The Owlman walked down the hallway at the head of a eclectic group of staff, leading them to the stairs to the exit. Among these whee those that lived within the building, full time staff ready to leave at a moments notice, as well as the underground defectors. AS he walked his head absorbed sound like a radar dish, painting a blurry picture of what was happening in the building. A picture that came into shocking focus as they reached the landing leading to the first floor.
A battle. Down there was something fighting battle. The wild crack of gunshots. The tumbling of masonry. The whir of the automatic defenses. Short, wet screams.
And in the middle of it all, words. Someone talking. He could hear them clearly over even over the din, as though he was speaking into The Owlmans ear. He brought up one arm to halt the group behind him, but it was unnecessary. They'd stopped when they heard the voice.
They wouldn't be able to get out that way. No one would survive trying to walk through a battle like that. He shook his head and doubled back, trying to lead them to a different stairwell, a different exit, when Olivia's voice came over the comm system warning Cedric. There were others. They were waiting.
Only three. There were just the three so far. The Owlman played what happened the last time he'd tried to fight one of the Undergrounds elites. How completely useless he'd been. If it was just the three then they must be at least as strong as that guy. He wouldn't be any good to anyone if he were bodied like that again.
What could they do? What was the way to safety? The Owlman glanced up, then looked over the group behind him. Full time staff. He got an idea. He went over to the wall, laid his talons on it, and tore through the plaster to scrape a single word.
PILOT?
Three of them raised their hand and affirmed that they were. The Owlman nodded, and quickly scraped two more words.
ROOF
HELICOPTER
That seemed to get everyone, so the Owlman made his way hurriedly up the stairs. At every landing he stopped while the rest kept going, calling to others on those floors and scraping the words into the wall near the stairwell.
When he made it to the roof he was already tearing off his shirt as people milled about, confused, before his wings exploded out of his back. He walked over to the edge of the roof, looking out and seeing the airfield across the way. He found his three pilots and motioned for them to come over, taking two of them under his arms and squeezing tight as they gripped him around the chest. Then he reached up and tapped his back to the third one, who through his arms around his neck as they walked to the edge.
There's was a moment that seemed to go on forever as they looked out into the clear blue sky before the Owlman tipped forward and sent them pulnging over the edge. The others rushed over to look as he felt the wind under his wings carry his and his cargo steadily downward. He wasn't able to ascend with all the weight, but the building was tall enough that just gliding carried him all the way to the airfield, where the skidded to a halt. The pilots gave him a thumbs up as they dashed off to one of the big transport helicopters and climbed in, spinning up the rotors and taking off toward the roof. The Owlman, meanwhile, scanned the area to try and pick up anyone else that was here.
