9594/Bats, Shadows and Interpol Agents

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Bats, Shadows and Interpol Agents
Date of Scene: 15 October 2019
Location: An otherwise nondescript warehouse in South Hinkley, Old Gotham
Synopsis: The Birds of Prey hit the last of several drug smuggling operations in New York and Gotham. Agent Chun-li Xiang of INTERPOL is in at the close and claims the arrests.
Cast of Characters: Shadow, Chun-Li, Batwoman




Shadow has posed:
    By INTERPOL's closest estimate, at least a fifth of all goods smuggled into the USA passes through entry points in New York and Gotham's harbours, even despite heavy predation by the cities' various vigilantes. More annoyingly, from INTERPOL's perspective, is that said predation means that more than half the time that they have a solid enough lead to justify a warrant, the location has already been... Visited... By the time the warrant can be served. Aside from everything else, this tends to play merry hell with the chain of evidence, and depending on who hit them the people arrested aren't in much shape to give reliable testimony.

    Especially lately it's been getting infuriating -- six different small-time shipping organizations that had been suspected of covering for a drug operation with ties to local organized crime and possibly Shadoloo were hit in the space of two weeks, days before Interpol operatives were ready to make a big bust. Sure, they found enough drugs to supply six Woodstocks, as well as a plethora of low-level criminals and a pile of unregistered and illegal weapons, but that very much wasn't the /point/. Internal affairs is muttering darkly about a possible leak, because the alternative would be that a bunch of costumed vigilantes have a better information gathering network than INTERPOL...

    Agent Francis Devereaux, especially, has had /enough/ of being shown up. There's one more address on their list, one they hadn't gotten around to obtaining a warrant for just yet. Of course, she would never countenance a fellow INTERPOL agent to break the law, but if a passing citizen happened to walk by and detect a crime in progress, well... There might be recriminations afterwards, but waiting for permission hasn't worked so far...

Chun-Li has posed:
A breath slowly escapes Chun-Li. This is hardly official business and it is hardly an area where someone should be normally walking but she was out for a jog. A late night jog near a rather dangerous area. Sure, she is no target for any thug or otherwise. Anyone looking to rob her might as well be locking to take a swim in beef broth before hugging a tiger. Still, she knew that there was something going down in this area. As such, she idly jogs along the streets of South Hinkley rather near a particular warehouse, purposefully putting on ear buds.

The ear buds in question are connected to, well, nothing. They are just for show but all the same she looks over at the place as she moves. She has chosen not to wear her normal outfit today though. Right now she's wearing just a pair of simple yoga pants and a long shirt that falls down to mid-thigh. She still has on her spiked bracelets but her normal outfit hardly denotes anyone out for a jog. Occasionally she glances toward that warehouse, just waiting and hoping for something to happen.

Batwoman has posed:
    Meanwhile, across the street from the warehouse in question a dark shadow watches. More specifically, a dark shadow with a Bat-ear silhouette... except that Batwoman is much too careful to let anyone see anything resembling a silhouette. Ever since Batman's recent... incident... Kate has been placed on 'free roam' status with Gotham's criminal activity. Officially. Not like Batman kept her on a short leash anyway.

    Following her own intel, Kate has been watching this warehouse fairly regularly for some time. INTERPOL has good information sources but between Oracle and the Shadow, Batwoman has intel that rivals the FBI. And often surpasses it.

    Speaking in a low voice through the throat-mic, Batwoman narrates to her support team *Another quiet night at the warehouse. Again. Just an occasional pedestrian and a jogger.*

Shadow has posed:
    "Understood," comes the reply. "Oracle was positive the goods are being moved tonight, hoping to take advantage of a suspected lull in activity."

    A pause. "... And she's right. No activity up front, but two sentries trying to look inconspicuous at the back entrance out of sight of the main road. You take the high entry, I'll take the low. Let's see what's inside before we start the dance..."

    Rain patters down, streetlights flicker, and the wind toys with some debris, causing shadows to shift and dance. It'd take a /very/ observant person to realize that not /every/ shadow is moving with the wind, but instead heading toward the side of the warehouse...

Chun-Li has posed:
    A slight twitch and Chun-Li sighs as she feels a bit of rain start to fall. She jogs over to the eve of the warehouse in question, standing under it both as a way to escape the rain and slightly on purpose. Who would think anything of a jogger trying to get out of a sudden rain fall. She looks at her watch and then up at the sky, the smart watch giving her a bit of info about the weather. She then looks back at the warehouse and hmms before leaning against the wall. Slowly she begins to focus her senses, breathing slower and opening her ears and eyes to the world around her.
    It takes her a minute but she starts to notice something. She's not sure if she's seeing it or simply sensing it. Gen always told her that not everything is about the senses but about feeling the world. Letting her whole form take in everything around her. Something was happening, she just needed it to be a bit, well, more.

Batwoman has posed:
    The Shadow's familiar voice cuts out in her earpiece and Batwoman pulls out a grapple gun. So as Chun-Li looks up at the sky there's a dark, caped figure that sweeps across to the roof of the warehouse. Landing in a practiced roll, a shake of the line frees the hook and the gun reels it in quickly. Batwoman's footsteps are light, even on the metal roof of the warehouse.

    *Roger that. I'm on the roof now, heading for a skylight.* She's spent plenty of time surveying this particular roof and she knows just where the skylights are. Kate switches the visor to infrared and looks down through the roof. *Switching to infrared and scanning the building.*

Shadow has posed:
    "Understood. I'll comm once I'm inside."

    From where she's standing, Chun-li can feel that odd distortion move -- well, not quite a distortion, more an absence of things than a presence -- but neither Moe nor Dave are that well trained in martial arts, and with their minds slightly clouded they never hear nor see the door open and close behind them...

Batwoman has posed:
    *I've got three armed perps supervising between ten and twelve others.* Batwoman declares almost clinically. *Looks like they're preparing a shipment. I'm going to hold for now. Don't want to scare away the delivery boys.* All the same, Batwoman picks the lock on the skylight. She gives the hinges each a spritz of high-grade lubricant so they won't make a sound when she DOES decide to open it.

Chun-Li has posed:
    Yep, something is definitely happening. She notes the moving shadow above her and then something odd happening at the backdoor. She shifts her hips slightly before she suddenly rushes toward the back doors. She does a handspring flip to fly up through the air, spinning mid air and landing atop a lamp overlooking the two guys back there. She knows something just moved there. She isn't fully sure of what or how this is happening but it wouldn't be the first time she saw something odd.

    Staring at the sight, she looks slowly up to the roof and frowns a little as she considers the options before finally she pushes off and lands right between the two guards. They both likely are surprised by her presence but then heer left hand shoots out behind her and her right hand shoots out before her. Each one aimed at a keypoint on the men, blue chi flowing through her fingers in an attempt to put them both unconcious before they can react.

Shadow has posed:
    You have to give Dave credit, either for good reflexes or paranoia, but he /almost/ manages to turn to face the sudden threat before Chun-li's knife-hand strikes finds its target. Moe, on the other hand, never saw it coming -- but the end result is the same, as both men crumple to the ground at the INTERPOL agent's feet.

    Meanwhile, inside the warehouse an argument is starting up between the overseers and the work crew, the former demanding the latter get a move on because the truck will arrive soon, and the latter courteously inviting the former to, if time is so much of the essence, come and lend a hand lugging these heavy expletive deleted crates into position without machinery, because they insisted on doing things as quietly as possible...

Batwoman has posed:
    *Things are escalating down there.* Batwoman declares softly, watching through the skylight now with the aid of the infrared. Slowly and carefully she opens the skylight, propping it up. *I'm going in.*

    Inside the warehouse, a pair of whirling objects whip through the air before knocking out two of the overhead lights near the dock doors. And while everyone is looking THAT way, a black and red shape streaks down from the skylight. Batwoman lands on one of the gunmen, using him to break her fall. Tumbling free, the follow-through momentum brings her fist right up into another gunman's groin. Weapons clatter on the floor.

    And then there was one.

Chun-Li has posed:
    And there it was. She was at the door and the crash can be heard. She immediately raises up a foot and kicks the door in. She rushes straight in through the kicked in door and right for the source of the noise. She doesn't go around things, taking a direct route by simply releashing a quick blast of ki to break open a window, leap through it, and then jump up to the top of a set of crates and she points, "Stop right there!" SHe points at Batwoman and nods her head, "I have some questions for you." She nods her head, her eyes taking in the scene but staying focused mostly on Batwoman.

Shadow has posed:
    There are numerous shouts of alarm as the overhead lights explode in a shower of sparks -- and even louder ones as Batwoman makes her entrance.

"%@!^& me, it's a Bat!"

"%#&@ ! Get 'er!"

    Before anyone can obey that order, however, Chun-li's dramatic entry derails everyone's line of thought. The final supervisor is the first to recover, and turns to aim at the young woman making a target out of herself on the highest point in the room... When out of nowhere a hand blurs out of invisibility, wrapping itself around his wrist and yanking hard, at the same time as an equally blurry foot expertly sweeps his legs, sending him crashing to the floor while a snap and twist of his still held wrist causes him to scream in pain and release his gun.

    In the apprehensive silence that follows, blurry shadows shift and coalesce, rising up from the floor and solidifying... And a dark-clad figure in black trenchcoat and hat levels merciless eyes on the remaining thugs before looking up at the INTERPOL agent.

    "Perhaps you'd care to have this discussion /later/?" the figure suggests even as the first of the thugs start showing signs of recovering from the shock and advancing on the various intruders, brandishing knives, chains and a few lengths of piping...

Batwoman has posed:
    The jogger. Yes, of course. The blurs are familiar to Batwoman by now, having operated alongside the Shadow before. Batwoman gives the room a slow sweep, infrared filters ensuring that there isn't anyone hiding behind boxes. Stepping over to the guy holding onto his nuts, she deliberately crouches down to pick up his gun as she touches tazer-knuckles lightly to his neck. The moaning becomes a loud scream, and then silence.

    Picking up the dropped gun, Batwoman thumbs the safety on the automatic and chambers a round. Without hesitation she points it at the nearest thug's face. "Weapons on the floor, hands behind your head. NOW!"

Chun-Li has posed:
    A frown looks over at the Shadow and she shakes her head, "I appreciate your assistance but..." She suddenly leaps into the air, flipping mid air and bringing down an axe kick with enough power to cause a shockwave right at a few of the guys. She then stands back up and points at the pair, "Stop interfering in my investigation." She then looks to the other guys only to blink with wide eyes as Batwoman aims a gun at the man. She shifts back, making it possible to watch Batwoman as well as the men.

    "Batwoman, careful with your choices here." She states and eyes her, "If I must take you down, I will do so."

Shadow has posed:
    Two of the men are caught off-guard by the shockwave and thrown into a third, sending the lot tumbling to the ground. The rest look from the AR in Batwoman's hands to the twin pistols held by the Shadow to the martial artist that just took out three of them without even trying hard and decide that today is a good day /not/ to suffer senseless injuries.

    There is a metallic clattering as various chains, pipes and a knife or two fall to the ground, followed by a slow and careful kneeling and folding of hands behind heads.

Batwoman has posed:
    Batwoman gestures with the AR as the thugs begin kneeling and assuming the classic 'prisoner' stance. Once everyone is unarmed, she reaches into her utility belt and pulls out a handful of zipties. Then the Bat-soldier pulls the magazine from the AR and clears the chamber, the bullet clattering onto the concrete floor.

    The -look- she gives the jogger loses something thanks to the mask, but the intent is plain enough. Batwoman doesn't acknowledge the threat. Offering a bunch of zipties, she declares in a low voice that's a little husky and a little gravelly. "Work while you ask your questions. Nothing too personal in front of the criminals, please." She raises her voice a touch, then. "And gentlemen, just in case anyone is still feeling frisky there's a nice, steel plate on the butt of this rifle. Be a real shame if someone were to get HIT with it."

Chun-Li has posed:
    "I want to know why both of you are interfering in my investigation. I am Chun-li of Interpol and your actions have ruined multiple investigations." She states and clenches her fists, "Your actions have put a great deal many arrests in danger." She nods her head, "What do you think you are doing getting involved? This is a place for police work, not masks and sloppiness." She nods her head and looks from one to the other before glancing around at the men, "You may have done well here taking these guys down but what about processing?" She then looks at each criminal.

    Lifting her wrist, she types in a few various things before looking up, "These men need to be arrested properly and I have called people to come do that."

Shadow has posed:
    The dark figure appears quite amused with Chun-li's lecture, breaking out in somewhat sinister-sounding laughter before responding. "/Respectfully/, Agent Xiang -- we are not the ones who jeopardized your arrests. Tell your superiors that they would do well to speak to the judge who issued those warrants, and ask him just how he finances those yearly trips to Jamaica on a public servant's salary..."

    On the Birds' private comm channel, Kate receives a second transmission. "Prepare to evac. This isn't the time or the place."

Batwoman has posed:
    Batwoman's red lips pull back into an amused smile as well, the black figure cocking a hip to one side as she finishes up with her share of the zipties. Hands lower, the cape sliding forward to obscure the woman more fully. "We also need to discuss your definition of 'sloppiness' sometime, Agent." she offers. "But not here."

    If there's movement under the cape, now, it's subtle and discreet. Batwoman gives a slow nod for some reason.

Chun-Li has posed:
    A blink and then she squints her eyes at Natasha before shaking her head, "I will look into that..." She states, "...all the same this is not something that will always end so well." She then looks down at one of the men that is down there to say, "These people need to be taken down properly and their bosses, too. Not just beat up and left for us to clean up." She then looks up, "Keep that in mind. If you keep this up, you'll have me to contend with as well."

Shadow has posed:
    It's hard to make out any kind of expression underneath that black slouch hat and crimson scarf, but from the way the eyes crinkle at the edges, as well as that sinister chuckle that seems to echo off the walls even though she can clearly see the person doing it, Chun-li's warning does not seem to have the desired effect.

    "Oh, Agent Xiang... Believe me when I say that the Birds of Prey are the /least/ of INTERPOL's problems at the moment. But we will speak again -- /Later/."

    Chuckles become laughter, an inhuman voice, inhumanly amused... And even though she's staring right at the figure, it becomes harder and harder to see without seemingly moving away -- and then just for a moment she would /swear/ she didn't even blink, it just felt like a blink without blinking... But the figure is gone.

And so, when she turns to look, is Batwoman.

Batwoman has posed:
    The thing about working with a partner is knowing when to trust them. In this case, even though Batwoman's hand is on a grapple gun under the cape she does just that. She trusts the Shadow.

    No more last words, Batwoman just rides out the departure. She's not even 100 percent sure just HOW the Shadow does it, but they both disappear. Leaving Agent Xiang to clean up the mess, as it were.

    Once they are clear of the warehouse, Batwoman speaks softly into her headset. *That went well. But I'm sure she'll come around, eventually.*

Chun-Li has posed:
    Blinking at the fact that they are gone, she lets out a heavy and annoyed sigh before shaking her head. She looks down at all the people there and goes around making sure that they are secure even as police cars and a couple of unmarked vehicles show up. Already, Interpol and the police are coming in to deal with the men down below. Reading them their rights, gathering evidence and the like. Chun-Li explains she was simply out for a jog when she heard the commotion. Obviously, not everyone really believes her but that's not relevant. For now, the bad guys are stopped.

Shadow has posed:
    As expected, there are some recriminations and a few very loud discussions about territorial demarcations, authority and communication, but /technically/ nothing what Agent Xiang said was untrue, and while the justification is paper-thin, it /does/ hold -- and it's quite hard to argue with results like these. Still, INTERPOL has not made any friends with the Gotham City Police Department today.

    On the other hand, while they have to keep pretending this was all purely coincidental and definitely not on orders, INTERPOL is quite pleased with the catch -- and Agent Xiang is assured that the judge /will/ be investigated. On the down side, she could almost /feel/ the change in the room when she reported that one of the vigilantes wore "Bat" regalia -- apparently the Bat's existence is something of a... delicate... issue that nobody really wants to deal with.

    Her vague description of the other vigilante present is met with a number of shrugs. After all, who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?