"Horn in on My Fight, and I'll Rat You Out!
               -OR-
 Sidekicks and Devils and Rats, Oh My!"
   
ZeroHourMUX (zerohourmux.com 7777)
5 October 1999

Metropolis Harbor

        Metropolis Harbor is bustling with activity. A major city, it has
a lot of sea-faring traffic coming in and out through the Harbor. It's
kept in decent enough shape, better than most highly industrial harbors.
The row of piers along the coastline has a constant flux of ships passing
through. Rivers head off to areas further in the city, with tugboats and
other smaller ships travelling down the waterways.
        There is a beach area a little way further down the coast. It's
owned by LexCorp and is very well maintained, with hardly a spot of trash
anywhere.

It's late, and the sun has long set over the sky-line of greater
Metropolis, leaving the city to be illuminated instead by the many
streetlamps and overhight lights that serve just that purpose. Out here on
the waterfront, however, it's a little darker than within the downtown of
the city, as lights get broken and those who work the wharfs and piers
don't seem to care as much about getting them repaired.
   
Though, on this particular evening, they may well wish for at least
something to help them out; the night shift at the docks seems to be in
general chaos, as those working to unload their cargo ships have suddenly
found themselves to be overcome by swarms and swarms of wharf rats. As
valiantly as the men try to fend them off, most are cornered up on crates,
using iron rods and broken two-by-fours to bat away at the vile rodents as
best they can. In the midsts of the largest throng of these creatures, a
giant of a Blue Devil twists and turns as he also attempts to fight them,
tossing them off of his legs and back with slow progress. The end of
golden trident lays discarded some feet away, as the azure being grumbles
to himself in frustration. "That's it... I'm never coming down to the
docks at night again..! What /is/ it with this place..?"

  Blue Devil:  
	Before you stands a vision of the devil, hued in blue. This bald man
stands at a towering 6 foot 8 inches, and the tips of his prominent, right
angled horns, reach 7. He has overly large, pointed ears (the left of
which sports a hoop earring), fanged teeth, and dual beard spikes, that
jut out from the corners of his mouth, and cut back in at right angles to
frame his chin. His blazing red eyes are capped by bushy, upswept black
eyebrows. 
	Currently, he wears a simple, yet somewhat outlandish costume
that does little to hide the bulky muscles of his azure-skinned frame. A
darker blue vest of sorts stretches across his chest, with a pronounced
gold collar, and shoulders that come out to points. The vest meets a pair
of briefs the same color, which are also trimmed in gold. The trim mirrors
a belt, with a stylized design that is reminiscent of a silhouette of the
man's head in the center. He wears blue bracers with gold cuffs around his
wrists, and blue boots with gold cuffs on his feet.
  
A red car with green tinted windows screams out of an alley, the child of
Q from the James Bond movies and Aeon Flux. Its yellow lights pierce the
dark and illuminate many dark furry forms. "I don't believe it, " Robin
says over the PA as he halts the Redbird. "It *is* rats. I thought the
police dispatcher was joking. Wonder Girl, you wouldn't have any pan pipes
tonight?"
   
Robin:
        Red, green, yellow - and black. The youngster called Robin is
dressed in the bright primary colors of childhood optimism, draped over
with the dark mantle of Gotham City. Three inches over five feet, his
hundred and forty pound frame is slim and athletic - a gymnast's build
with the muscle for getting out of the scrapes in which a young
crimefighter finds himself.
        Robin's face is round, his chin more square these days but not a
jaw. His nose has formed hard edges but he will probably have those boyish
looks well through adulthood. Ghostly opaque eyes are set in his dark
emerald mask. Robin's hair is black, cut in a trendy mop that passes for
locks or spikes depending on how much product he's put in it.
        Robin's costume is a protective molded unitard of scarlet. This
tunic is sleeveless and ends in matching trunks. On the left breast is a
black oval bearing a metallic gold 'R' insignia. Beneath his bodysuit, a
similar material of green covers Robin's legs and upper arms. From his
knees to his feet run black leather boots with a split between the large
and second toes. Robin's hands are sheathed in thick emerald gloves which,
like his short sleeves, contain ribbed pouches. Around his waist is
buckled a gold segmented belt with more compartments.
        A black leather cape with a stiff ring collar flows from Robin's
shoulders, hanging like wings to his mid-calf. The underside is lined in
yellow.
        Black, red, green and yellow. This Robin is cloaked to hunt the
night, but he's still the bright bird of Spring. Even in Gotham City,
robins bring hope.
    
Zipping in from the west, Impulse, the Teenaged Tornado, beats his
teammates to the scene of the disturbance by a good lead. Except...well,
when he gets there, there's this gigantic horned blue guy standing on the
docks covered in rats. And there are rats all over the place. And, well,
what the heck? He turns to the Redbird as the PA blares it out, then grins
and jerks a thumb over at the Devil. "Looks like there's already a Pied
Piper!"

Impulse:  
	The superfast Teenage Tornado - Impulse, in the flesh. Standing
(except he never stands still) at a rather beanpoley 5'11", Bart doesn't
exactly cut a very imposing figure, but that's not generally a problem. He
doesn't aim to scare. In fact, his unruly mop of slightly wavy brown hair
and equally striking costume are far more likely to cheer someone up than
inspire terror in the hearts of evildoers.  Clear, vaguely amused amber
eyes are shielded by a pair of goggles, which are part of the half-cowl
that covers his head (and lets his hair do what it will). Also on his
mask, over his ears, are golden mercury-wings, which double as radio
receivers.
	The boy's lanky form is clad in a very loud lycra costume - which
tears instead of runs. So it really isn't lycra. It's probably that funky
30th century 'unstable molecule' stuff, that the Legion's uniforms are
made of. At any rate, it's sort of an off-white color, with a jagged red
stripe down the center, which ends at his boots. Said boots are also red,
as are his biker gloves and mask; the boots and gloves are fastened with
buckles.

She's /suppose/ to be elsewhere working on her homework. She's /suppose/
to have already /done/ most of her homework, and thus, she'd have time for
over things. She's /suppose/ to be in a different /city/ all together.
But, then, suppose to, and where she's at now are two completely different
things. It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it isn't Superman, Superboy, or
Supergirl, but it is Wonder Girl. She flies through the air, hovering just
above the car, keeping up with the speed. "Not on me, tonight, I thought
that was /your/ job Robin."

Wonder Girl:  
	A crest of platinum hair flutters ringlets around her face, as the
mop of unruly blonde waves drift lightly over her forehead. The cut is a
stylish layering of curls which sweep over her ear, to end at the nape of
her neck. The strands are kept short around the sides, while the top is
longer, having sun-streaked tendrils that dance over her right eye. Her
wide, expressive pools are a bright cerulean hue, the color of a summer
sky, just as the sun lights up the day. Long, dark lashes outline the
azure gems, with a jagged line for a brow over each. They dominate a
small, angular face, almost pixie-like in shape, with an up-turned nose,
and bow-shaped mouth. Her form is athletic, made up of youthful curves
that testify to an active lifestyle. Her figure is slim around the
shoulders, dropping down to a slender, miniature waist and long legs. She
moves still with the eagerness and agility of a teen, though every action
is taken with a gracefulness that defies most of those her age.  
	A silken stream of short platinum blonde curls dance around this
youth's face, at least what can be seen hidden behind the pair of goggles
that covers over her bright blue eyes. The goggles are shaded in a dark
black color offering a bit of anonymity to her identity. She wears an
outfit that is a stylish combination youth and vitality. A half shirt of
white molds to her upper body, the short sleeved fabric drops down to her
stomach, displaying the well toned muscles where the shirt cuts off.
Outlined in black at the bottom, along the collar, and at the sleeves, a
bright, red 'WG' has been etched into the middle, with the outline in
gold. A skirt of shimmering black drops down and over her form, to end
just above her knees, with a trim of white to make up the ends. The fabric
is made of an ebony hue, with hundreds of white stars surrounding the
material on front and back. Just beneath the skirt, a pair of black
spandex shorts can be seen, enough to remain respectable, naturally. A
pair of knee and elbow pads, colored in a bright, golden hue, wrap around
her arms and legs, while her feet are encased in a pair of huge, enormous,
black army boots. The boots have a combination of white and black laces,
while the soles are thickly padded with rubber.

A froth of white breaks the surface of the harbour as Dolpin rises from
the water, her churning webbed feet keeping her above the water right to
mid-thigh. Platinum hair plastered down her back, her blue eyes scan the
harbour. Dark boats, screaming dockworkers.. superheroes... Rats. Lots and
lots of rats. Ooooh boy.
    
Dolphin:
        Light blue eyes catch your gaze first, eerily off-colour. It takes
a moment to realize what's odd about them - they pale to a gleaming white
in the centre, alien and unreadable. Her face is oval, an air of elegance
given by arched white brows and full, expressive lips. That same effect is
marred slightly by an impishly snubbed nose. Her expression is calm, her
skin tone lightly tanned - odd, considering she doesn't often see the
sunlight. Her hair flows in a platinum wave to mid-thigh, swirling around
her.
        She is wearing the remnants of a white shirt, torn at the sleeves
and tied just below her chest, revealing a smoothly muscled stomach. Faded
denim cutoffs cling snugly to her hips. That is the extent of her
clothing, her arms and legs bare. There is a simple metallic band around
her left wrist. She has an ethereal, almost unnatural slenderness that
seems fragile until she moves, and the play of streamlined muscles become
evident. There is a quiet confidence to her.
        A final piece of oddity is present - a thick, fleshy webbing that
stretches between the strong fingers of her hands, and between her bare
toes. She moves with grace and agility.  

With a slight sigh escaping her lips, Arrowette shifts uncomfortably in
the passanger seat of the exotic 'Redbird'. Sitting still inside of a car
isn't her idea of being a hero, and being forced to sit still for much
longer is going to drive her mad. Giving her compound bow yet another
thorough inspection, she questions outloud, "So a big demonic wannabe is
drawing rats onto the wharf? That sounds just peachy. What are we going to
do, spread rat poison around everywhere?" Looking up as she concludes her
bow is still ready to go, she stares out the front windshield at the
unfolding events outside.

Arrowette:  
	Waves of pure blond hair flow down to her lower back, framing
two deep eyes of a soft brown that almost hide the mischevious exuberance
that plays on her expression, softened by her long, thin lashes. Her
young, trim figure is well maintained and gives her a lithe, athletic
form, against layers of her smooth, soft skin, like fine silken sheets.
She looks to be no younger than sixteen and stands at roughly five foot
seven inches.  
	Currently, the young heroine is wearing her uniform. Composed
almost entirely of red, her costume consists of a a large facemask that
covers her eyes and forehead, two long, red, two-fingered gloves that
cover her thumb, index, and ring fingers and reach to just before he
elbow, and long red boots that reach her mid-thigh. A one-piece breast
plate armor covers her chest, leaving her shoulders and naval bare,
accented by a white skirt that reaches down to just above her boots,
allowing only a small bit of the skin on her legsexposed.

With a grunt, Blue Devil pries a rather fiesty rat off of his chest, and
holds the creature by it's back as he gives it a rather disgusted glare
for a moment. He's about to say something to the rodent, when it seems
that he's finally going to get some back-up... The Justice League maybe?
No... It's a bunch of costumed kids. Not that they probably can't pull
their weight, but it's been a long night for Dan, and he was just hoping
for a little more. So, his greeting probably isn't as cordial as it could
be. "Who are you guys, the new Teen Titans or something? Don't tell me the
Justice League was too busy..." Holding the rat in his hand as he is, and
with the less than cheerful greeting.. it probably doesn't paint the Azure
Avenger in the best light.  

Scowling, Impulse turns back to the devil guy. "You're gonna WISH you got
those Justice League pansies when WE'RE done, mister!" he yells, running
straight for Bluie and goin' to gut-punch him one good. What he MEANS to
do next is snag some of those fishing nets and bag some rats after setting
BD offbalance, but, well, BD is kinda REALLY TOUGH, no?

It's only after she's managed to adjust her vision to the dim, overhead
lights, does Wonder Girl get a truly good vision of what it is that
they're talking about. You can say the word 'rat', and it doesn't sink in,
but when you actually /look/ at it.. all you can get out is a loud, and
audible. "GREAT HERA! GROSS! Oh God! Oh GOD! That is so disgusting! Oh My
God! Oh man ohmanohmanohmanohman! YUCK! EWWW! There are thousands of
them!" Does she breath when she gets this out? Not on your life, she'd
continue to point out the fact there are lots of yucky rats around, but
well, her words are cut off upon the blue guy's voice. With a huff,
Cassie's eyes narrow down through her goggled glasses. "The wha..? Hmph!
As if!" She remains hovering over the ground, not getting too close.. (Get
into the rats? Are you kidding??)

Dolphin stays where she is, her head turning as she surveys the entire
scene. Ripples break the water in a circle around her, the foaming
evidence of her presence. She gleams palely in the darkness. And... is
that another gleam? Silent, swift. The mark of a fin in the water. And,
there, another. Not the joyous arching of a dolphin, but things that are
darker. Sleeker. Hunting. Dolphin brought friends.

Robin presses a button and the doors of the Redbird open like wings,
Lambourghini style. He stands up in his chair, reaching into his utlity
belt. "Three targets, gang! Help the dock workers, catch the rats, stop
the devil! Impulse you're on floating defense! Wonder Girl, the devil's
yours!" He turns to Arrowette, "If you have an arrow for it, see if you
can neutralize that trident." The Teen Wonder jumps on a crate. "and I get
the rats. Great." He tosses handful of bird-shaped metal objects into the
swarm of rats.

Leaping out of the Redbird before the door is even fully open, Arrowette
lands into a roll along the ground, before stopping behind a pile of
crates. Climbing upwards, she finds a secure position to snipe from safely
and pulls an arrow from her quiver with a special cylindrical tip, "One
anti-Trident arrow, coming up," She responds as she nocks it onto her bow
and takes aim through her scope. By the time she's released the arrow,
less than two seconds have passed from the time she began reaching for the
arrow.

Well, tough he may be, but the Blue Devil is still just a guy trapped in a
fancy suit. It's not like he's Superman or anything (much to his regret.
Superman actually gets /respect/ when he goes out..). So, a high-speed
punch is going to have at least most of it's desired effect - starting off
with a loud 'Oof!' as Dan get's socked a good one. "What the...!?! The
rats, guys, the rats!!" Impulse is off again before BD can retaliate, and
so he's left to blink in astonishment as Robin barks out his orders.
"Great... It's 'Night of the Living Wharf Rats' down here, and you guys
think /I'm/ to blame. I'm getting a new publicist...!" Kicking off another
rat from his leg, Dan reaches with hand outstretched, activating the
remote relays in his trident, to ignite the gold weapon's rocket engine.
The action comes just as the trident becomes entangled in Arrowette's
heavy rope arrow, the rocket thrust quickly pulling the rope taut.

"Yeah, nice TRY, bucko," yells Bart over his shoulder as he speeds away
from Big Blue and Hor- okay, that's a bad nickname. Gotta come up with
something better. True to his plan, he scoops up a couple of big, smelly
fishnets and throws them over a couple of the biggest concentrations of
rats. Work on clearing them out first, THEN concentrate on getting at the
workers. "C'mon, Wonder Girl, hey, can you BELIEVE this guy?"

It's nice to have a leader, really! It's a good thing, you actually get
/team work/ that way. People know what they're doing, what they're suppose
to do, and well, you have to trust that the leader knows the different
traits and weaknesses of his team. Wonder Girl acts without even thinking,
without worrying if she shouldn't be doing something else, she just goes
on Robin's word. (Friendship, team work, and trust come with time, and
frankly, Cassie's known Dol, Impulse, Ciss and Robin, long enough to have
all three.) Mind you, she still isn't going to touch the ground, noooooo,
she's going to try and do this flying. Without a verbal announcement, she
zips forward. Picking up speed as she goes, both of her arms are
outstretched, gloved hands balled into tight fists. Just when she gets up
enough speed that she's fully planning on ramming the Blue Devil (hmm,
Blue Devil, where has Cassie heard that before? Must have been in some
secret origins villain file.. or.. something..?) She breaks off, balled up
fist smashing towards the giant azure weirdness magnet's jaw in a nice
right hook, momentum carrying with her. It's a hard attempt sure, but
well, Cassie still has a lot to learn, you know. She isn't Wonder Woman...
yet.

At least one member of the team didn't hear the Blue Devil's insult, and
as such, isn't occupied in attacking him. Mind you, there's not much else
she can do, either. Dolphin raises her communicator to her lips, and says
simply, "Get the rats in the water." Then, with barely a splash, she's
dived under the surface again, lost in the dark water. Though that fin is
still there. And that one. And that one over there. Waiting.

Though Arrowette would love to comply to Dolphin's order, she's a bit
preoccupied at the moment. As the Trident suddenly takes flight, the rope
pulls tight and takes Cissie with it. Making a loud crash as crates topple
over, the young archer is forcibly pulled out of her comfortable sniping
spot, which causes her panic as she _zooms_ through the air with the rope
caught on one hand and her bow gripped in the other. "Gang way, archer
coming through!" She yells at the top of her lungs as she sails past
everyone at a speed she never thought she'd be running, let alone flying.
Finally giving in to her unadulterated fear, she decides she hasn't ever
been trained to face this particular obstacle and she promptly screams at
the top of her lungs. "AAAAAAAAH!"

Robin presses a segment of his belt and blue threads of miniature chain
lightning erupt around and through nearby rats as the bird-tokens are
revealed to be tasers. He blinks twice as the rarely heard voice gives him
an idea, like some Greek muse. Before he has time to smile, though, he
sees Arrowette zoom past him. In a flash he whips the R from his tunic and
throws the razor sharp letter at the cable towing the young archer.
"Impulse, catch her and come here!"

Well, Blue Devil had originally planned on calling the trident to his
hand... but hey, with developments like this, you have to take what you're
given. So, he uses his remote relays to alter the trident's directory and
send it (and the trailing Arrowette) off towards Robin. "Look! I don't
care how much you may have hated my movie, but someone /else/ is behind
these things!" Unfortunately, his attention being focused on Arrowette as
it is, he's totally oblivious to Wonder Girl's charge, and the girl's fist
smashes hard into his jaw - sending the blue giant reeling up and back
with a loud, "Owww....!" Still looks conscious - but now, angry instead of
frustrated.

Wordlessly now, Impulse kicks the netfuls of rats off the docks into the
shark infested waters. Look, Princess, those are the Shrieking Eels. Sort
of. He glances up at Robin's yell and yelps as he sees Arrowette hurtling
through the air and the Trident heading straight for Robin. Kicking up
massive amounts of the grit that hangs around near dirty salt water, he
doubles back instantly and shoves Robin out of the big pitchfork's path,
then turns around and sets up a high vibration so the thing goes through
him from the back: he's gonna try to catch Arrowette on Bart-Exit.

As her fist makes contact with Blue Devil's jaw, offering a very nice
right hook, ooh Artemis would be so proud.. Wonder Girl's attention is
distracted between Arrowette's scream of pure terror.. and the fact this
guy isn't making any sense. Movie? Someone else is behind..? Her head
turns swiftly, making sure that her friend is okay.. It's one of those
times when friendship breaks the boundaries of knowing she should be
unrelentlessly pounding the guy down.. as Artemis no doubt would be
doing.. and wanting to help her team mate. As she hesitates, floating in
mid air, Wonder Woman's sidekick, and ever so cool teenager to boot, makes
a pretty decent target. Her brows knit together, she doesn't persue the
fallen foe, rather, something isn't making any sense. Blue Devil. Blue
Devil. Movie. Hate the movie? Someone else.. Of course, her complete
attention is on the flying girl by this point, though she gets out a
gasped. "ZEUS! This guy isn't.. ! Rob..!" (Cassie's assuming, she's going
to get creamed and wont get the chance to finish..)

The squealing nets of rats fall into the water with loud splashes. The
harbour surface is motionless for a moment... then a fin flashes, a dead
eye gleams in the night. The squeals of the drowning rats pitch and
shriek, and blood flows in the water. Another fin. Splash. Splash. Foam.
So many sharks! The feeding frenzy begins within seconds of first blood.
And Dol, not a fool, is launching herself from the water, nearly caught
off-guard, reaching desperately for the ladder above. Rats, or frenzied
sharks.. she'll take the rats.

As she sails along through the air, Arrowette makes a wide arc as the
trident turns towards Robin, causing her no small amount of nausea. At
this point she's given up on screaming as well as any hopes of stopping.
If she cuts thr rope with the razor tip of an arrow, she'll land rather
unceremoniously on the ground at a rather high speed. Instead, she prays
to the gods and yells out warnings, "Gangway, Boy Wonder! Heads up!"
Helpless to do much else, she's left to 'enjoy the ride', as she can't
even fire off arrows. She's skilled, but no one can nock and fire an arrow
one-handed without some strange equipment modifications.

Robin gets shoved unceremoniously by Impulse, but it beats getting fallen
on by Arrowette...well maybe, but now's not the time for a test. As he
falls he thinks . o O(I lose more R-azors that way), and rolls to land on
his padded costume. Touching his collar he says into his throat mike,
"Dolphin can can you, um, make, uh 'squeaky noises' and call the rats into
the water?" . o O (Boy did that sound dumber out loud than in my head.)

Wiping his jaw as he stands up, Blue Devil shrugs off another insistent
rat from his side, and levels his blazing red eyes onto the group of young
heroes before him. Sure, they're starting to work on cleaning up the rats
- but they're also doing their best to try cleaning up him! "Look..." he
starts out, his voice coming from someone who's just about lost his
patience. "I don't know what it /is/ with you kids, but I've tried to be
reasonable. Whatever it is that you think you've got to prove, I'm
stopping it." With that, he aims hisis left hand at Wonder Girl, and
shoots a steady stream of small bubbles from his wrist cuff. Yeah, that's
right bubbles. But, these aren't jut any bubbles - they're pyrotechnic
wonders that can blow holes in concrete when they impact. So, they pack a
pretty good punch.

Impulse thinks . o O(Man, this is one of the longest 'fight' sessions of
your classic 'fight-then-team-up' syndrome *I've* ever seen.) Catching at
Arrowette's ankles and bracing himself, leaning backwards mightily, Bart
bellows, "Arrowette! LEGGO THE ROPE!" Okay, so now he's fighting one hell
of a force, but presumably Arrowette *will* let go fairly quickly; when
she does, he backpedals fast to keep them both from falling, and lets go
her ankles so she flies back into him instead of falling facefirst into
the asphalt. This occupies him rather a lot, so, well, it's good he's a
member of such a capable, kickass, well-organized team.

The disgusting squeeling noises of the rats disturbs Cassie.. as does the
audible sound of splashing. No doubt, she assumes, Dolphin's brought some
hungry friends. She doesn't need to look into the dark pools of water,to
note the changing color, and large fins, she can only think of one thing
that would do that. Sharks. Ugh. Worse. Sharks eating rats, ugh! As she
spins around in mid air, she gets to listen to the Blue Devil's words, not
to mention note that there happen to be a bunch of well, bubbles, floating
her.. way? "Wait wait wait! It's all a misunderstanding, call /off/ the
trident on Arrowette, or so help me, I don't care /who/ you are, good guy
or not, and I'm going to toss you into the water with the /sharks/.."
Again, not a single breath is taken in, all said with the speed that only
Bart might be able to decipher and beat. Of course, she doesn't get a
chance to do much else.. for not really thinking about it.. she just lets
the bubbles come; right.. smack.. dab.. at her. I mean, come on. Bubbles?
Do harm? Heh?

*KABOOOM*

The impending explosion might have been avoided, but well, Wonder Girl
isn't exactly avoiding them too much.. She doesn't get time to do much
beyond scream out a .. "ZEUS!" And with the force that could knock holes
in /concreate/.. Cassie's sent flying backwards, breath forced from her
lungs, and body sent spiraling through crates, air, and finally, crashes
into a window, audible *CRASH* echoing, along with a nice sized *THUD*.

Dolphin pulls herself from the water, tossing a few rats down as she
scrambles up the ladder, leaping easily to the dock. Amid more rats. Eww.
Hearing Robin's comment, she spares a half-second to roll her eyes, and
thinks, . o O (Rats are NOT fish. What would I say, anyway? Jump in the
water? Learn to swim? Don't mind the sharks, it's fun?!?) Her actual reply
over the network is sweetly concise. "No." Too far at the end of the wharf
to participate in the fight as yet, she grabs a plank in her webbed hands
and begins swinging it strong and low, sweeping rats into the water and
moving toward the main dock as fast as she can. Beneath her, the shrieking
rats continue to be devoured by the silent hunters, water dyed dark.

Robin gets to his feet and jumps back on his crate. "Impulse, if you can
pick up any vibration enraging these rats, follow it and fry whatever
gizmo is doing it. Or just search the whole dock." He silently curses the
fact that he wasn't fully aware of Dolphin's capabilities. Wait till
Batman hears. He fires his cable launcher at a ship mast and swings right
at Blue Devil, feet first. "The only thing we have to prove is we don't
put up with condescending adults. If you aren't against us , stop
prolonging the fight."

Acting quickly as Impulse gives her the cue, Arrowette pulls out an arrow
from her quiver and swings it at the rope like a sword, striking it with
the tip and severing herself from it, thankfully. As she falls, she's
-yanked- backwards by her feet, which she uses to propel herself in some
direction other than face-first-downwards. Finally able to use the skills
she's been well taught, she spreads her legs as she comes backwards upon
Bart and lands almost straddling him backwards, though a few inches of
open air spares them both the embarassment. "Thanks." She manages to
squeek out between huffs and pants for breath.

Nooo kidding this is a misunderstanding, what else has Dan been trying to
say throughout all of this? But still, he already begins to direct the
trident to slow down before Arrowette cuts herself free, and then calls
the weapon back to his hand. And then gets a mast swung at him! He manages
to leap upwards in a back-flip, just in time, putting himself out of range
of the leg-sweep, and calls out to Robin as he lands. "Hey, /I'm/ not the
one who started it, I've been trying to tell you I'm not against you ever
since you got here...!" With his trident in hand, he ignites the weapon's
flame jets and starts to drive off the nearby rats towards the water's
edge with the fire. "I was thinking there must be some high-pitched noise
calling these beasts here too, so... Yeah, if you can find that we might
be in business." Despite the verbal words, his mannerisms suggest he's
still not happy about how things have went with the fight.

Oh, man, what would Cassie think? thinks Bart as Arrowette straddles him,
his eyes wide. He vibrates free and scrambles up quickly, then pokes at
the girl, "Find Wonder Girl, will you? I heard her yell, but I..." And as
he starts up his vibration again, trying different frequencies even as he
talks, he suddenly winces and clutches at his head. "Oh, GRIFE!" He
solidifies and exhales a mighty breath, looking up at Cissie with one eye
wide and the other still squinting, in your standard anime grimace. "Go go
go, I'll find it." Then he blurs and races off, keeping himself a couple
hertz below what it is so he can 'see' it but not kill himself in the
process.

Her eyes roll to the back of her head as Wonder Girl just /lies/ where she
landed for a few seconds. Catching her breath, she can't help but want to
drift straight off into oblivion. She was hit by an exploding bubble; it's
almost as worse as being hit by one of Arrowette's cosmetic arrows. Crates
and boxes are in pieces around her, crumbled and broken, as she lies
still, wondering if anything in /her/ is broken. Being trained by an
Amazon offers her one thing, it offers her a bit more of a temper than
she'd normally have; and mind you Artemis has the /worst/ temper there
/ever/ could be. She doesn't just get mad, she gets /cheesed off/.
Bruised, and battered, not to mention.. Her gaze shifts down to her
uniform, noting the strips of long fabric, ripped and dust and dirt
everywhere.. Oh. My. God. Her new outfit is almost utterly /ruined/! He'll
die for this! Death to the movie star! It'll take her WEEKS to get the
dirt out, and she doesn't EVEN know how to sew! From the warehouse that
she landed in.. a loud, and audible. "THIS ISN'T FAIR!"

Is that a wince on Dolphin's face as she makes her inexhorable way down
the wharf? Possibly so, but she doesn't say anything. Just keeps to the
job at hand: the nasty, furry things that are trying so hard to bite her.
OW! There's one now, rotten rat-bastard, right on the ankle. A rat which
is henceforth kicked into the water. Wet hair flying in messy strands,
skin gleaming with water droplets, Dol ignores the main fight entirely,
trusting her teammates to take care of it as she concentrates on getting
to the hapless dock workers.

As Bart vibrates, speaks, and then departs in one swift motion, Cissie
suddenly falls into a wide-legged split on the ground, since she was
propping herself up with her hands on top of his stomach. (Which is now
gone.) Fortunately, she's flexible enough to do this without discomfort,
or she might be in considerable pain right now. Unfortunately for her, a
rat has decided to crawl onto her leg, which causes her to leap up
suddenly and shake her leg violently to get it off, while nocking her bow.
As the rat sails off of her leg, she shoots it straight through the middle
with a razor tipped graphite arrow which promptly sticks into the wooden
dock.

Robin continues his swing as Blue Devil flips away up in a half circle to
perch on the mast. Feet apart, one hand in the center as his cape settles
around him, Robin looks like - well - a bird. His free hand flits over his
utility belt again. "Ok," he yells, "the Blue Devil isn't it. Let's get
the dock crew to high ground - Impulse is now the Maguffin hunter!" Wait
*Blue Devil*. BLUE. DEVIL. Now it sinks in! In response to his call, the
Redbird eases out on to the dock, pushing rats out of the way, before it
is surrounded with the same taser electricity, to drive away rats on a
larger scale.

By now, with rats having been fish-netted, tasered, kicked, batted and
chased with fire, the rodent population on the docks is starting to thin
noticeably - especially due to the 'disposal' system swimming in the
water. But there's still a good amount of them scurrying about, so Blue
Devil continues to do his part, able to work more effectively now that
he's got his trident back in hand - and also now that he's not being
attacked by his backup either. "This never happens to Superman..." he
mutters, as he continues to drive off rats with the flame-thrower in his
trident. "You know... Come to think of it, you never even see Superman
/getting/ the dirty jobs like this.."

Right. "What the nass is a Maguffin?" yells Bart a couple seconds later,
preoccupied, looking for the source of the...oh. Oh man. There it is, it's
gotta be coming from there. That...god! That's so boring! Almost Scooby
Doo in its placement, so cliche, why can't we have more imaginative
villains (or personal narrators, for that matter)? Bart sticks his arm
through the side of a biiiiig crate, then scowls, realizing he can't feel
it. So, well, instead of being a team player and doing what Robin says,
Impulse stays singlemindedly on his original task and ducks inside the
crate through the side to find and demolish the rat-box.

*CRASH* With a resounding thud, what remains of the window that Wonder
Girl flew through (and abruptly destroyed) is sent flying in the opposite
direction, as the teen amazon wannabe, though if anyone /else/ calls her
that, they'll regret it, smashes her way back through. Eyes of light blue
drift over, to focus in on the Devil guy that happens to be azure in
color. Okay, so he's helping to destroy the rats, right? Rats. Evil
things. Her skirt is in shatters, torn and split, leaving the spandex of
the pants underneath exposed. A large rip can be seen along her shoulder,
with a nice sized bruise forming underneath. Thankfully, her gloves are
still on, and it takes every ounce she possibly can muster not to simply
go off and toss the blue guy that ruined her outfit into the water. Can we
say grudge? With a snort, Cassie zips towards the dock workers, planning
on helping Dolphin rescue them, even though Devil is going to /get/ it.
Next time they meet or something, Wonder Girl's sure.

The dock crew isn't totally immobile, fortunately. Those solid worker's
boots are occupied in kicking some fuzzy rat butt. Dolphin reaches the
first of the scattered men, and keeps moving, only jerking her chin to
indicate the path she's cleared behind her - yeah, a path with rats in it
again, but at least they're not swarming like before. You could dodge
around them.

Nocking a new arrow onto her bow with a cylindrical shaped tip, Arrowette
takes careful aim and fires it, not at the rats, but at the ground,
causing it to freeze over with ice as the tip cracks and breaks against
the hard floor. Now with a smooth surface to work with, she simply starts
kicking rats into the water across the ice like small soccer balls. "This
is nasty. Doesn't the city hire people to do things like this so that we
can focus on more important things like criminal masterminds?" Taking out
her frustration on the rodents, she boots one especially hard, causing it
to get some serious 'hangtime' before hitting the water.

Robin seeds the ground with assorted pellets to drive away rats - gas,
smoke, firecrackers even. The Redbird squirts out fire extnguisher mist.
He peers around the dock. "How we doin' Impulse?" he says into his collar
mike.

"Mmmfnn fnnmm fmnffn!" says something that sounds vaguely like Bart from 
Robin's comm. And he's nowhere to be seen.

"If there /is/ some gadget behind this, then what you're looking at is due
to a criminal mastermind," Blue Devil calls out to Arrowette, as he
continues to corrall the crawling critters. "Doesn't look like the MO of
anyone I've ever heard of though..." He does turn his attention to Robin
at the inquiry about Impulse, however, apparently also interested in the
progress of finding said piece of machinery.

Robin shrugs at Blue Devil. "He said 'Mmmfnn fnnmm fmnffn'.  

As Dolphin clears the way for the workers, Cassie heads to those that are
on 'higher' ground, swifly collecting one under one arm, another under the
other.. doing what teenager super heroes do. Rescue people. As soon those
that only she can get at are safe, Wonder Girl's left to scowl at Blue
Devil's back, and mutter under her breath. *mutter* *mumble* *creep*
*mutter*.

Suddenly, one of the crates detonates. Like, I mean, *BOOM*. Right, so it
detonates and it's raining splinters on a bunch of very, very confused and
scared rats. Then it's raining Impulses. Impulses that say
'OoooOooOOoooogh...' when they land. Just one Impulse, that is. Metaphor
and all that.

Reaching the last of the dock workers, Dolphin sends him running down the
wharf, and takes a moment to breathe, turning to look at the main action.
Small rivlets of blood run down her legs, here and there, where the rats
were too quick. A few marks on her wrists. The blue eyes take in the
detonation with startlement, and then she's on her way back, webbed feet
moving swiftly over the rough wood.

Quickly growing tired of kicking rats, Arrowette is almost thankful of the
explosion that interupts her terrible monotony of booting the rodents into
the harbor. She spins around just in time to see Bart recover from the
blast as the little critters begin to scatter back from whence they came.
"I'm never coming to the wharf again." She states concisely as the little
spectacle reaches its conclusion, "I think I just quit seafood too," She
adds afterwards, turning her head to gaze at the feasting sharks. Making a
face, she boots one last stray rat across the ice to its doom, which
strangely makes her feel slightly better.

Robin pulls up his cape to shield himself from falling debris - and rats.
After it subsides he drops lightly from the mast to his feet. Brushing his
cloak, Robin says "That's that, I guess.". He doesnt sound surprised that
there was a device. Deactivating the Redbird's toys he looks at Blue
Devil. "Sorry about the confusion, Blue Devil."

With the detonation of whatever it was that was in the crate, those rats
that are still on the docks pretty much cease and desist in their swarming
tendencies, and scurry back off into the gutters, sewars, and wherever
else it was that they came from in the first place. The dock workers let
out a whoop of a cheer as the rats finally disappear. As Dolphin is
closest to most of them, she gets the brunt of their thanks and gratitude
(and probably for other reasons as well).

Meanwhile, the Blue Devil chases off the last of the rats near him with a
final blast of flame, before turning about to assess the rest of the
situation. "Not as sorry as I am," he replies half-jokingly as he rubs his
jaw a little tenderly. "Seriously though, thanks for the assist... I guess
I'll clean up here, make sure everythings on the up and up with the union
laborers. If I find out anything else about that rat-gizmo, I'll send out
a news brief or something."

Well /she/ isn't sorry about the confusion, at least Wonder Girl got in
one damn good punch, too bad she held back. She should have sent every
ounce of power into it, and sent him /flying/ out and away. *Grrrrrrr*.
Blazing blue eyes continue to glare at Blue Devil's back. Her nose
wrinkles upwards, before Cassie flits upwards, with a grumbled. "I am /so/
gone." As she lifts into the air, she's /almost/ tempted to tell Devil to
watch his back, but then, not only would that seem evil, and villainy, but
well.. cliche as well. She can only get out a snort. Yeah, rub the jaw
good, Devil, Cassie's just sorry she didn't do as Artemis instructs and
beat the snot out of him more, instead of worrying about playing fair.
*Grrr*. Ruined suit and all, Wonder Girl flies off.

Robin tilts his head. "Huh, I thought you knew something about it from
what you said." He shrugs. "I'll see if there's any parts left and run one
through analysis. I'll upload anything to the JLA, if you can get messages
there." He turns to look at the rest of his friends. "Nice work, pals and
gals." He watches Wonder Girl fly off. .o O(Uh oh.)

Dolphin isn't really good with receiving thanks and gratitude; it involves
being crowded by people who talk to her. She sort of stands there, with an
uncertain smile on her face, and tolerates it for a bit before she can
politely leave and meander toward the rest of the group. Her eyes drift
toward the fading shark frenzy in the water.

Impulse scrapes himself off the ground slowly, grimacing. "Okay. Sorry I
slammed you, man." He asseses the damage to himself, then blinks at
Cassie's zooming form. "Grife," he mutters. "Yah, swanky, but I'm goin'
t'see what's up with her." And with that, bruises and cuts and all, he's
gone.

As Cassie flies off, Arrowette suddenly blinks her eyes in surprise and
dashes off into a sprint after her friend, "Hey, wait up!" She shouts
after her friend. Fortunately for the archer, she's very physically active
and fit. Maybe Cassie will hear her and pause. Or maybe she'll end up
running all the way home. Ah well. She just needs to escape this place.

Robin thinks . o O (We have to work on a dramatic group exit.)