11207/Sloppy Druggies

Sloppy Druggies
Date of Scene:	18 March 2020
Location:	A New York apartment building.
Synopsis:	A murder diverts Punisher to deal with an up and coming gang, only for Richard Dragon and Witchblade to be caught up in the crossfire as he cleans up the trash.
Cast of Characters:	Punisher, Dragon, Witchblade

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Punisher has posed:
Truth be told, it's been a long time coming. Up until now, the 56th street gang calling themselves the Halberds have been keeping under the radar. They did all the usual gangster things; extortion, protection rackets, prostitution, blackmail. They were new to the game, but they were making waves...

Eventually though, they all do something to get on the radar, and the real test is whether or not they're good enough at what they cover up their mistake enough to keep the police from charging them.

Last night, a blonde woman, early 20s, was found murdered, her body put in a dumpster. Jennifer had a single father for a parent, and no extended family... so she found ways to make ends meet. Sara's inquiries revealed crushing student debt that was being handily dealt with by far more money than a 'waitress' would usually get; a clear sign of side activities.

Today, she had an appointment to meet the Halberds leader on the rooftop of the apartment complex the gang claims as turf, to discuss it.

Dragon has posed:
Richard Dragon usually keeps out of pretty much all conflicts, preferring to stay on the sidelines as a trainer, an advisor, and a friend for those who need it. But when not one, but three of his students found themselves in troubles because of a new gang, he couldn't in good conscience keep out of it.
Richard doesn't have a war outfit, indeed he's dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a sleeveless black shirt, his red hair kept out of his forehead thanks to a thin leather band wrapped around his hair, and said face is peaceful, but quite resolute as he marches towards the entrance to the building that the Halberds call their home.
Serene, controlled, the man has nothing with him except his amulet hidden under the shirt and his own body, it's not like he needs anything else if things go bad, after all.

Witchblade has posed:
Sara's got her head down, and in full investigation mode. She's up here, head filled with the info on the investigation. Well, up 'here' is a stairwell as she's heading to the roof at least, dressed in a button down shirtt, smart pants, smart shoes, and she's got her holster on and a winter jacket on. Her face is grim, cold and locked down for business as usual.

So, Sara is heading up the stairs, the Witchblade not liking this. If the symbiote comes out to play...there will be bodies left behind. Sara's not entirely in control when that happens.

Punisher has posed:
Sara gets a warm welcome from the two gangsters at the top of the stairwell... and walks into what can only be described as a ghetto version of a rooftop garden with a patio to one side. "Welcome! The boss is waiting for you." One gives her the traditional gangster greeting sign, before he heads away.

Stephen himself is already sitting at the table on the patio, and waves Sara over, "Detective. A pleasure to meet you." The New Yorker accent is thick on the Caucasian man. Wearing a black sleeveless and jeans, he looks just like your average man on the street... "What can I do for you, Miss?"

Meanwhile, on the ground, nothing and no one stops Richard going into the apartment complex. It is, in fact, clear of gangsters, right up until one gets near the rooftop stairwell. Then, two gangsters block anyones path going up there.

Dragon has posed:
Richard Dragon walks inside with all the calmness of someone who could very well live there, and his footsteps are the only sound hearable on the stairs as he approaches the ones leading to the rooftop.
It is with the hint of a smile that he notices the two blocking his way up to the roof, and it is with politeness that he bows his head slightly in their direction, speaking in a nonaccented english to say "I would like to talk with your leader... Could you be so kind to let me through, please?"
Meanwile, his steps don't really stop, leading him in range of the two. But at least he gave them the possibility to walk out, right?

Witchblade has posed:
Sara nods and looks a little woried at the rooftop. She does though sit. "I'm here about Jennifer" she begins and starts laying out what they foundd, the corpse, the information, her financial situation, and...Pez isn't going to accuse the Halberds of anything. No.

"Do you have any thoughts on what happened to her?" she asks. See. Homicide isn't all poking in dumpsters. Sometimes it's up here...as Sara takes a chicken and mayo sandwich out of her jacket and sets it on the table. "Not a peace offering. Late lunch" she says with an apologetic smile. "So would you know anything about Jennifer's death?"

Punisher has posed:
"No can do, Sir. There's an appointment going on, and you weren't invited." One of the stair guards responds to Richard. Hey, they're being polite about it, at least.

"I'm afraid I don't. I knew the girl, but we didn't interact much. Different circles, you know?" Stephen offers, "if you get any names, I'd be happy to ask around. Senseless, all around." The man tsks.

Dragon has posed:
Richard Dragon smiles again, shaking his head lightly, his red air flowing from side to side
"see, I have one of my students at the hospital, one who's afraid to get out of home, and another that, isn't at all in the conditions to walk and talk because of what you did during the last week or so..." he calmly replies "so I would really be glad to talk with the boss up there and settle things before anyone here gets hurt. Will the, meeting, take a lot of time?"
he inquires, clasping his hands behind his back and leaning against the nearby wall in a relaxed way.

Witchblade has posed:
Sara listens and nods. "Alright" she says slowly. "I hear you, she was a college kid, making ends meet and didn't mix much with you guys huh?" Sara asks conversationally. "I understand. It'd be like you meeting your high school class" she says. Oh Pez has her own New York accent.

Which isn't a shock. The sandwich is untouched as she thinks on things however, looking puzzled however. Sara treats each homicide like a giant puzzle, and she's fairly sure a lot of the pieces haven't fallen into place yet.

Punisher has posed:
"I'm sure he'll be finished soon. Not much to talk about." The gangster narrows his eyes in suspicion at Richard.

Meanwhile, on the rooftop, Stephen smiles back to Sara, "Yeah, really a dreadf-"

Suddenly, Stephens slumps head first onto the table, favoring his right side. It doesn't take more than a moment for Sara to realize why; the 7.62 sized hole in the left side of his skull, evidenced by the sudden splatter of gore against the floor of the patio.

Sara has a few seconds before the others realize what just happened, the actual shot nowhere to be heard. All she has... is the angle of impact, making her easily able to trace the path of the bullet, if she wants to do so.

Dragon has posed:
Richard Dragon returns the gangster's gaze with a very serene expression, then shrugs "Oh well, I guess I'll wait, then... But I'm walking up in five minutes"
He looks at the two gangsters again "and you'll let me pass... Right guys?" then, he starts counting, unaware, unfortunately, of what's going on upstairs. Four minutes and fiftynine, four minutes and fiftyeight, four minutes and fiftyseven...

Witchblade has posed:
Sara is indeed tracking it back. The shot, the dead guy...Sara's working it back. She's front and center in a crime scene now. Wonderful...

Looking over the rooftop she's got a rough idea where the shot could have come from simply by going in straight lines. Which is, if anything, not helpful...

Mostly since...well...

Since she's been doing this a long time and knows how to do things.

Punisher has posed:
The shooter becomes obvious, when one tracks it back; a man on a rooftop two blocks down. There's a rifle in front of a white male, and he's aiming right for her.

Then, five seconds later, someone notices the blood... and walks up towards it. "We got a shooter!" One yells, drawing a pistol from his waist belt as he looks around. The others also draw their pistols.

Meanwhile, down the stairs, the two in front of Richard draw their pistols... but don't aim at him. Yet. "Sounds like a commotion upstairs, pal. Might want to get out of dodge."

Dragon has posed:
Richard Dragon glances at the pistols at first, at the guys wielding them immediately later, and then shrugs "I'm walking upstairs and see what's going on. You probably shouldn't shoot at me while I'm climbing up the stairs, hm? It'd be unwise, trust me."
True he doesn't have eyes behind his neck, but his other senses are as attuned as they can be, enough to notice if someone's aiming a gun at him even if he isn't looking. And hoping it doesn't happen, but ready to deal with it should it happen, he moves towards the stairs to climb up to the rooftop.

Witchblade has posed:
The Witchblade is out for blood. Tendrils creepe up her arms and come together to form armor. This is repeated all across her body as she's not in control. The Witchblade wants blood, and chaos. Fortunately, the armor's hidden beneath her clothes, and Sara's able to think on things. That's a person who knows how to shoot...

Then the Witchblade wrenches control. Oh this is not going to be pretty in the least...

Punisher has posed:
"Not so fast!" The two stairwell guards aim for Richards legs with their pistols. "Take one step more, and we'll put a cap in your legs, man!" They clearly don't know who they're dealing with."

Meanwhile, on the rooftop, most of the gangsters blinked and missed the transformation... and visibly look very concerned when they realize she's there. "What the fuck is that?!" "RUN!" Come the screams.

"Micro, Did you get the video of that?" Punisher asks of his partner, on that roof. He's still aiming his rifle right at her, observing.

Dragon has posed:
Richard Dragon sighs, again shaking his head "come on, guys, I asked nicely..." richard states, quietly flexing the muscles of his legs under his jeans.
Breathe in, breathe out, Richard feels all his body prepared to deal with the two men. He feels his surroundings, feels chi flowing in his limbs, giving him strength and speed.
Inspite of the warnings, he moves a step, but where there were his legs, now there's only empty air as he leaps upwards aiming a kick to the first pistol, his right hand moving down in a knifehand motion on the wrist of the second gunwielder, wrist that is then grabbed as richard lands, pulled, and flipped as well as his owner towards the first gunwielder.
A quick jab to the right temple of each to make sure they'll stay down at least for a bit, and Richard resumes his climbing towards the rooftop

Witchblade has posed:
Sara's up there with a flame aura around her. Given the Witchblade's penchant for fire...as opposed to firearms, it's not a shock. The flames however are damped down to the point they're barely doing anything

It's effectively lukewarm coffee temperature. Hooray for pyrokinesis and doing funky things with magic.

On the plus side, everyone's running away from the Witchblade....as Sara'ss watching through her own eyes as the table isn't touched by flames. Instead....she's staring along the bullet's path.A tail of blades clinks on the floor as it seems to move of its own volition like an angry cat's tail.

Punisher has posed:
"What in the fuck is goin' on..." Punisher keeps his scope on Sara, though he still doesn't fire. Punisher has no reason to suspect her of being a target... but he certainly didn't expect *this*. "Everyone down there seems to be as confused as you are, Frank." Microchip replies over the commlink. "We might bite off more than we can chew if you go ahead with this."

Punisher grunts in agreement, "I'm standing by right now, seein' what she does."

Those around Sara? They didn't sign up to take on crazy armor lady and book it for the stairwell! Only to run into Richard... as he's attacking the guards.

"GET HIM!" This one seems to be at least in sight and not crazy!

Three 9mm pistols are aimed down the stairwell towards Richard, about to fire.

Dragon has posed:
Richard Dragon isn't at all at an advantageous position, having the lower ground and not having a gun... Is this going to turn very bad for Richard?
Surely, having a body full of bullets doesn't come at all close to be in his plans, reason enough for him to quickly reach to the jade amulet that he has under his shirt, channeling his chi through it to gain that extra bit of speed, strength, and gravity defiance that would be needed.
First, there's to jump out of the way of the aimed guns, run quickly towards the three guys balancing on the stairwell railing, and drop on the first with a sidekick, pushing it towards the second hopefully down the stairs, and probably, after that, it's time to duck and hope the third isn't fast enough to shoot before he has the time to sweep his legs from under him and send it down with his friends.

Witchblade has posed:
Sara's not doing anything....yet. Instead...instead she looks to the table and shakes her head. With the Witchblade guidding her...

She spins on a heel and starts for the stairs. Oh, there's guns? Mmmn, the Witchblade's still got its fire aura around Sara and it moves with her. It's likee she's cloaked in fire. Sure, it won't /do/ anything.

But it looks terrifying, a flaming thing with a tail made of blades. Still, she keeps moving toward the stairs. it's time for her to leave.

Punisher has posed:
Unfortunately for Sara, the three thugs at the stairwell... aren't really paying attention to her. There's a crazy person running along a railing right up to them with enhanced speed, panicking them.

On the plus side, Richard manages to deal with all three thugs at once, with only a bullet managing to wing his arm.

On the bad side, Richard is now face to face with the Witchblade.

"This day just keeps gettin' interesting." Punisher muses to himself, his scope on the two at the stairwell.

Dragon has posed:
Richard Dragon would check his arm, but right now there's definitely other things to focus on! Like people surrounded by armour and flames, and with a fiery tail on top of that!
Probably Richard lost a good shirt thanks to the bullet, he'll worry about it later, when his eyes will leave Sara, the man sidestepping on the stairwell as he calmly states "way down is cleared..." even with a sweeping gesture of his left hand to indicate the cleared way.

Witchblade has posed:
Sara's not in control as the Witchblade, tail wrapping around the railing once past Richard, heads down the stairs after the sweeping gesture and assurance it's clear. Oh if it wanted, the Witchblade could burn the building. Not that it's going to. Instead, the Witchblade's losing the fight for contrrol. The railing is being torn out of its mounts as the Witchblade descends the sttairs, using Sara for that. Still though. Heading down the stairs, the Witchblade gives, thanks to Sara, a, a nod. Then she's gone down the stairs. Soon she'll be out the front door and disappear. Okay, somebody shot the Halberds leader. This is trouble