An Old Beginning

[Bane]

((Open to any and all, join at your own risk. January... 3rd?? lol))

It was dark, and would be entirely black if not for a few flickering street lights near by. The narrows were often inhabited by an odd sort, it went hand in hand with its' shady name, but tonight there was a certain kind of evil within its fingers.

He wasn't afraid of the dark. The darkness to him was like the nightlight to a child. Bane was comforted, and at ease within the shadows, but there was a tenseness about him that never did quite cease. An eagerness in his face that was borderlines twisted, leaving sanity to be questioned, especially with the mask bearing tubes over his face.

"You." he ordered with a nod of his head to a nameless man in the darkness behind him, "There." and the hulking man lifted a massive arm to direct him, before wordlessly directing another to a different direction. His mere voice cut through the sketchy silence, reverberating in the air as his mask vibrated to his vocal chords.

His very essence was power.

It would appear although the masked mercenary were scouting. Preparing. The narrows had proved useful to another before him, Bane would be able to perfect it. The Scarecrow. Perhaps when he learned that Bane had taken over this place, the ragdoll would come back. Bane himself moved forward, passing under a streetlamp long enough for one to observe his display.


Shoulders, squared, and large. As were his arms, massive, and pronounced, even under the jacket he wore. Though his mask was a little harder to get a glimpse of at angles, as the collar of his coat was pulled up. But the straps atop his head was still visible, and were one viewing the man directly, they would receive a perfectly fine eyeful of his mechanism upon his face.

Every step he took sent a pulse through the pavement, his bulking body so huge and muscled that it could hardly be expected to do much else. A giant, in the world of Gotham, but no fear would be radiated from him, though he was more than likely to be the cause of it.

[Tara Sullivan]

"Nice job, Sully, nice job. You're going to die out here in Gotham."

Tara had figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to spend a day at Gotham. New York was filled with snobs and irritated Ms. Sullivan enough to force her to take a chance on looking around the criminal city. Well, day turned into night pretty fast, now didn't it? Tara must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, because she had not a single clue as to where she was. The darkness didn't help in the slightest either. Tara had gone without make-up, figuring that it was Gotham. It wasn't exactly a place where looking pretty really mattered, was it? The prettier you were, the more likely you were to get mugged. Her wavy cocoa locks were kept securely in a rubberband, as usual.

Ebony combat boots blended in with the dark of night as they hit the ground with every step she took. The dog tags around her neck jingled in sync with her steps. She wrapped the jacket she wore tightly around her body, muttering curses at herself for not going home earlier. Hey, look on the bright side. You might live through this experience. Tara told herself mentally. The streets were dimly lit, taking a toll on the teen's eyesight.

And then she saw a figure. "Oh. God. Help me," Tara whispered to herself. From what she could see, the guy was big. Huge. Like, if the Hulk were a few feet smaller, Tara believed they'd have the same muscle size. She stopped moving, hand instinctively rushing to her dog tags. She gripped the neck accessory like it was going to keep her from any harm.

She seemed to be getting into a habit of stopping and staring ever since she moved to New York.

[Bane]

The man stopped at the edge of the darkness where the light ended. His head turned, and he listened. There was a long moment, in which everything was still, and quiet, but far from calming. An anxiousness hung in the air and it felt dangerous. And then he turned, his eyes landing on the young female standing across the grungy clearing. The way his mask shuddered, suggested that the man had exhaled, before outwardly walking towards her.

He didn't speak, as he closed the distances, his hands clutching the straps on the collar of his thick worn shirt. The sound of his breathing became more evident as he got closer, but he stopped, nearly a meter away but still managed to tower over her, and stared, not impressed, but not scrutinizing either, and his chin tilted upwards.

A woman. No. She was but a child, untainted as far as Bane was concerned.

"Do these look like streets in which God has helped people before you?" he spoke, voice sending a cold shudder through the silence. "Just take a look around." he added, spreading his hands, and to invite her, he himself, took a look to either side of him, before looking back down at the girl.

[Horror Story]

There was a female ghost in the dark above the beast. Her eyes flicked down towards the beast before her, eyes narrowed and sneering. She'd been there, watching, waiting, though if he was as good as she'd heard then he probably had known. She blended into the darkness as she was prone to do. There was no where to grab bodies from and again if she had heard properly, his fear wouldn't be enough to feed from. So why was she here? Because if New York got a hold of this menace who'd almost leveled Gotham to the ground then there'd be a serious issue. Sure, the X-Men, Avengers and Fantastic Four MIGHT be able to handle everything but there was probably no way it'd happen cleanly.

Then a girl popped up. "Shit." The ghostly whisper on the air caused the female to grip the ledge she was hanging off of. She frowned towards the kid. What was she doing? Why was she in the Narrows? Was she lost?

Horror stayed where she was until she figured out what his intentions were. "Damn children..." She whispered.

[Tara Sullivan]

Lady Luck decided to abandon Tara today it appeared. Maybe she should have kept her mouth shut, though when Tara thought about it, maybe it was impossible to avoid being found. The older male had approached her, and it took a lot out of her to keep her jaw shut tight. She typically thought she was able to handle herself in any fight. If she got into a fight with this man, she figured she'd get crushed in seconds. It didn't help that he didn't seem like the big friendly giant type of person. The grip on her dog tags tightened when he was in front of her. Was that a mask on his face? People with masks were typically either villains or heroes.

She could list several masked heroes as well as villains. Tara wished that the muscular male was a 'good guy,' but highly doubted it. Besides, who wandered around the streets at night? Oh. Right. People like her were lost, and people who wanted to find those who were lost.

When he spoke, it sent a chill down Tara's spine. It confirmed that he had some sort of mask on his face. Aquatic hued eyes looked around at the streets, head turning to get as much of a good look as she could. She looked back at the towering man and shook her head swiftly. She opened her mouth to speak only to shut it again.

Best not to say anything she may regret by accident. It didn't help that she swore she heard another voice swearing. Perhaps she was imagining and going insane with fear.

[Bane]

He looked down at her, nodding continuously as she examined the surroundings, and then returned her attention to him to report what he already knew with a swift shake of her head. Smart girl, but silence was just another form of ascent. A small part of him was annoyed at her, and how pristine she was, that she must think him a monster, better than he. His eyes narrowed, as his nodding slowed to a stop, and he made a noise of approval.

"Perhaps our friend can elaborate on the topic." his voice had risen considerably, and he turned around completely, his back now to the small timid girl he had been speaking to, as he addressed a new arrival. Less of an arrival, so much as it was an uninvited companion.

"Your interest has been peaked, my friend." he called, as his eyes searched through the darkness, settling on a ledge, eyes narrowed before he turned his attention to the girl again, and with a few rumbled steps, stood right before her, staring down at the girl.

"Is it this..." he wondered aloud, tone had lowered and perhaps was supposed to be a whisper, but once muffled by his mask sounded more like a rattling hiss. He lifted a hand, knuckled brushing against the side of her small face, before the side of his hand rested heavily on her shoulder. An invasion. A dominance.

[Horror Story]

(Crap so my first post was fine? Damnit! XD)

What. The. Hell.

She flinched as she emerged from the dark, tossing it off of her as if it was a layer of skin tight clothing. She peered down at his hand which rested on the female's shoulder before her. How had he...this guy was much better than she thought. She peered over his bulky, yet streamlined form. Muscles upon muscles, beautiful emotional eyes sitting atop that contraption that his his lips and nose. Something she'd barely call a mask. Her eyes narrowed as she rose from the darkness, amber pendent thumping against her chest as she tilted her head to the side. She wasn't going to let him feel her fear, despite her being blocked from his. Her powers were not going to help her here.

This was going to boil down to a battle of wits.

She lifted her head from staring at his hand before blinking up at him a couple of times as her amber orbs traveled towards the foolish female.

She shook her head. "Kids...huh?" She huffed, placing her hands in her pockets, "You're a lot more than muscle and mask, aren't ya?"

[Tara Sullivan]

Tara had been rather freaked out when Bane touched her face. Who wouldn't be? She hated being touched, but the only movement she made was removing her hand from her dog tags. Those weren't doing her much good now. They were only a security blanket. Besides, they didn't help her dad much either. He was deceased now. She made no motion to tell the far larger man to remove his hand, to leave her along, nothing. All she wanted was to go home, but she'd be lucky if she could even do that.

Kids...huh?

For whatever reason, that comment had hit one of Tara's buttons. It was as if she felt like she was underrated just because of her age. Sure, maybe she made the stupid decision of staying at Gotham in the night, but she was almost eighteen, legally an adult. At least, that's what she liked to think. Her teeth gritted and clenched at the comment, but she made no attempt to use a comeback. Instead, she just stared at the darker skinned woman, not entirely sure if she was a sight for sore eyes or not. Though, anger and fear suddenly turned into interest. Her viscious look turned slightly softer. Fear was more than likely obvious in her voice when she piped up, a mix of bitterness, interest, and fear.

"Yeah, I think that the creepy lady has a point. You seem to be a whole lot more than muscle and mask."

[Bane]

A deep thrum came from his mask, dark, and it rattled the metal tubes on his mask. For a moment, a cold chill swept through their little meeting as the grotesque noise subsided and slowly ended with a shudder. The corners of his eyes were wrinkled, but his brow was stern, eyes intense.

He was laughing.

"No one cared who I was until I put on the mask..." he remarked. A statement so familiar and truthful to him, it had it's own place in his bones. He had turned, withdrawing his attentions from the girl who had spoken last, to focus on the one with dark skin. He had utmost faith that she was smart enough not to try anything, or at the very least too afraid.

"You take to the darkness for allegiance..." he stated, his tones rising upwards towards the end, almost musically if not for the way his mask contorted his voice.

"And you..." he looked at her, twisting his face to his shoulder but otherwise didn't move as he addressed Tara. "I have no use for you..." and with those dismissive words he granted freedom, one that she could take and run with, or stay and further examine him and his cause, if she so chose.

[Shrew]

Using the dark and small crevasses to move was inconvenient at best. But when looked like a rat, it was perhaps better to sneak around like one. Not that Shrew cared quite so much about hiding her hidious appearance - after all, she needed to find work somehow. And if someone happened to see the dog-headed lady by accident, well, sucks for their mental health. Walking on tip-toed enlongated feet, the modified human trotted along fairly casually into a part of the city that any other sane person would call "shady" at best. Shrew didn't particuarly care about that either. Few wanted to shank anything that looked too much like a Dead Space enemy. Plus she was fairly confidant in her escape abilities.

The Shrew didn't come upon this...interesting little exchange until a little while in. Her brown-and-white form strided in the dark and shadows. Hearing them before seeing them, the lady quickly decided she's evesdrop for a moment or two, just to see if they were potiential clients. Pale human eyes, the only part of her original face still left, rested on a little woman, a hunky beast of a man, and, after a moment, she noticed yet a second lady lurking in the dark. Probably one of the contenders for freakiest person in the city herself, Shrew couldn't bring herself to be scared. The skull-faced woman did pick up on the intensity surrounding the tall man, no doubt about that. She was more interested than frightened. Shifting her weight to one leg and placing a palm on her hip, she intended to stay where she was. Okay. She'll bite (figuratively).

Pale eyes narrowed a bit from behind her broken sockets. She took a nail and began to tap it against one of her rotting teeth, just an idling habbit she had.

"Mm," She grunted, about all she had to say on the situation.

[Tara Sullivan]

Tara wasn't sure what to think. She could just... go? Originally, that would have been her plan. Just go. But something compelled her to stay and watch what was going to go happen. Her mother was probably worried sick, but Tara figured that if fate let her live this long, she'd tempt it a bit more. Plus, she didn't have the strength in her body to leave. Fear had seemed to glue her feet onto the ground. She stood and watched the hulking man wordlessly. Fear kept her, but so did interest. Perhaps it was also a bit of a sour feeling towards the other female for calling her a kid, or perhaps it was the feeling that she wanted to seem useful to someone. Whatever the reason, Tara was staying and watching.

The teen shoved her hands in her pocket, not doing anything to signal that she was going. At least, not yet. Aqua eyes wandered over to a sight she wished she had never seen. A mutated... person? Tara wasn't sure what it was, but from the vague shape she could make out, she was rather terrified of whatever was out there. Yet, she still made not a move or a sound. It wasn't enough to drive her away from seeing what was to occur here.

[Stephanie Brown "Batgirl"]

Stephanie hadn't seen much out of the usual tonight. Mind you, usual for Gotham was a handful of muggings, a really poorly planned out corner store robbery, and a few dozen drug deals. Her arms were getting tired, from all the swooping down using the grappling hook, punching faces. Heck, she was almost clean out of comebacks and catchphrases.

Surely she’d done her share for one night. If there was more to be done, let the oh-so-capable bats and birds handle it. She was bagged, her alterations to Cassandra’s suit had failed at making it more comfortable, and she had a biology lab to attend in the morning.

That’s why she was swinging in the general direction of home, dreaming of her lumpy mattress which had never before held this level of appeal. She swung hard with her legs, launching up onto the roof of the next building and land some-what gracefully. The hood retracted back and she gave a bow to the night cloaked Narrows. “Thank you, thank you! I’d like to thank my teachers, my mother, my…”

She dropped off as she noticed something going on the street under her. She watched a man running at the sort of jog that suggested he had a purpose but was too smart to run full out and waste his energy. Frowning, she watched him glance over his shoulder then hurry onward. She eyed the street, trying to see what he’d been so twitchy about.

For a moment she couldn't help gawking, sitting hunched on the corner of the building like a gargoyle. There was a brunette who’s personal space was being severely intruded upon, and another linger nearby observing. But most of Stephanie’s attention centered around the one doing the intruding – a hulking figure she was acutely aware of.

She hadn’t been in the city when the Bane affair went down – she’d been using her status of being dead to fight elsewhere. But how could any Gothamite not know that mask?

There came the tumble of feelings, but chief among them: rage. There was the man who broke Bruce, who made them all go through thinking he was dead. It seemed wrong – no, more than wrong. It was an abomination, him walking free on the streets.

She was swinging down before she could even notice the creature. Heck no he didn't get to walk her streets, freaking girls out and plotting. Just because the heroes were down in activity didn't mean this. She took extra care making her landing extra flourished. She landed with her legs stretched out, one hand on the ground in front of her. She’d landed behind Bane, and while she should have been looking to make sure he didn't have friends hanging around, she couldn't stop staring.

“So be honest with me. When did the doctors tell you you needed a filter for your bad breath?”

[Bane]

It was hard doing secret business on ground when one was so large and well known. He'd thought perhaps in the Narrows, he'd go unquestioned. But obviously this was a wish that would not likely be fulfilled. Bane had a talent for attracting all sorts of creatures and beings. Like they couldn't help themselves, and merely came running to his side. Even such a plain site, as the brunette girl he had dismissed. Not even she would leave.

He would likely have addressed the rotting creature on the outskirts of their little meeting, but his attention had become immediately occupied when a dark figure, swiftly dropped, and spoke. Her whole essence was entirely familiar to him.

She was one of the Bats, no doubt about that.

“So be honest with me. When did the doctors tell you you needed a filter for your bad breath?”

He didn't even respond to her witty little entrance, but she had, entirely gained his attentions. Intense eyes, large, his brow tense and contorted.

"Remarkable." he drawled in an off-tone through rattling metals, his hands lifted to clutch his collar, as it often did. Despite his choice of word, however he didn't sound entirely impressed, examining the cloaked girl with a calm, intense eye.

"You've come with what intentions..." he inhaled, a rattled mechanical sound, and then exhaled, his voice muffled into a malice filled hiss "Batgirl."

[Horror Story]

"Brilliant."

Her voice hissed almost as much as Bane's did when Batgirl showed up on the scene. She moved towards the girl, the normal girl, the non-superhero. She turned, darkness flowing around her as if wind was blowing in her hair. Her eyes flashed bright orange-amber. "Get out of here NOW," Horror said with a flick of her tongue, "This isn't your town, sweetie." Her eyes moved back.

"I think it's time for us to leave," she breathed, "Unless tall dark and handsome decides to follow."

[Stephanie Brown "Batgirl"]

Okay. Stage one of plan Bane-o-Bane was a complete success. She had his attention!
Strangely, it didn't make her feel remotely victorious. Somehow from her perch he’d looked more manageable size wise. At her five foot five inches size, Bane seemed much more Goliath than simply large man. And muscular. The kind of muscular that snaps bats for fun.

The two other girls – was that one doing something with the darkness? – seemed to be catching on that now would be the time to leave. Well hey, look at that, stage three done as well! Stage two, beating Bane into a non-recognizable pulp… well, all things in good time right?

“Well I missed you last time you were in town.” Stephanie stood slowly, watching him for any kind of fear or weakness. Most people quivered at the sight of a bat emblem and cowl, but this guy… God, he was huge! She took a few steps to the side, trying to find a good angle. “It seemed not to introduce myself!”

Waiting for the right moment, the moment when you know exactly where to strike, the moment when your opponent is weakest… not such a strong suit. Stephanie charged, chucking a smoke capsule at Bane’s face. She was going for a run and kick to the face. She swung her leg upward, aiming for the mouthpiece of the mask, but be it fatigue or just the general assembly of bruises and injuries she was accumulating running all over Gotham on her own, she wasn't as fast as she wanted to be.