| Lesson Learned |
| Summary: | Taskmaster and Bombshell are in Gotham for some late night training, when Robin drops in on them, things get fighty. |
| Date: | May 1, 2014 |
| Related: | None |
| NPCs: | None |
| Scene Runner: | {$runner} |
| Social/Plot: | Plot |
| Players: |
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Nighttime? Check. Criminals? Check. Lots of stuff to blow up that people might not miss for very long? Check. And so, the training begins. Taskmaster had snagged one of his students for a bit of a field trip…explicitly against school rules of course, but hey, whats life without a little bit of rule bending?
"Alright. Welcome to Gotham. It's a cesspool at night. Plenty of bad guys, plenty of weird guys in bat suits if you believe the rumors. All in all, a good place to build a rep, especially for a youngster. Not too many super-powered jerks out here, so you have to worry less about getting punched into the moon and more about knives and gunfire. Think you're up to it, kid?"
Secret training, involving sneaking out with her /supposed/ PE Coach, Bombshell was all over that. Sure she was already knee deep in detentions, what was one more. "Smells it too." she wrinkles her nose "Somethings never change." her gaze takes in the neighborhood, its been years since she was walked the streets of Gotham "I used to live here ya know…" she pauses "over near the warehouse district." she gestures in that general direction. "So what's the plan? she glances up at Taskmaster, before her eyes go toward a dark alley "Going to find some thugs to pound into submission." its a record, multiple sentences and not a swear word amoung them.
"Didn't know that. Must've slipped my mind." A lot of things do, really, but hey, nobody's perfect. "Mostly out here to see what you can do. Xavier briefed me, but I like seeing things first hand to figure out what I'm going to with your more advanced training. So, let's see here…" Taskmaster allows his gaze to filter through the streets for a moment before he points to a nearby wrecked car, abandoned and picked clean by the streets. "Blow that up."
"Not like I go around screaming it at the top of my lungs." Bombshell's attention is drawn back to her coach as he speaks to her. The dark alley and whatever it contains ignored in favor of getting instructions. The wreck of a car is eyed "Seriously?" her mouth quirks into a grin "Consider it blown." she lifts a hand toward the car, a flash of light emits from the gloved appendage, followed by a concussive blast that rattles the windows and doors of nearby buildings, and not to mention a few other vehicles that may be nearby. Car bits and pieces go flying in a large flaming explosion, a lone tire bounces down the street away from the pair.
A dark night. Two strangely dressed people walking around. A bad neighborhood. You don't have to be a detective to figure out something is going to happen. But, as it happens, there's a detective out and about anyway. Almost imperceptible, a shadow on a nearby rooftop shifts, then moves along the edge, a pair of white eyes peering down at the pair from a mask. When the words 'blow that up' drift upwads, said eyes narrow. A gloved hand dips to the shadowy figures waist. Then there's a flash an explosion, and the figure leaps from the rooftop, hands whipping out towards the pair. Twin bolas spin in towards Taskmaster and Bombshell, intended to pin their arms to their sides. The flames from the car illluminiate the figure, a teenager in a rather form-fitting outfit and cape. He catches a lamp post, swinging forward, up, and ending up perched on top of it. "I'm going to just assume you two are new to town. Word of advice? There are ways to do the tourist thing that won't get you arrested. Might want to consider that next time."
"Ok. First lesson. Just the car next time. Gotta learn some fine control. Should have said just the tire or something." And then the voice and the bolas whipping through the air. One gets around his arm, but thankfully, Taskmaster is able to just have it wrap around that singular arm, leaving him free. He turns his head in the direction of the newcomer, breathing out a chuckle through his mask. "Here's a tip kid. If you're going to be stealthy, learn to stay out of the light, yeah? Also…might want to tone down the outfit a bit. Capes are out, you know."
Bombshell grins with satisfaction as the car violently explodes in a shower of flames and metal, "It's a package deal, can't have the explosion without all the side effects." she doesn't have that fine of control over it yet. Next thing she knows is she is being wrapped up in a bola, the force of it staggering her "Ah F*ck!" she exclaims, wriggling a moment with little luck of getting her arms free. She eyes the source of the weapon that has her caught and eyebrow arching upward "What the hell man?"
The dark-haired teen on the lamp-post raises one brow and grins. "Yeah. I'm going to take fashion advice from a guy who dresses like he just jumped out of a video game." He leaps from the lamp post, diving down towards the half-bound pair. Landing in a crouch, he smoothly shift into a sweep of one leg intended to put Bombshell on her back. "Sorry beautiful, but it's my job you know? Can't let crazies run around exploding things." Then he's going at Taskmaster, unleashing a rapid-fire series of punches and kicks, fists and feet moving impressively fast. Not superhumanly though. He's trying to take Taskie down fast, and while he's not a master, it's clear that whoever trained him is. "So, what do I call you two? Roboskull and Sparky?"
Maybe if her arms weren't pinned to her sides she might be able to evade the leg sweep, but without the use of her arms her balance is precarious, at least with moving. She is effectively knocked off her feet, the compliment while he does it does't keep her from letting out a string of curse words. Bombshell has quite the potty mouth on her. With the teen boy distracted by attacking her mentor for the evening, she gets to work on freeing herself. Which she does by aiming her explosive blast at the round weights of the bola, perhaps without those the ropes of them will fall free.
This kid was good, Taskmaster thought to himself as he dodged and parried blows from the boy wonder. Well trained, but he didn't have the lifetime of skills that Taskmaster possessed. Already, his mind was teaching his muscles the patterns of his opponents attacks. He disengaged after a flurry of blows from Robin before he chuckles. "Hardly. Not really a robot, kid. Land a hit and I might tell you my name…but let’s keep it interesting, eh?" The skull-masked mercenary flashed a glance to make sure that his charge wasn't going to fall off the building before limbering up a bit and lashing out with a fierce series of his own blows, determined to test what the crimefighter could do.
Better than he expected. Robin finds none of his strikes slipping through Taskmaster's defenses, despite his best efforts. "If you say so, Bones. I'm sure I'll hear your REAL name once I bring you own and get that mask off of you." He's nto so focused that he doesn't notice Bombshell trying to free herself. But when the skull-masked villain starts to launce a counter-offensive against him, he's a little too distracted to do aything about it. He ducks and weaves more than blocks, though he catches the occasional fist or foot still. Eventually he rolls backwards, cape briefly obscuring him, then flings a crescent shaped red throwing blade towards his opponents helmet. It's mostly to get him to block, in hops of him missing the follow-up until it's too late. A handful of small round spheres, rolling across the ground only to explode with a bright flash, leaving a cloud of smoke behind. He takes advantage of the cover to silently manuver around him, then spring into a flying kick aimed to take him between the shoulder blades. "You're not too bad. But I've met better."
Bombshell manages to get one of the bola weights to explode, its a careful thing, she doesn't want to get shredded by scrapnel so it takes quite a bit of concentration on her part. As it is she's going to have bruises on her midsection from the concussive blast. She huffs a bit as she wriggles to get one foot under her and then manages into a kneeling position, then she is back up. As much as she would like to watch the two fight, preferably with a tub of popcorn she continues to focus on freeing herself. Flexing her arms and chest she shoulder shakes and hulu twists finally getting the other bola weight to spin free and falls to the ground "Hell yeah!" she shouts, only then does she eye the fight and start coming up with ways to give her coach an assist.
The throwing blade is certainly a distraction, but distractions are all a part of the game. "Smoke bombs, eh? Not a bad tactic if you're looking for a surprise attack or an escape. You're not too bad either, kid, but /I've/ met better, too…and stay out of tvis
The throwing blade is certainly a distraction, but distractions are all a part of the game. "Smoke bombs, eh? Not a bad tactic if you're looking for a surprise attack or an escape. You're not too bad either, kid, but /I've/ met better, too…and you stay out of this kid. Don't want him blown up." And almost on cue, Taskmaster spins around, disengaging his shield and slamming it on the outstretched foot of Robin, though not too hard. If the kid is quick, he can probably use it to launch himself backwards. "Who trained you, anyway? Got a good mix of styles in your arsenal there."
Dammit, this guy IS good. "The name is Robin, by the way. Not kid." He pushes off of the shield, flipping backwards, and lands in a crouch. He produces a pair of collapsible escrima sticks from somewhere, and launches himself back into the fight. Most likely this will lead to the steady ringing of the sticks against his shield, playing the tempo of the fight. "And I'm touched you care if your sidekick blows me up. Don't worry about who trained me. You'll meet him soon enough I'm sure." Robin is starting to suspect he's not going to beat this guy…so he's looking for an opening to try something else instead. At some point, if possible, he'll attempt to place a homing beacon on his opponent. Or…actually. He has a better idea. He manuvers himself so his back is to Bombshell, and takes another leap at Taskmaster. He's hoping to be caught on the shield again, coiling his whole body up and kicking off as hard as he can, turning the force into an arc in the air, backflipping and landing behind the mutant. Straightening he whispers into her ear, "Maybe next time we'll get the chance to dance." He slips a tracer onto the inside of her coat while he distracts her with the words, her body blocking the move from Taskmaster, then produces his grapnel gun and fires it up, pulling him into the air with a salute towards the pair, "No more exploding things Bones, Sparky. I'll be watching. And I won't be the only one."
She's never really tried to blow up a person, way to icky. Someone shoes, certainly, a desk or two, a car, and certainly more than a couple of bank vaults both in Gotham and New York, but never a person. Her hands flash a few times and there is popping sounds as she tries to blow up the ground beneath the caped teens feet, but he's quick, faster than her powers are able to explode the dense concrete of the street. She stiffens when he lands behind her and whispers in her ear, that wasn't quite what she was expecting. As he flys into the air under the power of his grapple gun she quickly spins watching him as he goes up, up, up.
Not bad for a half-pint, not bad at all. Taskmaster was impressed…but he wasn't quite done yet. "Ever watch a birdie try to fly with clipped wings, kid?" He casts a glance towards Bombshell before the merc pulls a pistol from his harness before snapping off a shot that streaks out towards the grapple gun, snapping off the line. "I hope you can fly with clipped wings, birdie boy!"
Not bad for a half-pint, not bad at all. Taskmaster was impressed…but he wasn't quite done yet. "Ever watch a birdie try to fly with clipped wings, kid?" He casts a glance towards Bombshell before the merc pulls a pistol from his harness before snapping off a shot that streaks out towards the grapple gun, snapping off the line. "I hope you can fly with clipped wings, birdie boy!" Of course, he wanted the kid grounded, but not particularly wounded. No need for that…at least not yet."
And he's a good shot too? Great. Robin tucks and rolls after having his line cut, heading for an alleyway. "I can fly just fine, crossbones!" He jumps and kicks off of a wall, gaining altitude before bouncing off another, and ends up on a fire escape, where he quickly scrambles his way up. In almost no time, he's on the roof. If Taskie takes too long, the bird will have disappeared by the time he gets up there.
Bombshell sends a quick questioning look to her teach. He should know by now that she is capable of short range flight, certainly enough to cut the fleeing teen off, maybe even slow him down to give Taskmaster a chance to catchup. No matter the response in return her hands ball into fist and she blasts herself into the air "That's not flying! That's f*cking falling with style!" she yells back, rocketing through the air in the direction Robin is running across the building. She'll do her own flip and twist, not as graceful as the moves Robin is displaying, but it gets the job done so when she cuts off the blast she is facing him and in his current flight path.
Ah, they grow up so fast. It almost brings a tear to his eye…almost. Taskmaster took off over the rooftop, parkouring his way over to the other two before he lands gracefully. "I'll meet him soon enough, eh? Well, I hope so. He'll probably be a good spar. By the way…you lead with your left too often."
When Bombshell drops into the path in front of him, Robin doesn't stop. He gives the girl a wink as he charges right at her, flicking a capsule her way. If she doesn't dodge it somehow, it'll hit her in the chest and crack open with a hiss…releasing the knockout gas inside. He spins past the hopefully collapsing mutant, and keeps running. Taskie might be a better fighter than him, for now at least, but nobody matches the Boy Wonder in terms of acrobatic agility. Unless they have actual superpowers. He gets to the edge of another roof, turning around towards Taskmaster and Bombshell. "I'll keep that in mind." He steps back, dropping out of sight. And when either of them reaches said edge, he's gone. Trademark move of the Bat Family.
The limit if her abilities is blowing things up, rocketing through the air and possibly having the mouth of a sailor. Cursing is a superpower, right? Needless to say Bombshell certainly doesn't have the agility to dodge the gas capsule, so at least Taskmaster knows what areas to work with her on…dodging. She manages to get out another F-bomb proceeded by an indignant "Ah." before she is collapsing as the knockout gas does its job.
Shit…slippery little guy…but it is information saved for the future. "Thanks for the showcase in nice moves, birdie. Catch you later." Displaying a fair amount of agility himself, he flips over to Bombshell and catches her. "Knockout gas…hm. Alright kid…lets get you back to the school before Xavier flips his lid." He scoops her up in his arms and leaps off across rooftops back towards his vehicle.