It's a spiral of DOOM

[batgraduate]

Who: Batgirl, Khisanth, Nefarious Evil-Doers and The Child Suspicious of Their Candy.
When: Immediately after the evening sirens, November 26
Where: A residential area
Summary: A child out late runs into some trouble and it's up to Batgirl to save the day! Where does Khisanth fit in? Read on to learn more!
Warnings: Almost Amber Alert, overplayed

Comments

[fantasycliche]

[ The sirens don't bother her much. They're loud, yes, and that's irritating-- but it's not as if there's any need to fear them. The monsters they bring are rarely clever enough to withstand her various spells, and if one of them does manage to make it in close, well, they're awfully susceptible to her fireball spell. Everything here, she's found, burns very nicely.

She hears the scream, of course, and she can hear low voices coming from around the corner. She's hardly even curious. No doubt it's something boring, maybe someone being held up, who cares.

...Except, as it turns out, she cares. The nearer she gets, the more strongly she feels an urge to involve herself in whatever it is going on over there. It sounds like mens' voices. And-- a woman? Well, that hardly sounds fair.

The knife she keeps in her boot is already drawn when she rounds the corner, slowing to a wary stop on the other side of the oddly dressed group from the... even more oddly dressed woman. She cocks a brow, not entirely sure who she ought to be suspiciously eying and settling for all of them. ]

Well, this is an odd sight.

[batgraduate]

{ By now the child is gone, hiding nearby behind a dumpster. Batgirl knows he's there of course, but decides it's probably for the best if he waits for her to take him home herself. The poor thing must be scared witless.

The stranger on the scene is an unwelcome source of suspicion. Now she must keep her eyes on six armed individuals. The gun comes first though, as the gunman makes the poor assumption that the Bat will be distracted by the woman.

Batgirl dive-rolls under his firing arm (and consequently directly into the center of the group) and kicks his wrist, sending the firearm flying and hopefully breaking the man's arm. }

Nobody plays fair anymore. The girl with you guys?

[fantasycliche]

[ The girl has admirable moves. It's a little inspiring. (Nevermind that she's never had any kind of training as a human...) So, with a neat little smile, she steps forward to prove an answer to her question with actions rather than words.

Her knife has been lowered, almost peaceably, and the man she steps up next to with a hand on his shoulder is understandably pretty distracted by Batgirl's sudden violent presence in their midst. She jams the blade into his side with a pleasant smile, and is rewarded by a pained cry and a sudden stain leaking through to the outside of his costume.

What she's not ready for is the elbow he suddenly drives into her side, and she stumbles back with a cough. And, oh, of course, her dagger is still in his side, which leaves her weaponless. That's pretty not cool, and there goes that pleasant smile of hers. ]

I should hope-- [ Another cough, to get a little air back into her lungs. ] That that answers your question.

[batgraduate]

{ She is a flurry of fists and feet amidst unfortunately well-prepared would-be kidnappers. The wounded man makes another mistake when he pulls the knife roughly out of his side and stumbles. Batgirl takes the liberty of jabbing an elbow into the back of his head. }

Please tell me you've got more than a knife going for you. You may not have noticed, but there's a little kid at stake here.

{ She's annoyed, but more concerned and frightened than that. Poor Clancy, so well-intentioned, so very much dead. }

[fantasycliche]

[ Oh, well, that solves her weapon problem. ]

Of course I have more than that. What do you take me for?

[ Which... doesn't explain why she feels the need to dart forward, back into turbulent waters of Bat-dressed versus monster-dressed, to snatch her dagger back out of the hand of the now-unconscious stab victim. She cleans the blade off on his clothing, and utterly fails to see the blow from another man, aimed at the side of her head.

Man, there is just way more to keep track of when you're fighting as a human. It's just awful. ]

[batgraduate]

{ More annoyance and concern, a little anger. }

Oh, for the love of--!

{ Screw this. Flash bomb time. She blocks her eyes and knocks the stunned heads she can find. }

If the rest of you don't run off before I get really upset, I swear I'll set this whole frakking alley on fire. I can do that, you know.

[fantasycliche]

[ Well she's suddenly blinded with the rest of them, but then on the upside of that is that the punch aimed for her glances off the side of her head instead, so at least there's that! It's still enough to send her stumbling and wear off some of the heroic enthusiasm, though. Man, getting hurt is the worst.

So she'll just find her way to a wall and sort of slump there, blinking and rubbing her head, looking not at all pleased with anything. ]

Some warning would have been nice...

[batgraduate]

{ Thankfully the others do run off, one holding his wrist like maybe she broke it. What a baby. A surge of rage and near-heart-stopping anxiety and she turns on the woman. }

I didn't give you warning because you nearly got both of us killed! I know that may not mean a whole lot to your heroic self, but there's a little boy hiding behind a dumpster over there it means a heck of a lot to. So before I go make sure he's not in shock or god knows what else, do you want to tell me what you were thinking?

[fantasycliche]

[ "Heroic self"? Well that's certainly an accusation she's never faced before. She blinks at Batgirl, her mood slowly sinking as her natural state seeps in to replace the odd compulsion. What had that mad urge for bravery gotten her, after all? A pounding head and some girl in a mask and cape yelling at her. And, oh, right. She hates people in masks and capes. Modern knights is all they are.

A scowl slowly grows, her eyes narrow. ]

You should be grateful to have had my help. [ as unhelpful as it may have been... ] I could have kept walking.

[batgraduate]

{ Deep breaths. She used to be like this too. It's not the stranger's fault she... has no training or experience whatsoever. }

Just... be careful next time, okay? The idea is to avoid casualties, not become one.

{ She turns to find the boy and coax him out of hiding. }

[fantasycliche]

[ Well then she'll just go ahead and follow after her. The better to complain, of course! She barely even notices the boy that's supposed to be being coaxed out of his terrified huddle. ]

Become a casualty? As if. I'm more than capable of handling a few men in suits.

[batgraduate]

{ Sarcastically: } So I can see.

{ Her attention is on the kid now. } Hey. It's okay, it's safe to come out now. I'll walk home with you.