3665/Flip a coin

Flip a coin
Date of Scene:	15 January 2018
Location:	Starling City
Synopsis:	Shiva shows mercy, and Arrow probably is going to have to do something nice to thank her.
Cast of Characters:	Green Arrow, Lady Shiva

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Green Arrow has posed:
Lakes. Youth. Nightlife. It all goes hand in hand. A pop-up club (one of those new concepts, short-run clubs, ever changing themes, etc) has just opened and the current one is a nice rave house - people of all ages, showing up, the whole soap suds thing, poi balls, lots of techno music (or what some people call heck-no music), some drugs for sure. It's the kind of scene that seems like something out of a cross between a comic book and a sci fi movie. But as people leave the club, sometimes they're in better shape than others. This particular pair of girls, probably on the cusp of if they're in high school or not, are definitely tipsy and flirting with a few boys as they turn off the main road and the gruop follows them. Some whistles, some cat calls, and the girls start to walk faster when one of the boy sraces up in front of them. "Hold up no where ya goin' in such a hurry. You haven't even tried the best party favors yet..." he says, holding up a plastic packet with a pink pill in it. Of course the girls realize they're out of their depth, they try to squeeze by, try to flirt by, and eventually the one pulls out her phone to call her dad which is when things start getting physical. One girl pushed against the wall, another held against a trash can by her friednds.

And that's when Ollie is watching from a nearby roof and is about to drop down, to interrupt this little frat party.

Lady Shiva has posed:
    A shadow is seen at the mouth of the alleyway, the light behind the figure casting that darkness further in to fall over the group. Standing there is a woman of Chinese decent. Her body is adorned in a red Oriental styled top. Her legs are in plain black pants. Slippers cover her feet. Not boots, despite the cold and the snow. Little black slip on shoes that will do nothing to help with the elements. There is a lightweight black leather trenchcoat over the top of it all, worn open despite the cold wind blowing through the alley. The rustle of her coat is heard, her dark hair lifting in the wind as she regards the group.
    "I will give you one chance. Not to walk away. That will not happen," Shiva says calmly as she begins walking into the alleyway. There is this zen aura about her, as though she is in perfect balance with the world around her. The frat boys have no idea this is one of the more dangerous people on the planet.
    The man on the rooftop does.
    "Your chance is to live to see the sunrise. Let the girls go."

Green Arrow has posed:
He shoots an arrow over to the fire escape on the other side and slides down, landing on the ground, the snow crunching beneath his boots. They're soled similarly to yours, almost like slippers though they have a bit more of a treat, and they do come up his legs a bit. They allow him that same silent walk you have though...well a similar silence. He's probably not as good at it as you are. "Boys..." he says, his metallic voice coming through the audio enhancer. "I suggest you guys get out of here, and quickly. This was clearly not going to be your night." And even as he says it he flings a bolt that hits the girl near the trash can in top fo the knuckles, not impaling her but just enough to make her drop the gun she was drawing as everyone is distracted. It seems like maybe she wasn't as helpless as she was playing at being either. It's a right shit-show is what we have here, and on either end of it, he further in the alley and you at the entrance, two people that they wouldn't want to meet alone, no less together.

Lady Shiva has posed:
        "No."
    Her voice is quiet yet it carries through the alleyway. "They do not get to leave. They believe they can assault women." These frat boys hit on one of the few things that will get Shiva's attention. She's one of those people who goes through the world and leaves thing be most times. She's not a hero. She's not one to go out and protect people from the monsters in the night.
    In truth, Shiva is one of the monsters. She's worked for the League of Assassins, The Hand, The Foot. She is for hire as a killer, if the price is right. She is the very opposite of a hero.
    Yet she will not tolerate women being mistreated. Slavers have found that out first hand. Now these frat boys have crossed that same line as far as the woman is concerned.
    "Girls. Go. Now." And with that, the two girls are off like a shot in her direction, running out to the street. That leaves the boys who are turning to run in the direction of the Green Arrow. He's less frightening than this woman suddenly.

Green Arrow has posed:
You can hear his soft sigh, as he realizes that tonight is not going to go anywhere near towards what he had planned. He looks over across the alley, and at the girls. "You guys screwed up good," he says quietly. He still has his bow out but he hasn't made a single move towards any off his arrows - not lke it matters. You know they're there, and you know he has his bolts on him. And he knows he could toss two or three at you and you'd deflect them easily if not catch them and just throw them back at him. At least, if one were playing chess and predicting the first few moves, that's how this would go.

"They didn't hurt them...and it looks like they were about to get worse than they bargained for. We could have called the police...let them take care of it but you just let the victims go. This doesn't have to end the way you're about to take this. They're scum...but they're neutralized scum for now..." he says. Maybe he can talk reason with Shiva.

Lady Shiva has posed:
That earns a tilt of the head from Shiva. "The police will do nothing. They will slap them on the wrist and send them on their way." Shiva looks from one frat boy to the other as they continue to head for their obvious protector, the Arrow. The woman continues to walk slowly into the alley now, starting to close the distance. "I won't kill them. Just hurt them." Then her eyes narrow.
    For a long moment, she eyes the boys as they suddenly turn and run out of the alley behind the Arrow. Shiva does not pursue. Her dark gaze flicks back to Oliver's masked eyes. "You let them go, they will try this again in a few months when their fear of us fades. If they had pain for a few weeks, they would never do it again. I will never understand you 'heroes'."

Green Arrow has posed:
"They didn't all...." and he sighs. "People learn lessons. Have lapses of judgement. Is it likely they'll make this mistake again? Possibly. It's also possible that the fact I smell urine in the air from at least one of them says that some of them have already learned. I can't let you break all of them..." he purses his lips. And he walks around the side as one of the guys speaks up. "There's more of us anyway. What're you going to do, stop us all?"

"The Green Arrow shakes his head, "Seriously? You have a 5'8" asian woman standing at the end of the alley tellign a gruop of guys that she's going to be nice and NOT kill you....and you're going to mouth off rather than at some point wonder or realize that there's just enough of a chance she can probably do exactly what she's saying and rather than apologize or stay quiet...you're gonna provoke her?"

He sighs and looks to Shiva. "That one," he says, pointing to the one who talked. "Make an example.... but you don't have to break -all- of them>'

Lady Shiva has posed:
    A deep sigh comes from Shiva. "Very well. Just the one."
    One moment she is walking, an instant later she is beside the young man in question. He swings for her head and she leans to the side, avoiding it easily. Another punch and she steps aside. Ollie will be able to see she is already in motion to dodge before the man actually swings, somehow able to read his body language and know what he is doing an instant before he does. She allows the man about four ties. He's already winding himself, dragging in air heavily. Shiva's breathing hasn't changed. Her entire demeanor is still that quiet peacefulness.
    Now it is her torn. In an almost nonchalant flick of her arm, she strikes the man in the shoulder directly in the nerve cluster. His left arm is suddenly useless. Another strike and the right is the same, hanging uselessly from his shoulders as he cries out in surprise and pain. She brings her arm back then drives it forward, palm flat, aimed for the middle of his chest. He can't block. He can do nothing. When the strike hits, she let's out a loud "KIYAI!"
    The frat boy flies backwards five feet, crashing into the trash cans. She stands there a moment with her arm still extended, knees bent. Then she straightens her knees and walks to the fallen main, crouching next to him. "What you do not feel is your heartbeat. I have stopped it. If you ever attack a woman again, I will find you and I will take you apart piece by piece. Then I will watch you die on the ground as you are now. Do we understand one another?"
    He gives a frantic nod, eyes filled with terror. She reaches to the back of his neck and touches a spot as he gasps loudly. Then she rises walking back toward the Arrow. "He will live."

Green Arrow has posed:
Arrow doesn't interfere. He made an agreement. And it's one that in all truth, was probably more than fair. You very easily could have said no. So that when you walk over he bows respectfully. That is one thing he has learned in his time of course is how to show genuine respect, not simply bowing out of function or because it's something you 'should' do. Every part of the movement, from his posture, to the depth of the bow, to teh relaxtion in his body to show no aggression or tension, shows how relaxed he is. "Thank you. On his behalf. He is ignorant and should be grateful for the lesson he....well hell."

And you can see it in the reflectoin of his eyes, can hear the sounds of movement on snow. It seems the frat guys are convinced that you're real impressive when it's one on one. "Hey China girl. Ooooh look at you and your martial arts. You can beat one person. Good for you. Like to see what happens when it's all of us...."

Ollie starts to open his mouth to stick up for them, to say something and then he just shakes his head. He asks again, bowing politely, "Try not to kill them?"

Lady Shiva has posed:
    They should hve kept running. By their own actions they have condemned themselves to their fate.
    As they close ranks and move back into the alleyway, Shiva simply waits for them. She gives them time to space themselves out around her, making sure they have her covered from every angle. After all, their numbers will make short work of her, martial arts or no.
    The ringleader in the trashcans, heart beating again but still unable to move his arms, yells, "Don't guys! Run! Seriously! Get the hell out of here!"
    "Don't worry, Bobby. We got her."
    Ten seconds later and Shiva is in that same relaxed position standing in the middle of the alleyway. The boys that had attacked her are scattered about in varying levels of pain. One is crying in a pile of trash bags, cradling his broken arm. A few are on the ground, prone, bleeding from their noses with other broken bones to add to their agony.
    The mouthy one is on the ground by her. She has one foot on his throat as she applies pressure, cutting off his oxygen as he writhes and tries to pry her leg away but fails. "Are you certain I can't kill just this one? He has an offensive mouth."

Green Arrow has posed:
Green Arrow watches. He knows that you won't kill them, because you said you won't. And to be fair, perhaps you are right - they may need this lesson. "I remember the story of a friend of mine. He told me about how he and his dad had the 'drug' talk. That if he ever found out he was taking drugs, his dad would break both his arms and both his legs. And yes, he would go to prison for it but he loved his son that much. So while he was in prison, his son wouldn't be able to get to the drugs, and even if he did with his broken arms hew ouldn't be able to TAKE the drugs, so that by the time he was all healed he would be reminded any time from there on out, the lengths his father would go to and the pain he would experience if he ever took drugs again."

Arrow looks to you thena nd politely makes a fist in one hand and closes his open palm over the other one. "I would be grateful if you did not. The lesson won't have a chance to sink in, and the sense memory of this foolish night would be wasted. You've gone out of your way to teach a valuable lesson, it would be a shame if they did not get to learn it." Ollie....playing the metaphysical respect for the teacher card.

Lady Shiva has posed:
    "Very well." Shiva lifts her foot so the young man can breathe again. He rolls onto his side, drawing in air then coughing as it irritates his bruised throat. He'll live. He will have some problems with his throat for a while. None of them will even have a permanent injury. She didn't go that far. They will heal and hopefully, rethinking their ways.
    She turns and walks over to the Green Arrow, ignoring all the bodies littering the ground now. His tactic has worked. She has chosen to follow the path that he, and so many of his kind, prefer. She still doesn't understand it but at times, she respects it and will assist others. "You re on patrol this evening?" she asks, much like someone else would ask about the weather.