- Summary The Red Hood busts up some punks, and the Spoiler questions her own motives.
- Location A random alley in Gotham. Night.
- Participants Red Hood and Spoiler
- Rating PG-13 for violence and language
It's late evening in Gotham City, the time of night where all kinds of criminals actually are out and about in direct defiance of the bright 'warning' light for Crime in the night sky. However, the types of criminals we focus in on this evening have already been caught. It’s a group of Henchmen and ne’er-do-wells, servants of greater 'evil' in Gotham.
Drug Dealers. Weapon Runners. Supervillain Henchmen. Some palms were 'greased' with various promises, as the wheels usually are in Gotham, and all of these men ended up in one transport truck. Only not a real one. Some cops who got tired of almost dying and decided to make some bank. One last job, then they'd leave this town forever. The armored 'meat wagon' pulls into the alley...and starts to stop.
Creeping along the rooftops stealthy as a cat is a lithe, hooded figure, ducking the exhaust stacks to drop silently down to the second level of the fire escape. She has to be at least five stories from the ground, and when the truck pulls up she crouches, pressing her back flat against the brick wall and into the shadows, away from the glare of sickly yellow street lamps.
Unknowing of anything on the Rooftops above, or anyone who may be watching, the two cops set out of the armored truck and begin waiting. They chat a little bit about the time, about how long they wait. They even chat about the crooks they've got in there. Some new guys, good street muscle. Probably a boss paid for them to 'slip' between the cracks and escape if they were even booked properly in the first place. But they talk about that weird one, some old Henchman of some criminal or another. One of those loonies in a mask.
About that time, something happens below that the purple dressed woman may or may not see. A gloved hand strikes one officer in the throat, as the other is wrapped up in a headlock... a headlock instituted by a man in a Red Hood. The cop struggles for a minute before going limp and hitting the ground, while the Red Masked man works quickly with Zip ties to ensure the cops aren't going anywhere.
It works. The sounds of the scuffle below her draw the Spoiler's attention but at the moment, the young vigilante is stuck in an awkward position. She watches the hooded man like a hawk as she creeps, quietly as she can, down the fire escape steps. Her steps are timed to blend with the other sounds in the alley... for the most part.
The man in the Red helmet moves around the building, opening the back door to the van to numerous woops and hollers and general happy sounds. Including one person yelling out "Boss??!!" And that's the first time Spoiler may hear the slightly modified voice, adjusted by the red helmet. "Not Exactly." There's the sound of a gunshot, and one guy goes flying out the back of the van, followed by the 'biker dressed' man.
And the gunshot stuns her into silence, breathless for a split second just at the first rung of the second floor landing. One gloved hand grips the railing as the other reaches, slowly, towards her belt. The smell of blood catches the stench of the alley, mixed with the Gotham night mist and briefly turns her stomach but this isn't the first time she's seen death...and in her line of work, it won't be the last. A gleam of platinum, or maybe silver, might catch in the lamplight although Spoiler remains mostly hidden as she appears to weigh her options. Interfere...or walk away?
Oh yeah, the guys inside are yelling and screaming. And that's when the Red Hood turns back to comment into the truck. "Oh quit complaining. It's not like I expected a ricochet to hit your boyfriend between the eyes, although that would be a nice plan. I had to free my target." The Red hood kicks the guy that's down, then moves to pick him up by the handcuffs. And that's when he puts the gun away. "Oh yeah, but the rest of you? It's always so nice to know that you can find the ones who deal to shorties and it's just like fish in a barrel."
The red Hood reaches into his jacket, and from her position, the Spoiler may see him pull out something small and round, before his thumb flicks away from it and something bounces off as if from a spring. "But I'm not shooting." The Red hood tosses whatever that small circle is into the van, much to the screams of the men inside and drags his target away from the alley, heading through the alley towards the other end, moving away from Spoiler.
Quick decision time! Cue Jeopardy theme? As if. Stick around for the smell of burnt flesh and shrapnel? Hmmmm. "Screw that," she mutters to herself with a sneer in the Red Hood's direction. The men below are goners. "Come on, baby, work for mama..." KSSH! Hopefully the screams from below will cover the sound of the grapple's release from her makeshift gun, whose aim was set for the corner of the building just ahead of the dangerous man and his struggling prey. The brief glide through the darkness has her adrenaline pumped to the max and she alights just where she'd planned before retracting her line. She's still a good five feet away from the ground, another fire escape safely under boot.
Whether he heard or not, the Red Hood isn't responding. The explosion does set his prey to his knees, luckily, most of the explosion is contained in the armored transport, but the inside is fairly effectively destroyed. There's no way anyone inside survived. "Ahh. I love the smell of Napalm in the morning. Or Explosives. The Napalm is for later use bud-dy." And as he nears the car, the trunk pops open, and the Red Hood upends his prey into the trunk before slamming it shut.
Boomerang disc in hand, she chooses that moment to melt out of the shadows, sparing only a brief glance towards the smoking wreckage. It would be a mess to clean up, that's for sure. "Leaving the PD a calling card?" she calls out, arms folded. Her voice isn't modulated or even truly a growl, but it's low and husky, fear and adrenaline mixed with a hint of anger. "This is where you tell me who you are, and where you're taking that man."
The Red Hood would move, but it's a reflective helmet. You can't really move that aside from turning his head. "I was wondering if you were going to get involved. You must be new in town." The Red Hood smirks, looking over his shoulder at the trunk. "Oh. My Old Friend and I are going to go have a private party. You aren't invited. That's okay, He won't be missing long." The man leans against the trunk, and then slams his fist on the top of it. "Me?" He points at his helmet. "I'm the Red Hood. You? Eggplant Girl?"
There's a shrug. "I watch. I interfere when I feel like it's the right time to interfere...spoil people's fun, if ya like." Her head tilts as she's undoubtedly studying him, although most of her face is obscured by her own mask and hood. "This situation was both my business, and none of my business. I had to watch, to know what I'd be dealing with. What's he done?"
"He ran with the Joker. Isn't that bad enough? Course, he's done other things himself. He was coming up for Parole. I'm making sure he gets it ... in a manner of speaking." The Red Hood shrugs as he waves a hand back to the truck. "I could have killed those corrupt cops too, but it'll be more fun watching them go to lock up and see how long till they get shanked."
She tilts her head back for a second as if asking the sky itself for help. "I've been in the position where I had the choice to kill, or to... adhere to the proper regulations of justice. At the time I was convinced not to kill and looking back, I'm glad I didn't, that particular time." Spoiler's dark gaze settles on the Red Hooded man again. "Just don't get in my way, Red Hood. There are certain criminals that I police. Stay away from them." After a second, she adds, "You'll know which ones are mine."
"Whatever floats your boat, Baby. But just to let you know...if they try to stop me...they will die." The man chuckles. "Nice to see some people are half intelligent enough to police these streets." The Red Hood hops in the car and starts it up. "Have fun, Eggplant Girl." Soon enough the alley is left in a cloud of gravel and dust.
As a parting gift, she flings one of her discs towards the car, "That's Spoiler to you!" Asshole.