All villains are equal, but some are more equal than others

[jla_extras]

Alcatraz was cracked open and the prisoners spilled free eagerly, but not everyone was spirited off the Rock. Some prisoners had only themselves to blame for that: they were too distracted by the chance to take revenge against the guards or the prison itself to grasp the larger freedom that awaited them across the Bay. As for the rest of the

Comments

[blackknightone]

He was alone on the teleport pad of Titan's Tower. Lights flashed all around as if some kind of Alarm had been set off. In the distance he could hear some radio traffic, but it all sounded like incoming traffic. On a teleport pad next to find was something he didn't expect to see. A gold and black Checkmate uniform, complete with mask and holsters. Having spent several months in prison he was numb to the idea of stripping off his clothes in public. He ripped the prison garb from his body and slipped on the mutant spandex of his old profession. He had lost wieght so it didn't fit perfectly, but who cared! Oracle was even considerate enough to remember he wore a Flak jacket with the uniform.

"Hello!" he called out once he was finished, "Hello! Anyone here!" He walked into the hallway, looking for anyone who could tell him why he had been called here.

[oracle_watching]

A monitor high on the wall, just a few feet ahead of him, flickers to life.

The images show him footage from Alcatraz: the breached walls, the cell doors open wide, closeups of nullifier collars lying broken on the floor.

[blackknightone]

A riot in Alcatraz, and not a Titan in sight

[jla_villains]

As he draws closer to the nearest inflatable raft, he can see that it carries only one prisoner, who is looking back at Alcatraz and laughing wildly as the powered raft speeds towards shore.

[_nightwing_]

The Titans rematerialize at the landing pad on top of Titans Tower, along with their jet.

It's time to go to work.

Five minutes to resupply, people! Then we're heading out!

While they're doing that, Nightwing heads to command central to deploy the experimental containment field that Cyborg's been working on. It won't catch the criminals already a certain distance out, and its effectiveness on magic users hasn't been tested; but it should at least help stem the tide.

Five minutes later, the Titans are reconvened on the rooftop, and he's had time to come up with some semblance of a plan.Okay, folks. Fliers, take point. Hope you all have your rebreathers, because I'm going to dump pepper spray and nauseating gas into the fray down there first to help make our jobs a little easier. Don't worry too much about the swimmers and rafts unless they make it through the experimental containment field that's about a quarter mile off the island's coasts

[starfire_kory]

Starfire launches, speeding towards the mainland.

[mari_grayson]

Nightstar follows Starfire, looking at the water below as she flies. "Nightstar to Titans," she reports into her com. "We've got help down there--a Checkmate Knight on a jet ski."

[starfire_kory]

"I asked for him," replies Starfire. "He--hold on." She is silent for a few minutes, then continues: "Oracle confirms. He's an ally."

[jessequick]

Jesse is in the air, racing toward trouble with rebreather and goggles firmly in place. At the speeds she's capable of showing in flight, she wants nothing to do with the stuff Nightwing intends to use to thin out the numbers. "Incoming," she mutters to hereslf, fists forward.

The wind does not feel great against the swollen lump that is her left cheek, but what the hell. From what she saw in the Watchtower, she got off light.

No pun intended at all.

[jla_alcatraz]

As she nears the mainland, the wind picks up abruptly. She can smell ozone just before lightning leaps towards her.

[jessequick]

Lightning is fast, but Jesse is Quick...with a capital Q. She diverts her course in an acute upward swing, away from the bolt, and spins around to look for its source.

[jla_alcatraz]

In the sky above her is a giant of a man. The lower half of his body is concealed by the whirlwind propelling him through the air. He gives her a feral grin, then spreads his arms wide.

"Dodge these."

Hailstones begin falling, driven by the unnatural wind to speeds seldom seen in nature, and rarely in California.

[_nightwing_]

Above the waters of the Bay the Titans jet flies low and fast, delivering a hefty payload of pepper spray and nausea-inducing gas over the escaping prisoners still trying to get to the mainland. It's hard to work on escaping if you can't see and you can't stop throwing up.

It's going to be messy work once the jet lands on the coast; prisoners mixing with civilians is always bad news. They'll have to resort to the old-fashioned methods here - track and take down. As soon as the struts touch terra firma, Nightwing is on the move once more with the rest of the Titans.

Move out!

[jla_villains]

Three coughing prisoners abandon their powered inflatable raft, swearing as they stagger through the water to the shoreline. One of them, a short Hispanic man, wipes his eyes and squints. "It's the Titans!" he shouts. "Get 'em!"

"You get 'em!" retorts another prisoner, shoving the other two out of his way as he runs to shore. He swerves to avoid Nightwing, leaving the other two to face the Dark Knight's first apprentice.

The Hispanic man growls, then shakes his head, raising his chin and revealing the mark of his now-missing restraint collar just before fur begins to sprout all over his skin. His front teeth lengthen, and he now resembles something very like a giant rat as he charges Nightwing.

[_nightwing_]

Looks like it's time for an exterminator --

Let's see how Roland Rat here feels about directed high-frequency sonics.

[jla_villains]

"Aaaaagh!" screams the wererat, clapping his hands over his rounded ears and falling to the ground, his legs twitching.

The other prisoner is a tall Anglo, and when he sees the other man fall, he panics and spits a foul-smelling green substance at Nightwing.

[speedy_mia]

Speedy moves out and positions herself as rearguard.

"Go for it," She says to the Titans moving passed her, "I've got your backs."

[jla_villains]

Three pairs of bulging eyes peer out of the water near Speedy's position.

[speedy_mia]

Speedy notices them and continues to watch them out of the corner of her eye, waiting for her moment. They always get stupid when they think they can surprise you.

[jla_villains]

The eyes blink very slowly in unison, then move closer and closer, until suddenly a creature with three snake-like heads bursts out of the water, forked tongues lashing out at the young archer.