Summary:A foiled robbery raises even more questions for Daredevil Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
   |
Hell's Kitchen is being gentrified but that doesn't mean it's free of crime. As evidenced by the alarms that just went off at Beavens, an upmarket and expensive jewellers.
There's currently four people on the inside of the store, looting and pulling the merchandise into bags. They're masked and carrying weapons, because of they are - and it's clear this isn't the first time they've done this.
Gentrified or no, Hell's Kitchen is one particular vigilante's designated stomping ground and is the name that's murmured most often around these parts by the given criminal element. Maybe it's because he works the area the most, or perhaps he just has a good PR farm, whatever the case… however, he is one that notices when something like this goes down.
The alarm caught attention. Three blocks over, perched on the edge of a water tower that's there to preserve the skyline than any other real purpose, Daredevil tilts his head as he hears the sounds carrying. A brief click to the cell he wears at his belt sets the timer on the app to call the police to his location in three minutes unless he shuts it down before that time…
With that done he leaps off his perch, grapple line firing from his baton and snaring the corner of a building. He drops into a swing, legs scissoring forward as he rushes toward the scene.
Robberies are not normally a concern of the one called Shiranui. But the loud noise does get his attention. He had also been in the area, though in the other direction and as Daredevil descends from his perch he will 'see' (hear) the figure leaping along the low rooftops. He's not being particularly quiet at the moment.
The curious part is always when he leaps off something where Daredevil knows for a fact there isn't anything TO leap off of. Nevertheless, based on his speed and trajectory, he should arrive near the jewelry store about thirty seconds after the Man With No Fear.
Ryoshi had been practicing some forms on the top of one of the buildings, not far from where Shiranui had been a moment ago. The sharp pain in her head telling her he's near, the small woman follows when she sees the puff of the purple smoke.
Daredevil might be able to tell her arrival by the light scent of bodywash she uses.
"We have company …" Both Kian and Matt will hear as they arrive. Two of the burglars not waiting for more. Weapon fire peppers the area in front of the two. They'll need to deal with those before anything else.
Tilting his head to the side, Daredevil doesn't look at them directly as he addresses them. "I'll draw their attention from the front, make some noise. You two can come in from another angle and put them down before they know what's happening?" He suggests then turns toward each in turn, his mask giving little insight into his thoughts.
That course of action offered, unless they object or suggest an alternative he'll break away then and starts to move across the neighboring rooftop, darting over the edge of the side and keeping his balance precisely.
A pause as he adds, "I'll give you thirty seconds to grab a position and then I'll make myself known."
That said he drops down toward the street level, closing the distance to the jewelry store now.
"Right. Ryohsi. Take the left." Shiranui bounces out in the other direction. When Daredevil makes his move he'll come in from above and behind. That will split their fire and cause quite a lot of confusion.
Unless he's spotted while moving which he is and they start to shoot. A briefly existing shield deflects a spray of bullets before he's out of sight again. He'll just… stay back here away from the things that go bang until he hears Daredevil make a grand entrance.
Guns. So inelegant…
Guns are so inelegant. Ryoshi grimaces as they go off. There's a nod to Shiranui as she heads to the right, the metal scales on her bracers flowing to form her chakrams. "Lots of noise? I can do that."
From where she moves, one of her blades flies out, making a circuit in front of the shooters, knocking weapons out of their hands. "Go, Shiranui."
"Crap …" There's gun fire in Ryoshi's and Shiranui's direction is abruptly stopped. "How many are there? They're everywhere."
Then Daredevils approaching. "Here he comes …" The three in Matts field of vision take something from their pockets and swallow it.
One comes directly for the red suited man, with a flying kick.
Shiranui soon finds himself similar accosted. The combatants … are extremely skilled.
What was meant to be a quiet quick take down becomes a chaotic battlefield almost immediately. At first there's no communication from DD, as he's too busy evading the suddenly skilled efforts of those before him, men who have no business moving as they do, whose bodies haven't been trained properly, but who apparently are capable of these techniques now.
It's a quick engagement at first, punches and kicks slamming back and forth with blocks circular and smooth until Daredevil steps in with a knee to the ribs of one and then elbows him to the ground sharply. He reels back, only time enough then to announce, "Trap. Stay focused, we can handle this."
And then he's dealing with the next fighter even as his cell's timer kicks over and sends the call to the police.
"Holy hell!" When Shiranui drops down he is suddenly confronted by someone who is definitely using advanced martial arts. "Okay. When do dimestore level thugs suddenly get black belt level training?"
It doesn't make sense. Like Daredevil, Shiranui had marked the way the men moved. There was no hint of anything like this which means either they're very good at acting or something else is badly, badly wrong.
The rapport of blade on gun reaches the ears of those nearby. Shiranui quickly cuts the gun in half but is forced on the defensive by the remarkably agile fighter all the same. Only his enhanced mobility is keeping him safe at the moment.
Is it a trap? Or were they just prepared? Not that it matters at the moment.
Daredevil finds himself face to face with someone who is highly skilled. Every move the red suited man makes, is countered. Punches seem to nearly find their past his blocks.
If Daredevil didn't know better, he'd might swear he was fighting his father. The style is *that* similar.
Shiranui finds himself in a similar situation. His opponent is almost as mobile as the Project ninja, but not quite. His combatant certainly knows his moves and Shiranui is forced backwards again. That's going to take him a moment to deal with.
The Devil of Hell's Kitchen is finding himself having to dig. To dig into his tricks and history, to use the techniques he's used that capitalize on his abilities. As the man in front of him presses, he focuses his attention on the thundering pace of the man's heart, holding in time waiting for the raise in heart rate just before the triggering of a strike.
It begins to give Matt an angle to work, to realize the internal rhythm the man must have even as he manages to keep Daredevil at bay.
That is until the moment when he's reaching a point when the attacker usually throws a flurry then retreats, far enough to be clear to catch that needed half breath to maintain his stamina in a fight… and that's the moment when Daredevil's moved him so that he's not able to get that distance with the counter behind him…
It's in that game of a moment when the surprise likely hits his opponent that Daredevil darts in with a vicious haymaker that'd make his dad proud.
As Daredevil digs, his combatant pushes at him hard. It might be offputting to the man in red to see this style after so long. On and on the fight goes - it's barely minutes really, but seems much longer.
The abatement in the fight causes some confusion for his opponent … but not enough. The haymaker is blocked just in time and a viscous leg sweep added to put the Devil of Hell's Kitchen on his back.
Somehow the fighter anticipated the angle, the approach, and was able to compensate as that haymaker came in and… was blocked. It broke the rhythm of the fight as Daredevil was rocked back, recovering, only to have his legs sliced out from under him by the twisting form of the fighter, sending him tumbling to the ground.
Both hands slap upon the tile floor to break the fall and to steal the power from that impact, but he continues through with the momentum partially, twisting, trying to scissor his opponent's legs as he falls and roll on up with the movement to try and catch him with a punch to the jaw as he takes the man down and rises up to be kneeling beside him.
As Daredevil rolls with the punch, his opponent follows through, fist smashing into the pavement where the superheroes head had just been. It hurts - Daredevil can tell that from the spike in the mans vitals and the hiss of breath that might be a curse word.
His legs caught, the attacker goes down and takes the punch full on his jaw.
He crumbles to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
Meanwhile, Ryoshi has been engaged with another robber. Pressed just as much as Shiranui is. She's using her chakram as a melee weapon to put distance between her and her opponent. With a flurry of punches, she's pressed again, her chakram taking the man in the side of the head. It doesn't slice though - just hits him like a blunt object, making him collapse to the ground as well.
Now, where's Shiranui?
There's only a brief moment taken where Matt examines the fallen man, frowning as he runs a hand along the form of the fallen fighter. Definitely doesn't sit right, these few moments of fighting, pushing himself beyond his normal boundaries, they've taken a toll on the man himself. Torn musculature, extended ligaments, perhaps he's an aberrant case, or perhaps it's something to do with whatever he took.
But that was only a handful of seconds spared before Daredevil is quickly gaining his feet and darting across the room, moving to back up either Ryoshi or Shiranui since these men are going to need to be teamed up on to be taken down quickly if at all.
The fallen man isn't his father. Matt can be sure of that as he examines him. The body extended past its human norms. He's not dead - though the beat of his heart is faint and stuttering. Whatever he took, it's had an effect.
The superhero does find a pill case in the mans pocket. The red suited mans hearing picking up there's one pill left inside.
Ryoshi has put her opponent down. The fourth one has made a getaway in the hubbub. The small Order Ninja is checking that body. There's nothing identifying him but he, too, is carrying a pill case similar to the other.
"You alright?" Ryoshi asks, glancing over to where Shiranui had led his attacker. There's still sounds of the fight, but they're stopped soon. It's not possible to tell who will be returning.
"Seem to be," Daredevil's voice is quick in reply, distracted as he ponders the surrounding situation. Once the sound halts he gives a nod to her and then gestures in the direction of where Shiranui was fighting, "Let's secure the bad guys, grab Shiranui and get out of here before the police arrive. We should get these tested." That said he rattles the small pill case then replaces it back in one of the small pockets on his hip.
He turns and moves away from the area of the fracas, toward where Shiranui led his fighter, hopefully to see the other man victorious.
"Good." Ryoshi nods as the sirens sound in the background. They've not long to clear out before the police turn up.
Following Daredevil, the small ninja watches as he puts the pill case away "Was there something in that? This one is empty." beat "Is it my imagination or were these guys exceptionally good?"
"Very good," Daredevil agrees as he sets about securing the fallen, zip ties for everyone and their ill gotten gains left in plain view for when the police arrive. Once that's done he gains his feet and says, "I have one pill I believe, we'll see what we can see from it."
As he says that he moves toward the door and shoulders it open, pushing past and out toward the side area where Shiranui was able to lead his opponent. He picks up his baton on the way, hefting it and testing it against the palm of one hand before emerging to see how their other comrade fared.
Ryoshi assists with securing the fallen, a slight frown creasing her brow as she glances in the direction that Shiranui has taken.
Once outside, it's down towards an alley they head. That was the last direction they saw the other ninja head. "Better than you expect for common criminals, right? That sort of skill has taken me my whole life to achieve."
Now. Where the hell is Shiranui?
Shiranui re-appears. Slightly bruised but apparently not seriously hurt. He is just sheathing his blade as he emerges from an alley. "Well. That was fascinating. In an incredibly frustrating kind of way. What did you two find?" Did they find anything? He's had his hands full just dealing with his 'problem' and getting back.
"Daredevil is it my imagination or do you look like you've seen a ghost?"
The Daredevil's frown is severe as he steps past Shiranui back into the alley but only as a point of transition, to make the ascent needed to get clear of the scene and up above the likely paths of traffic when the police start investigating. Once they're at a decent spot he'll stop to finally answer Shiranui, giving a single nod, "Or the nearest pharmaceutical equivalent."
He produces the pillbox that he picked up from the fallen and murmurs, "Found this, figure we should get it tested. I have access to some labs through a friend of a friend, unless one of you has a better approach to better facilities."
He looks between the others, and if neither of them lay claim to the pill and that privlege then he'll repocket it. "Figure you both had similar experiences."
"What do you mean?" Ryoshi is direct if nothing else. Seen a ghost? What exactly does that mean.
"Just the pill cases. There was no identification on them, not that I'd expect it but they seemed to be very well trained burglars." she nods in Daredevils direction "They were very well trained. I had trouble beating them. It's not often anyone knows how to fight me when I have Chakrams." Except maybe Shiranui.
"I don't have access to any resources or facilities. I want to know what you find though." There's a look to Shiranui "You … seem mostly unharmed."
"Can't say that I have actually. I had HEARD that they were doing something strange with the drug they had. But I haven't seen anyone actually employ it." Shiranui looks at the pill. It's hard to see him doing that though, his mask covers his entire face.
"I am mostly unharmed, thank you Ryoshi. Get it tested Daredevil, I don't have contacts that I think would be especially faster or better than yours. We need to figure out if they're doing something… beyond the science though. They certainly seem to think they are, what with shrines to their awful god in every drug factory."
The pill container is tucked away and Daredevil gives a nod of agreement. "Don't like this particular mix of things. But this may have been aimed specifically at us unless they have enough of this drug to hand out to token low lifes like the ones operating this heist." There's a pause as he frowns…
"I don't know which alternative I like the least." That said he adjusts the cap of his baton, spooling out the line slightly as he makes ready. "I'm going to make the run and get this to my contact if you both don't mind taking a swing through the neighborhood and hold down the fort. But if something goes down, call and I'll come running."
That said he starts to step away, moving to the edge of the rooftop.
"I don't see how it could be targetted at us." Ryoshi murmurs, her chakrams dissolving to metal scales that flow up her arms. "I don't normally respond to that type of thing. I don't think Shiranui does either. Maybe it was directed at you, you do that type of thing, don't you?"
But Daredevil is turning to go and Ryoshi doesn't push the issue. "Thank you for your help…" she calls after the red suited man, the frown not leaving her face.
With a looks to Shiranui, she heads off as well. She might go looking at a few of the Hand places.
"Not at all." Shiranui nods. He can help hold the fort. "Just be careful, Red. If they're doing anything in any way personal that means they think it's necessary to get to you. And THAT means they'll try again."
Daredevil gone, Shiranui signals the motorcycle waiting nearby. It silently glides up to him.
"Watch your back Ryoshi. Shadow Stalker's back in town." He tosses over his shoulder as he guns the (electric) bike and zips off into the night.
"You're probably right," Daredevil says as he turns around, still walking backwards to the edge of the roof and there's a faint twist of a smile, "Maybe I'm just so used to thinking of us as a team." He brings the baton around and fires it, the air pressure released with a /whuff/ as it trails the line and then catches on the edge of a building.
Then as they're all starting to make their way, he calls out just loud enough for them to hear, "Or maybe it's the royal 'we' I'm using." Whichever it is, he leaps off the side of the building and is gone.