Marvel: 2011-12-15 - Klaws and Screams

Sunday night in the Big Apple, more specifically Lower Manhattan. The night lights are bright to those on the streets, illuminating them nearly without flaw. But these few flaws, alleyways, rooftops, side streets where the lights are not quite so bright.. these places are where the monsters dwell. Of course this doesn't mean the bump in the night monsters of fairy tales and horror movies.. Instead these are the more mundane monsters. Muggers, thieves, carjackers, murderers.. the scum of New York. They wait in hiding in the dark places of the city, waiting for thier prey of choice to wander by. But these monsters have thier own fears.. They fear the Devil that is is said to roam the rooftops at night, hiding in shadow and preying on those who prey on the innocent. Rumors place the beast in Hells Kitchen, but more and more.. there are tales of it being spotted outside the kitchen.. A fleeting shadow of a horned figure, a glimpse of red flashing between rooftops or down a dim alley. Of course, these are just rumors... and are not to be trusted. Or are they? Tonight, the Devil has found himself in Manhattan, trailing a band of gangbangers who wandered through the kitchen and caught his proverbial eye.. As he stalks his prey, the last thing he's expecting is to be hunted himself. As Daredevil slings through the air, what he would see over on one of the nearby buildings, one of the higher ups over in the area is that there's a dozen or so people tied up to it, easily a dozen stories up in teh air. Over on the bottom of said rooftop with a high tower where all of the people are tied over (in the sense that he 'sees') is a large looking bonfire, dozens of sticks that have had gasoline poured over them as they've been set aflame. And over down on the ground is a large 'sign' which is bellowing out now in a large set of letters that he may or may not be able to read is.. 'Welcome the Devil To the Frying Pan'! Someone has a sense of theatrics. Daredevil is hot on the trail of the thugs, but tonight appears to be their lucky night. The wind carries the scent of flames charred wood and brick to his sensitive nose and he can hear the screams of the bound hostages. Muttering a curse under his breath, he rises from his position in the shadows and takes off running, darting among the rootfop vents and pipes and various obstacles on the rooftop that he has never seen before, and never will. Through the shadows he sprints, his only sounds are the thud of his boots on the rooftop and his even breathing. Reaching the edge he throws himself off into the open air, sense focused laser tight, taking in the crunch of the gravel as he springs off it, the whistle of the air as he falls, the click and snapp of his grappel firing and even the mettalic clink and thud of the grappel head lodging around a protruding flagpole on the burning building. The whine of the mechanism within his club feeds him more information, where the people are, how many and even if they are tied together or individually. The dozen people are tied rather tightly. Each of them is bound head to foot from the neck down to their ankles, still fully clothed beneath over in a way that might be mindful of Penelope Pitstop tied down to the railroad tracks, and each with a thick hemp gag in tehir throats. On top of that a long length of steel-lined wire is tying them all 'together' around the building to hold them up and bound to it as they each screamed and cursed, muffled against the gag. As each howled, pine wood had been piled around hte 'base' of the building and was aflame, mor efor show and theatrics than any sort of harm to the hostages, however many hundreds of feet up agaisnt the perimeter of the flames they were. For now, as Daredevil flicked his way over towards the building, he would sense a large crowd gathered around at a perimeter, the way New Yorkers tended to lollygag around anything of interest going on above. And one person.. Standing in concealment, behind the large sign which was broadcasting waht he could not see. Daredevil reaches the struggling victims in a few short moments, though his appearance likely doesn't do much to calm them. Dressed in blood red leathers with devil horns set into his forehead, mirrored 'eyes' in his mask showing themselves bound and gag as he 'looks' over them to assess the situation. Of course it's for show as his senses feed him all he needs to know about them. including one slightly older man having heart problems due to stress and fear. DD breathes in deep to filter through the smell of burning pine and accelerant, testing the air for explosives to make sure they're not wired. Unfortunately he's face to face with the man as he does so, staring back at him silently. The 'man' over, whether Daredevil would know him or not, stepped out of hiding, sheathed in the shadow of the sign. "Fascinating, how did you detect me?" One of his hands seemingly non-existant, a large sort of 'spooning' attachment on it, as the Black Panther villain known as KLAW approached Daredevil. "This was all intended to be a distraction, but I suppose we can dispense with these vaudeville theatrics." At this point, he went over to a ready stance then, seemingly bored. Daredevil turns his head to regard the new arrival. He sensed someone there but was more concerned with the hostages. "So all this was to get me out in the open? Why?" He demands, his voice intentionally harsh. At the moment though he's at a bit of a disadvantage, close to the hostages, and not wanting to put them in any more danger. he doesn't want a fight here and now. A first I'm sure. The villain Klaw merely smiles, "Oh, really. Do I need a reason?" Then going to bring his hand up, as if he was clanging a bell.. From his metallic pincer, suddenly unleashing a sonic wave blasting towards Daredevil as if it was a solid attack, visible as a solid wave of approaching sound storm! For a normal man... a wall of sound would be devastating enough.. but for the DareDevil.. it's so much more. Liquid agony erupts in his sensitive ears as the waves blasts towards him, and he loses control over himself, his hands clapping to his head to block out the pain, in doing so forces him to let go of his hold on his grappel line, even before the blast hits. Which is the only thing that saves him from haveing his eardrums burst and his brains turned to mush. As he falls, an instinct fights through the pain and he grabs a window ledge a few stories down, wretching his arm out of it's socket, adding to his pain.. but it saves his life. Teeth clench and he twists around, gripping the ledge with his other hand, and starting to pull himself back up, even though he can feel his ears bleeding, the warm trickle running down his neck on either side. But he's not down yet.. Klaw merely glances over at Daredevil, "Why, I think this might be even easier than I had thought it would." There was a quiet flick over of his arm then as he pointed his Klaw up at the building, and fired another sonic pulse from it. Not aimed over at you directly, but over at the thin windows of the cheap building. At the blast, they shattered, raining down on the crowd below. A sonic pulse for him acting asan 'umbrella' to shield from falling glass shards, the citizens watching ducking and covering themselves from falling glass, the hostages up top screaming as they were deafened! Daredevil shakes his head to clear it, that steel forged will clamping down on the pain in his head and forcing his senses to focus through the ringing in his head. It's difficult.. but he's been doing this since he was just a teenager. The hostages cannot be helped unless he takes this guy down, as he'd be picked off by the sonic blaster. And taking another hit.. well... best not to think of such things.. The Devil forces himself to his feet on the window ledge, and turns slightly, slamming his shoulder into the brick frame. A slight but definate crunch sounds in his ears as his arms pops back into the socket, and he rolls his arm, flexing the muscles and working through the flare of pain that meets his actions. "You're mine.." He mutters, moving before Klaw can draw a bead on him. The villain KLAW seems to be somewhat bored over with you as you go to flee, "Oh, really. And here I thought I had already put a claim in over on you. Oh well then." Him idly swinging his claw around, but you managing to get out of his arc before he can ready to blast you. WIth a quiet sigh then, glancing up over at the screaming people on the street below and tied up in the air, "Oh do shut up." Before leaping over to charge after you, trying to get over at alevel where he could hit you wtih his sonic Klaw! Daredevil is already moving, leaping off his window ledge and onto a lower roof nearby, already moving and dodging around the vents. He can use the sound, every time Klaw fire, he's broadcasting precisely where and how he's moving, and DD's brain is already working that into how to take cover from the next blast. The tricky part is getting in close. As Klaw leaps, DD does too, off the building and into the alley it creates with the adjacent building. But DD hasn't survived this long without a few tricks. His remaining billy clubis snatched from it's holster and the grappel line snaps out, snagging a fire escape and as the line goes taunt, it swings him out and around the building, out of the alley and up the side of the building, hopefully coming up right about where Klaw does. On the ascent, the line retracts, and he's ready to fight. Suprise. Daredevil goes down as Klaw goes after him, to then surprise over the other warrior with a maneuver that could very much be described over as a Jack in the Box springstep as Daredevil, aided up over by the sudden backlash of his billy club adding to the momentum, goes up with his fist swinging to catch Klaw square over on the jaw in a classic maneuver! *BAM*! Klaw staggered backwards over in midair, not having a chance to counter over with his sonic cannon, and smirked (as near as could be told behind his mask), "So, it seems you're made of more than meat after all." Falling over into a relaxed combat stance, not quite identifiable as from any martial art, but more of a mixed defensive style. In most instances, DD would back off, allow his opponent to submit and go without a fight. But he's felt the effects of that nasty cannon, even a glancing shot and he's taking off the kid gloves. The Devil comes unhinged, and that initial fist to the jaw is followed in rapid succession by his billy club snapping out towards Klaws face, and several short lunges with his knees to drive them into Klaws chest. He's on Klaw like white on rice, unrelenting, savage fury bared and he wont stop. However for all his aggression, his senses are keenly trained on Klaws Klaw, and any attempt to bring it to bear will result in it being smashed with a billy club. And Klaw is moving just as fast, taking hits and blocking them, dodging and countering, using his sonic arm over as a blunt weapon to block each slash of the billy club. What goes on between the two might as well be a faceoff of a Wuxia movie, each blocking and countering the thrusts from the other, as the two went all out in a display of martial arts mastery! Daredevil is slightly taken aback by this man's apparent prowess, as he's so used to beating the living snot out of his opponents in record time. But he's equipped for a fight on these terms as well. If you can't beat them in a fair fight.. cheat. The billy club is flipped over in his hand as he ducks under a kick towards his chest, and as he returns with a low sweep, his thumb depresses the firing trigger on the club, spitting the steel head of his club up at a 45' degree angle to his sweep, hopefully into Klaw's face as he jumps over the leg. The club fires over to Klaw's face at point blank range, and there's a 'snap' as his facemask is half shattered as his nose and jaw were broken. As Daredevil blasts him en passant as the two trade blows and he takes a major hit, the hand of his that is not the locked-out sonic cannon whips around at Daredevil, trying to hit him over in a painful blow aimed at the kidneys! Daredevil feels the blow coming and rushes inside it, taking the blow in the back to far less effect. But now in such close quarters, the combat becomes even less style and more instinctual. Such as the first headbutt into Klaw's face, driving horns and all into that broken nose and jaw. Followed quickly by a double handed overhand with th steel cable of his grappel in his hand, attempting to get it around Klaws neck. As you exchanged blows with Klaw, forcing him backwards, but hitting him at angles where he could not get his sonic cannon out to combat you wtih, as you sent your billy club over to try and (to him, at least) with your other hand going to try and shove up the grapple as if to clothesline him upon it, the lower half of his face obscured with blood to try and dodge your hands flung up towards his face, essentially rolling his head and then ducking on down to try and minimize hte motion required to dodge your swing! Then going over to try and use his hopefully lower center of graivty to slam his fist over to your gut! Daredevil smiles inwardly, as the man's repetoire start to become clearer. As Klaw goes low, DD goes high, tucking into his movement to roll shoulder to shoulder over Klaws back, ending up behind him and facing a way. A simple spin with a low held club should land somewhere on the man's spine if he follows through with the gut punch. Klaw takes the bludgeon over to the spine then as Daredevil flips over above him, tucking and rolling himself down low to try and minimize what otherwise would have been a debilitating blow, and trying to put some distance over between himself and DD! Daredevil isn't letting up though, as Klaw rolls away, DD is springing right after him, very aware of the fact that to let Klaw get distance wil quickly end this fight, and not in DD's favor. That club is fired at Klaw's feet, both in an attempt to harm and to foul him up, tangle him in the steel line so he can be reeled in and dealt with. What Klaw did then as you went to leap over towards him was as he had a few precious half-heartbeats of freedom was leap up into the air, not towards hte hostages but away. But what he did was use his sonic cannon as much a springboard, launching himself up from the place the two dueled over to the next building over, hundreds of feet away! Daredevil recoiled from the backlash of the cannon, even the echoes are painful, especially with his ears damaged as they are. He's still fighting to supress the ringing. Rude and rather vicious insults well up in DD's mouth, but he bites them back. Enough people have seen their little scuffle. But he's watching Klaw through those keen senses of his, wary of a return blast. But as his main threat retreats, DD starts to turn his attentions back to the hostages. At this point, Klaw has a clear shot over at the hostages. But at this point, he could simply slaughter them from afar and gain no advantage, use thema s leverage against you which wsas always a poor choice, or use them as cover to disengage. From afar, Klaw gave a salute over with his sonic cannon to Daredevil, flipping off the side of the building he was on to vanish to the streets below, leaving you to the hostages. Daredevil snorts, as he catches only the vaguest image of the salute, being so far away. but a shattered face was more or less equal repayment for nearly shattered eardrums, and the hostages are safe, which is the important thing. As Klaw vanishes, DD moves to retrieve his fallen club and get the hostages down before leaving, not uttering a single word as he frees them.