The choice for you is the view to a kill

[beenwaitinglong]

Who: Diego Armando and a special guest star
When: November 3rd, a little before noon
Where: The courthouse and the surrounding sketchy alleys
Summary: A little incident distracts Diego from attending the preliminary hearing of his suit against AGI. (Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na...)
Warnings: Violence and blood, language...

Comments

[beenwaitinglong]

[Diego grits his teeth as the beggar steps out of the way, permitting them to pass by him. He walks without fighting. The gunman seems to be aiming for an alley across from the courthouse. Damn. If they get out of public view he has no idea what's going to happen.--

And that's about when the beggar trips, stumbling into the gunman clumsily-- or not? It's a bit of a mess and all Diego can really hear is the thump of bodies and the assassin cursing, but feels the hand and the gun drop away from his body. He doesn't need any other incentive to move his ass. He breaks away and runs.

He half-turns to look over his shoulder as he moves back towards the courthouse, making sure the gunman is still preoccupied-- yeah, ouch, with a fist in his throat-- and mentally reminds himself to take that beggar to lunch later. He's rushing towards the courthouse steps, towards the safety of the security guards inside the foyer, but before he can rush up the third step somebody steps in front of him.]

Excuse me--

[Somebody has stepped in front of him quite deliberately. A second gunman, in sunglasses, and he's much less sneaky about it-- he slams into Diego with his chest, throwing him off balance long enough to get an arm around his neck and point his gun straight at his temple. It seems subtlety was Plan A.

The thug tightens his arm around Diego's throat, wrestling him back down the steps and dragging him backwards towards the alley. This guy's not an amateur. He's got the strength and the brazen nature of a hardened criminal.

It takes a moment, but people have noticed the commotion now. Somebody screams. The gunman cocks the revolver and yells loudly.]

One step closer to me and he dies! [He presses the barrel of the gun against the side of the prosecutor's head, alongside his visor.] Move it, Armando.

[Diego complies, because he knows this type of man-- he'd splatter his brains all over the asphalt whether or not there was a crowd watching.]

[kingofrooks]

[ There is a single word that currently describes the situation: Fuck. Floyd takes care to not swear, but he reaches down and stops playing by amateurish rules. He ducks down and sweeps the first assassin's legs from under him. The man is flailing around like a headless chicken now, grip on his gun a little loose. And Floyd- is he still Floyd right now? he has to be, for a little longer- Floyd grabs it from out of his hand, moving by instinct and switching the safety back and off, taking the weight of the metal and smashing it straight into the assassin's temple.

One down, one more to go. Floyd looks at the gun. Fingerprints. Now that's just fantastic; he pockets it first to be wiped clean later, turning to look at the courthouse. Armando is being dragged down the steps, and Floyd picks up his baseball hat and jams it on his head. By this time, he is attracting a lot of attention, and he needs the hat to make sure no one gets a close look on his face. No closer look than the scar anyway.

Then, once the hat is properly on his head, Floyd sprints. Damn the warning because if he lets the man escape into the alley, he's going to shoot Armando anyway, and that's not going to happen. So Floyd sprints all the way towards the second assassin, keeping himself wide in the open. The man sees him - like he should, because this one's a damn professional, and professionals like these shoot first and figure out escape later - pulls his gun away from Armando and start aiming at him. ]

Out of the way, ya rich bastards!

[ He doesn't really need to shout that, not really. The screams are doing that well enough, after the gunman's pronouncement. Floyd has to thank him for that, really, even as he ducks behind another trash bin. Good thing about the better parts of the town. He grimaces at the feel of the impacts against the metal of the container, vibrating against his hand. Then he throws himself away from it- to the right, further from the courthouse and yet nearer to the alley on the other side.

Come on. Be predictable and move to the other alley. ]

[beenwaitinglong]

[Just what is up with that beggar? Diego knew about street smarts but this was frankly ridiculous. It helped to think of sarcastic things like that. Helped him forget there was a gun aimed right at his head and a strong man shuffling him off to a dark alley, where he would probably be killed. See, it was really all about your state of mind in these kind of situations.

He watches the beggar sprint towards them and duck behind a trash can just as the sound of gunfire makes his ears ring, makes him nearly jump. Even he can't be zen about a gun going off two feet from his head.

This gunman is a professional but predictable as hoped-- he steers Diego towards the other alley. There's a small convenience store here, and the alleyway loops back around the building a ways.

The gunman is shouting now, heedless of the attention he attracts as he screams at the interfering beggar.]

Stay away! One more step and I'll blow his head off!

[kingofrooks]

[ Is it too much to hope for that Armando will learn some sense from this? Most likely- but the good thing is that this assassin is incredibly predictable. Floyd skids to a stop directly opposite the two of them, with the street between them. Then, he holds up his hands and starts to back away, away- disappearing into the alley right behind him.

The alley with its shadows. Floyd backs away until his back hits the wall, and closes his eyes- and fades away, packed away in that mind of his. He doesn't need to pretend anymore. In fact, pretending is a bad idea, given what he's going to do. There's a part of him that thinks that he shouldn't be using his powers, shouldn't be dependent on them, but this is Armando's life at stake, and Batman uses all of his available resources.

Including this. He steps back, melding into the shadows that cover the walls- and moves. Just in time too, because he appears at the end of the alleyway just as the gunman steers himself and Armando into the alleyway. Batman studies him coldly and carefully for a long moment before he moves, literally tackling the man onto the ground and making a grab for his gun.

He has hold of a wrist, and he tries to slam it down onto the floor even as he pins the man and makes sure that he doesn't move--

A gunshot rings out. ]

[beenwaitinglong]

[For a moment, Diego is praying to himself that the beggar has some other trick up his sleeve-- but it's a hope that goes unanswered as he backs off. Probably for the best... the last thing he wanted was to watch this psycho kill an innocent person on his behalf. Meanwhile, they're backing into the alley.

The gunman is clearly relieved.] Fuckin' bum. Better thank him you've still got your brains in.

[Diego is distracted, however, by the shadow that appears in the alley behind them. His jaw drops-- you've got to be kidding-- and the next moment is a blur as the gunman is tackled and he's thrown off to the side.

He hits the alley floor on his knees, nearly falling on his face. The struggle is going on behind him, but he's too stunned to pay attention to it at the moment, a rush of adrenaline numbing the pain of landing as well as the great idea that he should probably run.

The gunman curses and struggles with his attacker, fighting to hold onto the gun. He wrestles his arm to the side and either intentionally or not, the gun points at Diego. Intentionally or not, his finger hits the trigger.

The shot fires, there is a loud CLANG- and Diego yells out as he jolts backwards, then collapses to the alley floor in a heap.]

[kingofrooks]

[ That is- Batman growls, deep in his throat as the gun goes off, and in the distraction he slams the assassin's hand right against the floor with one hand, the other one coming up to punch him hard on the face. At the same time, he was looming over the man, on all fours and the knees of his disguise staining the ground below him.

When he speaks, it is with Batman's voice. ]

Don't try that again.

[ The assassin's eyes widen, and Batman punches him again- and in the brief interval of time in between punches, he snatches the gun away from his hand, and does to him the same that he had to the first assassin. A solid hit with the metal of the revolver, hard enough to knock him unconscious and perhaps leaving behind a few concussions.

When that's taken care of, he drops the gun, using the assassin's shirt to wipe it clean. Then the gun still on his hip- the first assassin's gun- cleaned unceremoniously and dropped on top of the other. A pair of guns; a pair of gunmen; a pair of idiots.

He knows that Armando isn't dead. That's why he's making him wait. This is the third idiot of the whole debacle. ]

Adequate safety, Armando. [ And Batman is gripping a side of the visor and starting to try to pull it off. ]

I warned you.

[beenwaitinglong]

[Diego hadn't moved since hitting the ground, clutching at his face. The sensation had been like an electrical jolt straight to his brain, followed by pain, followed by numbness. His visor had gone dead-- he knew instantly it had intercepted the bullet. Hot metal pressed against his skin, the torn metal and splintered glass from his visor pressing into his face. The bullet's blown a two-inch gash in it, bent the metal inwards-- and the bullet itself is caught in the remains, crushed from the impact.

He lay there in pain, listening to the struggle and feeling the bodies hit the pavement nearby him as he struggled back to his senses, swearing loudly. He could feel hot blood pooling over his eyes, dripping down his face beneath the visor.

By the time Batman attends to him, he's hissing through his teeth, and reaches up to grab at the hand trying to pull the visor away.]

Don't-- it's-- in my face.

[kingofrooks]

I can see that.

[ A little tired and very frustrated. He hisses quietly at the feel of the too-hot metal, and drags out a ragged handkerchief and wraps his fingers inside the thing. Then, he reaches out and presses around the metal, dipping into the machinery- Armando is wearing his original rather than the one that Bruce Wayne had made. He doesn't suppose the man decides to bring the extras around.

(He's a little glad that the man is functionally blind right now. It makes things a lot easier if he reminds unrecognizable.)

At the same time, he's whipping out Armando's NV from his pocket, preparing to send a text message to Re-l and to Daedalus Yumeno to tell them what had happened. He knows that someone has already informed the police - gunshots in the rich sectors tend to do that. ]

Stand up. I'll bring you to Skye.

[beenwaitinglong]

All right.

[He lets out another breath, shaky, reaching for the wall of the alley to help him stand up. His hands are covered with blood and he looks pretty drastic-- streams of blood leaking out from under the ruined visor and down his face, giving the dramatic impression of tear streams. It's in his eyes too, and he's clenched them shut, for once a little relieved that he can't see how horrific he likely appears.]

Mr. Concerned Citizen, I presume?

[kingofrooks]

Yes.

[ Well, the ambulance is fast enough to reach. It's only half a Sector away right now, and Batman reaches out and grabs Armando by the arm, swinging it over his shoulder. The man is light- light enough that Batman considers his options for a long moment. He has a head wound that's bleeding profusely, and there's a chance that the bullets - or the shrapnel from the visor - has dug themselves into his eyes.

Speed is an issue. He drops the NV back into Armando's pockets. Those two can be informed later. ]

Hold on. [ Then he's swinging Armando into his arms, bridal-style, a hand supporting his back and neck, and striding out of the alleyway just in time to see the ambulance swerving around the corner. ]

[beenwaitinglong]

[Diego grunts as he's helped up, reaching up to clutch at his face again. It's all rather numb still, probably from the visor shorting out, though he's trying to ensure the same thing Batman's worried about-- if there's metal shards in his eyes. Since he can blink and feel the sting of blood in them, he's guessing not. The thought is comforting, at least.

Then he's swept up into his savior's arms, princess-style.]

Hey, hey. I didn't get shot in the legs.

[kingofrooks]

I'm not leading a blind man anywhere when there might be more assassins.

[ Flatly. Batman waits on the side of the road, and the blood all over Armando's face becomes a flag for the ambulance. The baseball cap is still on his head, hiding him from the paramedics' views. He hisses out a breath as he lays Armando onto the stretcher- and out of the corner of his eyes, he can see the first gunman start to get up.

Oh hell no. Batman retreats a little, and Floyd speaks- ]

Look! That bastard who shot the blind guy's trying to run away! [ And he's backing up, turning, sprinting again- ] The other one's in the alleyway!

[beenwaitinglong]

Hey- [He tries to protest as he's separated from his rescuer, laid out on the stretcher as paramedics swarm around him.] Wait a minute! Who are--

[But his yells go unheeded as one of the EMTs forces him to lay back, to keep more blood from running down his face. And all of the sudden he's hearing that beggar's voice again, footsteps running away, and with a sudden surge of confusion, he gets the feeling that there was much more to this rescue than it seems.

Or maybe he's just got bats in the belfry?]