9930/Never bring an Alligator to a Dog Fight...

Never bring an Alligator to a Dog Fight...
Date of Scene:	05 November 2019
Location:	Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Synopsis:	When a routine patrol is interrupted by the scent of fear and violence, Alopex and Pippi investigate an animal fighting ring, and end with a jailbreak -- would 'he followed me home' work in the Lair? Time will tell!
Cast of Characters:	Pippi, Alopex

---

Pippi has posed:
    It felt good to be outside the lair and in the open air, the chill promise of late fall snuggling in along the cold brick and stone buildings of Brooklyn, punctuated with the occasional glaring light.

    Pippi was only too happy to be wearing hoodies now, her shorn-close fur not doing much to keep out the cold, even though she was letting the unruly curls on her head go.

    She had proven to be quite the agile hound, and the training she had been under has only enhanced her skills.

    So it would have to be quite the distraction for her to lose her track midway through a run, and cause the pitboodle mutant to strike a big vent, crashing the galvinized metal in and turning top-under-teakettle into a pile of old boxes and discarded crates, sending pidgeons scattering accross the rooftop.

Alopex has posed:
    The run had been entirely uneventful until the crash. Alopex had been in 'the zone'. Crusing from one building to the next with barely a thought about the leaps and lunges. Her eyes were instead moving from one street to another. The typical feeling of a patrol with the crisp air of fall starting to settle over everything. An occasional snow flake had fallen on some nights, but nothing had stuck, at least not yet.

    Still, the issue of the tumbling pup catches her ears and causes the fox to skid to a stop on a flat roof. In a moment she's turned back, hopped between ledges and walls, and then finally landed near the pile Pippi had vanished into. "Pip? are you alright?" Pex asks, starting to rummage into the stacks.

Pippi has posed:
    "M'okay!" Pippi's voice comes out of the pile, and she wriggles out from beneath some crates. She gives her head a shake to clear the cobwebs, ears flapping audiably against her as she straightens up, and turns her nose to the air.

    "I thought I smelled something familiar..." she trails off, sniffing the air again, and hopping to the side of hte building, she peers down.

    there's a low-slung building, brick and cinderblock, painted white. Purely non-descript industrial, with a barred glass door and absolutely no windows on the front facing the sidewalk.

    Pippi stares at the building, her ears pricking forward as she weighs thoughts.

Alopex has posed:
    "Well, I'm inclined to believe that. Your nose ended up far better than mine. What seemed familiar, Pippi?" Alopex inquires as she steps back out of the pile to give Pippi room to wade out of it.

    The fox's gaze shifts toward the same white building, eyes narrowing, peering now for entry points, exit points, and any sort of individual that may be around it.

Pippi has posed:
    No one seems to be around it. There's the main point of entry visible, and an alleyway wide enough for a box truck to fit through.

    A couple of individuals come up to the front door. There's a couple of rough looking guys who make their way up to the door, and give a knock.

    There's a slider. There's an exchange, and the door opens -- to the barking of dogs, and the cheering of people inside -- and when the door closed, the street is still again.

    Pippi's eyes narrowed, and she turns to find a way down to the street level.

    "Fear, Pex, the fear's familiar."

Alopex has posed:
    Barking dogs, a familiar blocked entry method, but people cheering? That gets the fox's ears to lift. "Fear..?" why the cheering, then? "You must sense something I clearly don't, Pippi. However, I can see a few different ways to gain entry to that building if you want to have a closer look."

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi pauses, and gives a nod, and looks up at Alopex and then rubs the back of her head "Ah... just don't... y'know, judge by what you might see." Pippi replies, and she looks over. "think they have a back door?"

Alopex has posed:
    There's a pondering hrm as the fox has a second look. "Really doubt a building like that only has one door. And you're right, of course, Pip. I'm simply stating my initial impression. I trust you enough to believe what you're sensing." There's a roll of Alopex's shoulders. "Can check for that door, peek at some windows.." she considers, then grins, "Up to you, Pippi. You take the lead on this one." Time to see how well all the training has gone.

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi gives a nod, and takes a deep breath as she looks both ways, and crosses the street, her tail tucked down, hood drawn over her face, scuttling down the alleyway a bit, hoping Pex was following her.

Alopex has posed:
    The fox certainly was! She had hopped down, crossed, and was just a few steps behind Pippi as they both made their approach. True to what she said, Alopex stays quiet, eyes wandering about to keep the surrounding area checked while waiting for what Pippi wanted to do next.

Pippi has posed:

    Pippi keeps her nose sharp, pausing, her ears shifting around a bit before she slips closer, her bare nails clicking on pavement, pavement -- and metal.

    Pippi glances to Alopex, and then lifts up old cardboard and trash, and finds one of those drop-in access pannels, probably attached to a elevator or a chute. This she lifts, sliding her fingers below it and carefully -- caaaaarefully applying pressure until it opens up.

Alopex has posed:
    Still looking around, Alopex is clearly on high alert. It's only the movement of Pip and her lifting of the access panel that draws her gaze back. There's an approving nod. A route of access that the fox hadn't noticed. Very good.

Pippi has posed:
    And down into the pit goeth Pippi.

    Should Alopex follow suit, she'll find herself in a holding room. It stinks like old tobacco. The floor is sticky in places. There's a distinct amonia smell in the room. The only light is coming from the alleyway above, and shows a variety of cages stacked to one side. Most seem home-made or poorly constructed.

    Pippi is moving her way towards the edoor. The sound ofcheering is quite close.

Alopex has posed:
    As with before, the fox is just behind Pippi. She reaches out to make use of some debris near the hatch to make sure it stays open before turning back to follow. A long look is given the room. The smell, the floor, the cages... it gets her eyes to go wide. Especially at the cheering. "... now I understand.." the fear wasn't from the humans, of course it wasn't. It gets the fur on the back of her neck to rise in anger. "If this is what I think it is..." she growls, not expecting an answer from Pippi, trailing off.

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi narrow sher eyes, and pushes the door open a little bit.

    No one is paying attention to the door, and it's easy to slip out of the doorway.

    There are dozens of humans -- mostly men -- gathered around a pit. Inside the pit -- eight feet deep -- there is a six foot alligator, its jaws open as it bellows around, and around it, pacing anxiously there was a dog. The dog barks, its scarred up face expressing fear, its ears pinned back in panic. Money is exchanged, and a hose is introduced over the side -- and the pit begins to fill with water!

Alopex has posed:
    And then comes the reveal. It wasn't even what Alopex had expected. Somehow, someway, it was -worse- than what she had thought. There's a tremble from head to toe in the fox's form, but restraint conquers instinct. Rather than lunge, the fox again looks at Pippi, wanting to see what she wants to do. With the pit filling with water, they were on a time limit..

Pippi has posed:
    They were, indeed, on a limit! Pippi freezes, and she whispers quietly: "Alopex, we have to find a shut-off valve or something!" she whispers, looking back to the fox in a panic before she huffs, "I'll distract them... I won't be able to read any of the signs." she admits, and then she closes her eyes, braces herself, and then takes off through the crowds, shoving and pushing her way through to a choir of "HEY! Who let that kid in here?!"

Alopex has posed:
    The fox's expression is cold, stern, and quiet. Pippi would get a nod and little else. After the pup darts in, Alopex is a blur of motion, racing around the edges of the crowd, low to the ground. While she wants nothing more than to lunge into everyone in the crowd over what they were finding pleasure in, she knows what is far more important. She's sprinting for the hose, tracing it from it's end in the pit toward it's source. "Just give me a few more moments, Pippi.." she muses to herself, quietly.

Pippi has posed:
    The bellow of the alligator echoes through the crowd, and there's a cry of pain from the dog, and echoing cheers from the crowd when --

    "HEY! Who let that kid in here?!" and the crowd goes confused, and begins to cry out as a figure in a black sweatshirt hops down off the railing, and into the water, rolling on her shoulder.

    Pippi is putting herself between the alligator and the scared, injured dog.

    "... Hey! Twenty to one the gator takes the kid AND the dog!"

     -- and the betting starts up again. Money is going through, people paying into the bets that Pippi will not make it out. The water's up to her ankles, and she braces herself, her hood still up between the rock and the hard place.

    Alopex, meanwhile, is close to the hose controls. It just happens to be guarded by a great, big, mean looking fella.

Alopex has posed:
    While Alopex didn't bring out the shard for a simple patrol, she had plenty of other training she could make use of. Most notable? Kama. A pair of them, which are tugged out of her belt the moment she sees the hose controls and their guard. As she closes distance, she's looking for the hose itself, but if she can't get at it for a quick slice, the man... may find out the belt holding his pants up has mysteriously fallen to bits. Maybe. Depends on how close the man is paying attention to Pippi and not to the blurring fox.

Pippi has posed:
    "Wut th-- hey!" the man yelps, and is currently attempting to keep his pants up, waddling away. He's wearing My Little Pony boxers.

    The hose itself has a metal coil around it -- probably to proect it from anyone chewing on it!

    Pippi, meanwhile, has her back to a growling, scared dog, and a bellowing alligator. The water is up to her calves now, and rising. The alligator is kept on a short leash, but the more water that comes in, the easier it can move around, unless Pippi stays at the bottom of the pit!

Alopex has posed:
    ... Really. MLP boxers? ...Alopex doesn't move to do anything more to the brute. Except she actually makes a sound. Was it a bark? Yelp? Its ... a fox noise, and it may attract everyone to the sight of the MLP boxers. ... The embarassment will do more damage than anything those blades of hers will ever do. Instead, Alopex darts back over to the controls to try and stop the flow of water, one paw near some smoke pellets juuuuust iiiiin case....

Pippi has posed:
    THe water stops! But as cheers turn to laughter, the poor guard running in embarrassment as a bright pink pony peers perkly above his pants, he trips, knocking into the holder of the leash for the gator.

    The gator is free.

    It bellows again, and lunges forward -- adn without hesitation, Pippi moves, wheeling about and scooping up the dog, ad she attempts to wall-run like she's seen the Turtles and Alopex do -- but the added weight throws her off -- she instead clings to a grating, the dog barking over her shoulder as the alligator approaches, jaws snapping angrily.

Alopex has posed:
    Success! No more water! Alopex can take some satisfaction in that, and the brawly guy stumbling off. ... Until he stumbles into the guy holding the gator's leash.

    "...Damnit."

    Hearing it roar out, and the barking of the other pup, the fox surges forward, low through the crowd, in hopes to get to that pit before something happens to both the canines.

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi hangs, one hand curled into the grate, the other arm holding onto the scrambling fifty-pound canine.

    "ALOPEX!" she cries out as the fox enters the fray. She can't let the dog down, but she can't help Alopex like this, so she's hanging out.

    Alopex, meanwhile, is faced with about six hundred pounds of angry alligator. The repitle is scarred. It's missing onen eye, and more than one tooth. The crowd cheers with another entrant in the pit, until a big man appears, his arms crossed ove rhis barrel-like chest. He has a thick, busy mustache, and thick, bushy eyebrows, and he leers down into the pit.

    "So, who should we put Brutus ate today?"

Alopex has posed:
    And now there's a fox, two dogs, and an angry reptile all in the pit all at the same time. "Run," the fox orders before lunging upward. She doesn't aim to land on the gator, no, she's looking to drop down behind the gator and where it's chain-leash had moved in it's wake.
    "HEY!" If she's lucky, and has the chain, a hard yank should get 'Brutus' attention. As for what the gator ate?
    "Oh I can answer that question in a minute!"

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi looks down, and hesitantly gives a nod, biting her cheek a moment before she grabs onto another hand hold with the arm cradling the dog, braces hersef -- and RRRIIIPS the metal grate of the drain off the pipe, and manages to swing herself into it, disappearing into the darkness.

    Brutus bellows again, and charging Alopex with its maw open wide, the jaws narrowly miss the fox as she hops over, and grabs the chain!

    The hissing noise fills the impromptu arena, and the cheers of the men all around.

    "Eat the freak, Brute!"

Alopex has posed:
    Her first concern was making sure Pippi was safe. With the pup down the grate and out of the pit, the crowd is going to find out that Alopex had a plan they weren't really going to like. "No, no, he's going to have retribution," the fox calls before lunging toward the crowds again. The person she lands nearest has the chain flung at them before she tries to dart off once more. Why? To turn the water back on.

    That's just the first step, though! The fox dives back into the pit, if they can't catch her, with part of a metal barrel. Mostly the lid! She'd lunge toward that pipe, yelling "You should treat animals better!" before wedging the lid in the opening. ... After that she chases after Pippi as the water rises... and rises.

    As for the water faucet? well, the handles were removed.. ... oh dear.

Pippi has posed:
    "Uh, boss...?" one of the goons asks.
    "Retrobution? What do you MEAN retrobu--" the big bushy guy laughs -- and he catches the chain. These guys are tough, but they aren't fast as a fox as Alopex turns the water on, and makes off with the handles and a metal barrel -- which gets a couple of dings in it from thrown bottles and other items, and as she fixes the lid to the opening, the water steadily rising as Brutus gets more feedom to powerfully swim about, emblazoned by losing his meal, he begins to snap at the humans above!

    Meanwhile, Pippi and the dog have wriggled their way up to another drainpipe, with Pippi calling down "PEX! UP HERE!"

    Followed by "But if you're the alligator and you ate Alopex, we gotta fight now."

Alopex has posed:
    I'm not the gator! Though, that gator is about to have some 'fun'," the fox admits, though she isn't going to say anything else on the matter. There was a lot of people. She was sure ... most of them would be okay. She just did NOT APPROVE OF ANIMAL FIGHTING. ... Not one bit.

    "Well, that was a.. thing that happened," Alopex muses as she catches up with Pippi and... company? "... how's your friend?"

Pippi has posed:
    "Oh. Good. I didn't want to fight an alligator anyway. Although I totally would have." Pippi reaches down into the pipe, and helps pull Pex out.

    They are both going to need baths in a very serious way after this. Pippi's white fur is greenish-black, and she returns to the exhausted dog's side. "The gator got his leg. I... I bound it the best I could, but it was coming through the dressing." she reaches up, and very gently rubs at the dog's head. There's a dull wag.

    "We've gotta get him somewhere, Alopex."

Alopex has posed:
    "I know a few places we can probably go. One of them I'm familiar with from while I was at Winterfall," Alopex admits, taking a long look at the other canines. "I'm glad we saved them, and I'm pretty sure the gator will ... extract a little revenge for all the fighting that probably went on in that building."

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi gently lifts the dog again, and loops some medical gauze in a muzzle, and looks to Alopex.

    "... why are humans so full of hate, Alopex?" she asks, stroking on the dog gently.

Alopex has posed:
    The fox shakes her head, "Not all of them, Pippi, that's something you -have- to remember," she insists. "There's a LOT of them, and trust me, there are a lot of them that would have dived into the pit, same as us, if they had found that fighting ring. As for why -those- humans are so horrible? ... Well... I'm sorry, I can't explain that. Just ... don't lump them all together. That's not very fair to the decent ones."

Pippi has posed:
    "Like April, Vanessa, Robin..." she trails off, naming the few humans. "Like Cody was." she shrugs to herself, giving a soft huff of breath.

    "I was about to go back for you. I wasn't going to leave you behind, either."

Alopex has posed:
    That earns Pippi a smile, "I'm sure. I just wanted to make sure you both were safe before I did anything crazy." Then she did something super crazy. "But yes, all of them, and I say Cody is still good.. just in a different way, now." That being said...

    "Alright, lets get your friend to someone that can help them."

Pippi has posed:
    "Sounds good, 'Pex." Pippi states, and she carries the doggo.

    "... can I keep him?"

Alopex has posed:
    "We will discuss it with the brothers. ... and if not? .. Maybe a mutual friend of ours will take care of him."

Pippi has posed:
    "... Sensei Winter could use a guard dog. Y'know, since we're not there."

Alopex has posed:
    "Heh, that's exactly who I was thinking of, Pippi," Alopex admits. "Well done."