beautiful Paris night. A Sophie's choice. His brother or his lover... the Cajun tries to wipe the image from his brain. Not why he is here. For all his faults, Sabertooth has never been involved in the drug trade. Still he doesn't move closer. Torn between his self imposed mission and his chance for a bit of chatiment..

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
The guy simply nods to Selene, "Good enough.." the cargo door to the alleyway opens and some boxes are carried towards the van. The 'leader' mentions, "This shipment is on the house.. just a little taste. Maybe we can do more business in the future, but.. we'll see."

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
The sirens in the area get slightly more numerous, but are far from the scene, it's just the crickets in Harlem as it were. The Jazz club continues serenading the street and nearby area, a few pauses here and there.

Sabretooth has posed:
    Victor pushes himself away from the wall of the club and begins to walk past the alley's entrance. The big truck probably blocks his view, but also the view of anyone else in the alley. His pace is slow as he listens and follows the scents. There is such an odd mixture out tonight that it has caught his interest. Some familar ones too are out and about as the big man chuckles slightly to himself.

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
Zeitgeist is currently lost in the thoughts of the thousands of the area... unless something truely goes terriblely bad, he remains in his shadowy spot. He had a feeling this is close to something important but he can't put a finger on it right now.

Black Queen has posed:
Some boxes are carried toward the truck by the guy's men, and as they get closer to the truck Selene's men move up to take the crates from them and carry them into the back of the truck. What may have been a heavy load for the more normal sized fellows seem almost feather-weight to the large men that Selene has hired.

"Free? Well now, tell your boss that it earns no graces in my heart to be given a little taste on the house. As far as doing business in the future goes, you will want to relay this one bit of information. If I like your product... you will be doing business with me. Trust me, I have an almost sixth sense about business deals, and your organization will definitely want to make a deal with me."

With just a glance over in the direction of the back of the truck, Selene takes in a deep breath and then starts to turn, "Tell your boss. I am the bringer of dreams, the wish granter, anything that he, or she, is desiring. Theirs, if I am impressed. Other than that, I hope I do not have to threaten anyone here with... life in immesurable torment and suffering." Her tone gets a little dull sounding, as she rolls her eyes, "Blah blah blah, and blustering and all of that." Another passive waving off of her hand, as she starts to make her slow way back to the truck itself.

Batman has posed:
The grenades drop from above, three in total, interpsersed along the line and designed to separate Selene's men from the locals. Two discrete clusters. Batman waits three seconds to maximize dispersal, thick black fog roiling out and engulfing the men.

He comes down hard and fast, aimed precisely and dislocating the shoulder of one of Selene's bruisers, driving his chin into the ground with a resounding smack. Batman sweeps, his cloak billowing, pivoting on one foot and driving a kick into the solar plexus of another. One town, one knocked back. Selene he would save for last, if he could take her at all. Outside of Gotham, you never know what kind of tricks people have up their sleeves. Or lack thereof. He accepts a blow from the man he just kicked, wrenching and spinning into his body to drive an elbow into the ribs.

He doesn't say anything at all, the entire thing silent and happening in less than twenty seconds.

Gambit has posed:
Well, so much for waiting for Sabertooth to make a move. When the Caped crusader drops into the action, Gambit decides to follow suit. Having been distracted by Victor's presence, Remy only now is noticing that the Black Queen is at tonight's little gathering of ne'er-do-wells. He fells on a group of thugs furthest from the one's Batman is taking out. In part because he has no idea if Dark Knight is an ally or not.. and in part because he doesn't want to be particularly close if Masked Manhunter decides the answer to that question is "No."

Sabretooth has posed:
    As the grenades go off, Victor growls in annoyance. He grips the side of the truck as his claws dig into the metal slightly. With a pull, jump, and push from his legs against the side of the truck, he pulls himself up towards the top of the truck as quickly as he can. The big man is still just watching at the moment. No money in this game as of yet. At least, no one is paying HIM. Appears there is plenty of money to be made by the participants of course.

Black Queen has posed:
The shoulder of one of the bruisers gets dislocated, making the arm go limp, hanging from his body, and then he comes down hard onto the ground, hitting his chin and knocking his head to the side, hard even as the second one gets knocked backwards and smacks hard into the loading dock's edge, bending over backwards some in what looks like it would cause horrible pain. When Batman takes the hit, it's hard, and powerful, far more than a normal person might even be able to realize. Possibly on drugs? Or some kind of mutant? It'd be enough to be felt a bit even behind the armor and skill Batman has over their raw power.

That's when things get weird...

The one on the ground who's shoulder and head were janked to the different positions, its eyes start to glow and with the sounds of tendons tearing, muscles ripping and bones snapping, it turns it's head fully around. With one good arm, it pushes up from the ground, and starts to stumble in the direction of Batman using it's dislocated arm as a heavy club of sorts as it rotates and turns in ways that make more sickening bone popping esque sounds. It makes a shrieking sound as it starts to run in Batman's direction, flailing with its own arm as a weapon. As Remy comes in, if he's fighting Selene's bruisers he'll find them much the same in terms of getting up after initial knockdowns and attempting to dog pile.

At closer to the front of the Truck, Selene was about to start climbing back in when Victor claws his way to the top of the truck and then stands there. A quick momentary scan of surface thoughts and Selene smiles, looking up to the man, "Make sure this truck gets out of here with its cargo, and then I will find you later to grant you a wish. Money, if you are that mundane..." She will wait a moment to hear the answer before getting into the truck either way.

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
Zeitgeist with the sudden bursts of confusion and pain, he's quick to chart a path from his spot to where this all is taking place. He leaps to the fire escape and then starts climbing to the top of the structure he's at. He's gonna be a while til he arrives at the scene, but that's expected, he's not flash.

Batman has posed:
Frustrating. But not insurmountable. Batman tucks low, rolling to backdrop the one he'd engaged with, a judo technique using the big mug's weight against him, swinging him up and over to land on his head in turn. He regards the windmilling man approaching. Sloppy but potentially superhuman. He backsteps twice, enough to give himself range, and then flicks his wrist, unleashing a batarang charged with a high-powered taser effect, enough to knock a normal man unconscious and hopefully enough to slow this one down long enough for Batman to move next.

He sees others joining the fray, but can't regard them yet. They're not his people, which means they can't be relied upon.

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
The six guys who greeted the van earlier are knocked flat by the duo, however... that doesn't last long as it seems they are made from hardier stuff, pulling uzis from their jackets now. The telltale latching of hammers in the machine pistols along with the beginnings of discharging of a wall of bullets in the direction of Batman and Remy... their aim isn't even that great either as the guns jump wildly, what the guns don't make up in accuratcy they make up in shear volume. The alleyway now has turned into a swarm of bullets, fists, and smoke (aka a good night in gotham or new york).

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau dances rather effectively around the bullets, though one of them does put a new hole in his duster, and that is annoying. An arc of glowing pink cards are launched in the direction of the poor fools that brought guns to a fist fight. The rapid series of explosions is not meant to slaughter, just to severely incapacitate.. A second arc is aimed under the truck, lifting it off it?s wheels a good 18 inches and dropping it back down with concussive force.

Sabretooth has posed:
    Victor turns to regard Selene as she addresses him. He pauses for a moment as he considers and then nods. "Favor for a favor. I can live with that. Tell the driver to get moving. I'll be here then." He moves towards the edge of the back of the box truck. He crouches down like a jungle cat, watching the melee down below him. Inhuman strong men. Capes. Bullets. And LeBeau. Seems like a fun time if he ever saw one.

    Claws dig into the roof of the truck as Gambit attempts to blow it up. "Well, I guess I've got to get involved a bit earlier than I thought." He leaps down the top of the box truck to land just by the bumper. He isn't running to attack, but waiting for anyone to come towards the truck. "Let's dance," he says flashing his sharp teeth in a smile.

Black Queen has posed:
Selene's bruisers are just that, bruisers. They are tough and strong. The batarang taser though does a bit of a doozy on the one that's already somewhat mangled up. It shakes and shrieks, and seems to get stuck there for a moment. Definitely slowing it down, and then it starts geting riddled with bullets and collapses in a heap of steam, skin starting to bubble off of it as the flesh turns to liquid and spreads across the ground in a thick ichor.

As more bullets fly, some of the bruisers get hit, splattering thick black blood about the alleyway but most of them stay standing trying to jump on Batman to tackle him, and some swinging and pressing forward against Remy while he's distracted tossing cards.

The truck doesn't fair as well, but box trucks are pretty tough, some of the back wheels blow out from the grenade card that makes it rise up a heavy distance. When it comes down with a loud scraping sound, there's now only 2 sets of wheels in the back still good versus 4, and sparks begin to fly off as they scrape across the ground. The driver isn't holding back, just jamming the gas hard, and accelerating quickly, smashing into the front of a passing car as the back end of the truck is sliding across the street, the wheelman trying to level it out to hopefully take off as fast as this diesel engine can take it.

Black Queen has posed:
It is clear to anyone the Bruisers are playing the role of distraction, and attempting to now keep Remy from having a clear shot, even jumping in the way of tossed cards, just to let the truck go. Even if it costs them their life...

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
    Wierdness definitely comes in levels, as the men who were knocked down prior, the uzi wielding men and the men who carried the boxes from the warehouse seem to be swallowed literally by their own shadows as they lay there. There is even a sound that goes with the vanishing men, not quite a slurp.

    Some screaming is heard from inside as a shoulder comes flying through the cargo door, it gives way without even any hesitatation.. a stone skinned man doesn't even pause as he runs with his shoulder down heading towards Batman, his eyes glowing red.

Batman has posed:
Batman recognizes that the Bruisers pose enough threat to keep him from following. That said, there are more than one ways to follow, as he flicks out another batarang, this one leaving a magnetized tracer on the departing vehicle to keep up with Selene. For later. File her away.

The approaching behemoth certainly catches his attention, the screaming at least giving Batman a fair amount of warning. A line fires up and, as the stone-skinned man charges, hydraulics whir and lift Batman up and out of reach, bouncing back until he can find grip on a ledge. He snaps pictures through the HUD of his cowl, flicking to identify these things for later analysis. For the moment, he's out of reach, giving him a chance to reassess.

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau isn't Batman. He can handle his own, and would be able to fight his way clear of this situation certainly.. but that's when Creed growls. "When it don' rain.." he mutters as his bo staff extends to it's full length. In a brief moment of restbit he calls out "Victor. Long time no see. Psychpat'ic as evah Ah take it?"

Sabretooth has posed:
    "Breaking hearts or still dropping them off buildings, LeBeau?" Victor smiles at the thief. He glances over his shoulder at the retreating truck. Dragging its ass all over the streets is going to get attention and as that is where his money is.... He looks back towards Remy and offers a mock salute of farewell. "Next time." He drops to his hands and feet and leaps outward towards the truck as he works to catch up to the damaged vehicle.

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
The stone-skinned man, tries to jump for Batman but he can't quite do it.. though he does seem to be stronger then your average bear.. He turns his eyes towards Remy, he growls... and that's about it before he charges him.

    And during all of this, for those with sensitive ears, they'd hear chuckling from the shadows.. and it's not localized either (other then the alley itself).

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
Zeitgeist appears on the roof top, he looks down and offers Batman a hand.. if he needs one, "Doing some sightseeing in New York?"

Gambit has posed:
"Why is it dat Ah show up to de dance an' always get saddled wit' de ugly girl.." He mutters as he drops another handful cards into his hand and throws them at the charging stone man. These have about the full strength of a military strength grenade and there are four of them. There is not killing, and then there is surviving.

Black Queen has posed:
The truck comes to a halt not more than half a block down the road. It's been leaking fluids, the back wheels without the tires have been tearing up asphalt, and the driver can't keep it going straight. And then the weirdness finishes up. People were screaming, running away from the truck, and suddenly most of them stop, staring off in the distance, as shadows coil up and around the truck, and then pull it into the ground, having it disappear. A moment later Batman will notice that the tracker comes back online... in a different location within New York.

Black Queen has posed:
Then all the people start moving again, screaming, running for cover from the now non-existent truck.

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
The rock-skinned fellow is hit by the grenades.. he seems blinded as he runs past Remy and then through the wall into the nearby building, he just keeps on trucking, exiting the opposite side of the building. The red eyes grow slowly dim and he quickly corners and vanishes following the building, not interested in this fight after all it seems.