Dare To Try

December 31, 2014:

Zee attends a News Years Party and chaos breaks loose.

Shucky's Bar - New York

A seedy, cheap bar exempt from the smoking ban thanks to some bribes and a loose label of cigar bar.

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Mood Music: [*\#https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q5SSoho0cs Auld Lang Syne]


Fade In…

Early evening, New Years Eve, 2014. People are either getting ready to head out to parties or are already there and settling in for a long one.

At Shucky's Bar in New York, a party seems to be starting up. Music plays and the general, rumble and murmur of the patrons competes with it.

The party is hosted by a long term colleague of the Zatanna Zataras' father and an invitation was sent through magical means to the young magician. It appears, by the venue chosen for the soiree, that this colleague may have fallen on hard times, not that is well known.

Zatanna Zatarra, Mistress of Magic, dressed in a little black dress and knee high boots, pauses at the doorway and peers in, a look of consternation on her young face. Peering down at the invitation in her hand and back up at the name of the bar, she frowns before looking at her companion. "Well Mikey, this is the place… are you ready?" Plastering her 'stage show' smile on her face, she steps in, looking for the host for the evening.

***

Miguel looks a little apprehensive as he sees the locale, but he nods to Zee. "Up for anything," the teen says. He's dressed in a simple jeans-and-indie-band-t-shirt mix, letting him blend with millions of other young New Yorkers. He tries to look like he sees scummy bars everyday, but his dark eyes flick here and there like a tourist.

***

Over the holidays, Barry Allen has gotten quite a few phone calls from the Twin Cities wishing him a happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, jolly New Year and oh yeah, by the way? How are things in New York City? How did you handle the move? And are you happy?

Joe, Iris, the rest of the guys down at the old precinct, and Jay. Especially Jay. Though Barry assured the old timer that he was, in fact, doing well, the first Flash knew something was amiss. Back when he was a kid, Jay and Joan would go out to the dance halls when things would get boring or when they needed to go be social. There arenât any dance halls anymore.

But when Jay Garrick got a similar invitation, having run in the similar circles as Zatanna's father, he passed along the invite to the Flash. Go out, get some fresh air, kid and meet some people. Yeah, alright, fine. If itâll get you to get off his case, he'll do it.

And so the Flash walks in—full costume, the whole bit.

***

New Year's Eve is a special time of year. It is a time best spent with friends and family. It is a time for reflection and contemplation. It represents the end of the old and the start of something new. But some things are not so easily forgotten, like the debt that so many incurred over the Christmas season. People spend money they don't have and they end up paying interest throughout the rest of the year. But that wasn't the reason that Shucky's Bar was in arrears. No, they had neglected a special kind of debt. They owed protection money.

And seeing as it was New Year's Eve, Grendel had chosen to give some of his people the night off. He would handle this one. But he did not come dressed in his usual visage. No, that would be too obvious. Instead, he decided to dress up as Daredevil. And that is how he entered, through the front door, bearing an invitation he had stolen from some poor guy on his way towards Shucky's. The costume was a fair approximation, though it seemed to be made of leather, and the Billy Club he carried was black.

As he passed through the doors, he began scanning the crowd, using his remarkable mind to take note of the adulterers, the thieves, the off duty police officers, the doctors, the criminals, the would-be heroes, and any other profession that seemed like a potential risk. It was just the way his mind worked. Whenever he entered a situation. But first, he would get himself a drink, and so he began queuing up to reach the bar.

***

Morien walks into Shucky's Bar, then walks back out of the bar before walking back again. He pulls out his iphone and begins to talk into it. "Are you kidding me?" He makes his way through the crowd towards the bar. "The place needs work, maybe the land could be worth something."

Morien sits down at the bar and frowns, "Sara punched the numbers. Morien pauses for a moment, "Really? Well, Sara is wrong about this one. Shoot, even Joe Louis got knocked out once. Morien taps his fingers on the bar and takes a deep sigh, "Send me the numbers again, and I will see if I will still talk with the owner.

As Morien waits for the investment numbers to be sent to him, he signals for a shot of Jameson.

***

Most nights, Audrey doesn't have anywhere to go. Most nights, Audrey sort of prefers it that way. When you're nowhere, no one is watching you. Tonight, though, New York City is a madhouse. With so many people moving around, not even the best the military can offer can be expected to actually notice one girl in a sea of humanity. Besides, the little job she ran with Domino managed to net her enough cash to at least get something warm to eat to go with the warm spaces that are actually publicly available tonight.

She's not going into Times Square, though. Instead, she's going into a nice, warm dive bar full of people who are definitely not authority figures. Probably. Hopefully. When the door asks for ID, a quick work of illusion is enough to fudge the dates on her long-expired drivers license, and she slips quietly inside, staying along the edge of the room.

***

Zee scans the crowd for the host for the evening. "I can't see him, Mikey, let's get something to drink and then I'll take another look, he should be around somewhere."

Steering herself and Miguel towards the bar, Zee recognises Morien and the show biz smile becomes a little more genuine "Well, if it's not my number one fan" she greets the gentleman warmly and holds out a hand in greeting. "This is my friend Mikey, Mikey this is Morien."

The Flash has garnered the interest of a couple of the guests who are now approaching him, it looks like they're going to ask him for his autograph… and one of them is pulling their phone out for a photo opportunity.

Daredevil receives some strange looks, perhaps people have noticed the disparity in his costume "What'll yer be havin' then" the bartender drawls.

Audrey, managing to slip inside remains unseen in the shadows for now.

***

Miguel keeps close to Zatanna as he moves further into the bar, scoping out the people here, dark eyes alighting on one or more, moving on, until he sees The Flash step in. "Wow," he says, a little hero-struck. Then as 'Daredevil' walks in, he sidles closer to the bar. "This has the look of a major fight going down. I wonder who they're looking for?" he says quietly to Zee.

At the intro, Mikey holds out his hand to shake Morien's hand, if he's so inclined. "Pleasedtomeetcha," he says in his best New Yorker manner. He also signals the barkeep for a beer, which he takes and nurses for now.

***

How does Fenris get invited to these things? Well, he's very very old thats how and while people may not know who he is he knows who they are. Ordinairly displays of wealth ans opulamxe dont interest him but he does like to keep an eye on things, So he's here, or rather Jeremiah Wolfson is, filtering through and watching.

***

"Yeah, I'll pose for a photo," the Flash says with a congenial nod. He throws a red arm over the shoulders of the seeker and his girlfriend, and gives a cheeky smile, but as the picture is about to be taken, he does something rather odd.

The area around the pair begins to be blurry with red and yellow. After the selfie is taken, there is the couple and six different Flashes, all posed in different silly mannerisms including one with his tongue out and one giving the girl bunny ears.

Flash sidles up to the bar next to Miguel and nods to the barkeep. "Weird question for ya. You got any TastyAid? I need some electrolytes in the worst way."

***

'Daredevil' raises an eyebrow beneath the leather mask, but it's not the best fit and fails to accurately show his expression. Really, only part of the leather bunches over his forehead as he takes note of the arrival of Morien Washington, the recently appointed CEO of Umoja Unlimited. Perhaps Shucky might get off easy tonight. Washington held far greater value than a simple matter of some outstanding protection money. But then, that would not be fair to the businesses that had paid their dues. It was a real pity, but Grendel did not want to develop a reputation for being unfair in his dealings.

Dressing as Daredevil may not have been the best idea, as he seems to have attracted a crowd, and it's a very knowledgeable crowd in that they can tell his costume is just that, a facsimile, a falsehood, and not the genuine article. Next time he tries a stunt like this, he's going to go out, find a hero, take his clothes, have a glass wine while they're being dry cleaned, and then try a stunt like this. But at least he got his drink, a simple glass of orange juice. But why did they have to put a little umbrella in it? Oh, this bartender is going to have to pay for that. So as to preserve his ruse for a little while longer, he tries not to speak too much. But when he does, he manages to deliver a halfway decent Manhattan accent. Is that how Daredevil sounds? He frequents Hell's Kitchen a lot, so it's an educated guess.

But then he notices her, Zatanna. She's the girl from the talk show. Hmm, that could be a problem. Stacy Palumbo, his ward, is a big fan of her act, and he'll have to ensure that she doesn't get hurt. From that point on, he kept an eye on her, noting her placement within the room. That would complicate things somewhat, but he does thoroughly enjoy a challenge. And the Flash, if only it were the real one. Now that would be a challenge. Does he think as fast as he fights, or is he a showboat like so many young and foolish heroes.

And his question, well, one of them is answered. Watching the Flash run around the room is a new experience for Grendel, and for that, he must thank the Scarlet Speedster. He drops back, ignoring the crowd around him for a moment while his mind focuses on the being, calculating how fast he must have been going, determining the angles he took, trying to rationalise it all out in his head. A test would be in order. And so he turns to sign an autograph, addressing the small crowd around him. As he gives the pen back to one of his admirers, he puts a hand over the girl's shoulder, giving her a little pinch. A few moments after he's walked away, she will collapse on the floor as he stopped her blood flow. How will the so called hero deal with this?

***

Morien is about to drink his shot, when he hears Zatanna's voice. He quickly adjusts his tie as an embarrassed grin comes across his face, "Wow, you remembered me? I cannot believe..uhmm. I mean wow and New Years Eve too!"

Morien eyes fixate to the ceiling as he pauses for a moment as he realizes that he is sounding like a ocmplete idiot. Morien clears his throat a few times to regain some composure, turns his attention to Zatana, then over to Miguel, and shakes hand to Miguel. "Mikey, a pleasure to meet you." He looks past Mikey for a moment at the people in the bar, "Does this bar normally have parties that are visited by superheroes?

***

Audrey knows the Flash. Or at least she's run into him. Which…well, hopefully he'll be distracted. She starts toward the bar, ready to order something to eat, when she sees the girl fall nearby, though she doesn't see why. Frowning slightly, she changes course to get a better look, crouching down next to her and shaking her shoulder. "Miss?" she says. "Miss, are you all right?" She reaches out to check for pulse and respiration, the motions confident enough to be practiced.

***

The bartender scowls at The Flash "Whadda ya think this is, some daycare spot? Ain't got no TastyAid." There's a streak of red and yellow and the spot where The Flash was standing is now vacant and the bartender just grunts before looking to Zee "You gonna order summthin'?"

Flashing the bartender a big smile, Zee orders a glass of something bubbly before turning her attention back to Morien "Of course I remember, it was very flattering." and laughs as he shakes hand with Miguel. The attention now drawn to the superheroes in the bar, The Flash not visible, Zee tilts her head towards Daredevil "Mikey, does something seem off with that costume?" Catching a flash of a familiar face filtering through the crowd, Zee raises a hand in greeting to Fen.. ahem, Jeremiah Wolfson.

As the girl drops to the floor and Audrey moves to her side, the crowd closes around her, obscuring her from view but raising attention that something is going on.

***

Miguel shakes Morien's hand. "I have no idea.." he says as he looks at 'Daredevil' and The Flash again. He sips his beer and shakes his head at Zee. "I've only seen Daredevil on the news, so I really… don't know," he says, looking at the masked man again. He starts to say something else to Zee, when he sees the young woman keel over. He steps that way, and sees others have closed in around her. He steps back, but casts a concerned eye that way. "Wow, I hope she's OK…" he says, keeping watch on the situation.

***

Fenris acknowledges Zee with a nod and alters his course to approach. People,imstinctively get,out of his way. Amd he does seem… well, creepy and off. A sense of a predator unseen in the midst of the flock. Like Zee he hasn't yet sensed that there is trouble near Audrey. "Hello Zatanna. Morien." He rumbles and then half turns toward to what Miguel indicated. "Mmmm? Whats that?"

***

The unfortunate victim fell to the floor, losing consciousness, and ceased breathing. She seems to have collapsed without an apparent cause. With a blockage in her blood flow, she was in trouble. She could have used urgent medical attention. But whatever's going on is now obscured by the crowd that's formed around the woman. One of the doctor's and off duty police officers will push their way through the crowd when alerted to the danger. The girl might pull through if she's lucky.

As this goes on, 'Daredevil' attempts to blend in with the rest of the crowd, briefly catching Zatanna's gaze before he disappears into the throng. He's working at a significant disadvantage, but he knows how to disappear even when he's being observed. Being dressed as a costumed crime fighter doesn't help, but at least it's dark red leather that seems almost black in this light.

Next, he will target one of the bouncers, a big burly mountain of man whom he will quickly throw a few punches into the back of, ruffling the black t-shirt as he cracks a few ribs. The man cried out in pain, and 'Daredevil' swooped in closer. He grabs the man, supporting him and will look out at the crowd, asking in a loud and authoritarian voice, "who did this?". Best place to hide is in plain sight. When another person offers to help the bouncer, Daredevil will begin scanning the crowd for the culprit, his apparent rage kept in check through sheer determination.

***

Morien nods his head in greeting to Fenris, "Happy New Year, Jeremiah. A shame that I keep missing you when I go out for tea. I hope all is well with you." Morien peers casually over at the girl, then turns his attention to the fallen bouncer. Morien raises his right hand to gently caress the side of his head as he starts to scan the room as he continues talking to Jeremiah, "I did have an item that I needed help researching, but lucky I was able to find someone else. You would have been interested in the piece. It had an amazing story behind it.

***

As qualified personnel move in, Audrey steps back from the fallen girl, though her brows furrow in a frown as another cry comes out from across the bar. Dammit, all she wanted was a hot meal. Quietly, she starts to roll up the sleeves on her layers of clothing, moving back toward an abandoned bar stool to climb up enough to actually see more of the flow of people through the room. There are heroes here, aren't there? Surely she won't need to get involved.

***

"Mr Wolfson, this is my friend Mikey. Mikey, Mr Wolfson." Zee takes her queue from Morien. Seeing the fallen girl has attention, Zee turns her attention back to 'Daredevil' and the look he gives her before disappearing in the crowd to reappear next to the one of the bouncers. "I'm telling you Mikey, there's something off about that costume… and tht look her gave me…." The Mistress of Magic begins to walk in Daredevils general direction, trying to work it all out.

Poor Morien has lost Zee's attention.

As Audrey climbs on the barstool, a drunken patron tries to her to sit.

***

Miguel flashes a smile at Fenris who will of course know immediately who 'Mikey' is because of his scent. He looks at 'Daredevil' again, when he makes his announcement, and then puts down his beer bottle to follow a step behind Zee, to back whatever play she's thinking off. That little psionic tickle in the back of his head flares up, bricks ready to manifest, as he saunters over, all casual-like.

***

"Shame I wasn't about. My apologies." The Old Wolf inclines his head. "It's been somewhat busy of late. Hrm… that commotion over there…" He's keeping an eye on both the girl and Zatanna because as a Nun in a children's story once said 'Something is not quite right.'

"What brings you by this rather august little gathering, Morien? Rubbing shoulders or just observing?" Mostly the god-wolf is here for the latter but he's not above acting if something seems out of place.

Miguel gets a small, knowing smile as he follows his fellow Titan. Fenris still thinks that's an odd name.

***

It takes a while to get good TastyAid in this town. It's much more popular in Keystone City and Central City, but regardless, the Flash is able to make it in pretty good time. Especially if you consider that the Scarlet Speedster needed to check under the cushions in his couch for the requisite money.By the time he finally returns, it's clear he's a bit labored, but nothing quite hits the spot like a bottle of TastyAid. It's what plants crave!

Flash is all grins as he enters, but once he notices the person on the floor, his face looks pained. He turns to Audrey, "Are they okay?" He's kind of a hero. If no one else helps, he will.

But it looks like everyone seems to have everything under control.

***

A moment after Barry enters, Ronnie Hautzig follows. She's dressed in layer after layer, sweaters upon sweaters (not even counting her peacoat) — a true California transplant, unable to handle the New York cold.

She's craning her neck to look around for Barry from under her fringe of dyed-blonde hair, and that's why she walks right into him from behind. "Oh! Hey! Barry! I was worried I had the wrong bar and I was too, uh, I don't know, awkward to, you know, text or whatever and — oh god, what's going on, this isn't a — work situation for you, is it?"

***

First, a girl mysteriously dropped to the floor, unconscious. She wasn't breathing, but she's being attended to by a doctor and watched by an off duty police officer. Then one of the bouncers cried out in pain from several cracked ribs. The countdown began with many people chanting, "10…" But then something unexpected happened. A small explosion went off near the bar, shattering glass and sending the shards flying everywhere which way. Add to that the resulting shock wave and it's a bit of a disaster all around. The televisions continued the countdown, "9…" which was broadcast through the bar. The one constant in all three incidents has been that 'Daredevil' was in the vicinity at some point prior, but who cares about that now? And anyway, for two of them, he was nowhere near the incident when the affects became apparent.

'Daredevil', or Grendel as he is sometimes known, does not shield himself from the blast. "8…" He knew it was coming, since he remotely activated it after Zatanna and Miguel had move far enough away so as not to be affected. His ward would be deeply saddened if her favourite magician were to be harmed. "7…" The actual source of the explosion was a binary compound placed near the dishwasher, which activated via a remote signal.

By now, panic should have set in to the masses. "6…" goes almost unheard. One or two mysterious illness would not raise many alarm bells, especially on New Year's Eve, but an explosion just went off. Worried people will no doubt be making their way to the door in a panic. "5…" And all 'Daredevil' can do is look in vain for the culprit, frantically searching for a source that appears to elude him. "4…" He quickly moves against the crowd, trying to make his way to the blast area, allegedly to investigate. "3…" He shouts out some things to the crowd, but his words are lost in the screams.

With the blast and the return of the Flash, "2…" Grendel knows that the time for deception is almost up. He sees Zatanna moving towards him, perhaps seeing through his deception. When he finally reaches her, he smiles and plants a kiss upon her lips, "Happy New Year," he says as his billy club expands and changes into some kind of a long pole axe with a forked blade at the end of it and he calls out in his normal, deeply gravelly voice, one meant to elicit thoughts of a demon, "NEXT TIME, YOU WILL PAY WHAT's DUE!"

***

"Someone mention to me that this was a good place to invest in, and it seems that I stumbled in on a party." Morien furrows his brow as he sees Zatanna walk away. "And yourself, Jeremiah?" As Morien waits for an answer, the explosion happens to go off but the bar itself serves as a ready made barricade for most of the shock wave. It still has enough force to send Morien to floor.

Some of the shards that fly around the room get embedded in his skin, but they are healed within less than a second. Morien gets to his knees and grabs a bottle of whiskey and takes a deep Mgulp, "What the hell! Is this feckin Gotham?!

***

"I'm not sure," Audrey starts to answer Flash, shaking her head. "Something seems off." And considering what was going on the last time she wandered up to something where things seemed off… Then there are noises, and shouting, and counting down. Things are happening, and she's not quite sure what it all is. Nor is there a whole lot she can do about it. Except that, as the explosion goes off behind the bar, she ducks down next to it on her side, and reaches for something at her back, scanning the room.

***

Daredevil kissed her! Zee steps back far enough, pulls her arm back and slaps 'Daredevil' as hard as she can.

Noticing the pole axe just before the explosion goes off "I told you something was off Mikey." is all she has time for, before the explosion goes off. 'Daredevil' might have thought she and Miguel were safe, but a flying piece of schrapnel hits the side of Zee's face and she turns angry eyes on the man, wiping the blood on the back of her hand. Looking around she see's the Christmas garland hanging pitiful from the ceiling and speaks

~ dniB miH dnaH dnA tooF htiW samtsirhC dnalraG

If the spell works, Zee is distracted after all, 'Daredevil' will be bound by the garland.

***

Miguel is following Zee, and so when the explosion goes off he ducks and reacts - little purple spots of light appear all around him, as psionic energy uncurls and forms clumps of floating bricks, glowing purple. The moment he sees 'Daredevil' pull his stunt, he waits until Zee is clear and then his hands make fists. Bricks form up around his hands and forearms, and a multitude more appear around 'Daredevil' - he's hoping that if the garland doesn't bind the man, he can slam him from all sides with psionic bricks, encasing him in a sheath of them. He's beeing training against various Robins for weeks and weeks - trapping flippy acrobatic-y people is a thing he's done time and again. Hopefully this time it's good enough as well.

***

That voice and the accompanying shards send Fenris straight from normal mode and right into 'predator defending his turf' mode. He staggers a bit and then recovers, glaring over at someone he can't quite see yet.

No. This won't do at all. The Old Wolf grabs the oaken rod at his side and snaps it up in the direction of the shout. Winds begin to gust around him before descending at hurricane force toward the only other man here he can identify as armed.

***

The immediate shock of hearing his name, here in full costume, puts Barry on immediate defensive. There's shock, then relief, as he realizes it's Ronnie. Then worry that someone heard her. He looks over her shoulder to see if anyone is paying any attention whatsoever, before he leans in to say something to her.

But all of that is cut off once he sees the beginning of the flames starting to erupt from all around the room. Ronnie's hair will likely flip up at the wind caused by the Flash beginning to motor around the room and start bringing people outside. Last, but not least (hey, he realizes she's a mutant, OKAY?) He reaches out to grab Ronnie and pulls her into one of those diving, twirly, dives things, just enough to evade the explosion and have them land behind the bar!

Flash winces as Ronnie lands on top of him with a lot of force. "Happy New Year?"

***

"Happy New Year, I'm sorry I said, uh, the… other name," Ronnie whispers back. "I'm new at this."

There's a second of uncertainty and then Ronnie lifts herself up off of Barry, and just as she's pushing off of him a full bottle of Jack Daniel's falls from one of the bar's shelves and cracks her on the back of the head. "Unnnhh!" She slumps back forward, though the Flash has time to crawl out at super speed and evade. But then he'll have to catch her face from hitting the floor. She's on fire this NYE.

***

There is crying, there are screams, and the water pours down from the sprinkler systems, drenching everyone. People are hurt, most are running for the exit. But this is no orderly evacuation. People are getting shoved, pushed, and those who are unlucky enough to fall, get stepped on by the crowd yearning to escape. And as the chaos ensues, the televisions broadcast over the speakers, "Should Old Acquaintance be forgot, and never thought upon; the flames of love extinguished, and fully past and gone: Is thy sweet Heart now grown so cold, that loving breast of thine; that thou canst never once reflect on old long syne."

The slap hits Grendel. He's got impressive reactions, but he knew it'd be coming and in some sick, twisted way, it actually makes him smile to cause that kind of reaction. The garland on the other hand, is not welcomed. As it strains and stretches to reach him, he takes a few quick steps, moving out of its pathway, and slicing it before it can wrap around him. It came close to getting one of his arms, but not close enough. "YOU'RE FAR PRETTIER IN PERSON, MS. IVY," he says in that gravelly voice, pretending to mistake her for Poison Ivy after that botanical trick. He may still look like 'Daredevil', but he's dropped the disguised voice and replacing it with another.

Next, he must deal with a rapidly forming wall of floating purple bricks. They begin surround him, but instead of letting them envelop him, or even trying to dodge them, he uses them, scaling the wall and escaping between a hole that wasn't closed fast enough. He will use the footing to leap up into the air, slicing through the ceiling and one of the sprinklers, causing a steam of forced water to shoot at Miguel's face. Not exactly harmful, but it'll probably piss him off.

Now, he has time to survey the situation. Flash seems to be rapidly emptying the joint, but that Fenris looks promising. "ARGENT, I LIKE YOUR NEW LOOK," he intones as he leaps off the psionic wall, fork becoming electrified, some of the current travelling through the water. He's careful with this, keeping the end far enough away from him, but it's a delicate balance. And that's why he wears gloves. The fork will come down towards the Wolfman, but will he be fast enough, or will this imposter prove even more dangerous than Grendel's nemesis?

***

As Grendel leaps down with his electrified fork, Morien picks up the whiskey bottle he was drinking, and uses his super reflexes to fling it at the direction of Grendel with his right hand. He uses his left hand to picked up some napkins to cover the back of his head to hide a make believed injury. "Yeah, Sara is so getting fired for this!

***

People are panicking, and that's causing a problem. There's not much Audrey can do about the fight, but there's one small thing she can do, at least. As she keeps sheltered hunched against the bar, she focuses on the light in the space. Clear paths between tables headed for the door start to illuminate, pulsing like a heartbeat, while other parts of the room get darker. She can hardly even tell who's supposed to be the villain here, among all the chaos, but this much she can do.

***

The spell worked but 'Daredevil' escaped it and now there's a fork of lightning aiming for someone. No one is going to hear her over the panic… she needs to get attention on 'Daredevil'. Audrey's pulsing lights get her attention and Zee speaks again

~ thgiL livederaD pU ~

Some of the light that Audrey is creating will start to outline 'Daredevil' and hopefully bring the attention of the others to him.

***

Miguel stumbles back from the water in the face, his bricks disintergrating back into nothingness as he falls on his backside and ends up against the bar. When the water is wiped from his eyes, though, he's seeing murder and he clenches his fists again to try and trap the bouncing acrobatic-y masked man who very clearly now is NOT 'Daredevil'. He forms up more bricks and tries his best to entrap the man, or at the very least disarm him - now with the dust and water and flying vigilantes, the air is full of flying purple bricks zippnig this way and that, responding to the boy's mental commands.

***

Poor Audrey. It's not going to get any easier to tell. As the Knight of the Zeus' Fork is currently Airborne… and stalward Morien just threw something at him, Fenris elects to step aside from the landing point (which was, conveniently, where he had been standing). He begins to shift as he does, becoming a car sized wolf in moments and still… getting… larger…

"How do you like me now?" He rumbles.

***

Before the bottle can hit him, and before Ronnie's face can hit the floor, the Flash whipwhipwhips his arms around just in time to prop up his 'friend', making sure she doesn't face plant. Unsure if she can hear him, he winces at her and shakes his head, "What are you doing here, Ronnie?" he asks, still nonplussed at this whole endeavor. He takes a peek to try and see if the others have things in hand. They seem to.

***

Ronnie's real answer is that she was out on a nearby rooftop dangling a crook from it while shaking him down for info and she saw a red blur zooming right towards Shucky's, and decided that this was a more pertinent mission to follow.

"I was out for a walk, since I can't really run or anything yet, because, you know," Ronnie says, touching her belly to indicate something or other. "And I saw a red blur go by towards here and…" Ronnie makes a sheepish, I-know-I-did-bad face. "I don't know, I'm sorry. …Flash."

***

The swearing of 'Daredevi' will almost certainly go unheard with the noise of the sprinklers, the fighting, and the rest of the commotion, but that whiskey bottle almost hit him. If Morien hadn't drunk so much of it, the bottle wouldn't have been as difficult to control. But still, he threw an uncapped half empty whiskey bottle across the room for accuracy. That's noteworthy in anyone's book, and for the moment, Grendel is glad that he didn't focus all of his attention on Morien Washington. There is more to that man than meets the eye.

But that will have to wait, for he's just been lit by a magical glow. His 'Daredevil' costume was a very dark red leather, the kind of suit that would negate light, but this, this is new. So he'll use it. The light that radiates from all sides makes it very easy to see Fenris, who has by now grown to the size of a car, and is still getting bigger. "I LIKE IT JUST FINE, TINY," he intones in that unholy voice of his. He immediately runs towards the beast, stepping from the floor to a bent knee, to an arm, to a face, until he runs overtop the beast, finishing on the back of the wolf-like creature, only to see Miguel's purple bricks come at him.

"SEE, YOU'RE ALREADY GETTING BETTER. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT, AS I ALWAYS SAY." He leaps up from Fenris, trying to dodge the bricks, and if he can time it right, one might even go sailing right into the snout of the furball. "IS THIS ALL YOU HAVE? I'M NOT EVEN BREAKING A SWEAT HERE!" Well, he doesn't lack for confidence at least.

***

Fenris is fast. It's like he's not entirely beholden to the laws of physics or physiology. Which, he's not, since his body is merely an expression of his reality and doesn't have a physiology as such. He rounds as Grendel runs over him, jaws snapping, eyes blazing like coals. Hrm. Fast little bugger. Okay. Let's try this. The wolf god throws his head back and howls. No regular noise this, there's force behind it. Magic behind it. It reverberates in the bar, bringing back to all ancient racial memories of a time when men huddled in the light and feared the dark for what prowled within it.

"Come find me if you wish a real challenge, Knight of the Dinner Fork." Fenris tears open a Way and steps through, but leaves it open, the invitation standing.

***

Morien raises an eyebrow in surprised that he missed a descending target, but even the walls of Jericho can fall. Morien pulls out his iphone and starts to record the Daredevil wanna be. He keeps the napkin behind his head as he thinks that he is differently buying this place now, and letting everyone know that place is under his protection.

***

Zee has the right idea. Audrey's brows furrow as she gets a better view of things, half-hidden behind the bar stool. In all the chaos, there's no need to be any more hidden than that. "You want to be Daredevil?" she murmurs under her breath, focusing her skill. "Fine. Let's play Daredevil." Zatanna's marked where Grendel is. Now Audrey takes a deep breath, focuses, and banishes the light from the general area of Grendel's eyes, as if she's applied some sort of light-repellant to the area. Time to see if Grendel can fight blind.

***

'Daredevils' path has taken him towards the bar area, where there's more materials that Zee can use. Noting the darkening of the area around his eyes, Zee looks at what she can use. The Way, Fenris has opened gives her an idea and she speaks again

~selttoB dnA sessalG ylF tA livederaD ~

Her intent is not to hit him with the flying objects but to force him towards the gaping opening of the Way. "Flash, Mikey, can you force him into the Way?" She's not sure she'll be heard, but it's worth a try right?

***

Miguel certainly tries: his bricks, each one, is under his command - so he tries to herd the bouncy spork-weilding 'Daredevil' towards the big hole in the air - the bricks being bricks, they're solid, and backed by Miguel's considerable psionic strength. He can stop a bus with these things, so stopping one dude shouldn't be hard. Should it?

***

The Flash nods to Ronnie and his face turns empathetic towards her, the last part of his mouth dips as she mentions the knife wound.

"Well it's great to see you, I just wish it was under better circumstances. If we're still talking next New Year's Eve, we should focus on making next time a better one." The Flash chuckles a bit, before a thought comes upon him. "I should probably, go and do something about all of this, right?" The Flash stands up gingerly, eyes up Daregrendel, and bolts straight towards him, looking to tackle the imposter!!!

***

"Be—"

The Flash is already gone, trying to tackle, before Ronnie can even finish the word.

"—safe." Ronnie hunches behind the wrecked bar, watching wide-eyed. Trying to suppress how pissed off she is that she misjudged the situation and came in as a civilian. But there was too much risk. She could spend the whole time kicking herself about choices she could have made — but she focuses herself on watching the situation play out.

***

There are times when Grendel wonders if he is still human. It is so rare that he feels remorse of any kind that he has begun to question whether he is even still capable of such a feeling. And then there are times like this, where that unearthly howl has brought him right back down to the trenches. It stirs him. He can feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He actually experienced fear. Genuine fear. How terribly delightful. Oh, this wolf creature will be one to watch out for.

And then there are times when Grendel knows that he is no ordinary man. Today, he gets to fight blind. He's done it before, usually out of boredom. There's only so much joy one can gleam from crushing ones enemies. Without the challenge, without the threat or danger, there is no spice. It is like a piece of cheese with no bite to it. It is far too often that he is forced to choose between Kraft and Cracker Barrel. Camembert is cheese. Brie is cheese. But those others are merely yellow plastic.

If people knew that Daredevil is blind, and that this 'Daredevil' is having to fight as such, then they might believe he were the genuine article. Sight or no sight, he can still hear, he can feel the vibrations, he is a finely tuned artist, and the form of expression he has chosen is combat.

Glasses and bottles fly at him. Some hit him, most do not. The few that do seem to him, break against his fists, his feet, or his scythe. Oh, he's a smart one. Send glass at him and he will use it against you. He's deliberately trying to break the glasses in order to send the shards flying against those who might venture closer to him. But is that a great idea? Perhaps his suit affords him better protection than he lent on.

The bricks on the other hand must be dodged, ducked, or otherwise evaded. They may be figments of Miguel's imagination, but they feel just as reel against human flesh. While in this zone of evasion, Grendel's senses are keenly aware of his surroundings. He's blinded, focusing on the sounds, the smells, even the flow of air. Under normal circumstances, he might have been able to dodge the Flash's bull rush, but even he isn't that good.

He's sent hurtling back towards the portal, the one that Fenris opened, and the Zatanna and Miguel have tried to direct him into. He may not have collected the money owed to him, but he has set an example of what happens when he's crossed. As he flies back towards the portal, his hands instinctively reach for the one who impacted him, grabbing a firm hold, "YOU'RE COMING WITH ME," and the pair of them disappear into whatever time, dimension, or place that Fenris had bridged to. At least, that's the theory. When it closes after them, who knows when or where they wound up?

***

Morien finishes recording Grendel's movements on his iphone and places the iphone into his coat. Morien lets out a slight yawns and pushes aside some glass to find a champagne bottle. He pops the cork, "Uhmm, Happy New Year? Is everyone all right? I mean those who are not wearing tight?" Morien holds the side of his head and fake winces, "I think I might I have a concussion. Definitely a concussion."

***

Audrey stays hidden behind the barstool, all the better to look like…Well, just a girl who got stuck in the wrong bar on the wrong night, right? Although she's watching everyone else, marking face and actions well.

***

Glass shards flying and Zee is struck by several pieces as she maintains her focus on her spell.

All Zee sees is the red and yellow as it bulldozers 'Daredevil' into the Way… and it closes. "I hope Fenris is waiting there… " Zee mutters. "Mikey, are you ok?" she calls as she picks her way to Morien, blood trickling from her own wounds. "Please Mr Washington, let me heal that, it's the least I can do." She's not noticed the Champagne bottle.

Then she straightens and looks around "Those lights came from somewhere… and it wasn't me."

~ laeveR ehT cigaM resU oT eM ~

Letting the spell goes, Zee watches to see where her power will land.

***

Miguel gets to his feet and looks around at the chaos, his bricks blinking into place to put a stop to the sprinklers at least for now. "I'm fine," he says, squirreling out of his wet t-shirt and shaking the glass slivers out of it. He shakes water from his hair and looks around to see if there is anyone else that needs help or aid.

***

Ronnie, as it turns out, is not the magic user. But she could have just told Zatanna that if she'd asked. But she's focused on: "B— Flash!" She stands up, a bit agog, and immediately demands of super-heroes and their associates: "What the hell, where did he just go, what did he just do!"

***

"That is all right. I am bit of stickler when it comes to my medical care." Morien fake winces again and takes a gulp from the champagne bottle as he squeeze his eye shut in mock pain, "Beside, I am feeling better by the moment." Morien looks around the place and says, "Uhmm, Is there anything I can do to help you?

***

Audrey isn't, strictly speaking, a magic user. She's a mutant. But then, magic isn't entirely about the words. It's also about the intent. And Audrey is still holding onto those gently pulsing exit lights, at least for another moment. The spell circles the bar for a moment, unable to scent any magic, but as Audrey starts to push the light from the paths back where it belongs, there's something for it to grab onto, hovering in the general area of the girl who's standing up from behind the bar stool.

***

Fortunately, apart from the young woman and bouncer that 'Daredevil' hurt there are only minor casulties. Mainly due to The Flash and Audreys efforts.

Zee hasn't realised she's injured yet as she focusses on the last spell she cast. When the spell power finally lands on Audrey and Zee smiles "Hey! Thanks for the assist, without those lights that was going to be tough. I'm Zee by the way."

Turning her attention to the others, Zee frowns "Um Mikey, call the police, Special Investigations please… Mr Washington, I'm really not sure…." Ronnie gets a shrug "He went into the way, I'll have to work out how to contact Fenris" Pulling a phone out of 'thin air' she thumbs in a message "Hopefully that gets through to him."

***

Miguel nods quickly to Zee as he pulls out his cell. "Yes, we have metahuman involvment with injuries at Shucky's Bar; yes, Mr Washington… yes, Bunker, yes, no, nobody's dead; yep, hole in local space-time? Yep. Thank you." He clicks off and looks to Zee. "We probably want to be elsewhere, right?"

***

Morien holds up a finger to Zatanna and furrows his brows as he pulls out his iphone, and starts to speak. "Yes, this is Mr. Washington. Yes, I am fine. No, this had nothing to do with me. Yes, it was very sloppy." Morien says, "Tell Sara, I am going to buy this place, but in the meantime I am going Howard Hughes on this situation. I want workers here to help clean up this place. I want blankets and warm drinks delivered to anyone waiting to be interviewed by the police, and we are picking up the tab on any medical bills of the injured. Let everyone know that we will be taking care of any and all expenses related to this situation. Have a security team on site too.

Morien takes another gulp from the champagne bottle and fake winces again, "Oh, give Sara a two week reprimand for not doing an adequate background check on the owner of this place, and send for my car." Morien peers back at Zatanna and winces again in fake pain, "I hope that helps a little."

***

Audrey tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, glancing behind herself at Zatanna's thanks. "I don't, ah." She looks around, backing toward the door with an uncomfortable smile. "No, no, it's all right. You heroes had this completely covered." Morien's talk of police and hospitals has her blanching, though, and she suddenly looks very trapped. Like maybe she would have preferred the door to nowhere with the wolf and the psycho.

***

"Thanks Mikey." Zee raises a hand to face and when it comes away bloody she winces. "Those who don't want to be around when the police get here, should go now." Producing two cards from thin air, she hands one Audrey "Please… get in touch… that was a big help tonight." and the second to Ronnie "Fenris may know where the Flash has gone… send me contact details, or call me, and I'll you know what I find."

Morien gets a raised eyebrow "That's very nice of you, Mr Washington. If you're ok to remain, I think the rest of us should disappear…. you have my contact details"

***

"Sure," Audrey says quietly, tucking the card into her pocket. That's getting dumped later, but no sense in doing it here. Better safe than sorry. And before the cops can come, she's slipping out. Warm food can be gotten somewhere else tonight.

***

Morien nods to Zatanna and winces again, "Of course, I still expecting those tickets when you performed next time." Morien sits on top what's left of the bar and looks around the bar a few times, "This really wasn't that much of a show."

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