still, I'm heading them off

[proxysearch]

Who: under_thehood and proxysearch.
When: Saturday, October 15th, late evening into early night.
Where: Sector 9, in an abandoned warehouse.
Summary: Re-l and Jason are investigating the same meeting. Unfortunately, they both have very different ways of dealing with the problem at hand.
Warnings: Language, violence.

Comments

[under_thehood]

Re-l wasn't the only one who felt the distinct absence of Bruce from Port. As the week had gone on, the steady ache in Jason's chest hadn't left, only strengthened and deepened, despite taking down monsters left and right. Something was missing and he couldn't just ignore it anymore like he could his father's last words. They were minced speech, useless to him in every single way and he'd decided a while ago to stop listening to anything Bruce had to say.

So, he'd taken up his own crusade and he would take out crime his way; no one would stop him from hunting down every dirtbag and sending him or her to an early grave. The trail of drugs being sold to kids led back to a couple guys who he'd been following for a couple days now, watching their movements, listening to them talk about business out in the open. There was a meeting in this warehouse tonight, several big dealers all at once

[proxysearch]

No names, no real breaks. Not yet, anyway. Her eyes lingered on one man across the table who kept fussing with his watch. He was nervous; he'd be perfect to be dragged in. She could get Bigby in a room with him... He'd crack before dawn and she'd get her names. She'd prefer for the meeting to be more fruitful than that, but she'd settle if she had to. She could be patient, sometimes.

She didn't hear him approach, not until he was seconds away from speaking and by then, she'd have a knife in her back. Stupid... She should have been more prepared for something like this. He didn't threaten her or shoot her, which meant he wasn't on their side. Or so she hoped. Re-l glanced over her shoulder at him, unimpressed. She took a moment to look him up and down, try to identify him without asking for his name. She recognized the helmet from that post Slade made. She turned back to the meeting for another moment

[under_thehood]

"Not a cape, baby," Jason replied as he squatted down near the railing of the catwalk, completely turning his back to her. "Never was, never will be."

One ear is tuned into the conversation below and the other to her, listening for any movements, any shifts in fabric or any clues that she might be attacking. Still, the trade continued below them, still an absence of names or anything particularly useful to either of the observers, but Jason could wait and he would wait until something came up.

"Slow talkers, aren't they." He tried to draw more quiet conversation out, feeling a little chatty and in a relatively good mood despite the week and its emotional toll on him. This was nothing, this was old hat, this was comfortable and safe and a walk in the park compared to anything else in Port.

[proxysearch]

"You're still dressed up like a vigilante." She almost wanted to ask if he thought he had something to prove, but there was work to be done and she didn't want to get into a heated argument.

It didn't take long for her to grow particularly impatient with this group. They kept going round and round about prices and territory, never sticking long to the topics she wanted them to stay on. She was, however, glad that they touched on when and where some of their lower men were working. She could investigate it later when she had some time. Hopefully they wouldn't be changed before she had the chance to step in.

Re-l lifted an eyebrow, not turning to him just yet. "I'm surprised they want to stick around in one place for so long." Which meant that this conversation might be over too soon, leaving her without many leads.

[under_thehood]

Prices and territory were a start, at least, in the right direction of what they were likely both looking for. So, he still continued to listen, leaning on one knee as he did so. More talking about locations, general mentions of the target demographics, and then there a name. Monty Scargreen. The dirtbags below were supposed to be reporting to him but he was absent, had been missing for a couple days now. Jason grinned underneath the helmet as he straightened and reached for the railing.

"Wanna crash this party?" After all, if help was available and mostly expendable, why not use it?

That and it would almost call back days of when he would work with a partner. A much older, much bigger partner who'd meant more to him than just easier work. Far more. Stop getting distracted. Focus. Don't trip up on something as small as a drug bust.

[proxysearch]

She lifted her head when she caught the name, remembering in silence. She repeated it to herself and made sure her device was still recording. One name would have to do; they were going to start breaking up this meeting soon. If she was going to do anything, then it had to be now...which was why she was surprised when he asked her to join him. She glanced over at him briefly, then back at the party.

You knew you'd have to jump in the moment you walked in here. It's now or never.

"Sure," she said, standing. "After you."

[under_thehood]

"Don't mind if I do," Jason replied as he all but vaulted over the railing and dropped straight down to the warehouse floor in a crouch.

For that brief moment of silence, every mook's attention is on him as they reach for their guns and he raises from his crouch. Before even one bullet is fired, he's got his own smoke grenade out, issuing smoke through the warehouse. This is what it's all about right here: being in the thick of it, armed to the teeth, and kicking ass.

That and fighting bad guys is infinitely better than monsters. Bad guys are predictable, dumb, easy to put a bullet in.

[proxysearch]

Showoff.

She watched him for a moment and then jumped up onto the railing, following him down. The smoke provided excellent cover, allowing her to run right past him and into the group. The first guy, in the back, drew a gun and she was already there to kick it out of his hand and knock him backwards, out of his chair. There was yelling, and she just hoped she had time to move before she found a bullet in her back.

Lucky enough for her, she was, because she was already drawing their attention so Jason could jump into the fray and deal with them. She kicked one of the chairs into the one girl of the group, knocking her off her feet and disarming her.

[under_thehood]

Jason indeed utilized both her distraction and the smoke to start taking out some of the drug lords on his own, the pistols not coming out yet as he puts a boot in the chest of one mook, sending him into one of his buddies. He'd counted ten altogether and they shouldn't take long to knock out unless--- a door slams open, one he knows he didn't check, and here come the reinforcements. A lot of reinforcements.

Well there goes the nice, relaxing takedown. This might get bad.

Luckily, there's a back door not to far from them, one that he made sure to check and double-check multiple times. That needs to be their ticket out of this quickly worsening mess or they might end up dead on the floor.

"Hey look at that, they invited friends." He's got another dirtbag on the floor with a scream, arm broken in multiple places.

[proxysearch]

She looked up as she heard the door open, inwardly wincing. This was going to hell in a handbasket far too quickly for her tastes. She grabbed one of the bodyguards, one of the few that came in with their bosses, and tossed him toward the now opened set of doors. It wouldn't slow them down, but it might surprise them. She started to draw her gun but then thought better of it, remembering she didn't have the rubber bullets loaded. Damn.

"How nice of them," she called over her shoulder, using the smoke to hide her claws as she swiped out at one of the patrons. She sliced open his side and forced him down, leaving him open for a kick to the head. Another swiped at her and she used his weight against him to toss him back over her shoulder. The claws retracted.

"Got another one of those smoke bombs of yours?" Toss it into the ensuing mob and they might be able to get out of here without being full of bullet holes.

[under_thehood]

Jason himself had two pistols full of live bullets, but wasn't about to waste expensive ammunition on low-level scumbags that just happened to get the drop on them. He glanced over to that backdoor as he pulled a flash-bang from his pocket, as he could only carry a certain number with him at all times and he'd chosen variety over too many of one or the other.

"Cover your eyes and head for the back door," Jason ordered as he pulled the pin and tossed it toward the oncoming storm of mooks.

He turned away just in time to avoid the bright flash, but the loud bang made his ears ring as he darted along the warehouse floor to that door.

[proxysearch]

Re-l turned her gaze and saw the other bomb in his hand just before he called to her. Whether it was a smoke bomb or not - and she guessed it was the latter - she wasn't about to disobey an order like that. She dropped the man she had and knocked him down, then ran for the doors as she was told. She closed her eyes when the bomb went off but nearly lost her footing; the ringing threw off her equilibrium, making it hard for her to focus.

It stopped and she opened her eyes long enough to throw open the door and get outside. The night air hit her and cleared her senses from the smoke and the flash bomb, and she turned back to make sure Jason made it through.

"So much for grabbing one, though there's still a chance..." There had to be a getaway car around here for a few of them. She could tag it and track it.

[under_thehood]

Jason didn't waste time in following her to the door, plunging out into the night air after her. Still, he completely ignored her words as something written on the side of a crate caught his attention. Oh. Oh yeah, this'll do just fine. Without acknowledging her, he moved over toward the crate and shoved his knife underneath the lid to pull it off with a loud creak.

Oh hell yeah. Looks like daddy's got a new best friend.

As the clambering continued inside the warehouse, the vigilante reached into the crate, pulled out the mini-gun inside and wheeled around to face the backdoor of the warehouse. Say hello to his little friend.

[proxysearch]

He didn't respond. She was about ready to turn and head to the side of the building when the others came out, and she slid into a fighting stance. She wasn't in any mood to keep fighting, but she'd do it if she had to. The sound of a crate being opened caught her attention and she turned only long enough to see the gun be pulled out. She didn't even get a chance to register what he was doing before he pulled the trigger.

"No! Stop! What the hell are you doing!?" she shouted over the bullets. Re-l jumped towards him and went to grab his shoulder. She moved to push him.

"You can't kill them, goddammit!"

[under_thehood]

Jason didn't give a moment's thought to whether or not he should or shouldn't kill them and the trigger was pressed, mowing down the group in a matter of seconds. Yes. This was the real deal, this was taking crime out right here, this was telling them who's boss. At first he couldn't hear her over the roar of the gun, but he definitely saw her move toward him. Don't kill them? Why would anyone spare any of these dirtbags' lives? They didn't deserve to live, only he did. Only he deserved the chance to get out of this alive, not even Re-l.

Releasing the trigger, he dropped the minigun and swiveled, attempting to pull out his knife before she reaches him. If successful, that knife is being sent right into her shoulder.

[proxysearch]

She barely felt the blade as it went into her shoulder, too busy focusing on him and making sure he dropped the gun. But then the sudden weight striking her made her all too aware of what had happened and stumbled back. The pain hit her fully then, stinging and burning her shoulder like he had rubbed salt on the blade before throwing it. An attempt to move her shoulder confirmed what she suspected; it'd gone straight through.

Glaring vehemently, Re-l stared at him. "What the hell are you doing?!" She reached up to try and take the blade out while she spoke. "You killed them!"