January 15, 2018:
Two-Face and Penguins gangs fight for control of a smugglers Cove when Batman puts pressure on their other smuggling routes. Things go boom.
Penguins Smuggler Cove, just outside Gotham
With mountains to one side, this lovely Coves natural beauty is only marred by the warehouse and utility shed, the small pier made from wood.
Characters
![class="image1"](http://cmbeta.wdfiles.com/local--resized-images//class="image1"/medium.jpg)
NPCs: A few dozen gang enforcers
Mentions:
Plot:
Mood Music: [*\# None.]
Fade In…
Before Batman came back, doing a black market deal meant a gang only needed to worry about rival interference. Nowadays, with the dockyard and a lesser known sewer outlet deal taken down by the Bat, pressure is starting to mount on the underworld to find reliable routes into Gotham that Batman can't intercept.
In a semi-well known smugglers cove just outside of Gotham by a few miles is a small pier, along with a warehouse. This is Penguins turf, and other gangs needing the space typically pay tribute for the use of it.
Or they did, until tonight.
Two-Face might be in Arkham, but his Underbosses are doing a fine job of holding down the fort. The *last* thing anyone expects his goons to try to do is take the offensive… yet tonight, they are.
Pressure cookers have a tendency to push people into acts they don't normally do… and with the insanity that is Gothams underworld starting to feel that pressure, all hell is about to break loose as Two-Faces enforcers come into the open through the only tunnel into this Cove… and start to open fire with pistols and sub-machine guns on the patrolling Penguin thugs, each gang taking cover as the boats with the goods on boat at the small pier have their drivers start to head to their respective boats for the end of the pier. They were unloading crates… and are now obviously trying to get out of dodge before the gang war moves away from the tunnel. They managed about a dozen before the shooting started, actually.
The Bat? Nowhere to be found. Yet.
*
~Three Days Ago~
Sister Gertrude sat before the altar of the small church in crime alley that she calls home. It was a good day, as things go. The Good Father only punched her once when she intruded on his breakfast. A 'gentle' reminder rather than the belt she usually gets.
The tall, dark haired Father loomed over her. "You have a job. Don't mess it up, or I'll punish you severely, girl. Impress them, and impress God."
The punishment had her wincing reflexively. "Y…Yes Father Baker. I won't fail you!" Gertrude's voice low. Father Baker walked out with a sneer.
~Now~
Being a villain is all about reputation, and only recently gaining any kind of notoriety, this is a big job for Sister Hellfire. Two-Face is a valuable name, and impressing even his Underbosses would help out the young woman's crusade. And spare her the rod, oh so she prayed. Thus, she busts in with Two-Face's goons. A pair of hatchets have been slung to her waist, wrapped there with a white scarf, and in her hands is her beloved fireaxe. She doesn't have a gun, and so she uses what little cover is available to make a semi-smart approach when one of the Penguin's goons needs a reload. She takes a winging shot or two from a handgun, but it's stopped by tough skin and the white clothes she wears. No fire yet, as she hefts her axe, and brings it swinging towards an exposed neck.
All the while, she sings a hymn.
Be Thou my vision~
O Lord of my Heart~
Her almost angelic choir voice is completely at odds with the violence, and seems to cut slightly above it all even with the noise.
There may be no Bat, but there is a Cat. Selina Kyle, in her alter ego, caught wind of the plans here through various connections of her own in the underground. While the last time went a bit bottoms-up, there's another opportunity to get her paws on something she wants. No, not the guns, though keeping some of them out of Gotham's slums would be a good thing. There's something she's expecting that's of a bit more personal interest to her.
So, she got here very early. She scouted it out and waited from a safe spot behind some shipping containers in the cove, arranged such that she had a good view of the ways in and out while keeping her nicely hidden. She was a patient one when she had reason to be, and fortunately she'd only just finished her preparations no more than about ten minutes before Penguin's people began to gather.
Whether she was expecting trouble or not - and it'd be silly not to with the way these things have been going lately - it probably wouldn't work for her to try anything obvious. She'd need distractions, diversions. Two-Face's thugs appearing to gum up the proceedings might just do for her. A sly smile forms as she hears shouts and gunfire. Still, she waits, but she moves for a better look at who's where.
…why is someone singing hymns? Sister Hellfire is an early focus of Catwoman's, eyes through the red tint of goggle lenses. Not the typical goon, there. "Hm."
*
It might be a strange idea for a 'Witch' to have any interest in mortal firearms, but likely no less so then one having a medical degree. In this particular time at least, but then this world was still quite strange to Alyse at times. Did she have reason to be out on the docks beyond curiousity? For once, the answer was yes. She'd entirely intended to steal some of the wares for herself, but it seemed her idea wasn't quite as original as she'd hoped and swiftly bullets were flying. Oh dear.
The woman appears, funnily enough not all that far way from Selina, in a swirling swarm of golden butterfly-shaped lights. Dressed in her 'witch' gear, the gown makes Witchdoctor look as if she should be at a classical party rather than in the dingy parts of Gotham where people were trading gunfire. But she always was a little strange. The singing woman with the fireaxe draws her attention and she tilts her head curiously before placing a finger to her own lips in gesture of consideration.
Of course, her 'teleporting' in wasn't subtle, but people might not be looking up when they're being shot at.
*
As the boat drivers get into their boats and start to drive out, something… odd, happens.
Normally, there are electrical lamps all over the place providing light. There are pumps in the warehouse audibly doing… something or other, and there's a fair bit of infrastructure off in a utility shed on the other side of the Cove.
*EVERYTHING* electric shuts down suddenly in the Cove, including the boats, which just sputter out uselessly.
"Hey, who turned out the lights?!" "Goddamnit, why now?" And similiar yells go out into the near pitch black of the Cove. See, there's little to no light beyond the electrical lamps, as the moon is behind the small mountain range where the tunnel is. Effectively, the majority of the Cove was just turned blind without visual aids.
That blindness costs them as Sister Hellfire runs in and starts having her way with a thug or two… a group of three in the vicinity are audible in front of her. Right now, though, she can't see them.
Catwoman? There's just enough light for night-vision to work… but for some reason, it doesn't want to work. Her long distance scouting has been effectively shut down.
Witchdoctor? She's just about the only person who can see, now, with magic… and what was a semi-controlled skirmish turns into a chaotic spray of bullets and both sides either hunker down… to start spraying blind to keep the other away.
*
Sudden darkness isn't something she fears per se, but it /is/ surprising. So much so that she misses a note in her hymn. The Sister pauses, then finishes yanking her fireaxe blindly through the rest of the penguin goon that she's been working on beheading. Ignoring the bloodsplatter on her chest and hands now, she drops as low as she can. She listens, hard, for the sound of the three other goons nearby. Her eye watches for muzzle flashes, and once there's a break in the fire? She picks up the body of her victim, pulls it to her chest, and starts to move forward. Using the dead body as a shield, she calls out.
"Fear not the Darkness, oh ye Faithful! For those who smite the Sinful in this city shall be granted light to follow so long as you believe in Him! Hear you the angle's chorus, that /cries/ for vengeance!?" Comes that voice, carrying in the tunnel, as Sister Hellfire proves her name.
Light radiates around her as the smell of burning flesh and smoke fills the air. All around the girl, white fire almost like phosphorous, and certainly smelling like it, sparks into being. It's intense, and gives her several feet's worth of viewing ability in the darkness.
Unfortunately, she's now lit up like anything else that would be on fire. She's not bright, but she's not stupid either. Fireaxe in her sash, her hand not being used to hold up her now burning body-shield is used to point at the group of thugs she'd been pursuing earlier.
A jet of that same fire washes from her outstretched hand.
"Burn, and be cleansed of your sins, oh unworthy soul!"
*
"Damn." Great. Someone just cut the power. Fortunately, the night-vision in the goggles ought to…
"God damn it." No such luck, as something's impacting the goggles as well!
Now, one of Catwoman's biggest advantages is taken away from her, complicating matters in a major way. "One guess who's behind that," she mutters to herself. Maybe it was better when Batman was out of the picture after all. He's been nothing but a thorn in her side since returning.
Any other arrivals, including the Caped Crusader, go unnoticed due to the sudden light emanating from Sister Hellfire, and the thief moves around for a better view. No need for night-vision to see /that/ amid the sounds of gunfire, shouts, and screams. That burst of flame also doesn't look like something she's going to want to deal with. Yes, it's a good time for her move along the periphery of the place, in search of what she's really after. Let the rest stay focused on each other.
The darkness should be a would-be thief's friend, but her usual lights would garner all of the attention in the world right now and that she didn't need. The EMP? It had nothing but Alyse's phone to really be messing with. She'd simply have to go for a more subtle approach. Jumping lightly from the rooftop, the woman's clothing changes in a brief flash of light easily lost to the muzzle-flashes of the panicing gunfire, her gown now replaced with the 'practical' choice of her skirt, button-up shirt and that blazer-like jacket over her shoulders.
Raising a hand, Alyse had every intention of unleashing her magic on those who blocked her path while trying to make use of the darkness that held no sway over her mystic senses…then that flame leaps into being and throws glowing light over the docks, likely illuminating the blonde woman who'd been trying to slip between the thugs. Crap. The Witch actually gives a small groan and a 'really?' expression as she looks towards Alice before a faint pulse of that same golden light flares in her irises and an invisible wave of force flings the thugs closest to her across the docks.
*
Suddenly, most of the Cove can see, barely, and people start to fumble for walls and crates to get behind as Sister Hellfire 'helpfully' turns into what amounts to a makeshift electrical lamp for the local area. Catwoman? Where she is has only a little light still, but it's just enough to not trip over anything on the ground in her immediate vicinity. Her quest to get to the specific crate she's looking for is easy enough, since all the thugs that were supposed to be /guarding/ those crates are now terrified of stray gunfire, and hiding behind some barrels, with little ability to see. She should be able to just… walk right over.
Sister Hellfire? She just made herself a bullet magnet… but the three enforcers that were nearest her don't really get a chance to do much to her before they're screaming in pain as they're burned alive.
It also means she just turned herself into the most dangerous enemy in the fight, and the majority of the Penguin enforcers turn their guns on her, trying to keep her back. Getting shot is one thing; a doctor can get bullets out and chicks dig scars. Fire? That's horrific, even for Gotham standards. Firefly is not a very well liked personality, after all.
Even Witchdoctor doesn't get as much attention as Sister Hellfire does, with her waves of magic. Enforcers get thrown around in the middle, with a few turning their weapons on her.
Catwoman, however, is the first to see the signs.
At first, it was a red light in the water, down in the depths. It's painfully obvious against the blackness of the Cove waters. Then, something /flies/ out of it, darting up into the sky… before Catwoman and those who look up above the water notice the rigid cape of Batman gliding his way behind a rock formation… only to disappear a few seconds later. Catwoman can see the flashing red of his eye lenses as Batman surveys the scene the seconds before he does. Of course /he/ has functioning electronics.
Batman is here.
*
When your primary superpower is fire, things like subtlety are usually right on out on the list of tactical maneuvers. One of the many, many 'Angels' in her head praises her like a good little enactor of the Lord's plan, and that only makes her act so much more recklessly.
As the three men burn and die, Sister Hellfire finds her human shield riddled with bullets and starting to burn up too much to be of use. With a blast of flame in a wide arc, dousing a line in front of her, she's not really aiming at anyone per-se. Just trying to light anything flammable aflame for more precious light to see with, and to deter some amount of the goons firing at her. Then, tossing away the corpse, she bodily throws herself down against a convenient barrel or something that acts close to cover.
She's not /quite/ quick enough though. Agility isn't her strongpoint, and she catches a winging gunshot wound to one of her thighs. Not enough to bleed her out or make her be unable to walk, but it does make her give a pained cry. Angrily, she concentrates on returning fire, literally, at the one who managed to hit her.
All of this chaos means that she doesn't turn her ire to the unknown that is Witchdoctor, nor does she note Batman's arrival before he disappears.
That last one might be a big problem for the glaringly obvious Sister.
*
Catwoman knows what to look for when it comes to Batman, even with his recent upgrades. That doesn't make this any better. While she might consider staying away from settings like this, he can't /always/ be there. Besides, the temptation is too strong at times, the opportunity for a nice score too good to pass up. Risk. Reward.
Right now it's feeling like more the former and less the latter as /he/ soars in, not via the usual methods either. File that away as another variable to think about. Right now, the hope is that his attention will be on the thugs and others making more obvious plays for attention. She isn't doing anything but sneaking toward a particular shipping container. It's got the numbers she's looking for, illuminated for a few moments by the flames a certain someone is casting about. "Should've brought the S'mores," she tells herself, getting to work on opening up the container door. Hopefully what she's after isn't buried deep within.
*
The bat's aura was one that the Witch would recognize, if she wasn't a teeny bit more concerned with not getting shot right now. The bullets that come her way are enough to have the witch moving into cover for a moment, narrowly missing getting riddled…only for her to step out once more as if something had changed and stride calmly towards the men who were shooting at her, eyes and fingertips crackling with that energ from before. The mooks guns? They simply seem to stop working, actions refusing to move. The more complicated something is? The easier it is for it to fail. In an impossible chance that could likely only be achieved through mystical means, the criminals who point guns at Alyse find them inexplicably and continually jamming.
The last time the Bat had encountered the Witch, he'd seen her teleport, but he'd not seen her use any power offensively. That might not remain the case for much longer. "If you value your lives," she speaks to the two-face thugs, her approach taking her closer towards where 'Hellfire' was unleashing her flames, "you will flee now."
*
There's a moment as Batman pops out of the darkness, and Catwoman sees him look /right/ at her. There's no mistaking it. Then, he moves on, his right forearm reaching out as he launches a grapnel up towards the mountains, and a neural command pulls him into the sky.
Right above the gunfire.
Pressing a button on his utility belt, Batman starts to drop dozens of pellets over the group… the majority of the thugs get sleep gas dropped on them, knocking out about a dozen Penguin and Two-Face enforcers in a matter of seconds. Sister Hellfire? She can easily see Batman release a number of pellets from his belt down onto her position. Either she moves, or a ten foot radius around her gets turned into even more of a winter paradise than the weeks old winter storm is producing.
The chaos from Batmans 'bombing' run had a good portion of the guns go silent… and Batman himself drops in on the remainder, releasing the grapnel as he dropkicks one right in the chest in a divebomb, producing a scream that cuts off as the sound of bones crunching can be heard behind the set of crate. "And if you value your limbs, /you/ will flee now." The voice scrambler on Batman is in full effect. "This is my city, and none of these guns are going to the gangs." Batmans growl is heard easily, from somewhere. The man is intimidating most of the time, but his tone makes it clear he's not screwing around.
The thugs? They scatter from the dive bombing, getting into cover and out of the way. There's some fire exchange here and there, but it's obvious Batman scares the bejesus out of them as most of the firefight dies.
*
Batman's arrival changes everything. She'd been making good time, enjoying the screams of dieing 'Sinners', aside from a few bullets in her. Overall, a swimming little operation, sure to get Father Baker to praise her.
But goons drop, and the Batman himself is here. Several mental calculations run in the young woman's mind. She's relatively new, low on experience, but she's well trained. Pellets drop everywhere, and those burnt, long legs of hers carries her into a run, and then a leap that would make a ballerina blush. With length, not out of any actual grace. This /does/ mean that she isn't free of the immediate winterization as it all goes off. One of her hands get caught, and falls useless as it's numbed to oblivion. Someone's /definitely/ seeing a mob doctor after all of this.
Her scream is nothing but rage as she finally recognizes the Bat. She too wisely scatters back to a slightly safer bit of cover. One of the crates that has thus far miraculously remained not on fire. There's fear lurking in her eye. The man's reputation is one to behold. But the good Father Baker has had almost all of the woman's short life to beat hatred and a twisted religion into her. Seething hate fills her, and the flames around her grow that much more brilliant.
"DEMON!" She howls with the conviction of an insane zealot.
"You who trods upon broken souls, spreads fear and distrust among the low! KILL HIM! It's /HE/ amongst all others that makes our misery in Gotham! He is tainted, a spawn of Satan! KILL HIM!" She repeats those two words in a shrieking voice. Luckily, she's not stupid enough to immediately charge in head first.
Instead, trying to rouse the fearful Two-Face goons, she points one hand and tries to flashfry him. Or, at least get the goons' spirits up.
*
Catwoman offers Batman proof of their awareness of each other, in the form of a gesture: she blows him a kiss, no doubt a sarcastic one. He'll probably be seeking her out again if she gets out of here with what she's after. As long as he's focused on the actual threats - which she isn't presenting - all is well for her, but she still has to be quick. There may be no more than half a minute, a full one at the most. He /will/ turn more of his attention her way once he can, but fighting others out there works just fine for her.
Reaching into her shoulder bag, she's going to need another form of illumination within the container. It shows in the form of a flare. "Let there be light." Now, where is it?
However, she's not quite isolated enough that she can't hear the rantings and ravings of Sister Hellfire outside. "Oh, come on. Not one of /those/ people," she all but hisses under her breath. All the better for her to get out of here as soon as possible, lest she get fully caught in the middle of the danger.
*
She was clothed differently than before, her 'practical' attire looking like some parody of a private school uniform rather than the gown of her usual 'Witch' attire. But there was no mistaking the woman as she looks towards the Bat, his modulated voice easily recognizable as much as that trauma-stained and oh-so-angry aura. A click of her tongue, the blonde woman gestures to the thugs she'd scattered earlier, those unconcious that hadn't quite been able to run away like the others. "Do -I- really look like a member of a gang?" she questions casually before stepping back towards the wounded Hellfire. Sassing the Bat -and- walking towards the woman who'd been waving an axe around and roasting people? Maybe the Witch really was crazy.
There's a pause in her step, a slight cocking of her head as she finally 'spots' Selina for the first time in her motion. The Cat was a curiousity, but she wasn't the one threatening her actively. "Are you intending to try and cripple me before you tie me up this ti-?" she begins, only to be cut off by Gertrude's screaming and wave of fire. Well now, maybe walking towards her was a bad idea after all. Eep. Throwing her hands up, the water around the docks surges like a living serpent, wrapping around her form and carrying her upwards and away to a nearby rooftop with steam kicked into the air. At least she wasn't the main target!
*
A split second to survey the Cove.
Insane religious zealot who throws fire? Countermeasures easy enough.
Some new lady who throws around magic like candy and doesn't recognize Batmans authority? A few countermeasures there. Priority one.
Catwoman; silent thief who is probably here for something she considers priceless? Wait and see. She'll be quick enough to spot once the immediate threats are dealt with.
That analytical mind takes all of a second to start strategies. Step one, distraction and disable. Batman dives out of the way of the sudden fire, leaping over to a rock formation. In mid-air, he twists around as he launches /two/ pellets at Witchdoctor from his forearm launchers. One lands squarely in Witchdoctors waterspout… and starts to instantly freeze up the water, seconds away from grabbing her in it. The second pellet is a sleep gas container, launched directly above Witchdoctor with a timed explosion… forcing her to divert course away from the rooftop or stop altogether. His intention is clear; she's /not/ getting to that roof, and he wants her disabled as he dodges the gunfire and Sister Hellfire behind another rock formation.
Catwoman? She's still free and clear… though the flare has a couple of the enforcers turn her away and fire in panic, "AAAHHHH!" Seems like some of the terror from the Bats arrival just turned on her. She does get a look inside the crate, though; her objective is inside at the bottom and in packing foam. There's also a bunch of assault rifles, sub-machine guns… and a package of old style fragmentation grenades.
And those geniuses are firing at it.
*
Witchdoctor quickly ramps herself up on Sister Hellfire's threat list. Not above the immediate threat of the Bat and his horrible pellets of freezing, but it's close. She launches herself up with /water/, and the good Sister reacts immediately. It will give Batman a good reprieve from the fire dousing she seems so good at.
With Batman behind cover, she concentrates her flame towards the vigilante for several moments. And more importantly, at the water being iced up by batman. It doesn't last long though, as she's soon moving from cover to try to get closer to the actual prize: the weapons cache. She's quite a ways away though, so Catwoman has the advantage and the Sister isn't very fast. She's mostly muscle in this operation.
Nor is she entirely focused on the mission. A chorus of 'heavenly' voices warns her of the bat-like demon, urging her to burn, to cleanse, to kill. Her single eye flits between cover, and seeking where the man's hiding himself!
"Worry not, oh wayward soul! Demon Bat, I will cleanse the unholiness that taints you, and send your soul to the Lord! Repent and accept His mercy!" She adds, a wholly sane and serious attempt at asking the Bat to lay down arms and be purged in fire. In her mind, anyway.
Knowing she's operating on borrowed time with Batman already around, Catwoman's hoping the rest can provide enough of a distraction for her to do her thing.
That thing is momentarily interrupted as gunfire registers far too close to comfort for her. "Idiots." Yes, she's seen the grenades, among other stuff. Oh, how easy it would be to destroy some of the weapons with those! But, how dangerous would it be to her? More or less than 'extremely?'
While she's making up her mind, the item she's there for is spotted, grabbed, and stuffed into her shoulder bag, reset into place across her back. "I think this is my cue to go," she says, and somewhere out there she can still hear Sister Hellfire going on about Batman. It's still pretty dark everywhere and the goggles aren't working yet. Hopefully the EMP's range wasn't wide enough to impact the motorcycle she stashed behind some trees just outside the cove, but it wasn't left on anyway.
Then, she ducks out of the container with something else in her right hand. "Oh, Bats?" she calls out, wherever he is. "Things are about to get loud. You're welcome."
As she runs from the container, something is pulled and dropped, then a ball-like object is lobbed back into it. One of the grenades.
5…4…3…2…1…
*
The Witch might actually start to think the Batman was holding a grudge towards her on Sass alone, since she'd certainly never attacked him despite this being the third attack at her. She'd been perhaps deliberately infuriating in her preference for evasion over countering each of those blows and throwing weapons her way. Alyse's own eyes go wide, after all she'd have just as much trouble with sleeping gas as anyone else if she actually breathed it in, but the Batman had aimed it more to discourage her than to actually catch her, so the woman simply disappears once more in that swarm of butterflies, only to reappear sitting on the edge of one of the shipping containers. "If you were wishing to talk to someone, opening with violence and knockout drugs isn't exactly a welcoming greeting."
Frankly, there were easier ways to get ammunition after all, so she simply raises her hands lightly before crossing her legs and leaning forwards with her hands in her lap to indicate she was merely here to observe, no longer a combant. Her gaze does flick over towards the frozen water spiral that had been her earlier escape as it is melted again…then she spots Selina and her fleeing and those eyes go wide. The witch knew a grenade when she saw one. "Oh d-" she begins to speak before the explosion goes off.
*
The resulting explosion could be seen clear from Gotham.
To the remaining enforcers, the concussive wave simply sweeps them away and against the side of the small mountain hiding the Cove from the civilization on the other side. more explosives cook off, sending 'fireworks' up into the sky.
Then the real trouble starts.
The warehouse and shed are there one moment…. then they simply cease to exist as the utilities buried under and around the Cove get cooked off too. All in all, the only reason there isn't a massacre of enforcers is that the warehouse and utilities were built on opposite sides of the Cove, precisely in case something like this happened. The explosion from the utility shed sending a chain reaction through the pipes underground over to the warehouse.
The few seconds it took for that chain reaction to hit the warehouse might or might not have allowed the people inside to escape in time. At this point, it'd be a miracle if they survived the flames.
Batman himself is quick enough to grapnel into the mountains… though it's almost impossible to see him through the smoke. At some point though, he gets knocked on his ass into the mountain cliffside, and disappears behind a cliff face.
*
Things go straight to hell for Sister Hellfire. And of course the enforcers, but the good Sister isn't thinking of them as that explosion starts. Those precious few seconds save her life, as the ringing tones of one less violent angel in her head tells her to run. She even grabs one of Two-Face's goons like a good woman of the habit, hauling him out before the explosion sends them both flying.
Thankfully they land in /water/. Gertrude might be immune to her own flames, but things like explosions are quite a problem for her, and there's the scent of burning silk, kevlar, and of course, double-roasted skin on her back before she finds herself and her goon friend in the drink.
Writhing, sucking up water, she manages to crawl and swim out. Spitting up water and nearly throwing up, the duo will woozily catch a boat ride out of this fresh hell, and to a doctor.
~Later~
"You failed." Comes Father Baker's voice, looming above the resting Sister Gertrude. She sits up.
"The Batma…"
A hard fist gives her good eye a shiner. The darkness of her room in the little church seems all that more oppressive. It's not the pain that has her crying. It's the rejection, and the realization she's failed the Angels and God on her holy mission. Again.
Between the pain medication, her wounds, and her sins? Walls close around as she has a very, very unrestful sleep.
*
Catwoman probably only expected the container of weapons to get the brunt of the explosions. She didn't really know just where or how the network of tunnels went relative to the buildings.
Now? She does.
Even running and making her way behind some cover, the concussive force of the explosions still sends her rolling, sprawling, then scrambling back to her feet so she can keep along her path back to the motorcycle. There's no further reason to stick around here. She got what she came for, may have helped put an end to another gun-running deal - which may lead to other trouble down the line - and hopefully nobody undeserving died as a result.
"Oops."
*
And people said that she was a bit extreme in her actions? Witchdoctor hadn't blown up an entire docks in….well, a year and a half at least! With the wall of rushing flame heading towards her form tumbling through the air, Alyse once more vanishes into those swirling lights. This time however, the lights don't wink out of existence but instead increase in number, swirling and rushing towards the fire…then through it. It doesn't -stop- the explosion, that was simply too big a magic for her to manage with no preparation. Instead the flames and bursting structure slow, like footage shown in slow motion. The force was the same, the heat was the same. On its own? The magic wouldn't save anyone, but it -might- give them the chance to save themselves.
Moments later, those lights reform into the shape of the young woman before she goes tumbling onto a nearby rooftop, once more dressed in her long gown that now sported some rather singed edges. Sitting up, the Witch gives a groan before looking skywards. "Why is everything so….explosive in this city?" she muses aloud.
*
Up on the cliffside, the carbon nano-matrix of Batmans armor is none the worse for wear. Batman himself is a bit rattled, but he got enough just in time to keep from being more than bruised by the impact.Standing up and looking down into the mess though, anyone who looks his way can see the red and black suited man as he stares down. "Alfred, load the Batwing with an anti-fire loadout and bring it over. The entire Cove just exploded." The voice scrambler is still on, though only Batman can hear it. A neural command clicks the commgear off, and he hears Alfreds reply, "Right away, Sir. Anti-fire loadout with both living and non-living cocktails are ready. ETA is thirty seconds."
Anyone who still remains will see the Batwing fly over and drop fire suppressive bombs on the entire Cove. Most of the people get drenched in chemicals… but at least they're alive.
Click, a neural command turns the transmitter on again, "tell Gordon I need to see him." And he disappears.