2012-09-03 Spinners

Downtown - Lyntown
The buildings of downtown Gotham form an eclectic outline in the west, silhouetted against the often cloudy western sky. The stars are seldom seen above, but the view is dazzling on a clear night. Things often clear up in the daytime, but somehow everything looks just a bit flat, as though the life had retreated from Gotham -- without the benefit of dramatic lighting and perspective, it seems drab and sullen. Here the city has fallen into the decay of organized crime.
----
Gotham. Night time. It's not the safest town. Lois knows this. She's had far too many run ins at night in this town that you'd think she'd know better than to wander around in a knee length pale grey flousy skirt, brillant sapphire blue silk blouse, and three inch black heels. You'd think she'd know better than to seem to be paying more attention to the notes in her hands and the street signs than whatever sort of hoodlums may be lurking in the area.
There is what people say. And there is what they do - where they go, who they meet, what they see. Vic Sage has been hearing for a while just what Lois Lane says (and doesn't say) about her contacts and her experiences with "heroes." Now, the Question is seeing what it is she does.
He is about three-quarters a block back from where she stands, motionless behind the wheel of the dingy Beemer with his face turned toward her. The car, quiet at idle and with its lights off, eases over to the curb and stops.
Huntress is on a rooftop directly above where Lois is walking so obliviously, having been about to start her nightly 'patrol'. But, hello. It's that LANE woman again. And she clearly hasn't learned yet. Rolling her eyes with a huff of annoyance, she does a bit of nifty parkour-like running leaping things to cross to the next building and then down the fire escape to the dark alleyway that Lois will be crossing ... any minute now...
"Got to be around here," Lois is muttering to herself, looking at what few street signs there are. She folds her notes up and tucks them into the small purse she has on her tonight. No messenger bag this time. Looks like the Metropolis girl has opted to leave the laptop at home. That purse of hers is just large enough for her cellphone, her lipstick, her press badge, and her handgun. She's looking at the street sign, the dingy dirty streetsign, eyes trying to make out the writing, as she crosses in front of that alleyway.
The Question's face lifts towards the rooftop of the building Huntress crosses.
/*chk*/
The sound of the car's door opening is almost surely too faint to be heard by the reporter, given her attention to her notes and her craning her neck at the signs. Likely too faint as well are the rapid steps moving shadow-to-shadow along the sidewalk--at least, faint enough that he has come to within four strides of her when she reaches the alley's mouth.
Huntress waits for the woman to step in front of the alleyway... NOW. She reaches out, grabs Lois by one arm, and roughly yanks her into the darkness of the alleyway. A hand is slapped over the reporter's mouth hopefully before she can do more than squeak, and Huntress says quietly, "I swear, you have got a friggin' death wish. What the HELL is the matter with you?" She doesn't know (yet) that Lois has been followed.
Indeed, Huntress' timing is immaculate, for the squeak is the only sound that comes out of Lois' mouth as she's yanked roughly off her feet and into the alley. She starts to struggle, when Huntress' voice cuts into her ear. Lois freezes, eyes wide, staring at the brick wall in front of her. As the question is asked, Lois brings her hand up slowly, hoping to pull at Huntress' hand to free her mouth to speak.
The Question immediately flattens himself in the shadows against the wall when Lois is pulled into the darkness. Far more slowly now, he edges up to the alley's mouth, where he stands, head ever so slightly lifted away from the wall and canted as if to catch any sounds before they drift away.
Huntress lets Lois go as soon as she's certain the ditz isn't going to scream and steps out of arm's reach. "Do I need to give you fashion advice or something? You dress like you WANT to get mugged."
"I dressed like I needed a cape to drag in into an alley," Lois cuts back, stepping away from Huntress and turning on her. "So, thank you," she adds, moving to get her purse back up on her shoulder. Huntress would note that her left arm is completely better. No cast, and moves like there was never anything wrong. It's been three weeks, tops?
"I need information," says the Metropolis reporter, left hand reaching for her small purse. "I'm going to need anything you wanna tell me, because I've got pressure to give up what little I have on you. While that's not a lot, by any stretch, if you're anything like Robin, exposing you to harsh glare of the press is the last thing I want," Lois says pulling out a printed photo. It's a bit blurry. A girl in purple mask and cape. She hands this over to Huntress.
The Question is motionless, no-face tilted just slightly out of the shadows. Listening.
Pressure to spill information? That never sounds good. Huntress just nods at Lois's currect guess that press attention would be bad. She takes the photo to look at it, tilting it so light from the street allows her to better see the subject. Her eyes narrow as she studies the image, but is very careful to not let her expression change. "All right. What do you want to know?"
Guess? Huntress, dear. It ain't a guess. Lois knows the power of the press. Lois knows that even the hint of being on the wrong end of a Lois Lane front page is enough to make even Superman squirm uncomfortably. Lois watches Huntress study the picture.
"Robin handed me the mushroomed bullet from his kelvar, the bullet he took the night you drove me back to my hotel room. He also got me a GPD issue sidearm. What was left of the spirals on the ammo matched the barrel treads. Gotham DA also gets tight lipped around reporters, more than what's considered normal and healthy for a legit DA. Someone's selling GPD surplus and Internal Affairs is either staffed by morons or in on the sales. If you and the others are working this, I need to know. Pressure from the media in the right spots can make people sloppy," Lois says.
/*bmm*/
/*bmmm*/
/*bamm* *bAMM* *BAMM* *BAMM*/
An Impala with blue neon underbody lights and spinners turns the corner and parades slowly up the street to the tuneless buzz of its subs. As it nears the alley mouth, the driver leans out and yells toward the side of the street with the alley where Lois and Huntress stand--"Yo!"
The Question moves his head back into shadow as the driver eases the car to a stop in the middle of the street just shy of the alley. "YO, hat-boy! Yeah, you! Comeovah here an' gimme that hat!" /*BAMM* *BAMM* *BAMM*/
Huntress frowns at that. "Hate to break it to you, but this is the first I've heard of any of this." That one trenchcoated cop the other night seemed decent enough, though. Maybe she can find a way to corner him and see what he knows. She offers the picture back, then abruptly pulls her crossbow and pushes Lois behind her as the noisy Impala approaches. The drivers stop and address... someone else? The hell?
Lois frowns too. She inhales as her hands go to her hips, mouth opening about to make a snarky remark when Huntress shoves her way between Lois and the Impala. Someone else? Who the he-? Lois' violet eyes blink as she tries to peek around Huntress' shoulders.
"Never a dull night in Gotham, huh," quips the Metropolis Girl.
"I said--" the Impala jerks as it's thrown into gear, and both driver and passenger doors open "--getovahhere an' gimme that hat!" Gimme, about 5'11" of wifebeater and swagger with blue tattoos and a gut, gets out of the car and walks forward while his friend, a little bigger and grinning like a fool, walks around the front of the car to join him. It looks like Gimme's left handed - at least, that's the hand holding the piece. "You some sort of deaf-MUTE motha--"
The Question disengages from the shadows and walks toward the two, stepping into the light almost directly in front of Huntress and Lois. Gimme's and Gommer's mouths hang open; The Question has none, but still he speaks, calmly--
"This is *my* hat."
Gimme blinks, and then--"Shee-ITTT!"--yanks his gun up to fire at the oncoming figure.
Huntress hehs faintly at Lois's comment about Gotham, but then the cholos step out of their car and she sees the pistol in Thug 1's hand before the man in the hat and trenchcoat blocks her view, making her go tense. "Stay here, and I mean STAY," she whispers harshly to the reporter before sidestepping carefully so the man's not blocking...SHIT. She takes a hasty sidestep and takes a snap-shot at the pistol being aimed at the man. Oracle, suck it up. If she kills this cholo defending Trenchcoat man here, she had NO choice. She was AIMING for the handgun.
Stay? Please. Lois Lane ain't no one's bi-
Doing exactly what Huntress told her /not/ to do, Lois Lane steps forward on the other side of the alley from the Gotham Cape. She knows she has a hand gun in her purse. She even knows how to use it, but really, in Gotham, drawing heat is probably a worse idea than the flousy skirt, silky blouse, and high heels she's currently wearing. In said heels, Lois darts out of the ally to grab Trenchoat by the sleeve, seeking to haul him out of the way and out of Huntress' line of 'fire'. What? Lois Lane can be heroic, can't she?
Even Jubilation Lee knows better than to be in this part of town at this time of night. Totally, honest. But she was tailing one of Pauly's visitors at Gotham's jail, just to see where he was going. Despite how touchily that business at the park ended, she really does want to help. Trouble is, now she's lost. She knows where the warehouse Pauly-visitor vanished into is, but she can't recall how to get out of Lyntown.
Major bummer!
She's stopped from dwelling on this by the sight of some lame-o with /way/ too wrong of a car, in more ways than she can count, hassling some guy about his hat, then pulling a gun on him! Somebody should /so/ do something about that. Somebody like... like Jubilee!
And forward she dashes, all five-nothing of her, a very intimidating sight in her designer flare-leg jeans, fleece-lined designer denim jacket, and black high-tops, ruby shades on her forehead and plasmoids already gathering around her hands, awaiting sparkly release. "Hey, dweeboids! Ya do know you're harassing without a license, right?"
Poor Gimme. Huntress's bolt pierces his left forearm at about the same time The Question's side kick makes its connection. Worse for him, Lois's intervention has broken the faceless man's form enough that the kick lands not in the solar plexus but the gut. Likely everyone will know soon if Gimme's had dinner in the last hour or so.
He turns his head fully toward Lois and snaps his sleeve from her grasp, saying, "Get back." Then he pivots back and lunges at Gomer, throwing a double punch.
Huntress rushes the man with the pistol the moment her crossbow bolt is fired, so gets there in time for him to react to getting kicked by Trenchcoat Man. But, just to make sure she brains the man with one elbow and immediately turns toward Thug 2, levelling her crossbow at him. "You wanna join your buddy on the ground there?"
Whatever Lois was expecting is not what she got from Trenchcoat. That faceless face and him knowing how to handle himself makes the Metropolis girl squeak in surprise. When he yanks himself away, Lois topples backward onto the Gotham street, in her skirt. She really needs to start wearing pant-suits, honestly! Mouth slightly agape, the reporter just watches as a third, very young, 'cape' makes her way into the area. The flashy powers are something that Lois' mind can at least understand. This whole Jet-Li Ninja Style Enter the Dragon nonsense is just plain weird! Time to wait for the Capes to finish and hopefully be ready to talk again. Lois closes her mouth.
Jubilee screeches to a halt, blinking as The Man With The Coveted Hat proves to have no face and two powerful fists, and a familiar woman in a fancy leotard steps up and aims an even more familiar crossbow at the second guy. Yup, it's Gotham, where even the vigilantes get people trying to mug them. She stands back a bit, aiming her sparkly hands at them, one each. Can't hurt to help out.
"You dudes are in major trouble, y'know? I wouldn't make it any worse if I were you!" she singsongs sassily, saucy smile shining.
She glances over at the fallen woman in the too-short skirt, who looks oddly familiar. "Hi! Might want to get back a little," she calls cheerfully.
Gimme crumples under Huntress's elbow strike, goes fetal, and... yeah. Probably wings. Gomer's joined his buddy on the ground, too, falling back against the car and sliding off the fender to smack the pavement. The light from the spinner flashes off Gimme's cheap .38, lying where he dropped it in the middle of the street.
The subs fall silent, then kick back in with the next song (or the same one - who knows?) Question turns toward Huntress and Jubilee and stands motionless for a moment before taking a step back away from then and toward Lois. Gesturing toward the car, he asks, matter-of-factly if a little loudly, "Would one of you know how to turn off that music?"
Huntress lowers her crossbow as Gomer joins Gimme on the ground, then turns to look at the others still standing. Jubilee gets a simple nod and brief smile, Question gets a doubletake. She doesn't move toward the car, as Faceless Trenchcoat Man is still a not-entirely-known quantity and she isn't going to turn her back on him quite just yet. "Who're you supposed to be? Odo?"
With a light scramble, Lois pushes herself to her feet.
"Yeah, I got it," she assures the Faceless One, looking to Huntress as she moves to the car to turn off the engine and yank the keys out of the ignition. Fingerprints everywhere. When the music's off, Lois turns to look at the three, only one of which she knows. She bites the tip of her tongue to keep from just going head long into the questions and introductions. After all, the last time she put her hand out there to introduce herself as press in this town, the capes scattered. Fly on the wall, Lane. Be the fly.
Jubilee's smile grows less sassy and more friendly as Huntress nods to her, and she nods back. This is /so/ cool.
It's a second before No-Face's question penetrates her momentary fog of cheer. Granted, the music probably doesn't help. "Turn it off? On it!" she says, the twinkly glow vanishing from her hands as she hurries over to the Abomination-Mobile and peers inside.
Only to find Lois looking in from the other side. "Oh! Hi again." Big smile! And then, in the better interior light, the resemblance hits her. "Wait... are you /Lois Lane/?" she asks, in the tones of someone on the cusp of a Total Fangirl Gleesplosion.
The Question's head dips slightly toward Lois and Jubilee. "Thank you." The car's headlights blast the last trace of shadow from his face as he turns toward Huntress.
"Just a curious bystander."
His no-face eclipses into black as he turns his back to them and walks with long stride up the street toward his car.
Huntress raises her eyebrows at Faceless Man's response, and is sufficiently surprised to just let him walk away. After a second, though, she registers that the car is silent and she looks toward the other two women. "Okay, was it just me, or did that guy have no face?"
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