Go Ask Alice || Mad Hatter, Green Arrow, Red Robin, Black Canary, Stephanie Chatzy
Mad Hatter The night was wispy and cold, but the atmosphere inside the run-down warehouse was heated and thick. Angry. His plans were failing. The ship would be here any moment and he could get himself and Alice out of here, but his whole plan had been ruined. He couldn't stand that. Five guards stood inside with him, all armed and ready should someone try and stop them, but Jervis's eyes were still filled with anger and anxiety. He fiddled with the pinwheel in his hat, glancing occasionally at the two slumbering women he had chained inside cages maybe big enough for a medium sized dog. They had both behaved rather badly as of late. There were three more guards outside, plus a patrol of four that continuously circled the circumference of the warehouse grounds, ready to radio in if they spotted anything unusual. The masks would surely be upon him if he didn't get out of there soon. And he wanted to, he did! But leaving such a mess behind, his entire, thoroughly thought out, almost perfectly executed plan was ruined. It killed the mood. He would be known as the man who almost got away with it. Having Alice wasn't enough anymore-- he needed all of Gotham to know that he'd done it flawlessly and that was no longer an option. He whirled on one of the officers. "Go check what's taking my boat so long!" he snapped and the guy saluted and rushed out.
Green Arrow had been through hell and back that week, and to be perfectly honest he was far from happy about it, was he out for payback? Maybe a tiny bit. He wanted to kick some ass over what had happened to Mia. And really the truth was that he just wanted Jervis back in his padded cell in Arkham Asylum, he wanted to be able to cross Gotham without being attacked by mindless civilians who had done nothing more than pick up their telephone that day. So here he was creeping along, towards a warehouse that he knew was full of the Hatter and his goons, and was probably more dangerous than anything he had gone up against. But then again he was working with two of the best heroes that Gotham city had to offer. Smiling at the pair he nodded and shrugged. "Well here goes nothing." he said quietly to Black Canary and Red Robin. "I can see three guards at least." he said with a sigh. "We take them down simultaneously and then we move onto breaching the warehouse, stick together and don't get caught out." he said with a nod. "This should be a piece of cake really." he said with a shrug. "But you never know what could go wrong. Lets go." and without a second glance at Dinah or Red Robin he was off, creeping away from the pair of them.
Red Robin had been awake for what seemed like days. A nap here, a nap there, stubble, enough food to keep his strength up, and no classes. He had turned into a living obsession. Stephanie was missing, and he wouldn't rest until she was found. Oracle's message sent him on a new path. They were drawing to a close, boxing him in. They had pinned down his location and all that was left to do was take down the man himself. Tim knew better than to think that this would be easy. Logic told him his reaction times would be slower, that he was likely to be careless if he teetered on the brink of exhaustion and desperation, but no matter what rest he had tried to steal, he had been unable to claim it. For better or worse, this was him. He followed her instructions, eyes narrowing as he moved in. They had one chance at this. If the Hatter got Stephanie on a boat, who knew where they would take her? "Fools rush in," he nodded to Green Arrow, analyzing the situation with a keenness Batman would have been proud of. "We synchronize. Three of us. It should be fast." Fools indeed, he confirmed, because Green Arrow was already on the move. Tim followed his lead, moving in slowly as Arrow did. He was at least smart enough not to go full Leroy Jenkins on them.
Black Canary was equally as tired. Though not as disheveled as Tim, she had certainly looked better- as evidenced by the dark circles beneath her usually vibrant blue eyes. Oliver was focused, and she was glad for that. They all were. They would move as one, a well oiled machine. Tim's reference was not lost on her about fools rushing in and it added to the weight of her heart. Fists clenched, Dinah silently swore she would get Steph out of this even if it killed her in the process. Without a blink she followed Oliver, right on his heels- keeping a keen eye for any sudden movements. "I'll go left." Picking her side as to avoid any confusion.
Green Arrow crept along silently, probably nearly equally as tired as the rest of the group he knew that this wasn't the time for making mistakes. Nodding to Dinah "I'll take the right then." he went right and saw his mark, drawing a tranq arrow from his quiver he pulled it back and fired, watching the arrow arch across the open air he knew that it hit his mark before it actually did, the hypnotized watchmen collapsed as he was injected with the sedative and fell to the floor with a light thunk . Vaulting up Arrow grabbed the railing and pulled himself up onto the ledge that the watchmen had previously occupied, binding him quickly he reached up and touched the comm piece in his ear. "My guard is down, I'm going in through the window on the east side of the building, rendevous on the inside when you're ready." he said dropping silently to the floor and sneaking back into the shadows of the building where he could observe what was going on without being seen himself.
Red Robin drew his bo staff, his movement sure and silent. "Right down the middle it is." The mood wasn't right for anything but basic combat instructions. His voice lacked its usual humor. That tone was replaced by intense focus. The only thing that mattered was saving Stephanie and stopping the Hatter. Tim moved in and dropped from the rafters. His flight was silent until his body collided with that of the hulking man beneath him. Tim grunted, jamming his fist into the man's throat and sending him stumbling, rapping his knuckles with the staff and sending the gun in the man's hand skidding across the ground. With another sure swing, he knocked the man unconscious before moving on to the next. Pawn, pawn, pawn. He needed to get to the King.
Black Canary was blind with rage. Every time her fist connected to some brute's face, it was sweet painful justice. The muscles in her face practically threatened to smile...but it didn't happen. Everyrhing was too fragile, time too sensitive. "Ha! Huh! Hm!" She grunted as she threw a punch, a jab, a hook. A roundhouse kick to a jaw. Dinah was taking no prisoners, just dropping bodies left and right.
Mad Hatter Before the office he'd sent off even came back, there was the sound of a THUD! and Jervis swerved on his feet. It was coming from the other room, where his guards were posted. He scuttled over and peered out-- his guards were dropping like leaves! No, no, no! They'd found him already! No! He would /not/ let them take his Alice. Gritting his teeth, he whirled to the two guards who were left in the room with him. "Take the decoy out there," he snarled. "Distract them enough for me to get away! And go after that Canary!" he shouted, stomping his foot. "I want her hung to dry like the rest of my fake Alices," he growled, sending the instruction out as a command to all of the hypnotized guards withing range. Suddenly, they were all turning on Black Canary, heading her direction, as Jervis went over to hastily undo the cage that held his Alice. He would sneak her out the back, hide until the ship got there. The office finally came back in. "Arrival in less than ten, sir," he reported, and Jervis nodded. He grabbed the man by the jacket, shaking him. "You're my security detail. Shoot anyone that comes within twenty feet of me, understood?" The man nodded and loaded his sidearm. "Yes, sir."
Green Arrow couldn't have heard that right. "I want her hung to dry like the rest of my fake Alices,". No there was no way that that was right, no one went after Dinah Lance on his watch. Especially after what had happened to Mia. This was certainly not the time to be messing with the Green Arrow. Leaping out of the shadows he drew and arrow and fired it in Tetch's direction, one of his damned guards had to get in the way as they rushed towards Dinah, and he heard a cry of pain coming from the guard as an arrow protruded from his shoulder. Shouting to Red Robin he sprinted towards Dinah. "Get the Hatter!" he cried, already knocking another arrow and firing it her way, watching the arrow slam into the knee of the hypnotized goon. "I'll cover Black Canary, but you make sure he doesn't get away!" pulling another arrow he fired it in the direction of the hypnotized thugs circling in on Dinah. "We'll be right behind you now get going and save Batgirl!" he exclaimed vehemently, determined that he wouldn't let anything happen to Dinah.
Black Canary probably shouldn't have been so reckless. She knew better. She had trained too hard and too long to make such a rookie mistake, but alas- Dinah's mind was too clouded with hate to think clearly. Using too much strength at once to ever keep up at such a pace was causing her to weaken, and when the remainder of Hatter's lackeys descended upon her she was too quick to challenge them. "You like picking on blonde girl's, huh?" The confidence in her voice promising more fight than she had in her. She was more bark than bite at this point but she wasn't listening to her body. She wasn't listening to anything but the broken record playing in her mind "take them all down." With little more than a shrug she threw herself into the cluster, throwing punches and kicks Ike a mad woman.
Mad Hatter The men all descended on the Canary, despite her best efforts to fight them off. One of the larger men swung his gun and caught her upside the head, knocking her down. He reached out and grabbed her ankle, even as an arrow thudded into his leg, and fought through the pain, lifting her up and slamming her into the wall. His hands went to her throat, ready to squeeze her of all the air left in her lungs. The other men, weak and hobbling, watched as this happened, unaware and uncaring of the second presence behind them, and the third presence sneaking away through the warehouse toward their master.
Green Arrow didn't stop, he didn't think, he didn't wait for back up, he just acted on impulse, leaping through the air he landed on a crate and fired an arrow, it caught the hypnotized man in the shoulder, causing him to let go of Dinah, she slid down the wall and slumped to the floor and Oliver was immediately racing to her side, she must have been out cold after that hit and Oliver wasn't going to let anything happen to her, firing a volley of arrows as he moved he quickly incapacitated the remaining guards apart from one, who looked almost comical with an arrow protruding from his shoulder, though he couldn't feel it due to the hypnosis, aiming for his face Arrow slammed the butt of his bow into it and quickly slung his bow over his shoulder before turning to Dinah's energy-less form. Checking her vitals he sighed in relief to see that she was fine. Lifting her up he easily managed to stow her behind some crates and he dragged a tarp over her to stop anything from seeing her defenseless like that. "I'm sorry Pretty Birdy," he muttered more to himself than to her. "We'll catch him I promise." he said before racing off after Red Robin, just in case he needed any back up.
Steph stirred, shouting and commotion drawing her out of the black sleep she had been mired down in for who knew how long. Being awake lately was less than preferable, since she had been shoved into a small cage for acting out the /last/ time she was awake. Everything blurred together but she knew she broke a tea cup. Voices carried and she struggled to fight to alertness, but there was definitely /something/ wrong. Tetch looked spooked and she stayed quiet to keep his attention off her. Footsteps were getting closer to where they were and she wondered if this could actually be the cavalry, come in to save her. The girl in the cage next to her, her 'double', was still out and Steph hoped she stayed that way. This could get dicey, fast. There was nothing she could do from here, trapped in a cage and out of her costume and into a horribly uncomfortable blue dress with no weapons to speak of. She strained her eyes and ears to get a better beat on the situation, but all she could do was wait.
With every man he passed, all Red Robin could think was that they were another body between him and Stephanie. He had studied physiology and combat techniques at length. He was Bruce's student, just like Jason had said, but Jason wasn't going to help them. Stephanie thought the best of him, and Jason proved her wrong. Tim would have to do it himself. His spacial awareness told him Black Canary had gone down. He looked over at her, eager eyes wide with worry, but Green Arrow's body language told him she was alive. If she hadn't been, hell would've had no fury like an archer scorned. "Keep moving," he instructed, an authority in his voice that might have come from Batman himself. "We'll come back for her, but we can't let up now."
Mad Hatter grit his teeth and stormed over to Alice's cage. He paused. "If you so much as speak a word, I'll kill her," he warned, pointing at the other unconscious girl in the cage next to Steph's. "Understand?" Once she nodded, he smiled and opened her cage, yanking her out by her upper arm. "We're going on a little trip," he told her, his voice low and angry as he dragged her over towards the garage door. "Once we're out of here, we can finally start over." The ruckus from outside the room made his skin writhe. How had they found him? The guard behind him followed in close pursuit with the other girl, but Jervis still felt anger in his bones. He wanted to kill whoever messed up his plans. The pinwheel in his hat began to spin. "Don't worry Alice, I'll take care of everything."
Steph shrunk back as Tetch stomped up to her cage, violently. She had been all ready to kick up a fuss, shout and fight back and get everyone's attention on her and Hatter, but when he threatened the girl that had become her companion through the mad fever wonderland she stilled. There was a long beat between them, but finally she nodded. He smiled, her right answer pleasing him and keeping everybody alive for a little bit longer. Abruptly, he viciously grabbed her out of the cage, adding a ring of bruises around her arm to add to the others. She stumbled as he pulled her along, mumbling things she couldn't hear through the murky haze that fuzzied her attention.
Green Arrow gazed back at Dinah for one second before sighing, pulling a handful of arrows from his quiver and racing after Red Robin, there wasn't much left in terms of guards, but any that were left seemed far too preoccupied to offer much resistance, taking them down quickly he made his way up to Red Robin, gaining with each second, once they were level he looked over to Tetch's location and shrugged. "What is the plan?" he asked, Red could take the lead on this one, he didn't trust himself to make an unbiased decision, not when he was still reeling from Dinah going down, that wasn't something that he had expected in the slightest.
Red Robin looked at Green Arrow and then averted his eyes. Black Canary was down, but they couldn't stop. There was another blonde in need of saving. "You go after Tetch. I'm going for Stephanie." He moved forward without waiting for Arrow's response. The man had a bow and as many trick arrows as would fit in his quiver. He could distract Tetch, disable him while Tim moved in. The henchmen were gone. Only one person stood between them and Tetch. Tim loosed a smoke bomb as they got closer, ducking away from the Hatter as he continued. "Stephanie?!" he called, listening for her voice, moving towards it.
Green Arrow weaved in after Red Robin, pulling a flashbang arrow to the string of his quiver he peered through the smoke looking for Tetch, a silhouette, a scrap of green cloth from his hat, anything to distinguish him from the thick wall of grey smoke that blocked his sight, he saw it, after a full five seconds of searching, he didn't have to be told twice, firing the arrow in Tetch's direction he immediately pulled a second, more standard arrow from his quiver and fired once more, lower this time, with hopes that he would hit him but no guarantee in this smoke, he might not even be shooting at anything. "Where are you, you bastard?" he whispered underneath his breath.
Steph forced her lead muscles to react once the thick cloud of smoke enveloped her and Hatter, giving her the opportunity she had been waiting for since she got here. His grab on her arm hadn't loosened up, but he was angry and disoriented so she willed everything in her to move and she wrenched her arm away as hard as she possibly could. She stumbled back with the motion, her weary muscles wavered under her and she dropped to the floor. Tim's voice! Got her attention, and she was forcing herself in that direction. "T-tim!" There was another bang just behind her and bright, bright light and she shouted along with Tetch. "Tim??" Her eyes screwed shut, she strained her ears to hear Tim.
Mad Hatter stumbled back as some filled his sight and lungs. his group on Alice was suddenly gone and he screeched, lashing out. But he grabbed nothing, and in the next moment there was an arrow in his hat. "You bastard!" he shouted, whipping his cane out and swinging. It connected with something, or someone. "Get back here with my Alice!"
Green Arrow was apparently a lot closer to the Hatter than he had originally thought, as he felt the sting of his cane as it lashed out and whipped across his face leaving a red welt which would certainly bruise. He could hear the cries by Batgirl and Red Robin, the names Tim and Steph were bandied about a lot. But he had more pressing concerns. "Oh you're going to regret that." he murmured, pulling a boxing glove arrow to the string of his bow and aiming it in the direction of the Hatter. The smoke was still as thick as it had ever been, but he hoped that point blank he'd be able to hit his target, and so with that thought in mind he fired, hearing the pneumatic hiss as the boxing glove expanded out from its casing.
Mad Hatter reeled back when something thick and hard slammed into his face. He stumbled, barely catching himself, but felt the familiar whoosh of air as his hat flew from his head. "No, NO!" he shouted, lashing out with his can again, and grappling blindly in the smoke for his hat. He needed his hat! He was nothing without his hat! He'd be small and feeble and powerless without his hat! He fell to his knees, feeling around for it. His hand wrapped into fabric, but it wasn't his hat. It was the blue of Alice's dress. He yanked. "None of this was supposed to happen!" he shouted, raising his cane up again, ready to strike Alice across the head. If he couldn't have her, no one could.
Steph could hear Tetch shouting futilely and while he thrashed around something green fell through the smoke, just beside her. His hat!! Her eyes widened and she realized she could stop this right now if she could just get the damn thing. With one hand closed around the brim, she was yanked backwards and the unexpected force made her fall onto her back and nearly drop the hat. Terrified, all she could see was the Mad Hatter standing over her with his cane raised, ready to kill her she was sure. Her scared expression turned hard and defiant as she put his own hat on her head, and gave the pinwheel one deliberate flick to get it spinning. "Go to hell." She spat through her teeth, watching his eyes unfocus as his own hypnosis took effect.
Green Arrow noticed that suddenly, in an almost cinematic manner the smoke cleared and Oliver could see Tetch staring down at a girl dressed in a dirty blue dress smeared with grime. She had his hat on, this girl was a genius, and with the hat she had managed to hypnotize him and for that moment he was stuck their. Pulling back another boxing glove arrow he fired it and watched it sail across and smash into the side of the Hatter's temple, slamming him against the wall in the process, not to take any risks when it came to such a dangerous man Oliver fired a net arrow that expanded and encompased the whole of Tetch's body, pinning him down in place.
Mad Hatter As the smoke cleared and his eyes unphased, the entire illusion around him unfolded, and as he looked down at the girl before him, all he could think, was, "You're not my Alice...." And then it was lights out. The men who had previously been hypnotized all suddenly froze, then collapsed, rubbing their heads, groaning their confusion. The officer holding the other girl quickly let go and backed up, spewing apologies. The mad man was subdued but the damage he'd left behind was still to be cleaned up.
Steph The second Tetch left her line of sight, Steph threw the offending hat off her head, slamming it on the ground. With a broken sob of mixed relief and despair, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She could see Tim hovering close by, and Green Arrow dealing with the Hatter, but she ignored them while she forced herself to stand on wobbly and weak legs. The Hat lay useless on the cement ground and in the hushed aftermath, she stomped on it with every ounce of strength left in her until she had no more and turned into Tim's waiting embrace.