14181/The High Profile Life

The High Profile Life
Date of Scene:	11 March 2022
Location:	The Continental Gotham, East Park Side
Synopsis:	Batman gives Karai a not so gentle message for the Foot Clan.
Cast of Characters:	Shredder, Batman

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Shredder has posed:
    The Continental, with all of the protection that it has against threat to life and limb, is often a rather safe place for criminals to conduct business. Given that the staff is so good at stopping those very things, it means that most of that business is done behind the closed doors of the hotel rooms. Of course, it also means that people who want nothing to do with such things can usually find themselves in a safer atmosphere, even if such dealings may be happening on the other side of a wall.

    Oroku Karai booked recently in here. While on the surface she is a very well known heir to Oroku Industries, she has had her share of shadowy moments. A few years ago she was arrested in connection with a building being demolished in a fight with the Punisher. Charges were dropped. In Gotham, though, she's the one name of an officer of the Foot which sticks, having beaten Jason Todd senseless and murdered a disagreeable mafia boss in the same evening. Given that the Shredder himself is rarely seen in Gotham, her presence is the next best lead on the Foot.

    She exits the building, who knows what her intended location is. Her dress is flowing and loose on her small frame, though instead of bare legs it is a dark body suit which seems to be underneath it. It fits with the style, but a close eye might note that it is more functional than stylish in its purpose.

Batman has posed:
Oroku Karai.

She crossed the line. Foot officer and enforcer, not many people can beat a Bat one on one. But Jason was the student. He was one who had often lost and found his way, but the student all the same. Now it was time for the master to make his appearance. The shadows around her loom. A ninja must find serenity and safety in the darkness, a lesson she no doubt learned.

But not all threats are in the day. Not all threats are like that of a Superman or unrepentant teens trying to solve problems through intimidation. A reckoning approaches. It moves with the wings of a demon with the wind's swiftness.

A shadow loomed and followed. Not a sound heard. But she was not in a city of her own, If she looked to the heavens, she may find light piercing the sky. A beacon of light to the innocents, the abused, and the downtrodden. A symbol of fear and Justice to the guilty.

A warning.

Shredder has posed:
    Karai continues to walk, straight back in the direction of Crime Alley. Most people would think a young featherweight such as this little Japanese girl would have to be a fool to walk unattended down this way. Though some of the people know who she is, and who she serves, those know that she is the one to be afraid of. She starts walking down the broken concrete, coming to an apartment building. She hits the buzzer, and then turns back to look up and over her shoulder at the Bat signal. She purses her lips, and turns back to the door.

Batman has posed:
Fear is to be conquered. To be used as a weapon. To be free from fear is to become fear itself. She moves down Crime Alley, where Gotham City changed forever. Bruce Wayne lost his parents in that alley to the cowardly Joe Chill...

Shredder will face pain greater than that night.

She buzzes the door and she may feel as if the shadows are closing in on her. There's something behind her, practically breathing down her neck. A darkness.

A Bat.

Shredder has posed:
    Karai doesn't turn around when she feels the presence arrive behind her. She keeps facing the door for a moment, and then with a sudden burst of speed, the young chunin throws a heeled kick backward, hands on the door to give her a basis for more force. "It's rude to sneak up on people!" she declares boldly.

Batman has posed:
Her foot finds nothing but air.

As if nothing were there at all. No presence. No eerie feeling, nothing. Yet, maybe the shadow just moved out of the way. Maybe it ran and fled from her ferocity. Unlikely, though her foot is thrust forth and her voice rings out to break the silence. Yet the burst of speed approaches from her left, extending a fist as if to try and strike her across the jaw to knock her to the ground.

If she caught a glimpse?

The warning was a true one. The armor on his chest appeared thick, forming a Bat-motif at the center of the torso. A long cape, attached to the cowl on his head that had pointed ears, like that of a bat.

Batman.

Yet the Dark Knight says nothing at all. A deadly silence, so much so that he moves as if he were formless, no sound.

Shredder has posed:
    Karai shows her own training to be far from substandard. She gets the sense of the incoming punch. Not in time to block it, but her forearm comes up to keep the impact from being a full blow, knocking her back. She leaps from the steps backward, landing on the concrete.

TOne heel breaks, and she kicks off both shoes in response. "The Batman," she says, a ready, almost eager stance. Like someone who has something to prove. "To what do I owe the honor?"

    The door she had buzzed opens. A poorly shaven man stands there for a moment, seeing Karai. Seeing Batman. He closes it again. Clearly, he doesn't want to be involved in whatever is happening out there.

Batman has posed:
Even the cowardly and superstitious are firmly aware when not to get involved.

Batman's strike lands on her forearm to knock her back. "The Foot Clan is not permitted in Gotham. You were warned." Batman states with quiet anger in his each and every step. But he never once loses his cool. Never once goes on the back foot. She gets distance enough to kick off her shoes.

Yet he doesn't answer her any further, instead he leaps into the air, his cape being extended out to the sides as he takes the shape of a bat in the moonlight, the darkness concealing his legs as he intends to try and drop kick Karai to the ground. Theatrics are a wonderful ally, but with Batman? They don't come off as theatrics. They come off as clear tactics.

Shredder has posed:
    Karai is hardly one to go down easy. She may not be the Shredder, but she was trained well by him. As he comes in, she sidesteps, though not far enough as one foot catches her shoulder. Except she meant to be hit. She grabs the Bat by the shin as she's struck, letting the impact knock her back, and that same force pull on the hero's leg so that trying to stick a safe landing after the blow would be difficult. Once the offset is sufficient, she releases and is slammed to the ground, rolling twice before back into a ready stance on one knee. She grabs the dress, and rips it down, revealing the more complete black body suit, far less extra fabric than the formal gown, and with several thinline compartments against her ribs. She stands up and out of the extra garb, and slides two kunai from the compartments. She's not as unarmed as she probably looked.

Batman has posed:
Batman's descent is not quite a smooth one. She sidesteps him, and before the Dark Knight can counteract her movements, she grabs his shin and tries to pull on him to offset his landing, which is successful. Only that Batman is well-versed in recovering out of unpleasant situations and as he lands, he rolls forward and twists with a flourish of his cape. But he's not in a rush.

What the hell does that mean? He's not making unnecessary movements. Even as Karai is stripping down to reveal her actual attire in addition to a pair of kunai that she draws, Batman slowly stands up to his feet and starts walking towards her.

As he draws near, two batarangs are thrown from the shadows of his cape, their aim is specifically the kunai in her hands.

Shredder has posed:
    Karai flips to a knuckle grip on the kunai in her right hand as she dodges the first batarang, and then parries the second with the knuckle grip as she charges forward, leaping into the air for a punch strike with the kunai. "Batman, you've been left alone until now because we had no conflict. You do not want a war with us," she threatens angrily. There's a certain level of fire in her voice. She isn't the most stoic of ninjas.

Batman has posed:
Batarangs deflected, Batman narrows his eyes and Karai is leaping forward. The knuckles grip her weapons and she is leaping at him with a punch strike with the kunai, but Batman telegraphs the attack. She's emotional, her voice filled with fire that isn't matched by most creatures of shadows. He lifts his forearm, using the 'claws' on his gauntlets to deflect the kunai, though he tries to wrench it out of her hand with a circular motion of his arm, all while trying to lift his knee to try and strike Karai in the abdomen as if to knock the wind out of her.

"You had conflict since you entered Gotham City. You're trying to control the criminal underground here. You did the same tactics, the same efforts in New York City. You started a war the second you stepped foot in my city."

Batman seems to 'take the gloves off' as it were and he comes after Karai with a brutal and aggressive series of strikes. He aims for weak points, the inside of the knee, the throat, the liver, punches and kicks that are fast and furious. Will she be able to dodge or block?

Shredder has posed:
    the punch attack is thoroughly countered as the kunai is wrenched free from her grip. She starts to swing with a backhanded stab with the other, but the knee to her diaphram interrupts her strike, and she stumbles backward. Yeah, she really felt that one. She coughs a couple of times, and then goes fully defensive. Block block block...miss. While the first few blows she's able to desperately keep up with, once she is struck by a strike her shortness of breath prevents her from being able to sufficiently defend against the rest. She drops the other kunai, and finds herself retreating desperately from teh attacks until she lands backfirst into a lightpole, mouth bloody, and more than a few bruises ready to swell.

Batman has posed:
Finally, the Batman struck true.

The brutalization is efficient. Yet the kunoichi will notice that Batman avoided striking areas of her body that were considered vital. Death could've came for her, but the darkness stayed it's hand. The night didn't come to claim Karai this night, and the Batman approaches her as she lands backfirst into a lightpole.

"You're going to deliver a message to your leader."

He approaches closely enough that she could clearly see him in the light now. His eyes narrowed at her, the blue of his eyes revealing him to be some demonization of a human, for no human should be able to move like that, to become one with the shadows.

"I'm coming for you all. Leave my city. If you want a war, I'll give you one." With that, Batman steps out of the light pole's area of illumination and into the shadows. If Karai attempted to follow? Batman would be gone, as if he had vanished from thin air.