A Quick Chat (Vanguard)

[vanguard]

Vanguard glanced out when the hatch of the Batplane was opened. Cyan would of called all of the flashing lights pretty, but the fact that they meant danger took the pleasantness away for Alex. To Alex, the whole situation was in a state of pandemonium and something needed to be done about it. While a means to get rid of the symbiotes once and for all wasn't available yet, what they could do was hold their ground. As the energy manipulator listened to Batman explain the plan, he quickly concluded that that the best way to fight these symbiotes was to simply push them away and maybe discombobulate them by hitting them hard by the ears.

Before Vanguard could ask how they were going to set up a barrier, the dark knight was out of the Batplane and was quickly launching the first attack. It wasn't long afterwards that Vanguard spotted an opening within the symbiote hoard, and jumped out of the Batplane to enter the fight. However unlike the Caped Crusader, Vanguard didn't even try to break his fall with his energy so when he landed there was a loud THUMP of him landing hard enough to crack the cement under his feet. This was quickly followed by a bright cyan colored glow from Vanguard's energy tendrils as he created two energy tendrils that he quickly used to force the symbiotes backwards. The glow of Alex's power was bright enough to light up a small part of the street. The combination of light and sound of Vanguard entering the battle drew the attention of several groups of symbiotes towards him... which is what Vanguard had hoped for. As long as they focused on him, they would ignore the civilians and maybe give Batman some breathing room.

You fool! Do you have a death wish?! You should of flown off with the Batplane and then taken it to Bialya!

Yeah? Well these things are going to be in Bialya if we go back so facing them here would be good practice. Now shut up and let me focus! Alex thought in response as he shoved four symbiotes away at the same time, then grew a third tendril from his back to shove another symbiote that was about to attack him from behind. The five symbiotes that had been pushed away were quickly sprawled down on the ground. Vanguard didn't stop there as he quickly cupped his hands and slammed them over the ears of another symbiote, causing the host's ears to ring profusely and making it stagger backwards as it tried to regain itself. Another symbiote tried to kick Vanguard in the shoulder... but kicking this Bialyan was like kicking a caste iron poll. All that symbiote managed to do was break it's own leg off of Vanguard's body.

While this battle was being waged, a news chopper carrying a brand new reporter started to fly overhead and was talking about the scene that was unfolding. "This is Clyde Phillips of Gotham Now reporting live, just north of the clock tower. Down below, the police force is trying to evacuate the civilians from the symbiote threat in this area, but they were having a difficult time doing so. However seconds ago the Batman and an unknown vigilante have jumped head first into the symbiote and are making a valiant attempt to stop them from gaining anymore ground." the reporter stated as the chopper's camera took in the battle that was going on in the streets below.

[Deleted]

The battle was on as Bruce fought in a defensive manner as he used the momentum of his enemies’ attacks to keep the symbiotes at bay. As one swung at him, he would grab the incoming arm and swing the attack around, so that he sent them into whoever was coming at him from behind. A loud sound informed Bruce that Vanguard had entered the battle in a noticeable manner, which would probably attract a lot of the symbiotes to him. The alien parasites seemed to realize who was the biggest threat and swarmed them, so that they could wear down the target and infest them. Of course, Bruce was pretty sure that his new charge was safe for the moment.

At the moment, they were managing pretty well against the symbiotes as Vanguard’s energy attacks were keeping quite a few of them occupied, while Bruce’s martial arts skills was keeping them from doing him any serious damage. Sure, he had been hit quite a few time in the ribs, but the Dark Knight had spun so fast on his attackers that he was able to deliver a counterattack that gave him some room to breathe. Alas, they couldn’t keep this up forever, so Bruce was going ot have to do something to isolate the area so that the police could move to another area that needed them. When he got a little room to breathe, he activated the comm device in his uniform.

”Batman to Cave. Take control of the Batplane remotely. Retrieve and place several crushed cars along the road between the police and the symbiotes, and then wait for further instructions.” It was a temporary measure to keep the symbiotes from moving forward, but it would have to do until he had a moment to think of a way of reinforcing it. As the Batplane was leaving, a helicopter arrived on the scene, and Bruce wondered if the pilot was aware of how dangerous the situation was. Either way, it was a possible liability if the symbiotes were to somehow get inside of it, so he would have to keep an eye on it just in case that scenario actually happened in the next few minutes.

Kicking a symbiote in the gut, Bruce started to clear a path to where the police were still struggling for control, and he began to beat back the symbiotes so that there was a clear line between the two groups for Alfred to drop the large metal blocks. As the first few blocks were being delivered, it became clear that Vanguard and him needed to retreat to the start of the wall so that they could properly defend any of the incoming attacks to it. ”Vanguard, move to my position and push the entire group back several feet,” yelled Batman as he tossed several explosive batarangs at the ground in front of him. They quickly exploded and caused a break in the incoming wave of symbiotes, but it would only last a few moments.

[vanguard]

Vanguard was on a roll with keeping the symbiotes at bay from where he had landed. When ever a symbiote tried to attack him from straight ahead they got pushed backwards several feet by an energy construct of a bulldozer plow, any that tried to get him from the sides were met with his strong arms and were shoved away from him, and any sneak attack from behind was met with an energy tendril coming from his back... it would grab the symbiote by the ankle and drag it till it was in front of Vanguard. All the while a third energy tendril from Alex's chest was lashing out at symbiotes that were trying to get passed him and sending them back. He was of course moving around too so he could get at other symbiotes that were farther away from him. His defense wasn't flawless though, and he had taken a punch or two, but his dense flesh didn't give in that easily so for the moment his was fine... for the moment.

What are you doing here still? Abandon these fools to their fate!

Thanks for shutting up. Not. Vanguard thought angrily at Cyan and ended up taking a symbiote claw to the thigh because Cyan had distracted him, resulting in the energy manipulator letting out a grunt in pain... though the symbiote hadn't been able to cut that deep. If anything the attack had been minimal, and it was the nanofibers of his uniform getting dug into the very shallow wound that made it hurt a lot, not the wound itself. The symbiote that got him was quickly pushed away and left it unharmed, even though Cyan was manipulating Alex's instincts to kill everything in sight.

It was at that moment that Vanguard heard Batman call to him to push the symbiotes back several feet. "Incoming!" Vanguard responded as he retracted all of his energy tendrils, jumped into the air, flipped over the symbiote line, and landed roughly in front of Batman after his batarangs exploded. "Ten feet good enough for you?" Vanguard asked as he created three energy tendrils that extended outwards... one from each hand, and on from his chest. The ends of the tendrils inflated into large blocks of energy, all three the size of a VW Bug, and Vanguard started to use them to push the symbiotes back. From the view inside the news helicopter that circled above, it looked like Vanguard was playing a very intense game of pong. The good news was that Vanguard could push as many as 30 symbiotes away all at once... the bad news was that his energy constructs couldn't block off the entire street. There was enough room for two more VW bugs sized energy constructs, and Vanguard couldn't make them. As a result he had to keep his constructs in a state of constant motion... which put him at his limit and a couple symbiotes managed to get through every now and then.

"Bats! I'm at my maximum output here!" Vanguard called out as he kicked away a symbiote. Meanwhile, the news helicopter kept recording the battle, but it stayed behind the batwing to be safe.

[Deleted]

As he waited for Vanguard to move over by him, Bruce dealt several blows to the symbiotes that were getting close. If everything went according to plan, then the wall that was being assembled would be too heavy for the creatures to push over, but he would reinforce it with some other things just to be sure. With it in place, the two of them could move on to other parts of the city that needed their help, and by moving on Bruce was thinking that they could do it in a separate manner as he couldn’t baby-sit Vanguard all day long

Besides, it looked as though Vanguard was more than capable of handling himself in combat, but Bruce would keep him under constant surveillance just to make sure there were no mistakes being made. ”It should suffice for what I have planned,” responded the Dark Knight as the young man went to work. It was quick work to push the line of symbiotes back, but Vanguard’s comment meant that holding that line was going to be rather difficult to manage. After all, the Bialyan wasn’t Superman, so Bruce would take down the few that got through Vanguard’s defensive blocks.

”Keep your blocks on one side of the road, so that they are only able to come through on one side.” With a smaller space to combat them in, Bruce moved forward and began to go to work on the group on the right side of the street. Delivering blows to their faces and sweeping their legs, he attempted to stall their movements by making their large numbers into a disadvantage, but even with all his training Bruce received serious blows from his attackers. Kicking a symbiote back into the group, he reached up to activate his communication device in his suit, so that he could get a status update. ”How are we doing?”

”I am glad to report that this wall is almost finished. It should be done in the next minute, so I would advise getting ready to being on the other side of it.”

Clicking off the calm device, Bruce tossed another wave of explosive batarangs toward the incoming mob, and then he did a series of back flips until his back was at the wall. ”We are moving to higher ground, so knock them down like dominoes and meet me up top.” Pulling out his grappling hook, he flung it upward so it would hook on to the metal block, and then he proceeded to climbing up to the top layer. From there, he could tell that only a couple of more blocks needed to be placed, so Vanguard and him could work on reinforcing the non-symbiote side of the wall.

[vanguard]

It was clear that Batman had heard Vanguard when he said that he was at his maximum energy output, and the Caped Crusader already came up with a plan on how to handle that... which was for the energy manipulator to move all of his energy constructs to one side off the street. It was a good thing Alex was wearing that helmet, or Batman would've seen his 'are you nuts?' look on his face... but he did as he was told. Soon, the whole left half, center, and part of the right side of the street were blocked off by Vanguard's energy... and Batman was left to stop them from pouring through what was left.

It tore at Vanguard's heart that he could help out with fighting off the symbiote, but he was stuck standing where he was. Sure he could walk towards Batman, but he wouldn't be able to help much since two of the energy bits were getting projected from his hands, and he couldn't swing a punch without swinging the whole construct at the same time. He couldn't change the spot that the energy was being emitted from while it was being emitted either. He would have to stop emitting for a brief second to help, but if he did then the symbiotes would flood in. Bats was on his own for a few moments, and all Vanguard could do was watch.
As he watched, the news helicopter continued to circle overhead. ”Incredible! Batman and this one other individual are holding a flood of symbiotes at bay as Batman’s plane uses nearby abandoned vehicles to build a protective wall to keep the symbiotes within the infected zones! Batman’s fighting abilities and tech seemed to be able to hold off the symbiotes that are flooding through the unknown being’s barriers. This unknown hero seems to have a power similar to the Justice League’s Green Lanterns, though blue in color. Whatever he, or she is, his abilities are keeping the symbiotes away from the wall until it’s complete. Wait, Batman seems to be pulling away from the battle now.” the reporter stated as the onboard camera captured everything, and recorded Batman pulling back.

The moment Batman told Vanguard to knock the symbiotes like dominos, the energy manipulator smiled under his mask as he retracted all three of his energy constructs. ”On it!” Vanguard shouted as he created two large energy whips that were 30 feet in length, and swept them both across the ground… and knocked down every symbiote within 30 feet. ”Someone please tell me why I didn’t do that in the first place?” Vanguard asked out loud as he jumped up and landed next to Batman. ”Next?” Vanguard stated, than looked up when he heard an odd humming sound. ”I had to ask…” there, in the distance in the air, was a single flying symbiote with what looked like butterfly wings that were coated with symbiote slime. It was flying alone up there, but it was moving rather quickly, and heading towards flying aircrafts.

[Deleted]

Watching from atop the wall, Bruce also wondered why Vanguard hadn’t of done the whip maneuver before, and it only took him a moment to come up with two possible conclusions. The first one was that the stress of the situation had caused the young man to forget that he was capable of such a maneuver, which seemed likely given that Vanguard should have been trained in the use of his powers. The second one, which was less likely, was that he was unaware of what he was really capable of so on the job training would be required at some point.

With any good plan, there was always one or two hiccups that made things go astray, and in this case that hiccup came in the form of a flying symbiote, which meant that someone with powers or some type of technology had become infected. Judging from the appearance, Bruce had to assume that it was Killer Moth, who was the only villain in Gotham who chose to dress up in an outfit designed to make him seem moth-like. Of course, that particular villain had been scarce even before this invasion, so it was entirely possible that he was more moth than man at this point.

”The plan is simple. You are going to blast that symbiote out of the sky, and I am going to board the helicopter so I can land and make it incapable of flight. Damaging one of the wings is the safest way to take him down quickly,” Bruce said before he ran along the wall and leapt into the air. Using his cape as a glide, the Dark Knight was able to grab a hold of the helicopter by the bottom, and then he pulled himself up and knocked on the door. When it opened, Bruce climbed inside while pushing the pilot out of the driver’s seat.

Now in control of the copter, he directed it toward the nearest clear area on the safe side of the wall. ”When we land, you will evacuate the area, and you will not try to get back in.” His voice implied that it wasn’t up for debate, so when they did land the occupants of the helicopter quickly got out and ran for safety. With that out of the way, he turned his attention back to where the wall was to see how Vanguard was faring. ”I need a pick-up at my location. Immediately.”

Within moments, the Batplane had finished its previous assignment and was now hovering above him, and a second later a line was dropped from the side that Bruce grabbed onto which pulled him back up to the plan. Back in the driver’s seat, he turned toward the wall in order to pick up Vanguard and assist him if he needed it.

[vanguard]

*translated from Bialyan*

Vanguard wasn't surprised that Batman was able to come up with a plan on the spot, though he didn't expect Batman to tell him to bring down the flying symbiote. He had half expected Batman to jump into his Batplane and take the symbiote out himself in his flying vehicle or with a batarang... but instead he told Vanguard to handle the symbiote while he focused on getting the helicopter to safety. Without another word, the Dark Knight was off to the helicopter. The energy manipulator didn't waste any time either, and quickly jumped two stories into the air to land on a fire escape next to the barrier wall, then jumped with all of his might to head for the flying symbiote. He didn't jump directly off the barrier with all his might because he was worried the downward force from his legs might make the barrier unstable... and he proved his point because it wasn't half a second after he left the fire escape that it started to crumble, a result getting three tons of force pushed against it suddenly.

However Vanguard didn't even get three stories off the ground before the flying symbiote fired a burning energy ball out of it's mouth that was aimed at Vanguard... and the thing was that the energy manipulator couldn't change directions it mid air, and the ball was flying at half the speed of a bullet, which was still too fast for Vanguard to counter with his energy. "Aw *hydra's dump*." he muttered as it nailed him right on the emblem on his chest, which activated the stealth tech in his uniform and turned him completely gray as Vanguard fell from the sky and vanished into an alleyway... and landed with a BAM and the sound of cement cracking. "*Ow*." Vanguard quickly got up, ran out of the alley, and jumped after the symbiote. Thanks to the fact that his uniform had changed to stealth mode, he was a lot harder to see.

Meanwhile up in the news chopper Clyde Phillips of Gotham Now was trying to get something else out of Batman while he was landing the chopper, and was sticking the mike in the Bat's face. "Batman, what do you have to say about this new world wide threat? How is the League going to get rid of the symbiotes without harming the hosts? Who is that other person with you that seems to have the power of a Green Lanturn? Can anyone with that much power be trusted?" Clyde's questions kept coming even as the chopper landed. Not long after it landed, the flying symbiote flew over the barrier, but an energy lasso from Vanguard as he landed on the barrier grabbed the symbiote by the ankle, pulled it back to the symbiote side of the wall, and another energy construct, this one a sword, was generated from Alex's other hand and cut through two of the four butterfly wings.

The symbiote reacted by shooting him with another energy ball, but this time Vanguard wasn't flying though the air so the attack didn't even make him flinch, even though it hurt quite a bit. still with the energy lasso around the symbiote's leg, Alex quickly shoved it off the wall and lowered it down to the ground. He then released the symbiote and recalled his energy. "Note to self, figure out a way to change direction in mid-air." Vanguard thought out loud as he looked up at the approaching Batplane and tapped the emblem on his uniform twice, turning it back into standard mode.

[Deleted]

As he headed back to where Vanguard waited, Bruce went over the possible ways to reinforce the wall that they had just built, and the safest way was to set up a series of braces that were welded to the metal wall that Bruce had just commissioned. Now, he knew of two ways that they could do this. One, Bruce could have a team of welders come in and set up the braces up, which would be very time consuming. Two, a simple call to a Kryptonian with heat vision and super strength would cut the time of the job tremendously, but Superman was busy with larger crises. ”Contact a local construction company to send materials, equipment and workers to my location to set up several braces to reinforce a barrier. Report with ETA,” said Batman to Alfred in the Cave.

As he made his way back, Bruce saw Vanguard handle the flying symbiote, and while he was impressed with the young man’s technique it was the energy blast that the symbiote had used that really caught his attention. It made him wonder if the symbiotes were actually forcing the hosts to evolve to suit their needs, which meant that they were altering them genetically. Theoretically, it was possible that the DNA of any of the human hosts was being altered given the increase in strength that the hosts displayed. Of course, it was completely possible that the host already had the power to produce those energy blasts, but Bruce couldn’t be sure. There just wasn’t enough evidence for anyone to accurately predict what effects that the parasites had on the human body, but Bruce planned to find out when this crisis was over.

Putting the Batplane on hover, Bruce jumped out and glided down to the wall, so that he landed next to Vanguard. Looking down at the hoard, he concluded that he could hold the aliens at bay with the non-lethal weapons on the Batplane while the workers did their job, which meant that Vanguard was no longer needed here. Alas, this meant that Bruce was going to do something that would be risky, but the times were desperate enough to justify it. ”I have three rules for you. Rule one, do not take any unnecessary risks. You are a powerful young man, and losing you to one of them would be devastating. Rule two, check in every hour on the hour. I do not care if you are being swarmed by a hundred of these things. You will check in via the comm device. Rule three, do not talk to any reporter about anything. I don’t want to be hearing reports with your name in them. Follow those rules, and I won’t have to have someone babysit.”

While he hadn’t said it openly, Bruce’s listing of his rules was permission for Vanguard to work in the city on his own, but there was a hitch. Even though he had said that Vanguard would be without a babysitter, the Dark Knight did plan on using the tracking device in the comm unit to triangulate and keep tabs on the Bialyan, which was just a safety precaution in case the young man broke rule number one or three.

[vanguard]

Alex watched from the barrier wall as the Batplane approached, entered a sort of hover mode, then Batman joined him on the wall. Vanguard wasn't sure what the caped crusader was going to want next, but he was ready for it... despite the fact that Cyan was yelling within his head to either leave of kill the Dark Knight. He was about to ask Batman for his next assignment when the protector of Gotham spoke up first.

And the energy manipulator couldn't believe what he was hearing. Instead of giving him his next assignment, Batman instead was giving him some rules to follow. Either that meant that he was going to have to be more careful... or Batman was going to let Alex be on his own. The latter was confirmed when Batman listed rule number 2. He was actually going to be allowed to roam freely throughout Gotham and help out in any way it could... or lay low if Cyan managed to take over. "Agreed. I'll follow those three rules, but I'm adding a fourth rule that is going to continue standing long after this crisis is over. If Cyan gets close to taking me over, I will let you or another Justice League member know, I'll get myself to someone where no one will find me, then I'll knock myself out. Like you said I can be just as much of a threat as a rogue League member... maybe more so since I'm at home underground where even Superman would be stumble over his own feet." Alex stated. He was wondering if Batman intended to use the comm device that Vanguard now had to track him. It wouldn't be hard at all.

He then glance at a nearby building that was well within his jumping range. "Anything else before I get moving?"

[Deleted]

It seemed that Vanguard truly understood what the rules would entail, and Bruce learned just how much of a struggle the young man was having when he added a fourth rule to the list. While he didn’t agree with the entirety of the plan that had just been explained to him, the Dark Knight didn’t raise any objections to it, but that was mainly because he planned on keeping tabs of Vanguard’s location just in case such a situation occurred. If Cyan did take over Vanguard’s body, then Dr. Fate would locate the young man and transport him to an isolated location where either Miss Martian or Martian Manhunter could find a way to lock that persona away.

It seemed that there was no more to say on the matter of the rules that were in place, but he did have one more warning to give that might keep Vanguard from getting into an unnecessary fight with someone that was on his side. ”There will be other players that I have put into play to keep the tables from completely turning on us, but they are fairly new to the game. If you don’t want to waste time and energy fighting an unknown ally, then I’d advise avoiding anyone that looks like another vigilante,” said Bruce as he kept his focus on what the wall was blocking.

Those would be the last words that he spoke to Vanguard until the next time that he needed him if he could help it. Alas, not even he could predict what would happen over the next few hours, but he could make plan for a majority of possible outcomes that might occur. Bruce figured that the Lanterns would return with some news of what can of parasitic aliens these were, so they would just have to hold until that time.

[vanguard]

Alex was well aware that Batman had heard him state the fourth rule that the energy manipulator was going to have to follow while in Gotham, but the Dark Knight made no indication of what his thoughts on it were. There wasn't any agreement, nor was there any disapproval, just a moment of silence that lasted about half a second before the Justice League member continued speaking. He mentioned that there were other vigilantes out and about that were trying to keep the symbiotes at bay, but some of them were fairly new at it. Yeah, like me. Vanguard thought to himself. He was new at being a vigilante too... but unlike others he was trained for war and was battle hardened to the point that he could stare down an army and not flinch. He could show the newbies a thing or two so they could survive this longer.

But then again... if any of them attacked him and somehow exposed his Bialya tattoo, he'd be the most wanted man in America. Besides, he had just been told to keep his distance from them if he could. "Very well. I'll keep my distance from them if I can." Vanguard stated. Those were the last words he spoke to the Dark Knight until they next met. Vanguard turned away from the wall, jumped up onto a rooftop, and quickly started to move through Gotham to find some more symbiotes to hold off.