4600/Toes to be Stepped On

Toes to be Stepped On
Date of Scene:	11 June 2018
Location:	China Basin
Synopsis:	Deep in China Basin, somebody has upset the balance of power, Batman and Elektra try to determine who.
Cast of Characters:	Shredder, Batman, Elektra

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Shredder has posed:
    It's not uncommon for there to be crime in the China Basin, not at all. The high poverty rate and presence of organized chinese crime makes it a likely place for both muggings and more organized operations. However, there is a certain established order of respect that seems to be held, tenuously at least.
    This makes the call that comes over the police station all the more unusual. It's a gun fight. A massive gun fight happening at one of the known mob front restaurants. A few police units respond, they are en route.

Batman has posed:
     The sound of distant sirens and a telltale signal in the sky are but a few indications that this is night time in Gotham.

  The batsignal has been raised, more of a formality and a forboding sign at this point. Batman had long since been tied into the GCPD police band. He never talked, but he sure did listen.

  The Batmobile roared through the Gotham streets, cars knew to get out of the way. The large supervehicle had come to a halt on the perimeter of the scene of the shooting. The Dark Knight hopped out of the inexplicable car, clad in his usual Batsuit, armored accents and all, he approached with intent. He knows he would need a sitrep from one of Gotham's Finest.

Shredder has posed:
    As the iconic vehicle arrives, it is clear that whatever happened, it happened fast. It's over, and the sitrep might be a sit RIP. Shots have streaked across the Golden Buddha, a usually undisturbed mob hideout. At least, undisturbed by other criminals. They have enough strength to hold their own, and they don't try to stretch their power beyond their means.
    The cops seem to have arrived too promptly for their own good, though. A lifeless body lacking the owner's head, which rests in front of the car. Stab wounds were the demise for two others, and one lies with his hand on his bleeding neck, short breath, and a bloodstain on his uniform from where someone wiped a small blade upon his shirt. One can only imagine what is inside.

Batman has posed:
     The gauntlet holo display is brought up, tapping a few commands, relaying coroner and EMS to the scene. The Dark Knight kneels down next to the wounded officer. He does what he can for him, though the wound may be too grave. "Hold on, an ambulance is en route." He says in his grizzled voice.

  Batman reaches for his medical kit, hoping to be able to perform some kind of triage to extend the officer's chances. Everyone else was dead, so any chance to save this life and be able to get information later was too great to not try.

Shredder has posed:
    The wound missed what was vital, though more of luck. It seems the man's artery was naturally just slightly to the right of where it normally should be, and the natural abberation most likely saved his life. "Batman," he whispers, terro in his voice. "I...I don't know what happened, I never saw them. Never heard them. They could be still here." His voice scratches, it sounds like his trachea may be injured, but with proper care, he will likely survive. The EMS naturally does arrive a few minutes later, just behind another police unit.

Batman has posed:
     "You're safe now." He says, right as the paramedics come and attend to the officer. The officer's words weigh heavy on Batman, tapping on his cowl to change vision modes from UV to infrared, to thermal imaging. If the officer said he didn't see them, then perhaps he really couldn't.

  Images from the drone scene are taken with the cowl's onboard cameras as well, sent back to the Batcomputer for analysis. Pertinent items like the Officer's bloodstain, the...unfortunate wound from the beheading, any traces of weapons that can be found. He knew this wasn't just some gunfight, these men were outclassed by skilled blade combatants.

Shredder has posed:
    As the imaging turns on, the heat is still hanging in the air, warmth from the expended pistols and automatic weapons littering the ground inside. The officers outside never had the opportunity to fire a shot. Several rounds inside are all along the wall. The body count inside is twelve. Two are dead from gunshot wounds, the others are all dead from blades. They were centered around a table, as if there had been a discussion going on.
    Oh, and one more thing. There's someone hiding in a floor cabinet, the heat signature still moving, if only to breathe.

Batman has posed:
     Batman takes pictures of the scene, the placement of bodies and their wounds. Especially which two were killed by gunfire.

  The heat signature is enough to get his interest piqued. The Dark Knight turns to the cabinet, slowly reaching for the knob to open the door, batarang in hand should he need to defend against attack.

Shredder has posed:
    As the door opens, the Japanese man inside holds his hands over his head in defense, and he screams. "You lianmin! Ping!" Mandarin for Have mercy. Peace. He is quite visibly terrified, holding his hands in surrender. "Batman!" he says, and starts nervously laughing. "The Batman!" It's not often that a mobster looks relieved to see the Dark Knight, but he most decidedly looks relieved.

Batman has posed:
     "Ni lengjing yixia." Calm yourself. Batman says, bidding the mobster to come out of hiding. "Zhe shi shei zuo de?" Who did this? He asks, gesturing to the bodies. The MO was significantly different than what he's seen before from other gangs.

Shredder has posed:
    "They didn't say." The Japanese man answers, "There were seven, maybe eight," he says. "We had a meeting, supposed to be very important," about what, he'll probably decline to discuss. "They came in through the back." He looks around. "I heard the shooting, and looked out from the kitchen." He shakes his head. "They not see me, so I hide. I am just cook! I just cook!"

Elektra has posed:
As it happens, Elektra Natchios had been visiting the Hugo building not so very far away in Gotham.. though not for a business 'use the front door' sort of visit. This was more the underhanded ilk of visits, and checking out the nightlife and happenings. Without a police scanner, her arrival on the scene is mere happenstance. And the caped crusader, and the scene she stumbles upon, keep her hidden in the shadows to assess what it is she sees, and to determine if she wanders or stays. Or even which Elektra they see.

Batman has posed:
     Batman watches around the area as the man recounts his story. "Tell me, if they entered through the back, why did you come to the front?" In Japanese, he attempts to trip up the witness it seems. Elektra goes unnoticed for now, or at least she is led to believe she isn't noticed.

Shredder has posed:
    The man points back at the kitchen. "I was in kitchen when they came in. They not see me. I hear the shooting, then hear more noise in back, thought maybe more coming. They gone from the front, so I come up and hide." Maybe not the most likely scenario, but it's possible that it could be his necessary play to stay hidden.
    The area is remarkably undisturbed outside of the bullets. There is only one flipped chair, which looks like it was used to catch the head of one mobster, his neck broken within the gap between the back and the seat. In addition, there doesn't seem to be any signs of the weapons the attackers used. Only the weapons that seemed to be part of the mob's arsenal.

Elektra has posed:
Whether or not Elektra knows she has been noticed or not, she doesn't give that away, though as speech shifts from Mandarin to Japanese, her interst is piqued. Whatever it was that has transpired here, it's not of the mundane, and might very well something she wants a head up on, given her own activities.. well, the Hand's activities. Elektra herself has been very inactive of late, such are the results of running the organization, and her recent (but now healed) injury.

She slips from the nearest shadow, into another - closer, and certainly one where she knows that she might be noticed from, but not for certain, she is, after all, a master of hiding in shadows - and regards the scene more closely, her current decision running from remaining a silent sentinel to the scene, or interrupting it.

Batman has posed:
     Batman notes the change, and that the man understood him. Batman looks over the mobster, looking for a sign of lies. The state of the room makes him skeptical of this gentleman. "These wounds were made by precise instruments. Nihonto. They came in fast and left just as fast. Or he didn't leave at all." Batman keeps his eyes on the man, reaching for a set of zip ties. Either way, the GCPD would want to speak with him.

Shredder has posed:
    The man makes no aggressive movements, he doesn't even resist the zip ties if the Batman decides to use them. He wears a watch, the time reads 12:37. It's only 10:18pm. The wounds on the victims are indeed precise. blades were thrust straight between ribs.

Elektra has posed:
Now Elektra does step from the shadows head canting evver so slightly towards the man upon the ground. "You do realize he is wasting your time and buying it for others, yes?" At least that's her assessment of the situation. "The question is who and what is he hiding."

Batman has posed:
     Batman doesn't turn his head, while he ties the cook. He will leave him for the backup cops that came with the ambulance. "He is."

  It was after the witness was secured that Batman acknowledged Elektra. No assailant would be bold enough to stick by and announce themselves the way she did. "This was an assassination, hardly time to react if they were able to pierce between the ribs." He tries to identify a possible trail of the correct assassins, analyzing the ground around the bodies for footprints.

Shredder has posed:
    The positioning of the bodies gives some insight. There were likely three who faced off against the twelve. The two who were shot look like they were taken by friendly fire. Among them is a higher ranking member of this particular mob. Mr. Zhao. It seems they were in fact sittng at some point, and there are three chairs more than bodies. Whoever did this really knew what they were doing. It's possible that the group was not taken completely by surprise, but it's clear that the fight didn't last long.
    In fact, it's strange that the police would have been able to arrive in time to actually encounter the killers. Of course, it's always possible that there was more fighting than it looks like, but there should probably be more expended casings, or at least more of a struggle that would have taken place in a longer term fight.

Elektra has posed:
Elektra doesn't ask permission, merely slips in where the bodies are, and investigates. Things don't add up. The bullets didn't hit the expected targets, and the death toll overall is higher than expected, but less bloody than one might expect as well. Investigation of the bodies suggests that those with bullets were hit by friendly fire... and that the others fell fast, and with a deadly precision.

"It looks like a professional striike," she remarks quietly. "though these gunshots don't make sense. There isn't enough carnage for them to have been sheer misses, but why shoot your own?"

Still knelt at a body, her gaze shifts over to Batman.

Batman has posed:
     Batman watches over Elektra, visualizing the gunshots and their trajectories. "Post-mortem gunshot wounds. They are there to throw off an investigation. Whoever did this, wanted to pin it on a gang war. Maybe..." His gauntlet computer came up, the holo display showing known information. "Someone wanting to take turf away without admitting culpability."

Shredder has posed:
    There aren't any known contenders on the field who were gunning for this turf that the Batcomputer would have to help determine who the attackers are, but both Elektra and Batman would recognize ninjitsu techniques. The blows were mostly one hit kills, decisive strikes to end the fight quickly.

Elektra has posed:
"Possibly," Elektra admits, rising smoothly. "Or to hide giving it up outright. Deals have been made on less." It's exactly the sort of thing she could imagine some of her own doing, though this wasn't contested territory in the Hand's books.. at least not that she knew of, and if it were, then someone was keeping things from her.

Batman has posed:
     Batman places the information under a new gang file. "It must be a new faction." He will have to keep his ear out for news of such.

  "Only a number of known factions could pull off something this precise. At least on this continent. And one of those has been underground for quite some time now."

Elektra has posed:
Elektra gives a slow nod. She'd heard rumours of, but had been busy with her own troubles. She'd expected her own men to take care of business and report back. Even if this wasn't contested territory, she should have heard word of unrest.. though if they were new??

"Suggestions? Other than leaving before the police arrive, that is."

Batman has posed:
     "GCPD are out front. If you're avoiding them, go the back way." Batman drapes his cape over his shoulders, readying the Batmobile from remote. The Japanese man gets shown to the GCPD outside before he goes back to the Cave for a small debrief.