2015-11-12 - The Circus of Crime's in Town Part 1 - Catching a New Star

Supergirl had been flying towards a circus outside of a small town in upstate New York, having found a young woman who had escaped, calling for her. Apparently terrorists had taken over and the poor woman, the escape artist, so it happened to be, had managed to get out to try to find help. She made sure the woman was taken to a nearby truck stop so she could call for the police, then she was off to the circus. Using her X-ray vision, she noticed about 5 terrorists holding machine guns, and about 25 hostages - apparently the entire circus personnel - no customers, fortunately.

It wouldn't take that long to stop them, at least, Kara thought as she flew down amidst where the terrorists were standing. "Hey." she says with a smile, ready for action.

The guns are very real, no question there. Loaded too, but nobody's actually been shot yet. The hostages are tense, no surprise there. Three of the terrorists react with surprise at Kara's sudden arrival, while the other two simply hold their guns on the hostages and look grim.

"We were expecting a response, calm down. Don't try anything and nobody has to die, Supergirl. We have very reasonable demands." He actually believes it, though the finger hugging the trigger guard also suggests that he's a professional. No hair trigger mistakes, he's using good gun control to make sure that he and his men are ready, but not stupid about this.

That being said, one of the hostages starts to scream in a shrill voice that sounds hysterical, and another one begins to cry. Don't hold it against him, he's had a long day.

Kara Zor-El smiles and says "I agree with you about the 'nobody has to die' thing. And just so you know, your demands would be a lot better if you werent pointing guns. Have you considered a petition?" Then quickly grabs one of the guns of the terrorist closest to her, "By the way..." She squeezes, deforming the gun in her grip. "Since you know who I am, which surprisingly some people don't, you probably should know how this will end if you don't just surrender and put the guns down."

One of the less professional gunmen (one of the ones still armed) reacts to Kara's motion by pulling the trigger on his AK-47. On full spray, bullets rain down on Kara right in the chest like ...well, like rain. The sound makes a bunch more of the hostages freak out, and the guy in charge seems to be getting around to reacting when the first guy's weapon runs out of bullets. They only last for about two seconds on full auto.

When he's done, he starts looking to reload, sweating buckets, while his boss says, "That doesn't work..." Finally one that reads the newspaper.

Kara Zor-El just walks towards him while the AK-47 sprays bullets at her, flattening against her body uselessly before falling to the ground or ricocheting. She then places her finger and thumb on the tip of the machine gun, and squeezes the barrel closed, looking at the less professional guard. "Listen to him. It doesn't work." She shrugs. "Or don't." she says before grabbing him and flinging him into the two men who's weapons she had already bent.

She crosses her arms, looking at the 'terrorist boss' and the one other guy still standing. "So can I take it that since you know that doesn't work that you're going to surrender peacefully? Or are you going to say that there's a bomb and you have a detonator and you'll blow everyone up if you don't get blah blah blah?"

"Something like that," the guy who seems to be in charge says, as the hostages moan in fear. He aims his gun upward so it's not real threat, something you do when you're well trained. "Strapped to some of the hostages. Not saying which ones, because I am not a complete moron." He narrows his eyes at Supergirl, then raises his chin to indicate the exit. "Go and free David Cain from prison and my employer's demands will be met. Simple, easy for you since you don't even have to ask the government. If you can bend guns, you can bend bars."

Kara Zor-El looks around the gym, then at the hostages, several of whom have bombs strapped to them. She could see with her X-ray vision which ones. "That's actually a really good plan." she says to him, then shrugs. "And yeah, I COULD do that... or..." Then there's a blur of motion, and Kara's standing there again with 9 different detonators in her hand. "... I could use superspeed to disarm all of the bombs by removing the detonators after seeing which hostages had them with my x-ray vision." She then puts her hands together and crushes the detonators, letting the dust-like parts sprinkle down on the ground. "See... I like MY plan better than yours, because mine doesn't involve breaking criminals out of prison. You know... the type of place you'll be going?"

Kara Zor-El leans forward. "By the way you're not a complete moron. But... pretty high up there still."

The terrorists realize that they've got nothing. It's on their faces, and as the boss holds his wrists out to be taken into custody, he says, "Well played. I couldn't have done a better show of it myself. Considering the location..." He looks around, then motions to his minions to give up.

The sound of clapping from some of the hostages isn't totally out of place, but it is a little odd. Considering that a moment ago, they were marked for death, but one of the hostages starts applauding. Then another, and then a few of them are giving Kara a thank-you, and one of them actually comes forward, hoping to thank her personally. Even though she's still dealing with the terrorists. Which might seem a bit strange, but scared people do odd things.

"Supergirl? Thank you so much for coming..."

If Kara turns around, she finds herself looking into something really odd. A swirling vortex of some sort; small, but infinitely complex, held in the hand of the hostage who was coming to thank her. So confusing, it has colors that seem to bend the spectrum backwards. And work on the mind.

Kara Zor-El smiles as she accepts the thanks from the newly-freed hostages, then shakes the hand of the ringmaster as well. "It was no problem. It's just what I do. Oh and don't worry, your escape artist is safe also. She should be calling the police and... making..... sure.... that.... they...." Kara starts slowing down as she looks at the device on the Ringmaster's hat blankly, then stops saying anything.

The hostage's eyes look satisfied and smug as they look at Kara over the device. "Excellent, tie them all back up and get them into the back," he says. It's not to Kara, it's to the terrorists, who nod and get themselves to their feet and start dealing with the hostages.

The hostage, keeping Kara Zor-El hypnotized, says, "I always like it when the people know my name. It's all about the show, and the show must go on. I am the Ringmaster, and you? You, are now mine. Welcome to the circus, Supergirl."

"That name simply has to go, though. Hmm..."