673/Nocked and Loaded

Nocked and Loaded
Date of Scene:	29 May 2017
Location:	Gotham City
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Green Arrow, Amarok

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Green Arrow has posed:
GOTHAM CITY. NOW.

Green Arrow flails in the air, desperately reaching for an arrow as he plummets down the side of a high-rise toward the streets some dozens of storeys below.

I know what you're thinking. How did I get here?


STARLING CITY. THREE DAYS AGO.

"So this smack came from WHERE?" the Arrow asks. "If it's not local, then that means even more forces are entering our city from elsewhere. That means more unknown variables. That means greater danger."

"You're preachin' to the choir," Jimmy 'The Shakes' Berlucci says, trembling slightly. "I never quite kicked the detox symptoms, but they remind me every day of the good decision I made. I don't want anyone else to go through what I did."

He shakes his head. "This stuff is especially dirty, and it's meant to send a signal--that this city is the dregs and easy to move into. It came from Gotham City, man, and that terrifies me."


GOTHAM CITY. ONE HOUR AGO.

"Come on, boys. Let's go through the itinerary one more time. If I'm gonna send you out to take care of the business, I want to make sure you can pull this off." A relatively young man decked out in hip-hop swag, save for a gold monocle, leans back on a plush couch in his high-rise apartment. Half a dozen individuals sit around him, while nearly as many work to organize a veritable stockpile of heroin.

Amarok has posed:
GOTHAM CITY. SIX HOURS AGO.

"My arm's getting tired. Better talk fast." The Wolf says calmly as he holds a battered and bruised thug by his ankle from a fourth story roof, the man covered in his own sweat, blood, and other fluids as he flails helplessly dozens of feet above the broken unconscious carcasses of his fellow drug runners, "W-w-whadda ya wanna know!?" Cries the Antony Vespucci, local overseer of this particular group. His cry escalates as he's suddenly dropped a few feet, only to be snatched up once again at the lip of the roof, "Alright, I'll talk, I'll talk!" He half-screams half-sobs.

Green Arrow has posed:
TWENTY MINUTES AGO.

"Good. So it's all settled. Tony, you're going to Starling. Toni, you got Coast City. Tone, Opal's yours. These places got nothing on Gotham, so they'll settle for the blackest of the black tar of THIS junk." The monocle-wearing man claps his hands together. "When they taste how good THIS is, they ain't gonna be able to stay AWAY from a remotely purer cut."

"Now," he adds, "never let it be said that Pre-10-tious is a miserly boss. You do this, and not only will you have your own sizeable territory, but we'll have some serious upgrading happening, too. In fact, that 'special' gift in the one bag will reall make your day..."

Perched outside the high-rise on a narrow ledge, the Green Arrow kneels, recording the conversation within.

"Just let me know which bag has the extra 'gift'--and what it is," the archer whispers to himself.

Not far away, two armed guards patrol the apartment balcony, smoking and watching out for any indication of trouble.

"Luckily I don't see no signal tonight," one of them says.

"That ain't great," says the other. "A signal would mean he's occupied."

Amarok has posed:
WHAT GREEN ARROW CAN SEE.

As the guards patrol, another shadow drops onto the balcony with them, just out of sight. As one finishes his sentance the shadow overtakes him, becoming larger and disappearing from sight.

THE WOLF'S HUNT.

The babble of the guards gives their position away to the Wolf as he stalks atop the roof. Once the guards are seperated from sight he makes his move, dropping down and quickly choking him out. As the man goes limp, alive but done for the night, the Wolf hefts him up onto his shoulder and drags him off to hide. After a few moments the other guard breaks the silence,

"So, heard anythin 'bout the other big names in town? How they feel 'bout the operation I me-" The man is cut off as a gloved fist swings around the corner, smashing into his face. In a blur the Wolf rounds the corner, headbutting him in the same spot and fully breaking the thug's nose as a distraction to disarm him, flipping him on his back and sticking the gun in his face. The Wolf kneels down, one boot on the thug's chest and his other knee by the thug's head, the gun mere inches from his face, "I'd rather hear about /your/ boss. So let's talk." Says the Wolf in a cold monotone as he reaches down, plucking the man's earpiece and crushing it in his hand.

Green Arrow has posed:
At the sudden sound, the archer springs to his feet and quickly nocks an arrow, pointing it in the guards' direction.

Only, of course, to see that neither guard is standing--and, instead, there's an unknown figure.

"I don't know who you are," Green Arrow says quietly, "but if you're with Pre-10-tious, this is not going to end well for you."


INSIDE.

"Now THIS is going to be my kind of party," the man with the monocle laughs, one of his lieutenants opening the apartment door to let in some adult-themed entertainment. Another lieutenant turns up the stereo, and there's shared laughter and colorful commentary.


BACK ON THE BALCONY.

"Better speak quickly," Green Arrow says. "I know that one of those dancers is going to leave with a very important item. I'm not going to let that happen."

Amarok has posed:
The Wolf ignores Green Arrow entirely as he continues to interrogate the guard, who agonizedly wheezes out a few basic details about his boss. The Wolf apparently gets bored or otherwise decides he's wasting his time, as he suddenly slams his fist into the thug's already broken nose, knocking him out cold. As he stands up, he quickly disassembles the man's gun, dropping it about him as he turns to face Green Arrow, "...Then you'd better focus on the task at hand, shouldn't you?" He says in the same cold monotone that he used with the thugs as he moves to loom over the party, looking around a moment before pointing to a seemingly random bag in the corner, "See that bag? Dont let anyone near it. Last thing we need is a venomed up goon in a room already overflowing with guards." Did he say venom?

Green Arrow has posed:
His expression clearly one of anger mixed with embarrassment, the archer slings his bow over his shoulder and slips across the ledge. He heaves himself up over the balcony rail, setting himself down near the Wolf.

"YOU'd better focus on the task at hand," he mumbles petulantly, before tensing up in preparation for a fight.

"Left or right?" he asks.


INSIDE.

The party's in full swing: people are dancing, drinks are flowing, and everyone's having a good time.

Or, they were, until someone happens to glance out the balcony window and see one of the guards, unconscious.

She screams and points.

Almost everyone in the room reaches for a weapon hidden either on their person or in the furniture.

A large table gets kicked onto its side for cover.

It's about this time that the bullets started flying.

Amarok has posed:
The Wolf starts to answer, but the scream cuts him off. Without looking he leaps and smashes through the window, his own gun already drawn, and crushes on of the thugs on entry, a pistol sent flying across the room. As he rises, a sharp elbow to the face sents another reeling, and the Wolf is the first to fire, a bullet colliding with the temple of the next closest thug. From there, all hell breaks loose as bullets start flying in every direction, the armored man-beast dodging and diving like a man possessed, more than a few times saved only by his armor.

Green Arrow has posed:
While the Wolf rushes in, Green Arrow remains on the balcony. He fires off several arrows, pinning a sleeve to a wall, knocking a semiautomatic gun from a hand, and shutting off the light in the room by breaking the ceiling fixture.

Rounds continue to fire, punctuating the darkness with bright flashes of light. The Wolf's movement becomes a strobed staccato, while his opponents flop around like rag dolls.

One enterprising criminal, bereft of his gun by the archer, suddenly runs headlong toward the balcony.

Green Arrow, not ready for the burst of speed, is picked up by the man's ramming shoulder--and then thrown over the balcony.

So, like I was saying, this is how I got here.

The falling archer desperately attempts to reach for an arrow in his quiver as he falls toward the ever-approaching ground.

Amarok has posed:
As the lights go out, everyone's aim becomes a crapshoot. Everyone that is, except for the Wolf, who seems to be totally unimpeded by the lack of light, as though he can still see just fine. However, despite his ease of handling the shootout, for all his skill he is still just a man. And no mere man is fast enough to evade the flying bullets, get outside, and catch Green Arrow as he falls...

Green Arrow has posed:
The archer finds the right arrow in his quiver, pulls back his bow, and fires--the projectile finds its target in the underside of the balcony, a thin, strong line whistling through the air behind it.

Once the arrow is lodged, Green Arrow grabs ahold of the cord. He is violently jarred by the sudden halt in descent, shoulder nearly dislocating, and he hangs for a moment in pain.

Then, Starling's vigilante attaches a small device to the cord and begins rising quickly, pulled by the motorized reeling device.

Back up in the dark apartment, Pre-10-tious himself dives for the assembled travel bags.

"Sorry, Toni," he says, casting his monocle aside as he makes a blind grab for two of the bags. "But daddy needs to take out the trash."

Amarok has posed:
As Pre-10-tious dives for the bags, the Wolf tries to take a shot at him, but it seems the thugs eyes are adjusting, and they've got a bead on his location, the bar he's taking cover behind slowly disintegrating under a hail of bullets. The best the Wolf can manage is blind firing over the bar, managing to peg a few of the thugs in random places, but sadly, rubber bullets only do so much damage when they aren't hitting the right areas.

Green Arrow has posed:
The emerald archer flips, legs-first, up and over the balcony ledge and somersaults forward, firing an arrow into the room as he lands on his feet.

The missile embeds its point into the ceiling and begins emitting a bright light from a series of LEDs along its shaft.

Most of the criminals in the room cry out in surprise and pain as they're blinded, their guns firing wildly.

Pre-10-tious, meanwhile, scrambles--with eyes tightly shut--to search by feel for something in particular.

Green Arrow nocks and fires two arrows--his last two--at the inside of Pre-10-tious' elbows.

The man screams, opening his eyes to the bright light, and then stumbling backwards in a daze.

"Which bag?!" the archer shouts to his newfound companion. "Don't let them get to it!"

Amarok has posed:
The only thing that keeps the wolf from permanent retina damage is that he's keeping his head down when the light arrow goes off. A hand shoots up to his visor and taps at the area the human ear would be, a soft click eminating a few times as vision modes are cycled through. Once back to standard, he pops up and dives over the bar, attacking the thugs in a directional whirlwind leading him to bags. A hard boot to the back slams Pre-10-tious into the wall, embedding the arrows deeper, and breaking one so it's dangling by a wooden sinew. The Wolf wastes no further time jerking one of the bags up but is cut off by a bullet hitting him in the elbow and sending the bag flying off into the air. The armoring on his elbow protects from damage beyond the blunt force trauma, and he uses it to spin around and shoot the lucky thug right in the eye, admittedly more than a foot from his intended target of chest level.

Green Arrow has posed:
Spying the flying bag--and much less dizzied by the light than everyone else who'd just been in pitch-black darkness--Green Arrow cartwheels through the room to make a reach for the airborne bag.

He manages to snag it with one hand, collapsing his body to avoid the firefight. Once he's on the ground, Green Arrow slips the bag into a pouch at his waist.

Then, the archer picks up a dropped gun and drops the clip from it and empties its chamber. Then, he throws the gun at one of the few remaining conscious and uninjured criminals. He grunts and drops like a sack of wet clothes.

In fact, he WAS the last of them. The only individuals still up and about are the dancers, terrified and huddled in corners of the room.

"Got any cops in town you trust?" Green Arrow asks to the Wolf. "I've got a feeling these guys have deep roots."

Amarok has posed:
The Wolf pushes off from the wall, taking a few pained breaths before suddenly stopping all movement and breathing for a few seconds and then slowly exhaling. After that, he stops panting and speaks entirely normally, "Not a one. As far as I'm concerned, every cop in this city is corrupt to core...." He slowly turns to Pre-10-tious in the corner and starts stalking towards him, "...If you dont have the thick skin needed for interrogation, go ahead and leave. This shouldn't take long anyway..." He says over his shoulder before turning back to the injured would-be supervillain.

Green Arrow has posed:
For his part, Pre-10-tious tries to move his arms, but they don't seem to be responding too well--it may be the twin arrows sticking out of them.

The emerald archer frowns and exhales audibly. "So long as you're not going to kill him. He can still be useful. Bait. An informant. Someone renting out his remaining days."

He begins walking about the room, retrieving his spent ammunition. There are more than a few screams as he pulls arrows out of two or three of the goons present.

Pre-10-tious swallows a lump in his throat. "H--hey, man, hey, look, I just--I move the goods, you know? I get people to move the goods. You want the Big Man. But...but he'll want you, too. You know how much you're costing him?"

Amarok has posed:
The Wolf kneels down next to Pre-10-tious, not bothering to answer the Green Arrow, "No excuses, no threats, no grandstanding. You answer my questions and you get off with a sore back and gruesome elbow scarring. If you dont..." He trails off as he reaches up and lightly flicks one of the arrows in the man's arms, dragging an agonized scream from him, "...So. Who's 'the Big Man' and where can I find him?"

Green Arrow has posed:
Through gritted teeth and tears, Pre-10-tious says, "Burnley, man! He's in Burnley!" He shakes his head and blinks, fading in and out of consciousness. "Got a whole thing coming out...of the West Side." He chuckles, but the sound is sad. "Totally average-looking guy. Like a soccer mom, but a dad."

As he talks, Pre-10-tious looks behind the Wolf. "Hey, where'd your partner go?"

The Green Arrow, it seems, is gone.

Amarok has posed:
The Wolf stands up slowly, glancing back to where the arrow was, "...You dont need to worry about that." He says as he kicks Pre-10-tious in the face, breaking his nose and a few teeth as he robs him of consciousness. The Wolf pulls his grapple gun out and looks to the dancers, "...Call the police. Tell them to bring ambulances." He says in the same cold manner as ever, as he fires the gun upwards and is jerked off back through a window and out into the night.