[CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/0xjS780.png[/IMG][/CENTER] [b]Gotham City, The Narrows West District 1:20 AM[/b] [I][B]KRASH![/B][/I] [b][color=92278f]"[/color][color=8dc73f]Oh, my. I think you might have actually [i]felt[/i] that.[/color][color=92278f]"[/color][/b] When I had originally set out to clean up the streets of Gotham, I found myself up against a sea of filth. The Five Families. The pushers, the muggers, the rapists and the murderers that lined their pockets. The Royal Flush Gang and other extremists that sought to terrorize the innocent and capitalize on the corrupt nature that allows them to spill blood on the streets. All in all, criminals that I could understand. That I had even been arrogant enough to tell myself that I could tackle head-on after a decade of training in some of the most remote parts of the world. So it comes as no surprise that in the five minutes that I've been desperately trying to stay alive in a fight against a metahuman whose actions are currently being controlled by another, more [i]sadistic[/i] metahuman with intent on murdering an innocent girl for the crime of being born to an assassin whose contract I prevented from being carrying out, that I've been asking myself one question: How in the hell was I ever supposed to prepare for this? Weakly, perhaps even [i]stupidly[/i], I push myself to my feet after being tossed through the wall of an abandoned tenament building that lies just a few blocks away from the Torres household, where this initially began. To my own credit, I've done the job of keeping Jessica Jones distracted, despite her being the current thrall of a woman calling herself Poison Ivy. But at a cost, as Ivy's utilized Jones' considerable strength and durability to curtail every single attempt that I've made to utilize the shadows of the area and turn the battle to my favor. ACE prompts a series of warnings in my peripheral HUD, telling me of possible fractures or a broken rib that I've already suffered. I ignore it all, aswell as the pain. Within seconds of recovery, Jones bursts through a section of the wall herself. Her eyes glowing green, she pushes herself off of the ground and leaps into a massive arc that ends with her hands around my throat. Desperate to keep from passing out, I try and re-activate the shock gloves that gave out whenever their reserve power source was eventually cut short. To no avail, as Jones simply laughs in Ivy's voices and lifts me into the air, tossing me aside as if I were nothing more than a piece of the debris that surrounds us. My back smashes into a wood panelling set up in the midst of construction, and I fall backward, continuing to drift into a daze. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/guB7exG.png[/IMG] The scenario is grim. I'll be the first to admit that. I'm in way over my head this time, and no amount of work with my fists are going to do the job of pulling me out of a tighter spot than I'm used to. Metahumans were never meant to be something that I'd have to contend with, let alone exist in the first place. But no sooner did I embark on all of this did the rise of their kind begin across the country. When I was a child, this was the stuff of myth and popular culture. Now I'm being pummeled to death for assuming it was always meant to stay that way. [b][color=92278f]"[/color][color=8dc73f]I hope you realize that for every second you waste time I could be using to kill the sapling that her idiot father spawned by continuing to breathe, I'm only going to make this harder on you.[/color][color=92278f]"[/color][/b], I hear from across the room, despite my ears beginning to ring. [b][color=92278f]"[/color][color=8dc73f]But I'm not entirely without compassion. Walk away now, and you'll only end up a cripple. Which is considerably better than the alternative.[/color][color=92278f]"[/color][/b] My hand shaking, I nevertheless grab a handful of flash grenades from the back of my belt and palm them behind my cape, using my other hand to grab onto a nearby concrete slab and pull myself up again. Stumbling through the hole that she just made using my body, I defiantly glare back, despite a combination of blunt force trauma and disorientation feeding into exhaustion. Need to come up with a different strategy than this. I can appear as willing to keep the fight going all that I want, but I'm eventually going to buckle. If Ivy doesn't outright decide to just tear me in two, right here and now. [color=DimGray][b]"I-I'm not... giving you... the pleasure."[/b][/color] "Jones" cocks her head, almost as though Ivy is commending my effort. [b][color=92278f]"[/color][color=8dc73f]You have a surprising tenacity, I'll give you that. Most men like you would have taken that offer without hesitation just to spare themselves. Maybe even bargained for their life with a number of useless bribes. I've even had a few even get on their knees for the occasion.[/color][color=92278f]"[/color][/b] Feeling the copper taste of blood reach the back of my throat, I swallow it back. Any internal injuries aren't entirely out of the question, but ACE is performing a continual scan of my body as instructed to keep me informed. In the event that I truly find myself closer to death's door. [color=DimGray][b]"I'm not..."[/b][/color], I don't so much respond as gasp. [color=DimGray][b]"Most men."[/b][/color] "Ivy" smiles. [b][color=92278f]"[/color][color=8dc73f]That's hardly a boast in your favor. You're all made from the same, breakable stuff. The soft meat. The brittle bones. The [i]oh, so[/i] vulnerable organs. With this body, it's only a matter for me to try and decide which I want to obliterate first.[/color][color=92278f]"[/color][/b] She takes a step forward, unintimidated. My grip on the flash grenades grows tighter. Just a little closer. [color=DimGray][b]"Why are... you doing this? Any of it?"[/b][/color], I ask. [color=DimGray][b]"There've been reports about you for... months. You target the weak. You exploit the... vulnerable. A woman of your power. Doesn't... make sense."[/b][/color] Rolling her eyes, she places her arms infront of her chest. [b][color=92278f]"[/color][color=8dc73f]Typical. A man sees a woman in power, he asks her why she has the gall to seize it. But if the roles are reversed, it's almost [i]expected[/i]. Business as usual, or so they say. But [u]I[/u] say that you've all had your chance.[/color][color=92278f]"[/color][/b], she angrily responds. [b][color=92278f]"[/color][color=8dc73f]The minute I discovered that I had these gifts, I began to commune with the [i]real[/i] power of this planet. The power that your kind neglected as you built civilizations meant to fall to ruin. Mother nature was never meant to sustain you, so you poison it's air, rip out it's crops, and kill it's forests. Like bitter weeds, you bring this planet closer to extinction. I've simply decided to rip out the cancer at it's source.[/color][color=92278f]"[/color][/b] Cracking Jones' knuckles, she smirks to herself and takes another step. [b][color=92278f]"[/color][color=8dc73f]But then, why shouldn't I have a bit of fun in the process?[/color][color=92278f]"[/color][/b] She's definitely insane. There's no question of that. But gullible is another matter entirely, and one that I intend to risk finding out right now. Just as she moves into position, I distract her with a raised fist that she expects to catch. The other hand moves swiftly, tossing out the flash grenades in succession. Closing my eyes, I vault backwards over a half-completed wall and listen in as they detonante. [b][i][color=92278f]"[/color][color=8dc73f]AAAAAAAAAAA![/color][color=92278f]"[/color][/i][/b] If I were strong enough to do it, I'd smile. Jones may be strong and incapable of sustaining much conventional damage, and Ivy may be able to control the will of the strongest person in the room, but I suspeced that when combined, they both still have to rely on their senses to be effective. It'll give me a momentary distraction at best, but that's all I need to stay alive. Producing a grapple, I take it and fire upwards, snagging a recently installed support beam. Spotting a wench, I immediately take the other end of the line and attach it. It takes all of my effort, but I manage to get the wench to reel the line in a quick succession. The beam immediately begins to whine, signaling my chance to exit. A chance that I take, diving through an open section of the adjacent wall. By the time Ivy realizes what's happening, still rubbing at Jones' blinded eyes, the entirety of the structure collapses in on itself and buries Jones in a few feet worth of broken concrete. Enough to kill someone of my durability, but only enough to slow her down even further. Firing another grapple at a nearby building, I ascend into the air and weakly climb onto a nearby roof. I need a strategy for when she comes bursting out. Time to consult a second opinion. Tapping the side of my cowl, I disregard using ACE to secure the line and manually connect back to The Cave. [color=DimGray][b]"A-Alfred."[/b][/color] [i][color=8882be]"Good timing, lad, I've been trying to reach you. The computer's been relaying the results of your current condition over the past fifteen minutes. Multiple contusions, fractures. What in the devil are you up against?"[/color][/i] Watching the concrete beginning to shift as Jones' strength gets to work, I back away and try to make myself as hidden from view as possible. I can only hope that she doesn't possess some form of superhuman hearing. [color=DimGray][b]"Our mystery woman from earlier. She's... involved in this."[/b], I explain. [b]"But she doesn't know it. Another meta's taken control of her mind. Using her power against me. I need..."[/b][/color] [i][color=8882be]"To get as far away from the area as possible? I daresay I agree, Bruce. This isn't a fight you're likely to win."[/color][/i] I shake my head, vehemiently denying that approach. If I run to try and save myself, Zoe Lawton is dead. It's as simple as that. [color=DimGray][b]"I know that. But she's targeted a girl. Need to keep the pressure up, and I have to have an edge."[/b][/color] Turning, I limp forward until I can lean against a chimney. There are still a number of adrenaline shots waiting in my belt. I can get a second wind out of this, but it'll be useless if I don't go in with a plan. [color=DimGray][b]"When you were in SHIELD. You had experience with... hypnotism, right?"[/b][/color] Alfred pauses. [i][color=8882be]"Hypnotism? If you're asking if I can give you insight in the controlled mind, the answer is no. But hypnotism is something else entirely, given that I used to hold regular interrogations. It isn't as though we were instructed to wave a watch infront of anyone's face, as there are methods of focusing the subject's attention, which is all that hypnotism generally is. A refocused constitution made to be susceptible to influence. When that failed, we always went for the sodium pentothal."[/color][/i] I take the adrenaline shot and stab it into my side. Immediately, a shockwave comes over my body, but I grit my teeth and push past it long enough for the less than pleasant effects to pass. [color=DimGray][b]"It's a long shot, but it's all I have. I can't subdue her, so Jones has to regain control and be able to shut out the other meta on her own. Tell me as much as you can about those methods."[/b][/color] Reaching into my belt, I produce another battery pack for the shock gloves. To my dismay, it won't hold much of a charge. As I toss it aside, my eyes drift upwards to the cityscape of Gotham. And immediately, and idea begins to form in my head. [color=DimGray][b]"Scratch that. We don't have enough time. Just tell me one thing..."[/b][/color] I can hear Jones emerging from the rubble entirely and Ivy's enraged growl, both seemingly ready for another go-around. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/tU1fiFH.png[/IMG] [color=DimGray][b]"How does an electrical charge factor into any of them?"[/b][/color]