Hellzone: Nightingale Effect (ask/invite) [R-Rated]

[Deleted]

[WARNING: Strong language and trigger warnings ahead - profanity, assault, sexual themes]

Linda Carter, medical practitioner and the secret doctor known to the superhero community as Night Nurse, paced nervously in the dimly lit and stale laundromat basement, rubbing the sides of her arms as she held herself together, the clicking of her shoes against the tile floor the only sound in this lonesome place. All of the remaining heroes had split up to take back the Big Apple from those that would destroy it, some to gather supplies to bring the advantage back to the good guys, some off to divide and conquer the various gangs that had decided to play the biggest game of capture the flag New York had ever seen, and others off the locate and disarm the hidden nuke the assassin, Elektra, had planted somewhere in the city.

Linda frowned at the thought of Elektra being front and center of all this insanity, especially with the way Daredevil had reacted just by the mere mention of her name. How could Matt just up and leave like that? Straight up abandon them all just as they were finally pulling together as a team? Was one woman really that dangerous? Or worse yet, did she really mean that much to him? The doctor narrowed her eyes and combed her thick, frizzing hair back between her fingers, focusing on various detergent labels and bulk dryer sheets, hoping to chase the thoughts of Matt and Elektra 'trading blows' from the forefront of her mind.

Why did he have to be so...so reckless?

Night Nurse crossed her arms and continued pacing, her eyes wandering to the dwindling medical supplies upon her makeshift operating table. Even though she had offered her trained eye to the team that were to fetch more from the supply bases Fury had provided, (Former?) Agent Johnson had deemed her as more of a liability out in the field compared to staying at home base. It's better for you to stay here, Quake had told her in private. I can go out into the warzone and get supplies.

“Better, my ass,” the doctor muttered to herself, grabbing hold of her blue cape that had been draped over a cot and tying it securely around her shoulders. Her friends were out there, Daredevil was out there, in the midst of fire and gunsmoke, to try and make a difference, to save innocent lives. Linda knew exactly what they would need and how much, and she wasn't going to be able to help these brave people without the proper tools, less so if she was hauled up at home base when one of them could be dying alone out there. Now trapped in the thick of the Hellzone herself, she owed it to her friends to put in the same effort to serve and protect this city and the heroes that remained to defend it.

Her heart pounding, she looked around one last time at the empty laundromat, just in case someone had slipped back in unnoticed, and carefully slipped her way out without a sound.

Now who's the one being reckless?

Stay quiet, stick to the shadows, don't draw attention... Night Nurse swallowed back her fear as she pressed her entire body against the brick of an old building, trying her best to not be spotted by the nearby grouping of well-dressed men she didn't recognize. There seemed to be five of them congregating and chattering amongst themselves, all armed to the nines with machine guns.

“Dude, this is great! It's like we got the whole city to ourselves!”

“Too bad the only chicks around could kick our teeth in by just blinking.”

“Yeah, I get that. f**k**g supers, man. Takes the fun right out of it.”

Linda's breathing grew more rapid as her heart rate increased and sweat formed heavy drops upon her forehead, searching frantically for somewhere more concealed to hide. She repeated the same mantra over and over again in her head. Stay quiet, stick to the shadows, don't draw attention...stay quiet, stick to the shadows, don't draw attention...

“Awww, but Elektra, man, have you seen that broad? I'd love to take a big bite outta her gyro, let me tell ya.”

Stay quiet, stick to the shadows, don't draw attention... Linda spied the nearest alleyway, just beyond the gun-toting men and covered mostly in shadow, and attempted to relax her breathing. She could either continue forward or fall back at this point. No...she couldn't go back. She had come too far, she couldn't give up the mission now.

“No way! She's waaaay too butch! She could crush your head between her thighs like a watermelon!”

“And this is supposed to be turn me off....how...?”

Stay quiet, stick to the shadows- GO!

Night Nurse darted from the shadows towards the alley, certainly not as graceful as her superpowered counterparts, but managed to slip into the new darkness just as one of the mobsters turned his firearm her direction.

“You hear something?”

“Naw...but I thought I saw something...”

The doctor's blood went cold. Crap! Move move move! Her entire body tingling with panic, she ran further into the dark backstreet as fast as her legs would carry her. She leaped over some stacked cardboard, only to land a foot directly on top of an empty aluminum can and feeling it rolling her off balance in an instant. An unpleasant pop resounded, sending waves of electrified pain throughout the entirety of Night Nurse's leg as she unsuccessfully suppressed the urge to scream. Linda landed hard on her side against the pavement, tears of pain streaking down her cheeks.

“Well well well...lookit what the rats dragged in for us, boys.”

One of the gangsters grabbed hold of Linda's hair and forced her to her feet, pressing her hard against the chain link fence that would have blocked her ultimate escape. She thrashed as hard as she could against the man's grip, only to have her head reared back and smashed against the fence, her thin arms held tightly behind her back to the point of nearly feeling her shoulders dislocate.

“Bit of a mousy thing, don'tcha think?”

“The hell are you complaining for? Think we'll get another warm one like this the longer this whole game goes on for? Let's get it while the getting's good.”

Night Nurse shivered and fought against the mobster's hold, feeling a slick sensation of a warm tongue slide against her ear. An involuntary scream escaped from her throat.

“Well then boys...who want's the first round? I'm buying.”

jade @wraith

[Deleted]

"There's just so much goddamned weight on my shoulders
All I'm trying to do is live my m*th*rf**k**g life
Supposed to be happy, but I'm only getting colder
Wear a smile on my face, but there's a demon inside."

Quake was listening to her headphones as the the Pixies song "Where is my mind" began playing she walked through the streets of Hells Kitchen. She had successfully found
a stash of medical supplies and was bringing them back to the laundry mat. She saw a figure dart across the street. Quake paused for a moment in her waking as the music played in her ears.

"Where is my mind?"

Quakes eyes began to investigate the surroundings taking in some rather nefarious individuals standing around talking while holding large guns. She didn't like the looks of them or what they were talking about. Her eyes scanned the surroundings taking in the hellish landscape of broken buildings,
trash, and burned down dreams. As her eyes caught the reflection of a blue caped figured again this time heading for an alleyway Quake watched the men follow the figure. She didn't know what was happening, her instincts told her to follow and she did.

As Quake made her way to the alleyway her ears filled with a familiar scream, Night Nurse. She moved quickly as the thugs now had Night Nurse pinned to a fence. In the shadows of the alleyway Quake stood in her black uniform. She pulled up her hood and mask in her most seductive voice she addressed the group of thugs..

"Well hello there boys, I see we're trying to have some fun. Why don't you come over here and try to play with my rod?"

With that she unloaded a spring loaded metal baton and charged the first thug that held Night Nurse to the fence. She quickly pounced on him, her body moving low and gracefully as her baton hit his shins with a sickening *crack* the man instantly fell to the ground asthe others reached for their guns. A hail of gunfire broke out as Quake moved he air currents and redirected the bullets away from herself and Night Nurse. As the gun fire stopped for the men to reload Quake smiled and waved her finger out to them.

"Naughty boys with their toys, I'm going to have to teach you a lesson"

She pushed her hands out and generated enough energy the men were instantly disarmed, the weapons looking like toy guns as they flew down the alleyway and shattered upon impact. The alley way filled with crimson as the man she attacked now laid in the alleyway hollowing in pain. He yelled out to the others while trying to hold onto his injured legs the white of his bones reflecting in the light of the moon.

"Teach this bitch a lesson, we'll handle her."

The next thing Quake knew eight of the men were converging on her. A knife careened through the share the metal shining in the moonlight as it landed in Quakes leg with a *shunk*. She was injured, but that wasn't going to stop her from drawing the attention from Night Nurse and destroying these men. Quake reached down to her right thigh and pulled out the knife with *pop* as it came to the surface and crimson started to pool on uniform. She threw it back with enough force it landed in the mans skull forcing him to the ground instantly.

"I like a little pain with my pleasure, how about you boys?"

She felt the thugs grab her from behind this time pinning her arms behind her. Quake struggled against their strengthen. With out her hands Quake's ability was not something easily aimed. The man forced her into a near by alleyway her face pushed up against the brick as her body felt the pusher of the thugs gaining up on her. Some delivering hard blowed to kidneys and sides, knowing it would incapacitate the average person, however Quake was not average nor a human. Quake suddenly had a flash back to 3 weeks ago when she was in captivity. Her blood boiled as the pain they caused returned to her present mind her the abuse she took played out like a movie in her head. Quake felt more men push her body into the wall her face now rubbing against the brick. One of them spoke to her as he kicked away her baton and took her gun.

"I always find the feisty ones.. more fun."

Quake felt her shoulders being stretched as the other thugs held her to the brick. She didn't say a word no, Quake was very calm in this moment. Even as the man pushed the muzzle of her gun onto her face and she felt another blade stab into her side. Quake was calm, she focused on her ability forcing all of energy out of her body and to the men holding her down. As one of them spoke.

"All of you woman are the same...weak"

Quake let out a yell as her ability pushed the men off and into the walls across the way. Their bodies like match sticks in a storm crunched and snapped as they hit the brick. She stood up as they scrambled to their feet and grabbed weapons. The one on her back had dropped her gun, Quake picked up her gun and baton she moved with graceful purpose as holstered her baton and stood her foot on the mans chest. She slowly leaned forward pushing the muzzle of gun into his forehead. The man gasped for air struggling against the force of Quake. His eyes begged for mercy as Quake spoke, mercy was never an option for this man.

"Weak...you think I am weak...you don't know weak...weak is taking advantage of people...weak is the disgust scum like you brought to this city. You are just a weak sad little cockroach."

With those last words Quake pulled the trigger successfully placing a bullet in the mans brain, she double tapped to make sure the man was down. Quake leaving most of the other men a live looked at them as she moved to Night Nurses side.

"Go back and tell your friends we're coming for them, go back and tell them hells coming for them."

She crouched next to Night Nurse, seeing her injuries and ignoring her own.

"Can you move..."

Before any more words could escape the men were charging Quake and Night Nurse again.

[Deleted]

Everywhere she stepped, she saw it.

Every footprint in every direction, every sound or lack thereof, every rotten sulfur-laden taste, every scorching sight...all the world surrounding Jovie Macmillan was a testament to her failure. When she returned from...that place, she swore to herself that what happened there would not happen here, and yet, several months later, hell came down on Earth. It stirred something deep in her that all she could see anymore was her past creeping up her body like a parasite, every thug was a reaver now, scurrying through the broken ruins of a dead civilization looking for prey. It was more than just symbolism or bad memories now though; every so often she would catch glimpses, small things in the corner of her eye that shouldn’t be there, like components of the ship she lived in for over a decade, familiar sands littering the landscape, at it’s worst, some thugs even disappear from her sight only to reappear as reaver seconds later. It terrified her that her memories might be seeping into her waking mind, but every time something like that happened, she quickly beat away her fear and always repeated to herself that it was just a dream...she hoped.

Despite the fact that she had essentially come from one hell into another still in the making, the thought of witnessing her own home’s degeneration seemed oddly...calming. As if there was a serenity to knowing there was nothing to be done and you could just rest and cut loose, no limits, no fears, it would all be gone soon anyway. This train of thought was wrenched into another direction as a shriek clawed through her ears, drawing her toward an alley a block away. Down in the scorched and scratched passage, Time Knight spied two women, not to mention several pigs surrounding them.

It didn’t take a genius to put together the pieces, and the mere thought of that was already setting her brain and heart aflame. Just hearing them speak was enough to whip up a frenzy in her, each syllable quickening her heartbeat to the point where it’s thumping began to drown out all else. Those monsters just taking them, making them less than human, laughing in their faces and using them as objects or toys like they didn’t matter, like...like...like Eliza…

Everything went dark…

She woke up to the smell of rot and blood combing through her nostrils, her eyes soaking in the sight of her dented armor baptized in blood, knee deep in bodies that made Jack the Ripper look like Ned Flanders. Whether they were dead or alive, she couldn’t tell, save for one guy...well, it would be best if she didn’t think about what she might’ve done to him. “What...what did I…?” She choked out, her voice quivering softly amidst her work.

[Deleted]

Throbbing pain pulsed from Linda's ankle nearly into her teeth, dulled only by the sensation of of rough fingers clutching into her buttocks with nefarious intent, when suddenly, the man holding her in place crumpled to the pavement following the nauseating crack of metal upon bone. The gangster (either unconscious or dead, she wasn't sure), collapsed heavily upon her, instinctively grabbing at her arms to keep himself upright, only to drag the poor woman down with him.

Everything else in the next few moments happened so quickly as Night Nurse attempted to shove the wasted lump of a human off of her. A familiar woman in black made her presence painfully known to the other attackers, warping the air around the alleyway to redirect the gunfire that rained out from all directions. The doctor kept as close to the ground as possible, covering her head beneath her arms as flashes of light illuminated the dark city street, dimmed by the thick smog of burning gunsmoke.

How did it all go so wrong? What the hell happened to this once beautiful town she considered her home? New York had its darker, danker neighborhoods, sure, but Linda was a New Yorker, born and bred. Being unable to travel through the city at night without being mugged or assaulted...that wasn't her New York. Not her Manhattan. This false shade of what the city once was made it more akin to one in a third-world country, not the center of the American Dream as it had always been known.

Night Nurse finally looked up at the gentle voice asking if she was able to move, the rampant sounds of smashing, crashing, and shooting having quieted for just this fleeting moment. “Quake...” her tiny voice barely managed to eke out of her tight and terrified throat. Linda's face was paled with fear and pain, a sheen of sweat glistening on her forehead in the small amount of light they had available to them, but she immediately put up a strong front and smiled knowingly at the former SHIELD agent. “Funny, weren't the roles reversed the last time we met?”

No sooner had the words left her lips, the remaining gangsters changed forward to take down the pair of them, when the powerful swoop of white feathers swept the men off their feet. Time Knight was now on the scene, though her demeanor was more focused, almost demonic compared to the angelic nature her appearance would generally imply. Night Nurse held tightly to Quake and pressed her face against the agent's shoulder to avert her gaze as the armored mutant slaughtered the remaining men in a whirlwind of strikes, leaving them as mere smears of blood and pulps of flesh and bone against the asphalt.

Suddenly....the street became silent, save for the humming of a nearby streetlight and the heavy, labored breathing of the three women still alive in that alley. Linda looked from Daisy to Jovie, wide-eyed with terror and splattered with blood, still in an inordinate amount of pain and unable to speak.

These were the heroes that were left to defend the city in its final hour of need. Night Nurse realized now, all too late, that she was way in over her head.

[Deleted]

"There's just so much goddamned weight on my shoulders
All I'm trying to do is live my m*th*rf**k**g life
Supposed to be happy, but I'm only getting colder
Wear a smile on my face, but there's a demon inside."

“Quake...Funny, weren't the roles reversed the last time we met?”

Quake heard the voice of Night Nurse as she held her in arms. She could tell that she was scared, but trying to put on a brave face for Quake. Just as the rest of the gangsters appeared and Quake felt Night Nurse quiver in fear and bury her face into the shoulders of Quake. She instinctively shielded Night Nurse from the gruesome violence that played before her eyes, even stopping the blood splatter from landing on Night Nurse as I splashed across her own body.

Then as Quake was steading herself and lifting Night Nurse from the ground as she used her own body as crutch for her to lean on, silence happened. The alleyway was deafeningly quite as the gangsters’ remnants of blood and entrails littered the alleyway. Daisy saw the familiar woman she had gotten to know as Time knight standing in the Alleyway, she carried Night Nurse closer to Time Knight as she could tell Night Nurse was about to go into shock.

“You did the right thing here, those men got what was coming to them. Come on we gotta find cover. I have medical supplies in my bag and Night Nurse needs our aid.”

The truth was as Daisy carried Night Nurse through the city her own body screamed out in pain. She ignored her own injuries in order to help her friend and team mate. Quake knew she wouldn’t be able to carry Night Nurse far, but she knew of a location they could go for cover at least. She spoke as they continued moving to the liquor store that she knew was secure.

“There is a Dwayne Johnson Liquor store a few blocks from here. When we get there I can attend your wounds. I’m sorry about the pain, I can’t help you with that right now, but soon enough my friend I can help your wounds.”

It was hard to tell if the crimson on Quakes body and the trail left behind was Quakes, Night Nurses, or blood splatter, but the truth was it was combination of both. If Hawkeye had been present he would know Daisy was far more injured then she would ever admit. Right now though her own pain wasn’t her focus, Night Nurse her friend was in dire trouble and need of help.

[Deleted]

At first, it was like a dream, she could sense everything around her but from a hundred miles away, like she was watching it through a hazy TV screen. Things seemed lagged, blurred, echoed...but like waking from a nightmare, the brain was just taking it’s time connecting the pieces. Soon enough, the suffocating silence started to pierce through, the fires blazed brighter, the stench of blood, piss, entrails all practically rammed it’s way up her nose, and the static started to fade through, letting her see fully all she had done. Jovie couldn’t take it, she had to get out, staggering to her feet only to stumble and fall into a puddle of crimson, it’s occupant mere inches from her face.  

Despite the fact that some faced away from her, and others lacked eyes or heads, every man in this graveyard was staring at her with a blank hatred, their voices whispering in the back of her mind...guilty...guilty… 

Through that, Jovie must’ve found her feet because somehow, she ended up outside the ally without even noticing, her head not daring to look back. “Wait up...” She called, her voice barely anything more than a slightly loud whimper, choking mid sentence. She sprinted after the duo, stopping momentarily to snatch up mounds of dirt and cover the reds with browns, not that it covered up the stench that followed from the massacre behind her. 

[Deleted]

Night Nurse leaned against Quake's supportive shoulder as she was set upright and the trio began their next move. The doctor's body had grown numb from the pain and her mind numb from the terror, her ability to do anything more than continue to hobble forward without looking back thoroughly deadened from the ordeal they had just underwent. She knew she was going into shock, a sense of chill blocking out every pain sensor, and pressed harder against Daisy to keep her senses about her until they could rest again.

The liquor store they finally took shelter in was a rather small, hole-in-the-wall bodega, mostly ransacked and very dusty from neglect over the past three weeks, though several bottles of wine and hard liquor still remained tucked away towards the back of several shelving units. A few dried snacks, nuts, and candies still lined the checkout counter, sparingly surrounding the busted and broken-into register that upon inspection was completely empty, down to the pennies. Beside the counter stood a small freezer, no longer running due to the loss of power in this section of the city, but still cold enough from being left closed after its abandonment to house a few plastic bags of mostly melted ice.

Linda's face appeared pale and glistened with beads of sweat as the three women stowed away in this small space from the dangers of the streets outside. “Will...will we be okay here?” she asked, biting at her lower lip in distress. “Should we try to contact the others? Are we even able to?”

[Deleted]

“Wait up...”

The voice called out from the distance, like the echo of a voice in the shadows. Quake motioned for Time Knight to follow them as they turned down the alleyways and to the liquor store. As they entered the liquor store had the post apocalyptic feeling and sites someone would have anticipated from a Zombie film or War Zone. The dust that layed over the liquor and allies lead to the conclusion no human soul had been in this story for a very long time.

Quake had to move a large metal almost blast shield looking item from the liquor stores doors to get inside. As she gingerly placed Night Nurse down she made sure to baracade the doors with the metal shield and few extra items such as counter tops that had been dislodged and movable grocery shelves form the store. Now they were at least protected form someone form the outside looking into the doors and seeing them. She looked around at the windows and realized they had been spray painted black so no light could get in or out of the store. There was very little natural light and the lighting in the store had long since died out.

Quake thought quickly and pulled out a large Flood flash light from her backpack and turned it on. She then kneeled next to night nurse as she pulled out the few medical supplies Quake had been about to gather prior to finding night nurse. As her friend spoke Quake began to look around the store for any form of Grain alcohol, as it was the best for sterilization.

“Will...will we be okay here? Should we try to contact the others? Are we even able to?”

Quake could hear the fear in her friends voice as she looked over her wounds. She began to address the ankle first as she spoke to Time Knight first then Night Nurse.

“Hey I need you to gather up all of the grain alcohol you can get, everything ranging from moonshine to vodka, noting dark colored and high proof. I need to be able to clean the wounds and booze is all we got.”

Quake looked at Night Nurse, her eyes stead and firm, her hands doing the same as she lightly and gently touched her ankle. She knew her friend was in pain, but she needed to tend to these wounds.

“We are barricaded pretty well in here. I’m not sure if my phone gets a signal in here, we may have to get back to the laundry mat once we patch up your wounds. I can try to contact Hawkeye once I tend your wounds I’m sorry my friend for any pain I may cause you.”

With that Quake began to splint and bandage the ankle. Once she was finished with that Quake realized she would need ice. The closest thing to ice they had was the old Ice freezer that had probably had ice cubs still in floating around in the disgusting water. Quake moved to the ice chest and pulled out bag after bag of somewhat frozen ice cubes, it was not much, but it was better then nothing. She made her way over and immediately packed the ankle in as much ice as she could. Quake then wrapped a small amount of ice in some gauze and handed it to Night Nurse for her the bruising on her face and head.

“Here this should help your facial and head wounds.”

Quake could feel her own injuries cracking and pulling on her body and her own blood loss. She knew she needed some sports drinks to help with the electrolyte loss. She began to look around the room again; she saw an even older refrigerator with beverages of the non-Alcoholic kind in it. Quake walked over and she grabbed a large plastic bag and filled it with as many sports drinks, fruit drinks, and waters that she could. She was starting to slow down due to her own injuries, but refused to stop. As she came back to night Nurse she handed her a large Orange Gatorade.

“Here drink this an replenish your strengthen you’ve lost a lot of blood, this will help. I’m going to tend to your wounds now my friend.”

With that Quake began to apply pressure to the wounds and apply as may bandages as she could. The area she was in was starting to look like a war zone triage with all of the blood guaze pads and crimson that was pooling around them. Quake had managed to stop most of Night Nurses wounds. She knew a few would need a stitch or two, but until she got the alcohol stitches were not an option. Quake looked around the room and couldn’t find anything resembling a blanket for Night nurse, to help keep her form going into Shock. Instead Quake took off her own leather jacket, now revealing the several injuries she had.

“Here wrap yourself up in this and stay warm. I will need to stitch up your wounds.”

[Deleted]

Jovie let out a hard and shaky sigh of relief at the sight of Quake motioning to follow, rising from the stench and blood and bolting out of the alley like a bat out of hell, which in some respect, she was. Every footstep carried her away from the scene of the crime, but her mind was trapped there, each staunch detail burrowing into every pore of her being. It would’ve been much worse too, if some part of her buried deep beneath the smiles and heroic words didn’t know that this would happen eventually; the demons of a dark past coming back to take hold, no matter how many walls and chains you put up to keep them out. After all, you can’t deny something that’s part of you forever, all that longing, the bloodlust, the hatred and resentment and need...the need for…

Stop it She thought hard to herself, the words piling on themselves endlessly as she tried to distract herself, her head swivelling toward the two amazons in front of her. The store she was being lead to had certainly seen better days, the outside wore dust and grime like some cancerous overgrowth, helped along by the tar-like filth that coated the inside, or at least what she could see. She didn’t really have time to properly examine the place as Quake turned back to Jovie, her eyes blazing with worry and weariness, asking her to find any grain alcohol around. Immediately, she started to whirl around, scanning every shelf and sweeping aside any dust coated bottles and cans to see their contents better. It took her a mere minute to search every shelf, each one completely barren of what she needed. Now she started to go into a panic, her mind blowing up with noise and static as she made a beeline for the counter, clumsily scrambling over it like a rat in desperation for anything that would let her just...that would let her be a hero. Sweet relief washed over her when she spotted a bottle of malt whisky, untouched and not even opened, cleverly tucked away behind the shopkeep’s porno mags.

Jovie snatched it up and scurried back to Quake, giving it to her quickly.