1876/The Brownstone Boogeymen

The Brownstone Boogeymen
Date of Scene:	09 August 2017
Location:	Clinton, Manhattan
Synopsis:	The Hand make a move on a notorious drug house in Hell's kitchen, but their plans are thwarted by several Defenders (and Kate Bishop)!
Cast of Characters:	Iron Fist, Hawkeye (Bishop), Luke Cage, Jessica Jones
Tinyplot:	The Key

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Iron Fist has posed:
It's just past midnight on a sultry summer night in Hell's Kitchen. In some parts of the 'hood, dive bars and notorious underground clubs are thriving. In others, quiet residential streets lie dormant under the cover of darkness. One such street is especially dark, known for being a resting place for derelict buildings and the kinds of people such locales attract. Not the good kind, usually.

It's on this stretch of 43rd street where a dark four-door sedan is parked, one of three vehicles on the street and the nicest by far. Inside, the Iron Fist sits behind the wheel, wearing civilian clothes for the most part. The upper half of his face is still hidden under the yellow cloth of his mask. In front of him, on the dash, sits a half-eaten fast food burger.

"I hate this place," he mutters to a man in the passenger seat, though it's uncler whether he means the car or the neighborhood. "But it's the right one, I'm sure."

Down the street a pair of men stop at the corner to light cigarettes. They apper to be chatting to one another. Other than that, there is no sign of life on the street or in most of the buildings, though some lights in the flanking brownstones are dimly lit.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
As promised, Hawkeye is scoping out the area. She's on a building nearby the target, watching the comings and goings and possibly what's going on inside. She's come dressed for action, her full hero outfit and even clipped an extra mini-quiver to her bow. She hadn't discussed how to communicate with the Iron Fist or anything, but she's there anyway.

Luke Cage has posed:
Stakeouts like this ain't really the thang of Luke Cage. Not when there's other things he could be doing. Like sweeping up the barbershop. Not anybody actually gets a haircut there but it makes for showing off good work ethic to the kids to come by every once in a while.

Cage is in the passenger seat of this vehicle and all of his food has been taken care of. He had considerably more food than his stakeout partner but all of it has been vamoosed with the quickness. He takes another sip of the milkshake he's been nursing and just peers out of the windshield and down the street.

"I feel like those two idiots on that old Sonic commercial. Why we doin' this again?" Cage asks the question but is taking another sip of milkshake before he just offers some more words of street knowledge. "I can just walk over there, smack these fools and find out whatever you tryin' to find out."

There's another long pause before Luke's Truth slips out in the open. "Dancin' With The Supers is on tonight." Cage's next sip has just a hint of sulk with it.

Jessica Jones has posed:
Jessica had received a message from Danny about coming here, but she'd been busy dealing with a job so she was late... probably not too surprising to anyone who knew her.

Appearing behind the sedan that Luke and Danny are inside of, Jess is strutting down the street with her hands inside of her jeans pockets. She's wearing blue jeans and a black tanktop with black leather boots on her feet and a black messenger bag slung over her torso... it was blasted hot and she hated it... she was sweating from just walking!

She eyeballed their sedan up the street and when she got close enough she gave a slight kick to the door that was on Luke's left side, to try and give him a teasing little scare, a wicked grin on her dark red lips.

Jessica would move to get into the back seat then after popping the door open. "Why does it smell like this in here?" She asked while climbing into the car. Jess was unware of Kate Bishop's involvement in this stuff tonight.

Iron Fist has posed:
For maybe the first time tonight, Iron Fist pulls his attention away from the brownstone in question to fully consider the man next to him. The result is a very judgy look, which is impressive since basically only his mouth and chin are showing.

"Can't you just record that?" he asks, shaking his head before turning his attention back to the street. "If this place is actually connected to those men we fought before, then smashing doors open will only scare them away." He reaches forward and grabs his burger, then takes little bird bites of from it and sets it down again.

At the end of the block, those two figures make a move, walking side by side down the sidewalk. The ends of their cigarettes are barely visible, but help mark their path. Eventually, they stop in front of the darkened brownstone, consider it for a moment, and then start for the front door.

Then, a THUD against the door and Iron Fist jumps. When Jessica hops in the back seat, he turns and brings a finger to his lips. Shhhhhh, is the sound he makes.

Luke Cage has posed:
"Of course I can record it. I /am/ recording it. But do not give me those judgey eyes. Especially with that stupid mask on. It's creepy." Cage's teasing doesn't sound like it but that's because his tone rarely actually sounds like he's teasing. That would be weird.

Luke almost drops his shake when there's a foot against the door on his side and he turns to look out the window. His face goes from 'Somebody About To Get Punched To The Moon' to 'Dammit, Jessica' in the span of a half-second. He takes a breath and releases the tighter grip on his shake and takes a breath.

"Jessica Jones." Cage uses her full name because he's greeting her through the passenger visor mirror that he's pulled down and flipped open. "Smell like what? Rich White Folks? Caviar?" Cage then turns to look at Danny with a small smirk. "Teen Spirit?"

Come on, somebody has to get that reference.

Jessica Jones has posed:
Jessica settles into the backseat between their seats and just looks from one of them to the other as she uses her best judgey eyes to figure all of this out...

After a second or two she just responds with. "Uh huh." before moving on. "So what are we doing and is this it? Just the three of us? Because I just saw a sign down the street that said 'Free Karate Lessons' and the place was filled with teenagers. I figure it's a perfect source of backup for whatever Rannd has chooked up tonight."

Jessica looked from Danny over to Luke, then she leaned forward. "Where's mine?" She asked, looking at their food. "Let me guess, one of you ate it already..." A heavy sigh escaped between her red lips and she flopped back again against the sedan's seat.

"I'm ready to smash some teeth in." She quietly said while pulling her phone out of her pants and thumbing it on.

Iron Fist has posed:
Danny doesn't catch the reference, maybe because he's trying to focus on the action at the front of the brownhouse, but probably because classic rock wasn't the jam in K'un Lun. "This is it," he mumbles, grabbing his half-eaten burger and offering the rest to Jessica over his shoulder.

As the "team" does their thing in the sedan, and Kate watches from a nearby rooftop, the front door opens and the two figures stamp out their cigarettes before stepping inside. Then the door closes, and things are as they once were.

A moment passes, then the first start to arrive. Black-clad ninjas nearly impossible to spot against the overwhelming darkness of the street. They scramble across the rooftops with practiced speed and stealth, converging on the brownstone. Every now and then, one drops to lie flat on a nearby rooftop, forming an elevated perimeter.

"Are you guys seeing this?" Danny asks, his voice carrying just enough for those in the car to hear.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Hawkeye sees them, but then she's been watching in low-light. She freezes in her vantage point, hoping she's not been noticed in return. Luckily, she's mostly in black. She's also happy she's already strung a line from her rooftop to the target, no need to reveal herself to do that later.

Luke Cage has posed:
The look on Cage's face when the food issue is mentioned says it all. He actually looks apologetic for the next moment because, well, he did kind of chow down on everything that was left in the bag. "My bad." is all that's said before he gives the milkshake cup in his hand a shake and reaches it back through the middle of the seats to offer it to Jessica. "It's chocolate."

While that's going down, Cage turns to look where Danny's talking about and he raises an eyebrow. "I see... what am I supposed to be seein'?" Cage may or may not be catching the movements of ninjas but he's not going to be the only one talking about seeing ninjas if the other two aren't seeing ninjas. This definitely needs to be some kind of group effort.

"Ready when you are, Iron Fist." Cage makes sure to let him know that he's ready to punch things if that's what they were waiting on. Ninja Arrival.

Jessica Jones has posed:
Jessica watches both of them offer her half-finished food and she just waves a hand and shakes her head. "Hello? Cooties? Are you serious?" She teased them, clearly not interested in eating their leftovers.

But when Danny started looking out the window, she'd lean over to behind the driver's seat and start doing the same herself. "Movement, on the roofs, looks like parkour tryouts." She said in a disinterested tone of voice. "Is that who we're here to beat up?" She'd ask then, turning to look back at the boys in the front seat.

Jessica would grab the milkshake then, apparently having changed her mind, she pulled it back to her lips and drank whatever was left while going back to looking out the window. "Well lets do this." She'd start to get out of the car unless stopped by either of them.

Iron Fist has posed:
Iron Fist takes a deep breath, holds it for a moment, then exhales. "These are definitely the guys," he says, pulling back the burger and dropping it on the dash again. His body language changes to a more alert form as he stares closely out of all the windows near him.

"I don't know what we're going to find in there, but if we don't move fast they'll -- " he's cut off by the sound of the back door and Jessica's exit. So much for his speech. Turning to Luke, he shrugs and offers a 'what the hell' smile. "Let's go. We'll have cover, I hope."

The martial artist throws his door open, steps out, and slams the door shut. This, of course, catches the attention of the lookouts on the rooftops, who respond with a barrage of small throwing knives centered on the ground floor heroes.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Hawkeye rises from her crouch to pull back her bow and launch an arrow at the group pelting the car with skuriken. It's a flash-bang and should detonate over their heads. So, they'll be really unhappy in a moment. So much for surprise, though. She ducks back down, putting another arrow to the string.

Luke Cage has posed:
"This is what I get for hangin' with violent ass white folks."

Cage climbs out of the car, which rises up a bit once he's out of it. The moment he's out of the car, though, he pulls up the hood of his sweatshirt to obscure his identity some (not really) and it shows off the yellow interior of his chosen armor for the night (easter egg?).

"Try not to kill anyone!" is tossed after Jessica because she was the first one out of the car and he knows she can probably be a bit, uh, intense. Even for Ninjas.

Cage takes the time to close the door of the sedan before he just starts walking off in a focused and undisturbed pace towards the brownstone in question. Whatever knives are hurled in his direction get to ruin his hoodie and slice the shirt underneath but that's about it. His skin is in serious deflect mode.

He almost sighs every time he gets hit with one. It's annoying. So he starts mumbling some Wu, "M-E-T, H-O-D Man."

Jessica Jones has posed:
Jessica was out of the line of knives before Danny slammed his door shut and gave them all away, she stepped back and underneath the cover of the building itself, pressing her back up to it as sthe knives/shurikens/whatevertheyare started to rain down from above.

"Nice." Jess muttered at Danny, her eyes going nearly straight up... up toward where they were hailing down from and she saw the 'camera flash' of-which was actually Hawkeye's blinding bright stunning arrow shot...

Thats when Jessica leapt, straight up, clearing half the distance easily before she latched onto the side of the building, paused a second and then leapt AGAIN up to the building's top ledge!

With a simple side swing from there, and Jones was on the roof... ready to fight whatever she was about to find up here!

Iron Fist has posed:
Iron Fist was careless with the door, it's true, but he's not quite the tactician others might be. He'll watch from afar, assess, then barge right in. And tonight is no different, except that this time he's not alone.

Small, black-bladed knives cut the air around him. One punctures the front tire of the sedan, expelling a hiss of air. Iron Fist, dips, dives, and rolls under the barrage, breaking into a run once he's up. As he dashes past Luke, Kate's flashbang goes off and lights up the sky, briefly. This pauses the attack long enough for the martial artist to focus some of his chi.

Reaching the brownstone, he leaps much as Jessica did, reaching a ledge on the second story. With a kick, he forces his way inside one of the windows, breaking glass and and rusty hinges along the way.

Up on the rooftop, two ninjas stand and draw katanas worn on their back. After assessing the woman, they attack, moving in on two sides and swinging their blades with speed and skill. Elsewhere, on neighboring buildings, there's a frantic search for the source of the flashbang.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
These are ninjas and don't seem to be playing around, so the next arrow is just a normal broadhead, aimed for a ninja on a rooftop. She puts it in his right thigh, to slow him down. Makes parkour a lot harder, anyway. The next will be a hard foam arrow - much better than a boxing glove arrow like in the funny pages. Another ninja gets that in the noggin. Unfortunately, she's revealed herself a couple of times too much and she's been spied.

Luke Cage has posed:
"Well then."

Cage narrows his eyes as he continues his walk of epic intimidation towards the Brownstone. There's one of his crew on the roof and another smashing through windows so that only leaves one thing left... The Ground. The Streets. Yeah, that's kind of where Luke likes to be anyway so that's probably the reason for the small smirk that's on his face in the next moment.

There's only a moment of hesitation as he catches sight of a Ninja in Parkourless and gives a satisfied nod. Backup. With Arrows. Nice.

And that's when Cage takes off in a quick run towards the wall of the Brownstone. He ducks his head and aims his shoulder the closer he gets to the bricks and leans into the momentum he's created to smash explosively through the various stages of residentially constructed shelter. He, of course, decides to let the falling debris and the Cage sized hole speak volumes of intimidation as the dust surrounds his hooded figure of epic physical proportions.

Cage looks up with his eyes half-hidden by the dusty and debris-y hood with a huge Kool-Aid smile on his face. Chosen Quip: "Oh Yeah."

Jessica Jones has posed:
When Jessica got the roof, she noticed that the cinder blocks holding the ledge together were loose from age and wear... So now that she suddenly had two idiots with swords coming at her she reached over and hanked a couple of cinder blocks off of the top of the building and then just hurled one right at the man on her left, hidding him square in the chest as he hadn't expected the woman to be able to actually throw a heavy concrete block like that!

When he hit the ground, Jessica looked to the other sword-wielding-asshole and then he paused and looked back at her, just as he was struck by an arrow from across the distance... he fell too....

Jessica looked over and now she-too saw Kate. "Huh. Well thats new."

The loud boom from below could only mean one thing, though right? Luke had just gone Kool-Aide man on the building. "So much for not killing." She muttered.

A second later and Jessica was running toward the remainder of her enemies! She picked up one of the swords laying on the ground and then threw her cinder block at the back of another pajama-wearing man in black!

Iron Fist has posed:
The inside of the brownhouse is in total disrepair. It's dark, dank, and smells awful. On top of that, it's filled with more people than one might expect from the outside. Most of these people are gaunt and disheveled, moving zombie-like even with the arrival of the ninjas and Harlem Kool. Even as the very building shakes with the latter's arrival. Luke will some of these people being hauled off by the men in black, taken to other rooms, around corners, as other katana-wielding individuals engage him with zero fear in their eyes.

Up on the second floor, Danny finds himself in a hallway with rooms on either side. He nearly get's skewered the minute he barges in, but is able to dance to one side and merely have his shirt ribboned. A series of punches are delivered in retribution, then a sweep kick that brings other guy to the ground. Now he knows how Luke feels.

Outside, new arrivals leap onto the roof where Jessica fights, engaging her with various ninja weapons. Still others leap to Kate's location, offering her the same treatment. For those who have looked into such things, the swarm tactics and weaponry make it clear that this is The Hand. For those who haven't, things probably just feel super f'd up.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Hawkeye rolls aside just in time to avoid the downward strike of a ninja-to. The metal rings against the cinder block roof. She rises to her feet just in time to get a throwing knife to the flank, it stick in her armor. "Hell!" she curses, then turns a half-turn to kick the sword-wielder in the crotch, doubling him over. Another quick turn and she amanged to pin the foot of the second ninja with her to the roof with another arrow. "Stay put. I have to go down there now." She hooks a gadget to the line she strung earlier and zips across to a window of the brownstone, crashing in there.

Luke Cage has posed:
Cage keeps a close and observant eye on things and realizes he probably should've just kicked in the door. However, that NYC Crafstmanship seems to be holding up the place and that's well enough for him. He keeps a close eye on the fact that there are people that seem to be drugged out being pulled into various areas and rooms and that's not good. Not for his cause, anyway. He whispers to himself, "Come on then."

Cage stands his ground as the ninjas rush him. The first two send katanas into his hoodie, slicing through the fabric and breaking apart when they hit the skin. Which puts them in close enough range to be grabbed by Luke and thrown backwards through the hole he just made. He only uses enough strength to make sure they KO when they hit the street outside. No killing.

With those initial suckas out of the way, Cage moves further into the building he's threatened the structure of and focuses up on looking for the person that's in charge of this floor. In doing so, ninjas that get to close get slapped or smacked off in directions that are out of his path. Cage takes special care to make sure he doesn't actually punch or smack those that will be needing some anti-drug speeches after all this is over.

Jessica Jones has posed:
Jessica continues her fight on the roof as some reinforcements arrive... she knew that her archery-friend had left though... so that was a bummer, so much for cover and assistance up here. But she'll make due, she always does.

In this case, Jessica rips the brick chimney off of the roof and she over-hand throws it at two of the dark robed men and then rushes a third with her newly-claimed ninja sword held up in a fashion that she 'thinks' is accurate to that Kung Fu movie she watched on tv late one night last week.

Jessica swung the sword at the Ninja charging her and he ducked/rolled beneath her swing, came up behind her and sliced her right up the back!

"Fuck!" Jess cried out as she felt that white-hot pain, falling forward, her shirt slit and her skin cut... she couldn't tell how badly though.

Jess spun around to face the man and she snarled at him as he whirled his sword in a fancy flourish then rushed at her again!

Iron Fist has posed:
Iron Fist gets a swift kick in the gut by another Hand ninja who leaps over the body of the one he sent sprawling. He huffs and lifts his arms to block another sidekick to his skull. His teeth grit as he stares his assailant down, and with some concentration, he funnels his chi into one of his fists. The ninja's gaze wanders to it and his eyes widen.

The punch that comes from the fist is a doozy. It literally smashes the ninja into and through an adjascent wall, sending him sprawling into the room Kate just smashed her way into. Through the hole in the wall, Iron Fist gives Kate a salute, then races to the other end of the hallway.

A floor below, Luke Cage is making quick work of the ninja horde. His search through the ground floor of the building leads him to a back room, where an open door appears to lead to the basement. From that direction, there's a detonation that briefly shakes the foundation of the building, though it doesn't seem to come from directly below them. Nevertheless, a plume of dust is expelled from the open doorway.

This sound seems to alert the ninjas to something. Or, perhaps it's ass-kicking they're getting from the four heroes. Whichever it is (both, probably) they immediately go on the defensive, slinking out of whatever hole they can find.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"Wasn't me!" Kate calls after the explosion. "Everyone alright?" she asks, but possibly only Danny can hear. She follows after Rand. "What're we looking for?"

Luke Cage has posed:
"I'm on it!"

Cage is pretty sure his voice can carry at least to the floor HawkFist (ShipName Alert!) is at. He's not sure if his voice will carry all the way up to the roof. Maybe it will. He heard Jessica curse, though, so he's pretty sure she's still alive. And considering what they are doing? Alive is Alright.

Cage focuses on the cloudy explosion of doom and doesn't even hesitate because he's unbreakable. He just goes rushing into the plume of dust! To investigate or punch. Maybe both.

Jessica Jones has posed:
Jessica is definitely alive, she's just hurt... she tried to play swordswoman even though she's never really touched a sword before in her life. Not that she can remember anyway...

She does clash blades with the Ninja on the roof though and deflects hia attack, her superior strength making it pretty easy to at least shove away his swing. When he comes back at her again he slices her agross her left arm and she cries out once more.

"Fuck! This!" She grunts, smashing her won sword over her leg and rushing right at the man who was surprised by this manuever, he swipes at her throat but she ducks and slams into him like a football player!

Both of them go tumbling down into the building in the hole she made by yanking the chimney out!

Sliding, dust, bricks falling, old fireplace soot, and Jessica lands on the floor that the otherse are on, right ontop of the ninja who was trying to slice her to pieces, she'd snapped his neck by 'accident' when they landed.

"Ho... ho." Jessica was coverdd in filth, she looked like a 'ghost' infact because of it, and she was coughing now, hacking really. "Ho..."

More coughing and some looking around in a dazed confusion too.

Iron Fist has posed:
"I have no idea, but we'll know when we see it," Iron Fist shouts over his shoulder to Kate. As he passes by each room on his way to the other end of the brownstone, he catches glimpses of black as the ninjas make their escape from windows or into other rooms. He hits the staircase soon and bounds down them, past a horrified, but sleepy-looking, teen in a pajama gown.

He reaches the ground floor just before Jessica smashes her way there. "You alright?" he shouts, changing the arc of his path to reach her and offer a hand.

Even further below, the basement looks to be just that, only much dustier than it probably once was. There are boxes and old bicycles and even a beat-up canoe for some reason, but everything is very normal. Except at the far end of the room there's evidence of some kind of doorwar or passage. It's closed off by rubble now, though, probably from whatever explosion just went off.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"You're bleeding." Kate says, pointing out the obvious. "I'm Hawkeye. I can sew you up late if you want." She smiles and lights up a red light clipped to her chest, to illuminate the hall.

Luke Cage has posed:
"..."

Cage is taking his time looking around the basement because basements always have some sort of clue. He frowns when he finally reaches the back corner and can tell there's some serious Rubble Blocking going on. He probably /could/ punch through it but he'd rather get those druggies upstairs some help first. He can always check and see what's up from the outside. Or come back later.

Cage takes the stairs back up to the main floor and finally pulls his hood down since they are ninja free. "Y'all cool?" is tossed around at the entire crew before Cage starts doing his own checking of people with his eyes.

Jessica Jones has posed:
Jessica was crawling back up to her knees when Danny offered her the hand and she accepted it. Covered in soot and dirt... she crawled out of the fireplace and off of the dead ninja, fireplace filth pouring off of her in her wake.

At the sound of Kate's observation Jessica glanced back at her shoulder and sighed. "Yeah... I can tell its not great, but its not life threatening. Well, unless infection sets in, I suppose. Its been awhile since I watched medical videos on youtube." Jess coughed some more. "Can't really remember how all thw shit works."

When Luke appeared from the basement, she looked over at him, a cut on her arm mixed in with the filth covering her and right up her back from lower left to upper right shoulder.

"Couldn't be better." She said to him then, dusting herself off... clouds of grossness plooming away from her.

"What'd you find down--." Jessica started hacking again.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate looks around. "Does anyone else think it's wierd that noone seems to want to fight us anymore?" she asks. "I guess we'd better hurry. The explosion probably will being police, or at least the fire department. Do we need to take someone with us to talk to, to get more info from?"

Luke Cage has posed:
"Right."

Cage didn't look like he was enjoying the fact that Jessica was hacking up nastiness. But Kate had the right idea. "You're right. We better scatter. Buuuuut..." Cage leans back a bit to look out the hole he made earlier. "Hol' up." And he's stomping off and through the hole.

A moment later he's stomping back inside and he's got one KO'd ninja over one shoulder and the other one is being carried like a Prada Bag. As soon as he's back over near Hero Club, he holds Prada Ninja out to Kate. "For you and Danny. I'll take this one." He bounces the ninja that's on his shoulder. "And this one." He nods towards Jessica and her hacking + blood formula. "For patching up and interrogation."

Sirens. Distance. Soon.