Scene #593: Night and Fog in Brockton

Owner	Pose
Defiant	BROCKTON BAY CBD EVENING Armsmaster is out on patrol, his motorcycle roaring its way through the empty streets. Late night patrols are nice. There is nobody around to get in his way, and anybody out at this hour is probably someone who is up to no good. Everything is simple. Reports of a disturbance filter into his helmet. Night and Fog, ex-members of the Empire Eighty Eight group have been spotted roughing up a number of individuals. Armsmaster accelerates. When he arrives, he finds Night and Fog in their distinctive gear. They're a married couple, and their powers have a particularly deadly brand of synergy. Halberd in hand, Armsmaster advances.
Eric Bane	Brockton Bay has started to become something of a second home to Eric Bane. There's enough of a criminal element that he doesn't feel bad hunting here. And it's also given him the opportunity to train himself in how to /not/ kill people when he feeds. This might or might not have started rumors about somebody 'preying on the criminal element' in the city. Of course, that might work to his advantage too. ...Or not, if the wrong people hear it... Anyway. Eric's on a roof, just sort of enjoying the night air, when his earpiece crackles a little, a headsup that the device was about to activate. And sure enough, Rose's voice was heard in the next moment. "Eric, I think there's a problem out there." Reaching up to the device Eric presses it to speak. "What's up?" "I happened to catch a report about a couple of those super-villains in Brockton Bay," Rose answered. "I couldn't catch it all, their encryption's pretty good. I managed to get a rough location though. It's a couple miles west of where you are." "I'll check it out," Eric replies, and turns in the direction Rose indicated. He doesn't bother with the teleportation just yet; he isn't sure what he's going to find when he gets there, and he'll doubtless need to conserve his power for the fight to come.
Defiant	Someone is watching the Protectorate links, too. Dragon frowns - that's a new signal she hasn't noticed before, skimming along the Protectorate networks. "Armsmaster," she reports, "Someone's got a hole into the Protectorate network. I'm working to patch it now." Armsmaster acknowledges silently as he works. Dragon's smart - but who knows whether she is equipped to handle someone from the Multiverse! It doesn't matter how smart you are when something might be completely outside your real of experience. Armsmaster pauses some feet away from the pair of E88 members. He raises his Halberd into a defensive stance, ready to intercept whoever makes the first move. They're both fairly unremarkable, both of them caucasian. Night wears a hood and long cloak and Fog wears a bodysuit of black and red. "Night and Fog," Armsmaster states. "I see you've finally reared your heads. I'm bringing you in." "You are welcome to try," Fog says, and he begins... turning into his namesake, from the outside in. Huh.
Eric Bane	The hole is easily patched-- their technology isn't that different at all, and Rose isn't actively trying to hack into the network. In fact, she backs off when they become aware of her technological presence, and speaks up on Eric's channel again, "Looks like they patched the network, Eric. I'm not going to be able to get any more information on what might be waiting for you, so be careful." "That's all right Rose," Eric replies. "Thanks. I'll be careful. Going silent now." He doesn't need to tip them off to his presence just yet. Only then does he move into the area, taking stock of the situation. Eric's power is a link to the shadows, so if one of those two has similar powers, he might actually be able to sense them a little. Both of them seems to have their attention on Armsmaster. Eric might be able to provide an opening for Armsmaster /and/ himself. He concentrates on an area about fifteen feet to one side of the couple, and a shadow surrounds his hand as he makes a light flicking gesture with his hand. When he does, in that area to the side of the group there is a 'whoomf' sound. There's nothing there but a fading shadow, but the whole thing was a distraction tactic anyway.
Defiant	In reaction to Fog becoming... fog, Armsmaster seals his helmet. "I know all about you, Fog. I've studied you both," Armsmaster says, and he sounds like he's almost gloating. "You can control how solid that fog is, and when someone breathes it in you can cause hideous internal damage. And you, Night - while I keep my eyes on you, you're nothing." Night and Fog turn at the sound, and Armsmaster charges. His Halberd hums out towards Night, but she ducks back and evades. As Fog advances, Armsmaster spins his Halberd and points the end of the haft at him. There's a loud 'whoomph' of his own and a blast of concussive force says the fog-man crashing backwards. And that's when Night pulls a flashbang, and hurls it in Armsmaster's direction!
Eric Bane	That's going to force Armsmaster to blink, that flash. Connections to the shadows make for a really unpleasant time dealing with light. But Eric has a little trick to deal with that. He activates his blood vision. As long as Night has blood and a heartbeat, Eric should be able to at least get some kind of bead on her. And it doesn't pick up visible light, so he can keep his eye on her through flashbangs. The reason for this is that Armsmaster seems to have a better time dealing with Fog, and Eric has no way to punch fog. He has a chance to be able to see Night and fight whatever tricks she's got up her sleeve.
Defiant	Armsmaster might have a helmet on, but the sheer flash causes it to dim its displays to not blind him. Either way, he loses sight of Night. But whatever Night seems to expect to happen... ...doesn't. "Someone can see me!" Night snaps, "Someone else is here!" Whatever Fog says is drowned out by another blast of concussive force as Armsmaster hammers him again. The fog-man seems to need to prevent himself from dispersing, and as he reforms, Armsmaster advances upon him. Night snarls, peering left and right, trying to catch sight of whoever can see her and prevent her from... doing whatever is she wants to do!
Eric Bane	Eric takes that opportunity and when Night is looking away, disappears into shadows. He can still see, though. He'll be aiming to appear behind her. Why behind her? Simple-- because if he can manage to reform out of the shadows in the place he aimed for, he'll be aiming to punch her right in the side of the head with one shadow-enhanced fist. He's also smart enough to know that here in the Multiverse, that's not necessarily a one-hit knockout like he's used to with non-Elites. So hit or miss, he'll teleport away, somewhere where he can see her still. For some reason, she wants to get out of sight; all Eric knows is that he can't let her do that.
Defiant	While Armsmaster continues his duel with Fog, Eric slams her fist into Night's head. She snarls, ducking to the side and stumbling with the force of the blow. She reaches for something in her cloak, and pulls out a small canister. Shouting, Night levels the canister of capsicum spray in Eric's direction, aiming for his eyes, and sprays out a torrent! Armsmaster swings his Halberd at Fog, who disperses himself and reforms at just the right moment so that the blade passes through him. The moment he is physical again, Armsmaster levels his Halberd at him and blasts him back into a storefront with that concussive shockwave once again. Glass shatters and falls around and through Fog, who wisps his way into a standing position once again.
Eric Bane	Eric is not, unfortunately, immune to pepper spray. He is, however, in mid-teleport when she sprays it at him. Some of it gets caught in the teleport, and as he reforms he's forced to close one eye and rub the stuff out of it. He can keep that other one open, though, even if it's tearing up something fierce. For a moment he works on getting that pepperspray out of his eyes, while trying to keep an eye on Night. He's trying to not give away his position in the meantime, but while he's doing this, she's free to search for him. He's pretty good at hiding, though. Unless she has other senses than normal human ones, that is...
Defiant	Given that Eric appears to have some sort of ability to keep sight of her, Night doesn't seem too happy. She unclasps her cloak and hurls it at him, trying to obscure his line of sight to her through thick heavy material which - as it turns out - is lined with hooks. Just who are these people? "My armor is completely sealed, Fog," Armsmaster gloats as Fog's mist envelops him. "You cannot touch me. You cannot harm me. But I?" And Armsmaster slaps the bottom of his weapon against the ground, sending out another concussive shock with the sound of a thunderclap. "I can certainly harm you. Perhaps not quickly, perhaps not severely, but while Night is occupied, I /will/ prevail!"
Eric Bane	Eric's blood vision has a very visible way to tell that there's something going on... if he can be seen. His eyes are completely red-- pupil, iris, and sclera. It looks rather disturbing. Then again he has his hood up, so it's possible that might be missed entirely. His blood vision is useful in that it lets him keep sight of people through obstacles, so he can duck down and still see Night, too. At least, her bloodflow. Hopefully that's enough. Suddenly a cloak is thrown at him and Eric dodges out of the way. Can he grab it? He'll try if he can, and roll it up out of the way. Last thing he needs is to give her him being bound up as well. Eric pauses, to concentrate on Night, and try to telekinetically pick her up and slam her on the ground. That should be a surprise!
Defiant	It seems to be enough. Night doesn't seem to be doing anything, except growing more and more frustrated. She's about two seconds behind the cloak, fingers clenched like she's going to try and go after Eric's vision more directly. She never gets the chance. Eric heaves her from his feet and sends her down to meet the asphalt - hard. She moans quietly, and doesn't rise. Fog is on her in moments, borne away from Armsmaster on a convenient gust of wind. He hovers over and around his female partner, until the fog is so thick that she cannot be seen. When he floats away from her, Night is back on her feet - and seems none the worse for wear! "I'll remember you," Night snaps to Eric, backing away. "You have to close your eyes sometime." Fog goes with her. In a moment, the pair have slipped away down a side alley, leaving Eric alone with Armsmaster on the street, lit only by the dim lighting of streetlamps.
Eric Bane	Well, they're not punching people anymore, there's that. Eric's not going to pursue unless Armsmaster seems about to. If not, he'll come out of his hiding place and turns that blood vision off. It looks like a technicolor hell and gives him a headache to use for long periods of time anyway. He reaches a hand up to the bridge of his nose to pinch at it slightly. Ow. He looks to Armsmaster. "Hello," he greets. He's smirking a little. Heck of a time to say hi, isn't it? Still. "Who were they?" he asks. Rose didn't get to get much information, so he'll collect it here. Since those two are obviously going to be a problem for him later. He keeps this heroing stuff up and one of these guys is going to hunt him down in the Multiverse.