6067/Holiday shopping can be murder

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Holiday shopping can be murder
Date of Scene: 29 December 2018
Location: New York City
Synopsis: Carrie shops for New Year's, Sara's on patrol, Nina looks for something, and a few would-be robbers have a /terrible/ evening...
Cast of Characters: Shadow, Witchblade, Carrie Kelley, Nina the Conjuror




Shadow has posed:
    It's the last Saturday evening of the year, and most of New York's shopping district hasn't bothered to take down the Christmas tinsel just yet, turning the shopping avenues into a near-Disneyland level of glitter and shine, calling people to come and dance, come and eat, come and drink, come and shop, but above all come and spend your money...

     Most sensible people have the foresight to have all their pre-New Year shopping done well before this, but every year it's simply /astonishing/ how many people turn out not to be sensible. It's not quite the critical mass of a Black Friday, but the streets and malls are packed with people frantically looking for That One Thing they'd forgotten to get -- presents, recipes, wines, dresses, dates, you name it...

Witchblade has posed:
    And out in the crowd is Sara Pezzini. In this sort of a crowd she's a little more comfortable since it's New York. Of course, she's in that on-duty/off-duty shuffle around the shopping district since the big robberies and such come about during the holiday season. This is also when all police are 'on deck' so to speak...looking for the thieves to pull something, and that's why Sara's around here.

Unfortunately, it can be boring work, unless you catch someone red handed.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley was one of those unfortunate sorts to be out on the streets in New York at this time. Her reason for being in the city wasn't related to New Years itself, though she was certainly shopping. A small crisp white paper bag was already held in one hand as she tries to twist and wend her way through the press of bodies on the street. The other hand was occupied with her phone which is pressed to her ear.

"Pat, I'm telling you if you want to impress this girl..." Her eyes roll upward with obvious exasperation. She finds a small opening in the crowd and manages to press herself through up against the side of a building with a wide window. A jewelry shop as luck would have it. "Yes, I'm sure, and yes I'll keep an eye out if anyone is selling jade pigs or whatever. Seriously though, Chinese New Year isn't until February. Giving her something like that early might just make you look like a giant dingus. But I *will* keep an eye out, I promise." So much for making a quick stop in the city to visit some friends. She'd become everyone's personal shopper instead.

Nina the Conjuror has posed:
    And then there's Nina. She's not exactly your normal everyday New Yorker, what with her being from the year 1955 and also what with her being the type to openly carry two pistols and two blades with pistols built into them. She prefers to look down on things rather than be in them, especially when she is trying to gather information of a sort. So, she's actually casually sitting on a window sill roughly 4 stories up and looking down on the people below. Way easier than being a part of them.
    Right now, in her left hand is a New York City hotdog and in her right a beer. She can at least be happy that the more things cchange, the more some things stay the same. She takes a sip of the beer and than a bite of the hot dog as she watches the people pass. Sara, though, gets a squint of her eyes and a long stare what with, well, that powerful artifact being on her person.

Shadow has posed:
    "... Wait, February? How's that supposed to be new year?" comes Pat's voice back almost plaintively. "Can't they just have new year when everyone else does?" He's a sweet guy, mostly, but sometimes he can be so utterly Western it's almost painful to watch. Or listen to.

    That said, there is a lot to see tonight. Shoppers, tourists, buskers, hustlers, and one pickpocket that has the exquisite sleight of hand skills to lift a wallet out of someone's pocket without so much as breaking stride, and the terrible luck to be doing it when Sara is less than five steps behind him and paying attention...

    From Nina's vantage point, the individuals in the crowd almost blur together, especially with the lights that are absolutely everywhere. But at least the beer is still nice and cold, the hotdog is made from authentically unrecognizable meats and the relish is nice and sharp...

Witchblade has posed:
    Sara is definitely paying attention. So, before the thief can get five more steps, Sara claps a hand on his shoulder and grabs the guys arm. "Welp....you had to be one of the new year's party poopers, didn't ya?" She says as she bends his arm behind him and pushes him up against a building....the very same Jewelry store that Carrie happens to be near. She takes the wallet and puts it into her coat pocket and starts to put handcuffs on the guy fairly fluidly. "You have the right to remain silent...." And on and on...

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley leans her forehead against the wall. No, no, she wasn't allowed to bang her head there tempting as it may be. Besides that the moment that Sara pushes someone up against it to start cuffing him her head jerks upright again with wide green eyes fixating on the scene directly next to her. "That's just a cultural difference in calendar, Pat. Look I've got to go okay? I'll catch up with you later," she offers as she thumbs the phone shut but keeps it raised up next to her ear to catch any parting remarks from Pat. There were far more interesting things to be watching right now. In deference to her assurance that she would keep an eye out for nicknacks though, she does look into the window of the jewelry store as well quickly.

Nina the Conjuror has posed:
    Watching Sara arrest someone, she shakes her head. Indeed, New York hasn't changed a great deal even in all this time based on that little show. She idly hops off the sill and a glowing portal (invisible from below) catches her, making it look like she simply vanished if someone were to look up. She then simply steps up out of a nearby subway entrance as if nothing at all weird had happened. She approaches where Sara is and considers the woman as she approaches. A cop and a wielder of great power? Surely she knows some things that could be helpful. Even as someone gasps at the weaponry she holds, she flicks a hand up and down.
    A moment later some guy is getting glared at by his girlfriend for him saying that Nina had a weapon when clearly she doesn't. At least, to those unable to see through magic she doesn't.

Shadow has posed:
    The wallet's original owner thanks Sara profusely for its return, while the gentleman with the nimble fingers and poor respect for personal boundaries waives his right to remain silent and instead chooses to inform Sara - in a voice somewhat muffled by his face being pressed against the glass - that he's innocent, there's been a case of mistaken identity, that he has no idea how that wallet got there, that his arm hurts, that this is police brutality and -- wait a minute, why are those guys inside the store pulling out shotguns?

Witchblade has posed:
    Sara can't really help but scream 'SHIT!' and dive for cover....WITH the perp still in her hands. She IS a protector after all. As she lays there, she unhooks the cuffs and says to the perp 'Don't lift any more wallets, buster. you're lucky today." She says as she draws her pistol and makes her way around the corner. Then she keys up her radio. "This is Detective Pezzini....We've got a robbery in progess....and they're armed with intent. One even took a shot at me...."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley feels her heart leap into her throat at the sight of that shotgun swiveling toward the window. More toward the guy next to her, but she was in pretty close proximity none the less. Thankfully her instincts had been getting proper training the past few months. Like any good New Yorker or Gothamite she dodges to the side, practically leaping out of the way. Crowd be danged she manages to get well out of the way of the window, and even the building, to tuck around a corner. NOT good. Not something she was equiped to help deal with right now either. Better to start dialing another well-known number to get the officer there some backup.

Nina the Conjuror has posed:
    Well, ok, maybe she was armed after all. Especially as she is walking toward Sara she spots the gun going toward the window in time to put up a quick hand. The guns become visible on her as she ceases all concentration on the hiding of her guns to instead raise a hand up and call out something in latin and a shield goes up between her and the gun. She then whispers something else and uses her other hand to push forward and that shield flies right for the window in an attempt to catch the bullets, glass and everything else to stop injury, "Well, not what I was looking for but it'll do."
    Her right hand goes over her shoulder and her left goes to her side. A moment later she has a pistol in her left hand and a blade in her right, though that blade has its own built in pistol as well.

Shadow has posed:
    The unluckiest pickpocket in New York tonight has just enough sense to go limp and let Sara tackle him to the ground as the window explodes into a shower of glass shards, the sound of the shotgun blast still echoing as the screaming starts - thankfully, most of them seem to be screams of terror and shock rather than pain; the safety glass absorbed most of the force of the blast as it shattered. Of course, that means that Sara, Nina, Carrie and the terribly unlucky pickpocket are now being showered by little bits of safety glass, which is not nearly as safe as the name implies...

    "Dispatch, 10-4. All officers near 5th avenue, 10-30 in progress at 727 5th avenue, suspects armed, shots fired. Detective Pezzini, nearest patrol car is at least two minutes away."

    There are more screams and some angry shouts coming from inside the store, but from this angle there's no way to see inside without exposing one's more essential bits to a potential shotgun blast...

Witchblade has posed:
    "RUN, YOU MORON!" Sara says as she shoves the perp down an alley to make sure he gets away safely. But then she lets out another curse as the nearest patrol car is two minutes away. "Gotta stall them." She does 'peek' around the edge of the building.....as in a quick glance inside...and process the info when safely undercover. Once BACK undercover, she does yell..."NYPD! DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND SURRENDER!"

Nina the Conjuror has posed:
    Looking at the situation, Nina frowns deeply. She really didn't expect the glass to explode the way it did, that is different. Either way, she walks to the right of where Sara is located. Being a person who can call upon the mystic forces fairly easily means she isn't as afraid of getting shot as most. Her hand holding a blade and a pistol as she watches the scene. She lets Sara do the cop thing even as she gestures with her gun, "I'd listen to her, gentlemen. I have dealt with much bigger fish than you but that doesn't mean I am past the point of putting thieves on the ground." She nods her head and watches closely, her pistol aimed at one and her gunblade aimed at another.

Shadow has posed:
    The last half of Nina's speech is hard to hear over the noise of the shotgun blast that bounces harmlessly off her shield, the buckshot coming to a sudden halt and dropping harmlessly to the floor. The shooter swears wholeheartedly while his slightly quicker on the uptake companion grabs the nearest shopper off the floor and holds him up as a living shield. "You freaks stay outside or I swear I'll blow this guy's head off!"

    It's roughly at this point that the car that was parked with a still-idling engine just across the street suddenly takes off with screeching tires, swerving in and out of traffic in the effort to get away...

Witchblade has posed:
    Sara spots the car and calls in the car's license plate...as best she can. She then turns to Nina as the buckshot stops and falls to the ground. "There any way you can tie all them up and not harm any civilians? All I've got is a pistol." Of course she lies like a rug. Letting out the witchblade would not only kill the criminals, but the people inside of the building, the building, and likely leave a crater in her wake....and a lot of attention to her. She doesn't want that.

Nina the Conjuror has posed:
    "Rude." She states as they fire at her mid-speech and she sighs. She watches as they take hostages and then shakes her head, "Always with the cowardly way out." Nina rolls her eyes and looks idly over at Sara, "Yeah, yeah. Just a pistol." She then idly keeps her weapons trained on the two men and considers them, "How about this then?" She mutters something quietly and the shield in front of her dissolves away.
    Of course, what is really happening is two new orb shaped shields are forming around each of those weapons and the hands holding them if she can get the aim right, "Been a while but do guns now adays still explode if you fire them and the bullets can't go out?"

Shadow has posed:
    The answer to that appears to be "Yes", as the one that's slower on the uptake tries to fire on Nina a second time and winds up with two hands and lower arms full of shrapnel that's going to need rapid medical attention if he doesn't want to bleed out.

    His slightly less impulsive colleague looks at the damage, puts two and two together, and decides to choose life. "I give up!" he says, shotgun clattering to the floor as he raises his hands, with the third following suit a moment later.

Witchblade has posed:
    It takes a second for Sara to peek around the corner....gun drawn and making her way up to the one with the shrapnel in his body. She peers at the others, before putting her phone up to her ear. "We're gonna need an ambulance at the store, Dispatch. One of the perp's shotgun exploded...in his hands." She says before she looks to the other two. "Stay down." She then looks to the one with the shrapnel. "You might've tried to blow my head off, but you'll still get medical attention. Just don't do something this stupid again, okay?"

Nina the Conjuror has posed:
    A frown as she sees what he does and she winces. She shakes her head, "I'd help you but you'd likely not learn anything from it." She then looks to Sara, "Tried to warn them." She then slips her weapons away and states, "Nina, the conjuror." SHe nods her head, "Also, be careful with your, uh, pistol." She nods her head and looks at Sara with a smirk before turning away, "Obviously you have this under control here." She flips up a hand, "And these guys are not what I was looking for." And she turns to start walking away.

Shadow has posed:
    Dispatch confirms the ambulance with the dubious tone of voice that tells Sara that she's going to be in for another joy-filled evening of odd looks, irritating questions and punchworthy attempts at skepticism when she files today's reports, while the guy doesn't look like he's heard Sara as he's lost in a world of pain right now - looks like the parts of his arms that aren't slashed wide open are third degree burns.

    The other two would-be robbers are entirely docile and let themselves be cuffed without any further resistance before being led out by Sara's colleagues who have finally showed up. Meanwhile, the shoppers are getting up from the floor, looking at Sara with various expressions of gratitude and relief as the realization that they've gotten through this alive starts to filter through...

    "I believe I speak for all of us here when I thank you for your timely rescue, officer...?" A dark-haired woman wearing what appears to be highly expensive - and only mildly rumpled - clothes asks Sara, extending one hand in thanks while the other brushes a few smaller bits of shrapnel and glass off her sleeves.

Witchblade has posed:
    "Pezzini." Sara says shaking the woman's hand. "Detective Pezzini. Not much detective work to be done when you just stumble onto a robbery. Just glad I didn't have to shoot anyone. Sorry your clothes got glass on it though." She says as she looks back towards the officers. "And, sadly...I've got paperwork to file. The most annoying part of being part of the police...the red tape."

Shadow has posed:
    "Cranston," The woman replies with a firm handshake and a smile. "Natasha Cranston. And don't worry about it; my drycleaner has had to clean much more difficult things out of it. Will you need any of us to provide witness statements, or can we go? I for one have had about as much excitement as I care for tonight.."

Witchblade has posed:
Sara Pezzini says, "I would stick around to get statements, since these guys are off to jail, and I'm sure they're going to plead not guilty to attempted murder....""

Shadow has posed:
    Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is some murmured dissent from the rescued to that; apparently Miss Cranston isn't the only one who'd like to go home now -- but Natasha herself simply nods. "Understandable. And fair enough - we likely owe you our lives; the least we can give you in return is an hour or two of our time..."

    The murmurs quiet down again at that, as nobody appears to feel inclined to argue her point.