363/Raptors Are Solitary Hunters

Raptors Are Solitary Hunters
Date of Scene:	11 May 2017
Location:	Gotham City
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Batwoman, Huntress

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Batwoman has posed:
It's a brisk, cool night in Gotham. It's always a cool night in this city, the one that never seems to quite wake up from the dull lethargy of sleep. For some place so crowded and teeming with huddled masses of the poor and loosely moraled it always has the feeling of being sparsely populated, bleak. Just to take away the comfort of being surrounded by others who can share your concern for your wellbeing, perhaps. Still, in the morning the city improves even if it is always dour.

Moving through the quiet night of the city is a wraith, a shadow really. Darkness with a splash of crimson gliding from the rooftops like a spectre. It's a familiar sort of outline, like a bat against the sky. But the Huntress knows the bat, and his is not a cowl made of crimson. He is not a hellbat and this creature assuredly is. It would have been missed really, if she was not shadowing the same movements as the Huntress herself. Not stalking her, no. Stalking the same prey.

There is, on 43rd Street two blocks east of Queen, a warehouse. It's a small building, removed from the docks, used as a sort of central storage for people hauling goods up from the ocean and then distributing them to the people of Gotham. This particular center is run by a rough and tumble gang of crooks known as 'Johnny's Boys'. Knives and submachine guns, mostly. They usually leave people alone unless there's a good score. It isn't certain yet but they probably made a score tonight on the docks. Two dead bodies and a bunch of missing crates.

These are the people that Batwoman is hunting tonight, moving from the rooftops and using magnified vision to scope out their hiding spot. Most of the Boys are away from the hideout, so there's no point crashing the party yet. It's another Gotham night.

Huntress has posed:
Huntress is definitely hunting tonight as well. Her sources tell her that 'Johnny's Boys' do work for higher powers, perhaps even one of the Five Families. But she isn't certain. Not that she's opposed to busting up a violent gang for its own sake, of course, but she needs information more importantly.

The tall, dark shape is camped out on a roof across from the main entrance to the warehouse in question. The edges of the mask give her the silhouette of a Bat if viewed from the right angle, but she's wearing an overcoat instead of a cape. She is scanning with night vision goggles when she catches the thermal image across the way. Moving from rooftop to rooftop. Help, or an interloper? Definitely not the Bat. At least not unless he changed colors.

"Dammit..." she mutters, comm channel open. She was comfortable, too, and rises slowly to let the stiffness work out of her legs. The black-and-red figure is moving in a predictable pattern. Huntress anticipates, shooting a grapple line to swing out and intercept the other hunter on the next jump.

Batwoman has posed:
For a moment Batwoman is considering the other shape. They are thinking the same thing, in fact. Friend or foe. The angle of approach doesn't suggest a foe- why would someone haunt the rooftops and move with such a small degree of stealth? She frowns for a second and considers the pistol attached to her utility belt. She shakes her head slowly. Next the woman is checking out her angles of escape, head tilted slightly in a rush of thick crimson tresses as she looks from building to building nearby. A dozen ways to escape this rooftop if things get too heated. So she waits.

As the grapple comes in the crimson Bat is standing beside it, waiting for Huntress to arrive beside her. She waches patiently, not attempting to hide or shift herself into the shadows as she does. "They're mine. You can let me take care of things here." She tilts her head toward the warehouse. They can only both be after a single prey rightnow. There's a poised confidence to how the woman stands. The same height as Helena, a similar build... The flamboyantly crimson hair, under cape, and Bat across her chest, stark against the black of the rest of her outfit.

"You're here hunting. You should lock down your open comm channel."

Huntress has posed:
Huntress isn't one to back down, and tonight is no exception. Reeling in the line with a flip of her wrist, she steps up closer to the redhead. Shoulders back and jaw set. "I'm -watching-. And so long as that's all -you- wanna do, you're welcome to sit here and join me for coffee and donuts."

Her gaze lowers to the red bat logo splashed across the other woman's chest, and purple lips purse. "You work for -him-, then, or are you just poaching the trademark?" The speed-winch hisses to a stop and she adjusts the equipment with the casual ease of practice. After another moment of sizing up the other woman, she offers. "Let's talk. I don't wanna screw up your hunt and you sure as hell don't wanna screw up mine. But we may be looking for the same thing."

Batwoman has posed:
"I don't work for anyone," Kate responds in the low, almost sultry voice she seems to favour. It's another way of disguising one's voice. A much more attractive way than the elder Bat's variant. She is regarding Huntress coolly for a second as she's being studied, tilting her head slightly as she does. Finally the redhead takes a deep breath. Slowly.

"We can talk. What are you up here for?" Batwoman asks then, relaxing just a hair. "I am guessing you're thinking of taking down Johnny and his Boys over there. But you're waiting, which means you know they have more connections and if you drop them now they're going to ground. But why are you here?" She adopts a stoic stance, forearms crossed low over her toned abdomen.

Huntress has posed:
Huntress removes the compact crossbow from her glove, the spring-loaded arms snapping out. She loads it without looking, purple lips pulling into a small smile at the redhead's questions. "You know what you're doing, I'll give you that." she offers. "I'm after the Five Families, plain and simple. If Johnny and his Boys are connected to them, then we need to have a conversation. That's all I want to do is talk."

"If you want to get in my way or feel a need to take down Johnny and his Boys before I'm finished with them, then we need to have an entirely different conversation." The crossbow is loaded but lowered, at least for the moment. And it's a pretty good bet that the well-armed brunette isn't planning on having a -pleasant- conversation with Johnny or his Boys. "You can call me Huntress, for conversation purposes."

Batwoman has posed:
"Then call me Batwoman," the other replies, watching with mild curiosity as that crossbow is being loaded. he doesn't bother touching her pistol even if Huntress is currently armed. Instead the redhead has moved to the edge of the roof, licking her full lips briefly against the abuse they've suffered from the wind, and takes a deep breath.

"The Five Families? You aren't aiming low at least," Batwoman offers in a measure of approval. "We should question them together," she starts slowly, tilting her head sligthly as she does so. "I have a few questions to. it doesn't look like I'll be in your way." A beat follows before she asks, "Why a crossbow?"

Huntress has posed:
Purple lips pull back into a warmer smile, the brunette relaxing noticeably. Her eyes aren't visible behind the mask lenses, but the brightening is noticeable all the same. "I have my own reasons to go after the Five Families, but yes. I consider wiping them from the face of the earth my personal crusade."

Stepping slowly away from the edge of the roof, she leans her butt against an air circulation unit. "Why a crossbow? Because it's quiet and it's final. Very. Very. Final. It's also become my trademark, and thugs are afraid of it. Fear can be very powerful, but I suspect you already know that."

Another pause, and the redhead gets another once-over. "So explain to me how you work alone, but you wear His emblem? Better choice of colors, by the way. The red works for you."

Batwoman has posed:
"Do you know how many criminals he's put away that ended up just wandering the street afterward?" Kate asks, her lips pursed faintly as she frowns. "You're right. Sometimes you need to use a bit of finality. I don't- like to kill but I will, and I have. I don't think he would approve. It's a symbol, though."

Kate takes a deep breath and then slowly exhales as she looks out over the city. "You talked about fear and symbols. So you get it. The bat doesn't just belong to him anymore. It's about taking back the city for the people in it. Doing what needs to be done." At this point her toes are over theedgeof the roof, hair billowing in the updrafts from the street. The Batwoman stares quietly downward, hands at her sides.

"You know him. Don't you?" The woman asks then, hardly moving. "Huntress."

Huntress has posed:
Huntress's footsteps are quiet behind Batwoman, but her voice gets closer. "Yeah, you can say we've met. And he definitely doesn't approve of my methods, even of he doesn't argue about the results. Much." Coming into Kate's peripheral vision, Helena stands beside her on the edge now.

"I'm quite a bit... rougher... with criminals than He is. But I don't have the same problems with guys getting out on bail." No need to arrest corpses, right? "When one of my perps gets back out on the street it's only after extensive rehab and physical therapy." The smile returns, purple and glossy.

"I won't ask your reasons and I'm not ready to tell you mine. Maybe later, but not right now." Huntress offers. "It doesn't look like much is going to happen tonight with our Boys. How do you feel about Chinese takeout?"

Batwoman has posed:
"Chinese? Mmm," Batwoman agrees after a brief pause. "I suppose we can worry about those clowns later. They aren't smart enough to move their hideout unless they know they've been burned." Kate takes a deep breath,crossing her arms over herchest as she does so.

"No need for reasons. As long as we can trust eachother in a tight spot... We can at least talk." The cape billows about Batwoman as the breeze intensifies, air sweeping over her form. "And dinner doesn't sound bad. I always patrol on an empty stomach. Easier if you have to run suddenly. Were you thinking of someplace in particular?"

Huntress has posed:
Huntress relaxes the arms on the crossbow before clicking it back into place on her wrist again. Purple lips smile again. "I think we're both pretty safe on those terms, at least. Even if I'm used to working alone." She jerks her thumb vaguely off to the right, then. "There's a really good place on 41st street, almost directly over from here. I order there sometimes at the end of my shift, so they're familiar with suspicious phone calls and dead-drop deliveries."

Huntress moves to the far side of the roof, then, leaving the dockside warehouse unwatched. "You have a ride close by? My bike is hidden a few blocks away. I can drive."

Batwoman has posed:
"I didn't bother bringing my car. Traffic the way it is over here gliding is faster," Batwoman replies wryly. "I might havesomething I could scare up... But I'll take the ride. Dead drop Chinese? Sounds exciting. How's the sweet and sour soup?"

Turning in the direction Huntress indicated Batwoman squints slightly, as if it might somehow allow her to see farther." Then she shrugs hers houlders slightly and nods. "Alright. Good enough for now. Let's go." Then she heads for the far side of the roof. She waits just long enough for Huntress to indicate which way they are headed before taking to the sky.