10838/Getting Into Big Trouble...Again.

Getting Into Big Trouble...Again.
Date of Scene:	22 January 2020
Location:	Slaver Warehouse, Chinatown, NY
Synopsis:	Jack Burton runs afoul of a gang and receives help from an unexpected source.
Cast of Characters:	Superwoman, Jack Burton

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Superwoman has posed:
The splits between the racial and ethnic backgrounds of humanity never cease to intrigue Faora. She moves among the throngs of people in Chinatown with ease, and examines the wares of many a vendor, still trying to understand what it is about differences between people that drives them to harm one another. Is this it? She lifts a Chinese pendant and examines it, before laying it down again. No, it must be something in their instinct.

She gave up finding any of the fluttery dresses to fit her, some time ago, given that her frame would turn anything meant to be knee length or above into a rating-altering force to be reckoned with. But then, without warning, she hears something out of place, and she pauses to listen.

Jack Burton has posed:
The run of conversations, many in Mandarin or Cantonese, are relaxed, non-confrontational. The sounds of society, a low hum of the city.

And then one seems to lance through them like a knife.
"...RUN! I'LL HOLD THEM OFF!"

God, what is it about New York? As a native of California, New York seems big and oppressive, but he's been here before. He's delivered loads here numerous times. He thought he knew what to expect.

But then Wang called. Wang Chi, one of the best friends he'd ever had, called him out of the blue. It had been months since they shook the pillars of heaven in San Francisco Chinatown. He'd thought the wedding was an odd way to do it, but Wang was happy, and if Wang and Miao Yin were happy, then Jack Burton was damned happy too.
But the wedding was over and Wang hadn't called to ask why Jack had sent a 10-in-1 hotpot. (Hey, it was on sale, and it cooked stuff.)
Miao had been trying to reach out to family in New York's Chinatown, and they had said her niece, Fei Yue, had been in trouble with one of the local gangs, and could Jack find it in his heart...

"Gimme the address, Wang."
Then, of course, one thing led to another. He had followed her backtrail to a warehouse in Chinatown, run by the local gang the Blood Lords. He had slipped into the warehouse and found Fei and ten other girls as they waited to be shipped to loyal buyers.

Jack had freed the others, and they had gotten away, at least, but now he was up against 14 Lords, and all he had on him was his knife. Fei was behind him, looking nervously at him. The escape route was behind them, and she could run, but Jack was facing certain death. Would they show mercy if she simply gave herself up...?
"RUN! I'll hold them off!" he barked at her. Startled and frightened, obedience won over fear and she bolted for the hatch, diving into it.
Jack looked back at the scowling Lords in front of him. When had he run into this before? Right...Lo Pan. The Chinese sorcerer.

He had his back to the wall, but at least no one could sneak up on him.
"Come on, assholes. Ready for the Hell of Being Cut to Pieces? Because, by my count, it ain't half full!"

Superwoman has posed:
Too many screams to be a common argument. Faora moves swiftly among the throngs, and disappears into a small shop. By the time she emerges, she is wearing a suit of armor that looks like burnished steel, and while no one seemed to have noticed when she disappeared inside, they certainly notice the armored woman taking flight toward a back alley warehouse. She descends through a busted skylight and lands lightly in the midst of the impending fray.

"What seems to be the problem here, Gentlemen?"

Jack Burton has posed:
EVERYONE'S heads turn to look at the woman in the black armor, Jack right along with the rest of them.
Jack had heard about superheroes. Read about them in the news, heard about them from friends (Wang had even tolf him once how he got a picture with a blond waitress that was supposed to be a superhero). Jack, on the other hand, had never seen one, up close.
He looked for a few seconds, a second longer than the Lords. They saw her, then reacted as relatively-uneducated gangers would act. Namely, they raised their weapons and started firing at Faora.
"NO!" Jack yelled, then rushed the nearest one. In his head, he knew that he couldn't stop all of them from shooting her, but he was DAMNED if he was just going to stand and do nothing. He tackled the one at the rear, lowering the number of shooters from 14 to 13.

Someone was about to be very unlucky.

Superwoman has posed:
With bullets ricocheting in every direction, Faora turns to face the shooters, and approaches them with measured and steady steps. When at last she is close enough, she reaches out to rip the gun from the hands of one shooter. "ENOUGH!" she shouts in a voice loud enough to echo through the warehouse.

Jack Burton has posed:
The word is like a thunderclap. Everyone, even Jack (who was punching the guy he tackled into unconsciousness) knocked off-center by the command.
Jack, who was long on guts but short on sense, did have the presence of mind to pick up one of the machineguns a Blood Lord had dropped. and suddenly the tidde had shifted, as Jack held his rifle on the stunned gangers.


Without knowing it, Jack had arrived at a watershed moment. Open fire on the unarmed gang, or hold them for the cops?

"All right, you guys...sit right down, and no one move." He looked to Faora, then added, "The cops will be here soon. Don't make me shoot anybody right now."

Superwoman has posed:
Faora looks sidelong at Jack, blue eyes narrowed, and she approaches him, holding out her hand. "Let me relieve you of the temptation, then." The look of sheer determination on her face is swayed by neither side of this battle, so far.

Jack Burton has posed:
Jack looked at her. For a moment, he considered hanging onto the rifle.
Then he looked into those intense eyes. The Chang Sings had had eyes like that in the alley. She looked like a hard case. The armor...and of course, he had seen a couple of bullets bounce from her CHEEK.

"...Wellll, I suppose you could handle things." He takes his finger off the trigger, then hands her the rifle. "I'm not with these guys," he says, then adds, "I came here to help out a friend. The name's Jack Burton."

Superwoman has posed:
The statuesque woman with cropped black hair gazes on Jack, nonplussed. She focuses upon him for a long moment, then turns to the others. "Slide your weapons across the room to me. Have a seat. Make yourself comfortable, while Jack Burton regales us the tale of how he is "not with these guys," she orders with a bemused expression.

Jack Burton has posed:
The gang, in a rare moment of clarity, got the feeling they were now in the same position Jack was in not one minute ago - in WAY over their heads. They shoved the weapons across the cement, making for a respectable collection of firearms, from pistols to assault rifles, even one shotgun.

Jack waited for the clattering of metal on pavement to stop before he looked at Faora. She didn't have that imperious look she had before. That was good. Oddly enough, she reminded him of Gracie. Man, was she ever a firebrand.
Well, he had a story to tell. Which was good, because if there was one thing he had no problem doing, was telling a story. This one had the benefit of being a hundred percent true.

"A friend from San Francisco...not saying his name in front of these guys...his wife said her relative in New York lost track of their daughter, and he asked me to find her. I tracked her here. Looks like these guys were into selling slaves to anyone who could pay for them. There's probably going to be cops any minute - a group of women dolled up in Chinese dress with rope marks on their wrists is going to attract attention, even if they don't grab the nearest cop they can find."

Superwoman has posed:
"And you found her here, along with the others," Faora surmises, looking back at the gang members still sitting on the groind. "Which fails to explain one thing: what you were doing attempting to bust up a human trafficking gang armed with guns...Does this mean that you brought a knife to a gun show?"

Jack Burton has posed:
Jack smiles wryly. She probably means "knife to a gunfight." But right now didn't seem like the time to correct her. "Yeah, well...I was hoping to catch them unawares, and I didn't know they a had a damn human corral in here. And by that time..." He shrugs. "I tend to improvise a lot. I..."
He paused as his phone beeped. "Hang on." He pulled out his phone to look at the screen.
A text message from Wang Chi. <FEI YUE HOME. SAID YOU SAVED HER AND OTHERS. IN YOUR DEBT ONCE AGAIN.>
Jack smiled, holding up the phone so Faora can see. "Looks like she made it home all right. This is her uncle, Wang Chi, a good friend in San Francisco."

Superwoman has posed:
Faora gives pause only for a moment, and only to look at the man's phone. "That is exactly what someone who was with these men would say to someone trying to decide whether you're with these men." She relaxes a little, turning back to Jack. "And if I had not come to interrupt? What then?"

Jack Burton has posed:
Wow, a skeptic. Okay, he looks a little scruffy. He can handle that.
Jack shrugs and puts the phone back. "...I would have improvised something. Maybe a strategic retreat through that hatch and blocked it off before they got outside." He looks thoughtful. "Come to think of it, that probably would have-"

Then the side door banged open and four of New York's Finest in SWAT gear burst in, guns drawn. "EVERYONE FREEZE! THIS IS THE NYPD!"
Jack looked over at them, then slowly raised his hands. "Yeah, this part I know."

Superwoman has posed:
"The one's not with them," Faora parrots, as she walks from one end of the group to the other. The police seem unfazed by her presence at first. "If you'd question him first, I have business with him once he is released."

Jack Burton has posed:
Things start happening fairly quickly after that.
Jack is one of the last ones to be cuffed before a group of Chinese women wearing colorful Chinese cheongsam dresses walk in. Their reactions are very similar. The Blood Lords get called names, some of the women spit in the ground in front of them, and all of them seem willing to grab the nearest police nightstick and show their "appreciation" to their "benefactors."

Jack, on the other hand, get pointed at by most of them. Their story about him is different, how the "crazy American" popped up, knocked out two guards, and set them all free, getting them a way out. Fei Yue comes back, flanked by her parents. She gives a somewhat more cohesive story fitting what Jack had told Faora, and then had pressed her hands together and bowed to Jack. A few of the other girls had seen her do it, then bowed to Jack as well. Yue had worn a look of amazement and awe the entire time she was being questioned.
Faora was also questioned, asked for her to go through her accounting of the events. When the officer finds out she is a supertype, she asks, "Are you affiliated with any known superhero organization?"

Superwoman has posed:
"I am not," Faora concludes, running through the possibilities in her mind. "I am as yet unaffiliated," she replies, and she looks to Jack. Her expression is still more serious than Jack looks like he may have ever been in his life.

Jack Burton has posed:
One of the cops comes back from the group of women. "Uncuff that guy. He's...San Fran says he's clean."
"Well, it's about TIME," Jack said crossly. He rubs his wrists as he is uncuffed. "Thanks for the jewelry guys, but I'm going for the refund."
He walks over to Fei Yue and her parents as the female officer speaking to Faora nods. "Well, Burton over there says you didn't so much as throw a punch, so you're free to go."
Granted, they couldn't stop her if she wanted to leave, but it had to be said.
Jack gives the family a smile and a wave, then spots Faora and walks over to her. "Well, I got the green light, so the cops got it from here." He paused for a moment, then in a quieter voice, he says, "Yeah, and...well, thanks for saving my ass back there."

Superwoman has posed:
"Quite welcome. It seems as if I just happened to show up in time to do so. I am fortunate to have been in the area." Faora still seems stiff, as if in a new human suit and doesn't know yet quite what it can take. Or maybe it is their surroundings she isn't sure of. "You seem like a good man. Mouthy. But good."

Jack Burton has posed:
Jack grins. "Mouthy. Yeah, that's pretty close to it." He looked around, then said, "Listen, I've got my truck not too far from here. Is there any place you'd like me to drop you off?"

Superwoman has posed:
"I would accompany you back, if only to make sure that you don't get into any more trouble on the way." Is that a smirk toying with her lips? Surely not. Probably.

Jack Burton has posed:
Jack chuckles. "All right. Well, if we're gonna be on friendly terms, the least you could do is give me your name..."

Superwoman has posed:
"Faora," she replies matter of factly, and somewhat distractedly as she watches the other goings-on narrowly.