Collateral Damage (Nornir)

Subject: Collateral Damage (Nornir) Sat Aug 23, 2014 4:25 am

It was a peaceful day in Jump City. The air was buzzing with joyful activity as citizens flocked to enjoy the carnival while it was still in town. Children laughed and played, couples lined up to ride the Ferris wheel. Everyone looked happy. Everyone was blissfully unaware of the killer in their midst. There were rumors, stories, legends floating through back allies and in darkened corners. Most here today had never heard them, as these were not stories whispered to little children to make them behave. These were the stories that made killers and murderers and thieves whisper in fear. The parents who heard these tales lie awake at night, terrified. Legends of a man, of a monster, of a ghost. Those in authority who had gotten wind of him had no proof he even existed.

Supposedly he was a specter who couldn't be killed, a monster who couldn't be shot or stabbed. A madman who hunted sown people at random and with impunity. And so the authority that the civilians looked up to and trusted sat on their hands. How could they arrest a man who didn't exist? The vast majority of the populace had never heard of him, and so they were content to keep it that way. But there was one authority that knew the truth. It was a bitter irony that the only ones who knew the truth about the lone madman were just as well hidden as he was. A sick joke that only the madman knew for sure about them, and only they about the madman. And so the game of cat and mouse continued. Here, in the middle of a densely populated carnival, a tiny glimpse of a secret war would be seen.

Alen Williams was an ordinary man. He had a wife and child. It was that child who had seen him at the carnival today. He smiled as he watched her and his wife from one of the many benches that lined the area. A chill rose over him and he shuddered, looking around as if that would help him determine the source. Some unnatural force gripped him, and he turned his head, his gaze drawn inexorably through the throng of people until he found her. A small girl, no older than nine. She looked like a porcelain doll with her alabaster skin, matching hair, and Victorian dress. But he saw none of that. His gaze was locked onto hers. Her eyes were soulless orbs of purple fire, burning into him. And he knew. His name was not Alen Williams. He had been assigned that name. The ten years he had spent with his wife were meaningless. Their seven year old daughter was merely cover. He had a job to do. He turned his head to look at a lunchbox under the bench next to his. Without being told, he knew what he would find in there. Had he looked back he might have wondered where the alabaster girl had gone, or why only he noticed her, or if she had ever even been there in the first place. But he didn't bother looking for the alabaster girl as he retrieved the weapon and stuffed it into his pocket. He knew what he had to do, and he knew who he was looking for. He rose and walked forward, pushing his way through the crowd.

It was the cries of his wife, growing more exasperated with each failed attempt to reach her husband, that alerted his target to his presence and likely saved the man's life. Just as the sleeper agent drew the ornate pistol from his pocket, his intended victim dove for cover and a hapless passerby dropped to the ground without a sound as a lance of flame punched through her chest and out of her back. The target rolled to his feet and tore open the duffle bag he had been carrying to reveal a Famas. He threw aside the scraps of cloth as he opened fire, driving the agent into cover. Civilians screamed and fled in random directions as the two men were pinned in cover by the threat of the other. A standoff had begun, and it seemed it would take the intervention of another to resolve it quickly.

Subject: Re: Collateral Damage (Nornir) Sun Aug 24, 2014 4:13 am

She was out on her routine patrol, though it couldn't really be called routine since she took different paths almost every time she went. It was probably no different from your average person taking a random walk around the city. But while most people did this to pass the time or relax, she was keeping an eye out for trouble. Ever since the new law about heroes came out, there was a noticeable decline in masked vigilantes dispensing justice on evil doers. In Mav's opinion, if they had time to be suspicious of the new government then they've lost sight of their priorities. It's helping the people in anyway they can isn't it? And speaking of helping people, it looked like her uneventful day finally decided to change its tune. Not that it was something to be happy about.

Just up ahead, crowds of people were rushing out of the nearby carnival. Over the shouts of panic, were the unmistakable sounds of gunfire. There was no time to wait for backup. In a place like this, it was easy for innocent bystanders to get caught in the crossfire. In fact she feared the worst had already happened. The sooner she got to the scene, the better. The park gates were packed with people so she had no choice but to scale the wall. A simple enough feat for someone with her training. As soon as she got over to the other side, she quickly made her way to the heart of the conflict.

The scene was just about as bad as she expected. There was one body on the ground. Two men were firing shots at each other while taking cover. And then there was a third party. A woman and what Mav assumed to be her child was crying out to one of the men but kept her distance. Did she know him? His wife perhaps? What kind of sane man would put his family in danger like this? It was difficult to make heads or tails of the situation since she wasn't there to personally witness how it all started. But for the sake of giving the lady a little peace of mind, Mav made the quick call of taking down her husband first.

The girl clad in blue closed in on the man while reaching into her jacket for a stun grenade. Sure the two men were probably distracted enough with each other, but she had to do something to stop the shooting. She tossed it in the direction of the other man, hoping it would disable him long enough for her to subdue her first target. She shielded her eyes from the flash with one arm while she reached into her jacket again with her free hand, pulling out and extending her expandable baton. Her actions obviously didn't go unnoticed. Just as her target turned his attention to her, she activated her aura, deflecting any bullets he might fire as she got into melee range and swung her baton with all her might to the side of his head in the hopes of knocking him out.

Subject: Re: Collateral Damage (Nornir) Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:50 am

The man who wasn't Alen Williams scowled. He was pinned down. His target was not only a better marksman than he, but also had a weapon suitable for ranged combat while his own was ineffective beyond about six feet. He silently cursed that idiot woman for yelling at him, for wasting his element of surprise. If it weren't for her he would have been able to complete his mission. He would have buried the muzzle of his weapon into that freak's spine and pulled the trigger. He stuck his head up just enough to see a glimpse of that Famas before a hail of bullets forced him to drop back down. His only solstice lay in the fact that his target would be forced to watch out for any other agents, and likely wouldn't leave his cover unless he had to. He was too focused on his next move to notice the newcomer until it was too late.

In the same instant that he heard the stun grenade detonate he saw a shadow leaping for him out of the corner of his eye. He spun around and squeezed the trigger out of reflex, trying to leap back and away as he did so. Unfortunately for him it didn't matter if his weapon hit as it didn't posses the force necessary to deflect the oncoming attack. His attempt to escape the blow was the only thing that kept him from being knocked out as the baton struck his jaw with a reverberating crack and bone shattered beneath steel. The sleeper was thrown backwards as the momentum of the blow combined with his own. Here, his true nature showed - where almost any man would have been hindered by the agony of a shattered jaw, his training kicked in and he ignored it completely as he sat up and raised his weapon at this new attacker. And then his head exploded in a hail of gunfire that tore through him, reducing his weapon to shattered fragments of twisted metal.

Zack's eyes narrowed. How had they found him? He must have gotten too careless. He had taken out so many of their operatives in this area, of course they would have taken notice. His eyes narrowed as he quickly scanned the surrounding area for any sign of another agent. It was rare for them to only activate one agent at a time. But perhaps that was the point here? He knew it would be stupid of him to think they would only have one agent in the area, especially if they suspected he was anywhere nearby, but what if they only activated one agent to keep him in the dark? It made sense - send team after team to take him down, then mix it up by only sending one man so that he gets himself killed looking over his shoulder for the rest of a team that isn't there. That also explained why it was merely a pawn they sent alone instead of any of the real pieces. He would have expected a different piece to be sent in alone. Pawns worked in groups. He was still thinking about it when he let off a burst of fire and ducked back into cover, seeing the cylindrical grenade as it bounced off of the ground before him. He recognized it instantly and his reflexes took over as he threw himself prostrate, face in the grass. There was nobody looking to see it, but as the grenade arced towards him something impossible happened: It changed direction in midair. Thanks to his reflexes and ability, Zack was spared the blinding flash, though the concussive bang still clipped him and left his vision swimming slightly. Having used them before and having had them used on him far more often, Zack knew that the next instant was the most crucial. The best time to charge in and eliminate a foe was after he had been disoriented by such a blast. He wrenched himself to his feet, Famas searching for a charging foe only to be disappointed.

It seemed someone wanted to play the hero. The sleeper was on his back, with a girl clad in blue advancing on him. It looked like she had already gotten in one good hit, if the blood welling from the man's jaw was any say in the matter, but he was already sitting up and taking aim. The girl would be roasted alive before she could reach him again. Zack's grin widened as he switched the selector to full auto. He may not be able to aim properly for the next few moments, but the two were far enough apart that that hopefully didn't matter. He squeezed the trigger and a hail of bullets tore the insurgent apart. Had anyone been watching his face, they may have noticed the twitch in his eye at the screams from the wife and child who could not possibly understand the situation.

Subject: Re: Collateral Damage (Nornir) Sun Aug 24, 2014 9:32 am

It happened so fast. At the last moment, her target noticed her approach and reacted accordingly. However, Mav was not so incompetent that she would be easily thwarted in close combat conditions. At the very least, the extra reach provided by her weapon ensured she landed a good hit. Even though it didn't quite knock the man out, she was almost certain it would give her the opening to finish him off. But she didn't have such luck. As though the pain didn't bother him in the slightest, the man quickly put some distance between them and readied his weapon to fire once more. She could immediately tell he was highly trained and very dangerous. She could only begin to wonder what sort of organization would let loose such an agent in a place like this. But she had more pressing concerns. At that moment, she felt it. It was bloodlust coming from where the other gunman was. It wasn't directly directed at her but with her sixth sense, she knew exactly what was coming next.

"No!"

Her own voice was drowned out by screams and the sound of gunfire as the man before her was riddled with bullets. The couple of seconds it took for the now lifeless body to slump to the ground seemed to take minutes as a rush of thoughts filled her head. How was that possible? It was far too soon for the other man to have recovered from the effects of the stun grenade. Was she too naive to think that was enough to stop him? She had not counted on this scenario. If anything, she expected the other man to have used the confusion to get away. But to think he would use it to secure his kill instead. She bit her lip. For her to allow such a thing to happen, she could only chalk it up to her inexperience. Her actions led to this outcome. The question was what would she do next.

She finally turned her attention to the other man. Would he back off now that his assailant was dead? No, now was not that time for that sort of thinking. She tightened her grip on her baton and charged, hoping her sudden change of targets would catch him a little off guard. Not that she was expecting much from it. From what transpired just seconds ago, he did not consider her to be an enemy yet. One could even argue he was protecting her by putting the other man down. But Mav didn't share the same sentiment. As far as she was concerned, he was a legitimate threat that needed to be incapacitated, regardless of his circumstances. At the very least, she was not inclined to try any reasoning or talking while he had a weapon in hand.

As soon as she got close, she made her move. From the trajectory of her stroke, it would be clear she was aiming for his hand in an attempt to disarm him.

Subject: Re: Collateral Damage (Nornir) Mon Aug 25, 2014 12:23 am

For the first time the other gunman was out in the open, allowing Mav to get a good view of him. He was of average height, but was well built with an olive complexion and black hair slicked back against his skull. He wore tattered jeans and an equally ruined white tee shirt under a dark brown leather jacket with creme stripes running down the sleeves. But most striking of all was his face. The sharp angle of his jawline accented a manic grin that looked almost painful beneath glittering eyes if hazel, Something seemed off about him as he moved, as if his skin didn't quite fit right.

The man wielding the Famas was a suspicious sort. Years of playing cat and mouse in the shadows had seen to that. He narrowed his eyes as the girl screamed, still trying to blink away the slight double vision that the stun grenade had left him with. It seemed she was another hypocrite who called herself a hero. Or maybe she was just mad he had stolen her kill. He chuckled inwardly at the thought and outwardly at the prospect of another fight. At least this one would start with both combatants aware of each other. No. His grin twitched. He couldn't stay here. Who knows what kind of noose they would start tightening now that their agent had failed? He had to act quickly. He couldn't run as it was obvious this girl would follow him. She would very likely give away his position to anyone trying to find him. So he WOULD fight. But he had to end it quickly.

As she bore down on him he switched his aim to her and let loose a series of short controlled bursts of three, firing three such bursts in rapid succession before she reached him. His grin widened: a close quarters fight. Today was looking up after all. As she swung for his hand his instincts took over. He dropped his Famas and pushed forward to throw his shoulder into her chest. Simultaneously the arc of her attack seemed to pull down slightly as if an invisible force pushed it, allowing him to catch her wrist with the hand she had intended to hit and yank hard in an attempt to add to the his counter attack. His grip was like steel, as if there was something far harder than muscle or bone below. Between her own momentum, his upward thrust and his attempt to yank her arm, the impact would be devastating to a normal human if successful.

Subject: Re: Collateral Damage (Nornir) Mon Aug 25, 2014 5:42 am

Obviously, it wasn't going to be that easy. As soon as her sixth sense let her know that the man was finally treating her as an opponent, her aura kicked in. It was just in time too, as he opened fire with his gun again. The bullets were deflected on contact and didn't slow her down one bit. Seemingly anticipating her own attack, the man threw down his weapon. What would have been a good thing in the eyes of most people was actually a bad sign for Mav. Either he had another surprise waiting for her or he was confident of his skill in close quarters combat.

She was unable to adjust her strike mid-swing but she soon realized it didn't matter. It was as though some invisible force caused her arm to move in a certain way. She had her aura on so that shouldn't have been possible. The only explanation then was that it was her baton that was moved. Telekinesis? No, otherwise he would have used it directly on her. It was more likely closer to manipulation of metal or magnetic fields. She dropped her baton as well but the deed was done. That one movement allowed the man to grab her wrist and pull her up to take a direct hit from his shoulder tackle.

Perhaps he was expecting to fracture her ribs or knock the wind out of her. But depending on how durable he was, that tackle would have felt like running straight into a solid wall. She wondered if it hurt him. In any case, her illusion of toughness was cast. Now it was a matter of capitalizing on it. She didn't bother freeing her wrist. It was in a good enough position. She quickly wrapped her free arm around his arm and put her legs on his neck and shoulder, locking them in. She had turned that situation into an armbar. It probably would have been more effective on the ground, but for some reason, the man felt very heavy and shifting her weight around didn't make him lose his balance at all.

Subject: Re: Collateral Damage (Nornir) Tue Aug 26, 2014 2:23 am

As his shoulder slammed home, Zack's eyes narrowed. The girl had been unfazed by the blow. While he was similarly unaffected, he realized direct attacks wouldn't work. His body moved automatically as his formidable training kicked in, allowing his shattered mind to work. What fueled her power? Was she like him, a human made weapon? Or was she born with it? She was surrounded by a yellow aura, perhaps some sort of shield, or armor like his own? In his experience, telekinesis didn't help in close combat and wouldn't have saved her from his blow. She flipped up onto his arm and put him in an armbar, causing a wave of hysteric laughter to bubble from his throat. He hadn't seen anyone pull a move like that off the ground before. Though of course, this wasn't a fight between most people.

Curious if she was simply armored, he wondered if her joints were vulnerable. His own armor was one of few he knew of that kept protection at the joints. If he could apply enough pressure in the right place, only a colossal amount of strength would be able to keep him from breaking the relatively weak bone. But where to apply it? As she tightened her grip and locked her limbs in place, her foot came to rest next to his jaw and his grin widened. He knew how he could test his theory. He looked down, clamping her foot to his collarbone with his jaw as he brought his free arm in an uppercut into her heel in an attempt to force the joint to extend beyond its capability and snap. His eyes narrowed when it didn't work. What now then? It seemed that neither could hurt the other.

Then Zack remembered the laboratory he had destroyed at the prison. He had almost made it out before someone detonated a series of explosives and reduced the place to rubble. His armor had saved him from being crushed, but he hadn’t been able to breathe when the rocks pinned him to the ground because he had lacked the strength to expand his chest to let air in. Mav had a good grip on him, but that meant he had a good grip on her. She wanted a ground fight? He let out another mad cackle as he wondered if she could handle one. He tightened his grip on her wrist, magnetically clamping his hand shut as he clamped his other hand around her ankle and simply fell to the side, aiming to land on top of her. If she proved strong enough to resist, he could either increase his relative weight by magnetizing himself to the sewage system below the ground or simply fall back on his combat prowess and try something else.

Subject: Re: Collateral Damage (Nornir) Wed Aug 27, 2014 10:56 pm

For the first second or so, the man's next move didn't make sense at all. Mav had failed to ground him to make her armbar more effective. She assumed this was due to some sort of enhanced physical strength or even the kinetic ability he displayed before. And yet now he was voluntarily putting himself in a position that was logically more advantageous to her. But as soon as her back touched the ground, she realized what was going on. She could not move at all. The man was unnaturally heavy and far above what she could physically shift. And that weight made it difficult to breathe. Staying that way for too long was dangerous.

The man had a solid grip on her wrist and ankle, leaving her with only an arm and leg to work with. That would have to suffice. She quickly reached into her jacket and pulled out a smoke bomb. The next series of events happened in the span of less than a second. She set off the canister, tossed it in the direction of her free leg and then smashed into the man's face with her foot. Breaking it that way would mean the smoke wouldn't last long, but the ignited contents would spill all over the man's head hopefully causing him to let her go.

Subject: Re: Collateral Damage (Nornir) Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:23 pm

Zack had always been particularly defensive of his face. While scars formed a complex maze out of almost every other inch of his body, his eternal grin remained the only mar on the last thing he had to remind himself of his parents. His reflexes were razor sharp, and everything seemed to freeze for a fraction of a second. The smoke grenade was hurtling towatd his face, followed by the bottom of Mav's foot. He only had a fraction of a second to react, certainly not enough time to get out of the way of an attack at such close quarters. Just like any other person presented with an object coming for their face that they can't stop, Zack's eyes instinctively slammed shut. However unlike most people, his armor was wired into his nervous system, and so the magnetic pulse that followed was just as instinctive.

Caught between the field and Mav's foot, the cannister was crushed and smoke spewed forth to engulf them both. However while his ability had saved him from the impact of both the grenade and his opponent's foot, smoke wasn't magnetic. As such it filled his nostrils, and since he couldn't close his lips to block it out it also got into his mouth and made his throat burn. He let out a hacking cough and wrenched himself free with a little magnetic aid. Both his own movement and the sheer force of his second magnetic pulse saw him staggering backward, away from the disspating cloud. In his mind's eye, he still had a perfect view of the battlefield, and knew where he was in relation to his surroundings.

As he wiped his tearing eyes and coughed up the last of the smoke he shifted sideways as if circling his opponent to look for an opening, adopting a boxer's stance as he did so. However he kept his fists and elbows high and only hunched slightly, giving Mav a clear shot at his stomach. His eyes burned into her location in the rapidly dissolving cloud her grenade had provided, ready for the moment she emerged or her cover vanished.

Subject: Re: Collateral Damage (Nornir) Fri Aug 29, 2014 12:53 am

It was a strange sensation. As Mav brought her foot down, it was like it collided with something invisible in midair. The smoke bomb was broken nonetheless and she soon found herself haphazardly cast aside as her opponent got a face-full of the smoke and chemicals. As soon as she was released, she rolled out of the way and put some distance between them. While the smoke likely impaired both their abilities to see each other, she had other ways of sniffing out her target's location. The man's hostile intentions were like an alarm that gave him away. It seemed he had no intention of escaping just yet, which was what she feared might have happened after making that last move.

Mav paused for a second to consider her options from here on. From the last exchange, it seemed close combat was not the wisest. He was superior in physical stats and his ability made him dangerous to approach as long as she had any metal on her. While the smoke kept the man preoccupied, she quickly looked around if there was something she could use. They were in a carnival after all. It was then that she spotted a nearby food stall. She ran over to it and peering inside, she found what she was looking for.

Just as the smoke finally cleared, the next sight the man would see was Mav aiming a fire extinguisher nozzle right at him. She squeezed the handle and unloaded a spray of CO2 in the direction of the man's face.

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