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When we last left our heroes..
Reno and Kai had done some recon and figured out how to get the team in through the roof and through the ventillation ducts into the third floor which seems to be the most fortified.
Unfortunately, during their traversal of the ductwork above the receptionist desk, T'Challa fell through the ductwork to land gracefully, butter-side up on the receptionist's desk. Reno plummetted through in bird form about halfway before remembering he could fly, and Kai, the only one to successfully get across, came to the conclusion that this was all intentional — all while acquiring a case of bird-hat.
The receptionist area has a single desk in the middle of the room under which the receptionist had scuttled to hide. To either side of the desk was stationed a guard. Both of them seem to be unconscious at this point. A solid wall makes up the back of the room, but there are glass walls on three sides. The front leads out into the elevator/stairwell foyer. The two sides lead back into the third floor wing. And while Reno's antics seem to have caught the attention of some of the workers on that floor, the rest seem to have fled. There's a lot of shouting and chaos going on.
Outside, Danny is keeping an eye on who is coming in and exiting the building through that underground parking structure in case he has to communicate to Kai that they need to get out. Oh, Kai has the comms, a bulky thing that straps to his belt.
Kai tells the terrified receptionist, "No one's here to kill you. Just be a dove and hide under the desk til this is all over, all right?" He speaks softly and flashes her his best charming smile. There's a certain roughishness to his charcoal grey layers and the hood covering his hair, though not entirely. Once he's offered his suggestion, he leaps up onto the desk itself, and with a touch to the pendant he wears, two knives unfurl into his hands. Time to get groovy.
aaand as the plan appears to have completely fallen apart, the front doors burst open and there is Robbie motherfucking Reyes.
Seeing Kai on a table and Reno flying around like a bird possessed….he just tilts his head. "…I'm gone for like, what, a week and everything goes to shit?" a shake of his head before he looks to the lady. "Do sit tight for a moment. you won't be harmed."
It could just be how freaking terrifying he is, or just his swagger, but he may have better luck.
He moves around the elf. "Yeah…knew it." then Reno, a whistle as if to tell the bird to get on his shoulder. "Party time."
Reno was dazzed. Wow… note to self: do not crash for minimal effect anytime soon. The only solace was he knew it wouldn't cause any perminant scramblage to his brain, but boy it felt a bit like soup right now. He looked to teh Cat Man and the Elf. RIght they were confident. The lady though, awww man, that was no fun at all. Still, he didn't get any sense of dread on her 'thread' as it were, and as her fatelines were in tact? He was happe to not get kicked like a fluffy football. THen the man withthe flaming head showed up with that familiar trill and like the bird suddenly grew apair of balls, flew at Hell's gatekeeper and perched on his shoulder like he was a statue of Martin Scorsese.
All he needs is a certain maritime-themed pashmina afghan to go with that sick vibranium suit. The Black Panther in his native environment salutes the figure silhouetted against the swishing doors, the most Robbie might get for someone who probably could project through the mask. But why? Burning skull, smooth skull, they're made to go together.
"Clear left," he announces, the exaggerated smoothness of his accent not the least bit muffled. Wakanda gets /all/ the cool toys, including a possibly cloaked jet circling the building at ten thousand feet just in case a hasty exit or high-grade firepower is a helpful thing.
United in the need to get groovy, are they, he stalks for the left side, ready to savage any paper into confetti that gets in his way. Expecting problems, he moves to a lope, jumping from chairs to chairs, just in case. A flaming chain or an angry pair of feathers or elf-cookies are probably quick to follow.
Between vibranium and flaming chains, flappy birds, and elvish knives, the security on that glass door doesn't stand a chance. Busting through it doesn't take long, and then the team is moving through the cubicles and among the offices.
You are in a maze of twisty cubicles all alike.
Except that the offices are all locked up tight. There are cameras all around the third floor. Everything in the cubicles seems to be locked up tight. And there are several more guards running in their direction from up ahead. On the far end of the floor there appears to be a conference room that goes dark just as they round the corner so that it's impossible to see what or who is inside.
Ahead of of them, however, are a half dozen uniformed security with lightly armored clothing and service pistols. They have no idea what they are getting themselves into.
Kai tries teh locked compartments in passing, and he looks mildly affronted to find them locked. He uses his knife to jimmy one of the locks, just to take a quick peek. Those poor guards will be wetting themselves soon enough; surely he's got time to do a little snooping? It's not thievery, it's satiating curiosity. "What exactly are they hiding?" he murmurs. Yes, it's for the good of the mission, that's the ticket.
Robbie cracks his neck softly as Reno lands on his shoulder. "Good to see you, Primo." he murmers before they burst through that door with no difficulty. His eyes narrow when he sees all those men. "Hm..alright, guess it's a meet in greet."
His head incinerates into that bare, demonic looking skull as it catches on hellfire, the Ghost Rider making it's appearance as it roars a terrifying roar at the men. The Rider starts moving forward as the bladed chain falls from his wrist, the chain being whipped back to strike at two of the guards to strike them down. Not kill….just…
maim.
«Kai goes poking about through the desk nearest him and inside he finds some personal effects, a few file folders with some employee records. Apparently Bernice steals creamer from the break room, and James was caught with Alice in the supply closet a couple of months back. What he also finds is some spare change, and a set of keys that are labeled with door numbers, as well as two key cards.»
Of all the things Reno wasn't afraid of it was hellfire?! No one said the bird made sense, btu that was his cousin man and blood looks after blood. Also, confidentially, he really did feel like a badass being all backlit with like the wings. Lettum tell you later over hot dogs on the roof. Reno murmured, "Yeah jes' don't hit me with that thing. I don' wanna be a toasted tetherball." Hey, it was a fair request. Still teh crow shifted vision looking for souls, spists, adn things to poke at that might get them closer to their goal. Ah HA! Someone's half a sammich on their desk! Wait, taht ain't what they came for. Damn he was hungry, then again, well, he was always hungry.
The Black Panther lands on both feet from his latest jump, putting himself indelibly in front of the security officers. Does a fully masked man in solid black with a torc of fanged barbs cause them to reconsider their evening plans? If not, he is happy to provide the opportunity, hands held out to his sides. Step into the spotlight. Nice, tempting target putting himself in front of any bullets or raised firearms.
That hopefully gives suitable coverage for the elf's lockpicking ambitions and crow astride the Ghost Rider. Hope those feathers don't burn.
The security guards were prepared for resistance but they weren't prepared for what kind of resistance. A guy with a flaming skull and a chain? A bird? A cat? Wait. A cat? That was a big cat, with big claws and barbs. A couple of the guards take a couple of steps back, leaving four to directly face the Ghost Rider and T'Challa. All four open fire on the man with the flaming skull and the cat.
One of the other two pulls out a radio and mumbles something in it, continuing to back up. His partner covers him as they begin to withdraw.
Meanwhile, Kai hits paydirt in one of the nearby desks.
Kai rifles through the desk, pocketing things. There's a jingle of keys, so he's found some of those at least, among whatever other treasures he's discovered. Still, it's a quick heist— search for clues! Then he rushes the guy with the radio, exhibiting a lack of concern for bullets. Since he's a few paces behind, he whips his knife at the guard with the radio rather than rushing him. More to the point, he hucks the knife at the radio. That's what he wants to destroy, not the man himself.
Ghost Rider roars once more, the chain catching on fire as it leaps into the air, and with a twist performs a wide-arching strike as if to use the chain to burn the guards, but not kill…except the police officer who was totally corrupt. sold heroin to children corrupt. He gets kicked through a few of those offices -really- hard. Justice is done there.
A look to T'Challa then as it seems to be him and the Panther against a majority of the resistance here. Though Kai gets a nod for helping take out the radioman…no reinforcements today!
Reno flew up and actually made to worry about two things: 1- try and see if there's any runners, and 2- try to see no civilians were hurt in teh crossfire. Really, he had size and speed to his advantage. RIght now his biggest concern was going up ahead and seeing what their status was on people getting to a phone.
Every impact pinging off that vibranium suit fails to penetrate, the bullets stopping dead like Dad showing up at a 14-year-old's kegger. So much for that drinking party turning out well for anyone. Confidence radiates through T'Challa's stride, and he snaps his wrist out. Shining, eerie violet light coalesces into a bright bead atop his knuckles for a moment. "I advise you to drop your weapons and leave by the fire exit," he tells the parade of security guards, taking almost casual aim while he speaks at the radioman's partner. Just in case he has ideas about pulling the same out. "Go home to your families."
*FWING* A knife goes flying through the air and hits the guard and the radio at the same time, digging a long gash down his hand which in turn makes him drop the radio, which bounces off the floor and makes a high pitched squelching noise that is no good for anyone's ears. The guard who was trying to cover him turns his weapon on Kai but doesn't fire as he watches a man go flying through a pair of cubicles. Through. Crumbled walls and dude end up in a heap.
His attention shifts back toward T'Challa and Ghost Rider and suddenly he just drops his gun on the ground and runs toward the other side of the building.
That leaves three left, two slashed at by Ghost Rider and knocked down, and a third who, staring at T'Challah and his glowing purple bits decides not to risk it. He holds up his weapon, puts the safety on, and very slowly lowers it to the floor.
As Reno goes flying through the office he notices that most of the workers had fled to the other side, and when they came crashing down the left, had run back to the right, and were busy fleeing, with the receptionist's help, down the stairs and out. Kai can hear Danny over the comm unit he'd been given. There were people evacuating the building. No sign of cops yet, but there was definitely a commotion that was going to be starting outside soon.
The conference room at the end of the floor remains sealed and dark. There don't appear to be any other offices that are opened, all closed up and locked.
"We're running out of time, mates," Kai says. He picks up his knife, wiping it on his thigh before flipping it back into his hand. "Things are going to hell outside. No cops yet, but…" But the pigs always show up, damn them all. He looks to T'Challa, Reno, and Ghost Rider. "Conference room?" No stalwart leader he, not on this mission. He defers to royalty with a nod toward T'Challa.
Unlike Kai, Ghost Rider doesn't wait for T'Challa's opinion.
The hellhunter walks straight for the conference room without addressing his mates, kicking it hard with no remorse for what could happen. The ceiling shakes and plaster falls down, but the Rider seems to growl as it didn't do much to the actual door. He reaches behind to pull out a sawed off shotgun from it's waist, seemingly taking it's time loading the weapon as hellfire seems to course through it like a flaming vein.
Was he going to shoot the door down? either way…he was taking his time. perhaps bolstering it with power first? Hopefully the others can find a way in before this gets rocky!
Reno treid to flap at the window, but didn't hit it this time. Hrmmm no way out. INstead he came back and waited for the blast to souund. Unfolding into a man again (Shape of hairdresser! Form if human!) his ehad tilted as h elooked at his cousin and then T'challa and Kai, "You guys ain't like concerned about ricochet at all? Some of us is sopongey, dude" Thi really wasn'tt he time for a critique. He looked around and snappointed to Kai actually and made a gesture of <move ceiling tiles, crawl over? Drop dowm?!> He shrugged. What he did fianlly contribute was laying one hand on the door to try to get a sense of anything behind it.
"Be ready. No, I am not. Bullets do not ricochet off me." Not a warning tossed idly over the shoulder. He is not arrogant; the Black Panther stops bullets in their tracks because his remarkable skill at tall, dark, and handsome defies physics. Or something. "Look at that. Do we have the card?" He points to a card reader mounted on the wall. A knowing, lengthy tip of his angular mask underlies the suggestion with gravitas.
The whole time he fought goons and walked up on guards, T'Challa has neglected to employ the foremost weapon in any feline arsenal. Not so much any more. Arms cross over his chest, and a slight crook of his fingers unleashes the wickedly sharp vibranium claws in all their metal glory. Eyeing up the most likely weak points, he sets to slashing and scratching in rapid, long crosshatches fully intended to weaken the wall. No one ever lets him use the walls as scratching posts in Wakanda. Scratchy, scratchy, scratchy!
There's a keycard reader right next to the door. It's difficult, however, to tell what is on the other side of that bulletproof glass that is far more sturdy than one might expect in the rest of the building — but then, this is the bunker, the hideout, the one place where the Rat King goes to feel safe. It figures it's not a wet cardbord box.
Robbie manages to shake at the plaster in the ceiling and the supports shake as well with the force of the kick. There's some definite groaning. And when T'Challa goes snickety snack with the nails against the door, it begins to show signs of scratches in it, those vibranium claws beginning to make some progress. Reno, touching the door, gets the impression of a lot of people coming and going through it, but most recently the fear just rolls off in waves of those who ran in to hide inside, including the King Rat himself. Meanwhile, Kai has a shiny set of keys and a couple of keycards.
Kai walks up to the scratching cat man. "I love everything about this," he says. But then he brandishes a pair of keycards. "It's a long shot, but I got these from the drawer back there." He jerks his head back toward the area he looted. He tries them on the keycard reader. "I've got some keys, too," he says. The spare change he found he keeps to himself. That's his finder's fee.
Ghost Rider looks like he's about to try and nuke shot that door open…before Kai comes in to save the day. He sees the keycards then looks at T'Challa, a simple nod then. Looks like Robbie's still in there somwehre.
Regardless, now it waits for what could be inside…if it's the Rat King himself…well…there's gonna be a little hell raising about to happen. If not? no difference.
an audible crack is heard from Ghost Rider as it cocks in the magic hellfire bullets as it waits for Kais plan to possibly work.
Reno looked up to T'challa scratching the shit out of the door above where he crouched and then his cousin assuring, "Well those dudes is diefinately i there." His attention snapped to Kai who has something shiny. He found keys and Reno just could not help himself, "Ooooh I want one!" No, birb, those aren't souvineres. Right before thigngs were about to get ugly the shoter of the cousins folded impossibly up into a crow again and flew back up to Robbie's shoulder out of the way.
Twenty-nine cents richer, no one's swiping Kai's fee. The card taken from an earlier donor might do the trick. See, excellent that someone caught on to T'Challa's observation. He keeps up the clawing longer than strictly or loosely necessary because, frankly, he can. Rearranging the lovely walls, that's him. Scraaaaape. Scratchy scritch. Well done, that nod will have to say. Until the door opens or the plaster falls over for lack of cohesive bonds — vibranium is a pain — he will idly redecorate.
Kai's keycard slips into the slot and *blink* the light turns green. Clearly someone's going to be in trouble (if anyone survives) for leaving their keycard in their desk. But lo, between Robbie and T'Challa, and the key, the door is forced open against any reinforcements that had been set up behind it — and reinforcements there were. Behind the glass that had tinted blinds pulled down over them to hide the view, there were steel wall plates that had been slid up in place to about waist height.
However, none of that did any good to stop the elf, bird, cat, and flaming skull dude from the room. Within, the conference table had been tipped up like a barricade and three guards with guns huddled behind it, and behind them, the rat himself. Conrad Wilkes was in a brown suit with expensive shiny shoes, and a briefcase clutched in one hand. He also had a gun of his own but he generally had people for that, and didn't look particularly confident about using it.
Kai pockets the keycard and says, "Ta da." Then he's faced with three guards armed with guns. He flips his knives. "We're here to graciously accept your surrender," he says. He steps in and to the side so as not to obstruct the others. "Limited offer, going once."
Ghost Rider growls an ungodly growl…the kind that makes men's hearts grow faint with despair, when he sees the Rat king. Gun in hand as he walks into the room, completely unafraid of gunfire. Then it speaks.
"Guilty…..shoot…and you'd waste your bullets….run…and you'd only fall tired." it speaks as if it were the whisper in your head…the devil in your ear. The devourer of sin looks at all those in the room. Only if they fought back were at least half of them going to die, in Ghost Rider's mind anyway.
No matter what though…the Defenders appear to have claimed a decisive victory.
|ROLL| Reno +rolls 1d20 for: 7
Reno thought appeared like hell! Those dudes still had guns! The good news about being all black was the bad guys couldn't tell when your feather ruffled together because shit got real and by real? Reno would define as real scary. So there was taht. *Don't be a wimp, won't be a wimp… c'mon birb* And from somewhere he swaked a ca-caw!! at them and tried, as he would, to jsut… not look uncool! HA! Nailed it!
Someone in black, entering a dark room, makes less of a point of trouble than some. He has reason to sneak. Let the flaming man stand out as trouble. T'Challa edges through the door opposite Kai and languidly inches quietly through the gloom. Nothing to see here. If someone tries anything stupid, he is happy to intervene with himself, mostly.
The jig is up. The Defenders have finally, after all that work, caught the leader of the gang and his guards. There's a moment where Conrad looks like he might try to bolt, to try and escape that flaming skull. But then there's an elf to the left of him, a cat to the right, and he's stuck in the middle with.. a fluffy crow. One of the guards just unloads on Ghost Rider reflexively, clearly losing his shit. The other two duck down behind the desk. Conrad just lowers the briefcase to the ground and puts his hands up.
What they do with their captives next is up to them.
Ghost Rider just stands there, taking every bullet….sadly, it doesn't seem to do anything.
BUT this man? he wasn't exactly…innocent. So, he'll find that Ghost Rider spits out the bullts from his mouth, molten metal dropping on the floor. then, Ghost Rider speaks again in it's ghastly voice.
"My turn."
It lifts up the weapon and shoots them right in the shoulder, letting the hellfire burn him. It's not going to kill him…
But BOY is it going to be likely the most painful experience that asshole has ever gone through. and it'll last allll day long.
The Rider looked around then. "Anyone else?"
Reno launched off his primo's shoulder like some… well technically he was a harbinger of fate, but usually like teh fate of like really young or really old people and usually those messages were too bad. These guys didn't have to know this sweet aerodynamic force of nature was a black feathery marshmallow. He found purchase in teh back of the room to sit on so they could at least know if they were pulling something stupid like a rocket launcher or bad life choices out from behind their hidey place.
Bullets are about as effective as doileys decorating the Ghost Rider, are they? Might as well give Reno a bright pink flowered hat. Not exactly the most effective reaction in a crisis. T'Challa merely remains with his featureless mask, pitiless eyes graven like a judgmental god of old, dispensing justice deemed kind in the days of the Old Testament — and his people warmly smile at the young tales of those days, retaining their own unspeakably ancient traditions. He probably smiles now.
Kai has given the baddies their chance to come peacefully, and there's always that one guy who has to unload his weapon. His features are uncharacteristically grim as Ghost Rider brings the pain. "Get out from behind there," he tells the hiding guards. "Come on, now." He reassembles his knives into a pendant, and he takes from one of his voluminous pockets a roll of duct tape. Schriiiiip! Not only are people going to be in pain, they've got an elf binding them in tape.
The Defenders wrap up the bad guys, and take the Rat King and all the evidence that they've gathered against him. He's not going to be having a good time of it, and his entire organization has now been dismantled from the ground up by the team. By the time the police arrive, there is already legal on the scene, the evidence is gathered, and the Rat King is set up to go away for a long time. One organization that had plagued Harlem and Hell's Kitchen is eradicated. But what will the future hold? A power vacuum just begs to be filled, and there's rumors of The Hand making moves in the area. No rest for the Defenders.