Switcheroo: Power Woman and Witchblade - Part 1 |
Summary: | While doing battle with two more Mongo shocktroopers, Power Woman experiences a magical surge of energy; she and Detective Sara Pezzini of the NYPD find themselves body-switched. Others on scene in Metropolis try to help the seemingly hurt and confused Power Woman, while Kara Zor-L, trapped in the body of the Witchblade wielder, struggles to figure out what is happening and somehow make her way back to herself. |
Date: | 2014-10-06 |
Related: | The Menace of Mongo, Switcheroo October Plot |
NPCs: | NA |
Scene Runner: | NA |
Social/Plot: | Plot |
It's another day in Metropolis. The city's great protector, the blonde Kryptonian heroine known as Power Woman is actually in flight through the open skeleton of an incomplete building under construction, doing battle with a pair of powerful robot warriors. Having managed to draw them here, away from the populated park where they landed, Kara Zor-L is doing her best to disable them here, away from everyone and everything, for the safety of all. The hulking, nine-foot golden-armored brutes are strong, swift, brutally armed and using energy weapons that - unlike most such weapons - actually /hurt/ Kara when they hit. She's actually smoking - without a cigar - as she hovers in mid-air.
Power Woman dives, a blur of crimson-edged white as she closes on one of the two armored behemoths. She knows they are magical, and knows how much it will hurt. But the alternative is allowing them to threaten her people, her city, and she cannot allow that. Which is why she doesn't even hesitate to drive her Kryptonian fist right into and through that armor, seizing and tearing out the power core she finds inside despite the fact that her hand is now badly broken and bleeding.
The energy core, a plue pulsing octagonal unit, drops into Kara's other hand as she winces, biting back the whimper that almost escapes her. The damage done is enough to activate the unit's self-destruct protocol, which she has seen before. But this time, she grabs the armor with one hand and twists it around, so that as it erupts in a corruscating blue-white beam almost four feet across, it does so right at its compatriot … causing both to explode.
Even as the sunlight pouring down from on high starts knitting Power Woman's hand back together … a twinkle and pulse of crackling energy courses over her body. Confused, disoriented, the blonde heroine falls out of the sky, landing with a resounding thud on the hard-packed dirt and concrete of the foundation that has been laid at the construction site.
For her part, Detective Sara Pezzini is also having a busy day. She's having one in /New York/, of course, since that's where she works. She's crouched down, behind some cover as bullets are coming at her from the organized crime members shooting at her. "You realize, every shot you shoot at me probably adds another year on your sentence, ri" And then there's a weird pulse of energy. "ght?" WTF? Where is she? Why is she in a leotard? What theOHGODLOUD. That's about as far as it gets before Power Woman, now with Sara Pezzini's brain in her, claps her hands over her ears, trying somehow to get the cacophony berating her to stop.
He has been away from Gotham more and more lately following leads. One has led him out to Metropolis Batman stays in the shadows while watching the battle. He knos that woman in the sky being none other than Power Woman and a fellow leaguer. "No.." he hisses watching as she goes down in the construction site.
In town for some unrelated business that wasn't going to happen until a later time, Cain Marko stopped to watch the fight between Power Woman and the two magical robots. Could he have helped her, and maybe saved her a bit of pain? Probably. But he had no real reason to. So he just enjoyed the show, grunting a little as the two robots were destroyed. So much for that. He is notably NOT in his armor. Then…the blonde drops out of the air, and he blinks a few times. Okay. Odd. Starting towards her out of curiosity, he soon enters the construction site, heading over to where she's grabbing her ears. "Hey, uh…Power Woman. What's going on? You look kinda out of it." He's not afraid of her at all (unwisely), so he leans in relatively lose to peer at her. Incidently, if Pow/Sara were to lash out blindly…it's not like she can hurt him.
Marvel Girl was on monitor duty at the Watchtower when she saw the battle report. Not paying it too much mind, mostly because Power Woman looked to be handling things fine, she did two things. First, she sent out a general alert, and second, she sent herself to Metropolis to see what she can do. Which is why she'd be flying through the skies of Metropolis towards Power Woman's crash, telepathically sending to her mind, » Power Woman? It's Jean, are you alright?!? « Little does she know that the body that mind might be inhabiting is somewhat different.
A FEW DAYS AGO
Between the brilliant green warnings flickering on every available screen and the strobing red lights shining all around him, the hot, cramped cockpit of Xavin's hastily purloined Skrull fighter is growing downright unpleasant. Getting the autopilot to do anything at all had been a matter of smacking things at random until he took off, but once he engaged the system, he'd been willing to trust it to take care of everything for him—including landing.
The copse of trees swiftly overtaking the window in front of him has shown him the error of placing too much faith in machines, though.
NOW
"I still don't understand," Xavin says to the person working the newstand he's elected to stop at, "why bother with roses at all? Why doesn't this—Bachelorette just let her suitors figure out who's worthy of her amongst themselves? She does want the mate most likely to give her strong, healthy off-spring, doesn't she? All it would take is a locked room…"
"Uh," the vendor sharply utters, cutting off the young man who's been leafing through a copy of 'Entertainment Weekly' and asking him questions for the last several minutes, "I don'tit's" After pausing and scrunching his face up for a contemplative tick, he briskly shakes his head and his expression sinks into a scowl. "Are you going to buy anything, or are you just—"
Xavin jerks his head away from the outraged vendor to stare at the explosion that suddenly rocks an unfinished building a few blocks away, and then at the body that emerges from it… and falls; he tosses the magazine back to the vendor without a word further about the Bachelorette and briskly makes his way to the nearest alley. His body vanishes from sight as soon as he's hidden from plain view, and he starts working his way towards the construction site; after days of recuperating and trying to learn the lay of the land, he's eager for a little excitement, but not too eager to entirely forsake caution.
Sara hears Cain. The problem is, she's also hearing Cain, and pretty much everyone else in Metropolis all at once. "Make it stop!" She says, as she looks up, seeing Cain there. Her expression is clearly pained and a little desperate. She'll reach out to grab for his arm…but she has no idea how to control her own strength. It's a good thing that Cain is Cain, because otherwise she'd probably have powdered the bones in anyone else's arm.
Then, of course, there's a voice in her head. Which Sara only normally associates with one thing, even though the voice is more feminine than she's used to hearing. But the mental voice cuts through some of the audio static, and her return thought is chaotic, pained, and ANGRY. » What are you doing?! Why are you doing this to me?! «
In New York City, the body of Sarah Pezzini twitches dangerously, and two of the bullets fired nearly hit her, before a splinter from a riccochet slams into her shoulder. Roa, the pain! She shouts, and then an angry presence slams into her mind. Kara is used to telepathy, she hangs out with those with that power often. But this is not like that. Not … really. This is more empathic, and more emphatic. Anger. Bitterness. But the pain is enough to find resonance. As the gunfire picks up in response to the cry of pain, another cry sounds in her mind, and then tears out through her throat. A cry of exhultation. A cry of fury. And the bandsaw snarling of cloth shredding.
By Rao, what is going on?!
Taking off on foot towards the construction site, Batman enters looking around finding Cain by Power Woman. Rushing over he kneels at her side, "Shhh shhh Its ok." he tries to be consoling best he can. He has never seen her like this.
That…is not how Cain is used to seeing Power Woman. Usually it's angry. Maybe a little bloody if he hit her in the face a few times. Not desperate. He frowns at the sight. He grunts as she grabs his arm. Okay. That's an awfully strong grip for a random civillian to be given. "Uh. Little tight there, babe. What's wrong with you? Those robots rattle your brain or something?" It's a good thing it's not actually Karen in there, or she might recognize his voice, even if it's not as deep as when he's armored up and bigger. And…then Batman is there! He blinks at him a few times.
Marvel Girl flies in shortly, looking down at Kara, not saying anything audibly, though she looks a bit surprised to see Batman and Cain there. Of course, she's communicating with 'Power Woman' mentally, » What do you mean, what have I done? I'm right here… is everything alright? « She doesn't probe deeper… yet, but she might the way this conversation is going.
Xavin's brisk trip to the construction site gives him some time to think. Briefings about Earth combined with his own limited experiences thus far have taught him that people with all manner of unusual powers aren't necessarily unusual here… as long as those powers are accompanied by an appropriate uniform, a barely human name, and other symbols to solidify the separation between them and their fellow Earthlings. The fact that the mystery person was hovering briefly before falling suggests that they're one of those Super Humans, which very would could mean that they're still alive.
Which means that if he wants to investigate… he's probably better off doing so in a disguise suitable to such a meeting.
The invisible Skrull's body twists and ripples; by the time Xavin reaches the border between the alley and the street near the construction site, the cloaking effect is fading to reveal a tall and rather willowy young woman with long, black hair and a form-fitting, purple and costume.
She has just enough time to yell, "Step aside, cit—" as she approaches the flailing heroine before noticing that at least two of those people standing around her are /also/ superheroes. At which point she freezes momentarily before just shaking it off and resuming her brisk approach, stopping on the edges of the gathering.
"Is—uh, she alright?" she asks of the other heroes. After a beat, she tacks on, "Does anyone know what happened?"
What is going on?! Kara can't seem to make sense of anything. Everything seems dull and muted in strange ways. Her body doesn't feel right. The throbbing presence in her mind /definitely/ doesn't feel right. Pain and anger doesn't feel right. But then more gunfire sounds, and raging instincts seize hold. She must FIGHT! And she knows how to fight … but not like this.
Kara has no idea what she's doing, no idea any of this is real. It doesn't sound real, look real, smell real. It's like nothing else she has ever experienced in her young Kryptonian life. So she isn't fighting the rage, or the fury. She isn't trying to stop the butchery. The destruction. The death.
Just imagine the guilt when she realizes what she has done. Or the humiliation when she realizes she has done it more than half naked.
The blonde Kryptonian looks over, tears actually rolling down her cheeks a bit, as she feels the sound still all buzzing into her head. With her hand still on Cain's arm, she answers "Robots? No, I was just in a shootout. I" She pauses. No, this isn't a near-death experience. She's had those. And then. OhMyGodIt'sBatman. She stares at the Batman a moment. "I don't know, I" She tries to stand…and instead ends up launching herself towards the air, still with a deathgrip on Cain's arm. The mental reply to Marvel Girl is…confused. Disoriented. Pained. » If this is one of your dreams, it's a REALLY SHITTY TIME! Whatever you're trying, I don't need this right now! « Clearly, she thinks Marvel Girl is…well, someone other than Marvel Girl.
And suddenly she is taking flight with Cain in tow? Before Batman can answer the arrival he tries grabbing Cain by the leg to either hold them or be lifted too off the ground. "Kara! What are doing?" he asks waving to Jean for some help when he spots her either with a hand or by kicking his feet depending on what happens next.
"Well, yeah. They were shooting at you. Did one of them shoot you in the head? Cause I didn't see any…." Then she'ss tanding. No, leaping…flying? And since he wasn't moving, and she thusly wasn't trying to stop his foreward momentum, he goes along with her, letting out a startled sound as he's suddenly in the air. "Christ! What the hell are you doing!?!" This probaly looks bad to the others, with Cain not being in costume at all. It's probably good Bats didn't get there first. Since he'd probably have an arm made of jelly right now, and possibly none at all depending on how fast Power Woman, or rather Sara in Power Woman's body, took off. Cain grabs at her wrist, but doesn't actually try and pry her off. That would look odd if he managed it.
Marvel Girl blinks at the arrival from Xavin out of nowhere, blinks a second time as she gets that mental thought back, and then just looks at Batman /and/ Cain being carried off. "Oh, for the love of…" She then flies after Power Woman, telepathically sending to 'Kara', » Hey, this is Jean, who do you /think/ I am? « And with that, she starts to probe a little deeper into the thoughts of whoever this is… normally she'd not do it without permission, but the circumstances are also rather strange. Plus there's a possible civilian and her teammates in trouble!
"Hey! Hey, woah, put that man down—"
Think, Xavin, think! She was in, like, half of the intel the analysts cobbled together; Powerette? Marvel Woman? Wonderno, wait—
"—Power Woman!" the newcomer supplies after a moment of visible, squinting-at-the-ground contemplation. Her right index and middle finger go to her temple while her left hand thrusts skywards, and with a sharply focused thought, she begins to form a solid, but invisible lasso around the ankle Batman isn't already grabbing. She begins to clench her fist, but a thought occurs to her:
"Wait, he's" The disguised Skrull looks between Batman and Marvel Girl. "not a criminal, right?" Beat. "Also, uhI'mSpectra? I'm, uh, new at this, and—"
Before she can finish her introduction, that lasso finishes forming and the momentum of Power Woman's ascent combined with the bulk she's sort of, kind of tethered to nearly yanks her arm out of her socket and pulls her along for several feet before she manages to stop herself. "aah!" Her arm remains taut and extended, and there's sweat popping out across her brow; this might, at best, slow the Kryptonian's ascent for a few seconds before her force field breaksand that's assuming that she doesn't speed up.
"H-hey, pal!" Xavin shouts up at Cain through clenched teeth. "You'renota criminal, right?"
In New York, the woman occupying the body of one Sara Pezzini, Detective, NYPD, finally looks up, dawn breaking in her eyes as the rage, pain, fear and furious intent fades … to leave her standing in a bath of blood. The gunmen are done. Brutally, viciously done. Kara has never killed. NEVER. But there's no denying that she did this. She may not understand how or why, but she did this. The brunette stops and looks down at herself, seeing past the misting haze of blood all over. Good God. What is going on? Who is this … woman? And why is she mostly naked covered in bits of glittering armor in the middle of a firefight? She starts searching remains, looking for clues and answers. Rao, everything moves so slowly. What's taking so damned long?
No one is more surprised than Power Woman as she ends up going airborne herself. And there's a cry of surprise as she finds herself launched off the ground. Thankfullly, it was more of a "leap tall buildings in a single bound" than flight. And so, as she goes tumbling skywards, with the attached chain of Cain and Batman, Xavin's lasso brings her to a stop. Annnnnd then gravity takes over, as the three begin to tumble back Earthwards. It sure would be nice if one of them could fly. Or, rather, if the one who COULD, knew that she could.
The surprise will probably be even greater on the mental end. Because it won't take much mental searching for Marvel Girl to realize that whoever this is, this is NOT Kara Zor-L. » Jean? Who the hell are you? «
Okay, okay. What to do. He could try to break free, but for one thing he's not entirely sure he could. And for another, it would kind of ruin his cover as a civillian if he did. He curses loudly, and then hears Xavin call up to him. "Uh. I've never been in prison!" Which is true. He was arrested the once, but broke out before he could be processed. Then he's falling,, with Power Woman probably landing on him, and him probably landing on…Bats better HOPE he doesn't land on him, cause nine hundred pounds of Juggernaut is going to hurt, not to mention with the added rather shapely weight of a Kryptonian on top of him. They fall, and…stop in midair? Jean probably noticed that Cain is considerably heavier than he should be.
[
What goes up is coming down! Batman lets go of Cain now trying to get his bearings but no avail he is a flailing bat that is ground bound. Waiting for that sudden stop he blinks as suddenly he is floating? Though he knows Jean must have him in her grasp. Looking he notices that crash would have hurt as it appears maybe Cain and PW would have been on top of him. Flat Bat!!!!
Jean blinks, extending her hand as she supports Power Woman, Batman, /and/ Cain without much effort. A brief flash of surprise crosses her face as she does so, but then she speaks at Power Woman, "Well, since you don't seem responsive to my mental communication, miss, let me clarify. It appears, either you've had a genuine multiple personality disorder develop, or you're not where you should be." She then glances at Xavin, then back to Power Woman, her mental voice sounding a lot like her physical one as she sends to Power Woman, » Okay, whoever you are… keep calm, and we'll figure this out. You are among friends. «
'Hasn't been to jail' is good enough for Xavin/Spectra's conscience, so she continues to concentrate on keeping her tether to Cain and Power Woman firm against the incredible forces working against it—until, that is, they just fall from the sky because flying is a lot harder than it looks. Her arm jerks sharply downwards for a couple of feet before the lasso is just deconstructed, and since Power Woman doesn't seem to be on the verge of attacking anyone, she takes a second to massage her roughly manipulated shoulder while Jean takes care of keeping everyone else from crashing on top of one another.
"Oh" she stammers as she lowers her hand and brings her eyes up to squint at Batman, Cain, and Power Woman. "They didn'tgood." She glances around for a second before spotting Marvel Girl, then returns her attention to the trio. "Soo—is Power Woman having a breakdown of some kind, then?"
It will take time. But eventually, the real Kara Zor-L, stuck impossibly in the body of a human woman currently 'dressed' - if that's the word for it - in some skimpy 'outfit' comprised of vines of metal that barely bother to cover the most legally required bits, manages to find more. The remnant sof the clothes are largely useless, though they do work as rags to wipe off the blood. But they reveal ID, cash, a service weapon and holster, keys and other important bits. Cash and other bits from the men she slaughtered may also turn out useful. She has no idea how to use the gun, but she can't just leave it here. And it might prove useful. A trenchcoat is her salvation, as she stuffs the pockets and starts to make her way out of here. Realizing even her voice will sound different, she knows she can't call her family, or her friends. Not even JARVIS would be able to make this out. So … she has to find her body. The last time she saw it, she was in it, in Metropolis. So for now, she'll go back there. Maybe if she can find her body, she can reverse this? Right now, it's the best plan she has. Assuming she isn't arrested for indecent exposure or flashing first.
There's a moment of terror where Sara is sure she's going to splatter all over the ground. Then, suddenly, they're snagged by Marvel Girl. She straightens in mid-air, without really knowing HOW she did that, the adrenaline and shock momentarily snapping her out of her "hear everything" situation. She replies to Jean's mental voice. » My name is Sara Pezzini. I'm a NYPD detective. « And decidedly NOT a Kryptonian. But the immediate freak-out situation seems to be resolved. Very immediate.
Once he is own the ground he moves out of the way quickly. Batman watches as the others are set down as well. "PW.. Are you having a Joker spell?" he asks her hoping this isn't the case. He doesn't need another lunatic to go after when he is bad enough by himself.
Once he's lowered to the ground, and more importantly let go, Cain steps away from Power Woman. He rubs at his arm for show, eyes shifting between those assembled. "She seems strange. Not that I've ever met her before. But she's not like she seems on TV and stuff." Yeah. Never met her before. Definetly never fought her before. That would be silly. Please don't read my mind, mind reading lady.
Marvel Girl shakes her head, "No, there's been some sort of… psychic transfer, somehow. I'm not sure what happened, precisely, but Power Woman's mind has been replaced." She looks at Power Woman, » Okay. We're the Justice League… at least Batman and myself are. We'll help you as best as we can. « She looks over at Batman, and says audibly, "She's a detective in New York, with the police department. If this is some sort of a swap, it seems reasonable to assume that Power Woman's mind is in her body… unless this is part of a larger chain, which I'd rather not consider at this point. Occam's Razor, and all that."
"Ah, yes, a detective," Xavin/Spectra says with a solemn nod that is mostly meant to convince the others that she knows what a detective is. "With the police—good." As she says the word 'police', uncertainty begins to creep across her features; that word, she definitely recognizes. As exciting as it is to encounter one of the planet's foremost defenders, a run-in with the law with less than week of time on this planet under her belt is a little more excitement than she's willing to risk.
"Soeverything'staken care of, here," she continues, forcing herself to look away from Power Woman to scan the other heroes and Cain. As she takes a step away, she plasters on a broad smile and adds, "Gooood—well. I'm, uh. Glad that nobody was injured! Great team-up! Just have to watch that Razor, right?"
Cain Marko
Pure, brute strength. That's what this man seems to embody, built on a massive scale. His height actually seems to vary depending on unknown factors, from around seven feet to nearly ten. Broad, powerfully muscled shoulders lead down to an equally massive chest, and arms thicker than some men's waist, ending in hands that seem slightly oversized, though not nearly to the extent they would on a smaller figure. His waist only dips in slightly, his legs long and as densely muscled as the rest of his frame. Every inch of him seems to scream direct, unsubtle strength.
A crimson domed helmet covers his head, cutouts letting his blue eyes and large mouth be seen. Sleeveless, flexible red armor of some cloth like material covers his chest, continuing down his legs to a pair of equally crimson boots. It molds closely enough to his frame that, like many super beings costumes, the shape of his muscles is clearly defined. Bands of what look to be red metal wrap around upper and forearms, another wrapping around his knuckles as well. For those able to sense magic, an overwhelmingly powerful mystical force emanates from the behemoth. This is the Unstoppable Juggernaut.
Xavin
Xavin is a little over six feet tall with brown skin, brown eyes, and a closely cropped head of dark brown hair. His athletic frame is covered from neck to toe in a form-fitting purple uniform that has swaths of black around the neck, down both shoulders, and covering most of the upper portion of its chest; the darkness tapers down to broad triangles as it reaches mid-chest and the sides of both forearms. A slightly pointed black band circles her waist, and both the gloves and boots peeking out from the cuffs of the uniform are black.
Sara Pezzini
5'9" tall, with chestnut brown hair and eyes, Sara Pezzini's a woman in good shape. She's athletic and well-toned, and clearly works out on a regular basis. Her hair falls halfway down her back, and could usually be described as "shake into place" if one were being charitable, and "messy" if not. She also doesn't look like makeup is something she puts much stock into; a little lip gloss and tending to her eyebrows seems about the extent she's willing to go to. Despite that, she's got good features (yay genetics!) that highlight an Italian ethnicity and give her an hourglass figure that most women would kill for.
She's dressed in monochromatic style, wearing a slate grey top with cap sleeves, and a pair of boot-cut jeans, appropriately enough over brown boots with a faint, 1" wedge heel. Over the top is a black leather jacket with a front zip. Her only jewelry seems to be on her right wrist. A bracelet of undefined metal, in a slightly ridged, angular form, with a large red gem inset in it.
((Note: To anyone who can sense magic, the bracelet emanates it like WHOA. Witchblade.))
Batman
Here is a man that stands six feet tall, well built with sun kissed skin. His dark brown hair is kept brushed back on his head coming down to his collar. Two brows arc over his green gaze that goes down a normal round tipped nose. Overall he is flawless in complexion and stature. When he moves, he shows a combination of grace and reflex that seems both smooth and loaded like a spring at the same time; when he stands still, he does so with an easy stillness and poise.
Today Bruce is dressed in casual clothing. This consists of jeans and a tshirt for comfort. Outside in colder weather he wears a black jeather jacket. He wears a black banded sports watch on his left wrist.
Power Woman
There's no denying who this tall, voluptuous figure is: this striking young blonde could only be the world-famous Power Woman. Standing six feet tall, there's no denying the bountiful curves encased within the fit of her body-hugging white bodysuit. Her chin-length pageboy cut to the pale golden blonde hair is accented by longer than usual bangs that frame her high cheekbones and wide azure blue eyes.
The costume of Power Woman consists of a white bodysuit with a raised nehru-style collar, wrist-length sleeves and ankle-length legs, two barely-noticeable seams running from the collar down either side of her suit and down the middle of each leg. Dark blue leather-like gloves cover each hand up to mid-forearm, a matching belt girds her waist and rests on her hips, a five-sided, elongated pentagon shape point-down in golden metal as a buckle. Upper-calf height boots gird her feet and legs. A mid-calf length crimson cape trails behind her, attached at her shoulders by two more gleaming golden elongated pentagons echoing her belt buckle. All three seem to have a vague sort of S symbol inscribed upon them.