ic Gangland Violence

[Derin]

November 20, 2011
Southside

It was unusual for criminals to talk so openly in lit areas, in Whiplash's experience. But the four men standing under the streetlights weren't even trying to be subtle. They hadn't bothered to retreat to an unlit alley or corner, the only concession to privacy being to lower their voices as they hissed and bickered. Whiplash herself watched from an alley, where she'd been forced to descend to ground level to hear the conversation.

"He'll kill us if we don't bring him the money!"

"Well, maybe we can... dispose of the guy responsible, instead."

"You expect to find Johnny now?! We only have a couple of hours before the meet!"

"Doesn't have to be Johnny, does it? He doesn't know who took it. We find someone, blame them, give ourselves some time, right?"

"Yeah, like that'll work!"

"Got any better ideas?!"

Whiplash remained hidden and silent. Four was too many to take on by herself. She had a kid to think about. Besides, if she waited, these guys might lead her to their boss. So long as they didn't hurt anyone.

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy always enjoyed this part, exploring the highways and byways of the city. Tonight after finishing at the Our Lady of Mercy Soup kitchen she’d decided to wander the streets of Southside.

She never felt nervous or cautious during her little wanders, by now most people around Boardwalk knew her by reputation and left her alone. And those that didn’t quickly learned the error of their ways. But today she was just wandering aimlessly not paying attention as she delved deeper into the rougher parts of Southside.

[Derin]

Was that somebody approaching? Whiplash risked a peek around the corner, confident that her outfit would blend her shape into the alley. It was... a young woman, by the looks of it, pale, well-dressed and not possessing the normal wariness that one would expect of somebody strolling through Southside so late, especially a lone woman. She didn't seem to be paying attention to the small group of men. Whiplash drew her whip. There was every possibility that the woman and the goons would ignore each other -- they had more important things to worry about, after all. But there was also the chance that they wouldn't.

Sure enough, one of the men glanced over and grinned. "Hey-hey, lady!" He started to stride over to the approaching woman. "What're you doing out here by yourself?"

"Kev, you moron, we have a more important situation here!" one of the other men hissed as the man swaggered past him. Yet another of the men was frowning at the woman, as if he vaguely recognised her. His hand was reaching for his belt. A gun.

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy gave a little sigh at the men’s calls, it seemed that some people hadn’t changed that much from back her own day. But her, well months of, experience told her that these men trouble. Time to this before someone got hurt.

“Now are you sure you really want to do this?â€

She took off her sunglasses and gave him a look with her cold black eyes, stepping into the light for hopefully the full effect.

“I’m in a good mood and I don’t want any trouble. I really don’t want to have to hurt you.â€

She was pretty sure it wasn’t going to work, but hoped against hope that one day someone wouldn’t want to start trouble.

[Derin]

The man with his hand on his gun frowned. "Kev? Isn't that... I know her, I'm sure of it."

Whiplash wondered if she should get some height. Could she climb without making any noise? Maybe. But if she was spotted, the situation might erupt into violence. Violence that could still be avoided.

"What, you're sayin' this one's yours?" 'Kev' asked.

"No, it's... holy sh*t, that's a hero!"

"Solves our scapegoat problem, then, doesn't it?" One of the other men advanced menacingly on the woman.

These men really are idiots, Whiplash thought, repositioning herself to keep one of the goons in range without leaving the shadows. Remember, Helen, try not to bring home any injuries you can't explain to your daughter.

[Tiffany Korta]

She was sure that they weren’t going to back down better quick action that possible bloodshed.

“I just like you to know for the record I really don’t want to do this.â€

Lucy had learned to fight on the street of Freedom City long ago, and as such didn’t really go for the niceties of the more structured forms of combat. No she went for the quick and dirty methods of taking down her opponent.

So stepping forwards she drove her knee into the nearest man’s stomach, making sure to not to apply her full strength. She only wanted to wind the man, not break his spine.

“Oh and just so you know the name Revenant.â€

[Derin]

The force of Revenant's blow sent "Kev" flying along the street, landing on his back some 250 feet away. He didn't look dead, but he didn't look inclined to move either. The man with his hand on his gun swore, but Whiplash wasn't letting him draw it; she dashed forward and struck out at him with the end of her whip. The man shouted as the whip struck across his arm and chest, stumbled backwards 10 feet, and tripped.

"Jake!" One of the men still standing drew a gun, looked from Revenant to Whiplash, and aimed at Whiplash. "Nick, you get the other one!" He fired. Whiplash heard the bullet whistle past her ear. The man she'd knocked back was trying to crawl away from the fight.

"Oh, sure, send me after the one who just threw Kevin down the street!" growled the other man, but he nevertheless went for Revenant, cracking his brass knuckles against her jaw.

[Derin]

The man looked almost surprised when his hit connected. Whiplash dashed forward and struck out with her weapon to tear the gun from the hand of her opponent. The weapon clattered across the pavement, coming to rest against the building behind her.

The newly disarmed man swore and swung a meaty fist at her. She dodged it easily. The man who had struck Revenant, emboldened by his success, grinned and tried to hit her again, but his knuckles met only air.

Whiplash's back was to the two men who were already down. She didn't see Kev climb to his feet, nor the other man drawing his gun.

[Tiffany Korta]

Shaking off the blow she rubbed her jaw the bruise having already having faded away.

Getting sloppy, or even over confident, must watch for that in future. She gave the man a stern serious look.

“So your one who will hit a woman, well I suppose it a blow for equal rights.†She gave a little wave to Whiplash “Thanks for the help I’ll be with you in a minute, just a little detail to take care off.â€

Her expression changed into an evil looking grin.

“My turn.â€

And she hit the man square between the eyes.

[Derin]

The man took Revenant's punch full in the face and flew back, almost skidding along the pavement, past Whiplash and into the cheap stone cladding of a shop wall. The stone crumbled around him. He didn't move. She didn't have time to worry about him, but Whiplash thought that if he was alive, staying down was probably better than getting up to face the woman who'd almost ignored his only successful attack and then nearly taken his head off with one punch.

"Take your time, I've got a bit of tidying up to do here, too," Whiplash replied to Revenant's remark as she struck her whip out towards the man attempting to brawl with her. She was really going to have to work on her banter if she wanted to do this hero thing, she decided.

The man grunted and stumbled backwards as the whip struck his face, falling clumsily over.

The sound of a gunshot ranger through the air and Whiplash's right leg buckled underneath her. She turned to see the first man she'd attacked lowering his gun. Should've disarmed him when I had the chance... Dimly, she was aware that the man they'd called Kev was fleeing the scene. After she'd spent so much time spying on these guys... nothing to do about it now. Not much that she could do at all. Lucky she wasn't alone, this time. Lucky that this happened to be the conflict with another hero involved.

"Revenant! He's got a gun..."

If I survive this, she thought dimly, how the hell am I going to explain this injury to Anna?

[Tiffany Korta]

Her head snapped up at Whiplash’s warning and she look across in tome to witness the other hero being wounded.

Without thinking Revenant took towards the gun wielding goon with an unnatural speed. AS she approached the goon she didn’t stop, instead she held out her arm which collided into the man with her full momentum.

She didn’t even stop to worry about if the man was harmed; instead she crouched beside the wounded hero.

“Are you okay? Is there anything I can do to help?†she gave Whiplash a concerned look.

[Derin]

"Yeah, I'm... no. No, I'm really not okay. I might need a doctor. Does one of these guys have a phone?" As she spoke, Derin dragged herself as carefully as possible towards the wall behind her. She would still be out of reach of the man with the brass knuckles lying buckled against it. He didn't seem to be unconscious, she noticed, but he didn't seem all that inclined to move either. Smart guy.

A gunshot. A bullet whizzed past Revenant's face. The man she'd hit was still trying to shoot them.

"Why won't you give up?! What kind of moron keeps attacking in a situation like this?!" Whiplash cried. Behind the armed man, the one Whiplash had earlier disarmed was clambering to his feet.

[Tiffany Korta]

Revenant face was still a picture of concern but she managed to give a tiny smile.

“Thugs are not especially hired for their intelligence. I know I’ve face quite a few in my time. It seems they just don’t know when to quit.â€

Another bullet whizzed past her head, without showing any concern she raised her finger and gave a reassuring little look.

“If you could just give me a minute, and then I’ll get you some medical help.â€

Without really taking time to aim she lashed out an arm trying to catch the gunman unaware.

[Derin]

The gunman managed to dodge Revenant's attack and fired back, but the shot went wild. Whiplash dragged herself carefully toward the wall behind her, making sure to stay out of arm's reach of the man who had ploughed into it. If she moved too suddenly, she could tear open her leg and bleed to death. Which would be embarrassing.

She wasn't stupid enough to go poking around in the wound. The bullet had done all the damage it would do; now it was a doctor's problem. If she got to one.

The man in the rubble of the building had noticed Revenant's attention was on his colleague and clambered to his feet. Whiplash sincerely hoped he wouldn't go after her. The man that she had disarmed was also taking advantage of Revenant's distraction and her own injuiry to stand, but he looked more ready to run than anything. After tracking the men this far, was she going to lose them now?

[Tiffany Korta]

The men were getting away and this other hero was seriously injured. She needed to even the odds a little. An idea formed a she gave Whiplash a friendly little smile.

"Stay down; I'm going to try something. I just hope this works."

Concentrating she tried to focus all her energies in one point. Then she bought her hand down onto the concrete under her feet with strength disproportional for her size. The sidewalk rippled out as the shockwave rippled out under the feet of the men.

Her smile was much broader this time.

"Well that seemed to do the trick."

[Derin]

Whiplash closed her eyes against the dizzying ripple in the world around her and felt the pain in her leg lessen. Adrenalin! Oh yeah! When she opened them again, she saw that Revenant was right -- the goons were prone once more. The one that had been knocked into the wall seemed ready to take the hint and stayed down, but the other three immediately struggled to their feet. The one with the gun moved slowly and seemed to sway a little.

"They're already in trouble with their boss," Whiplash told Revenant, trying not to look too disconcerted with the woman's newly revealed earth-warping abilities. I bet she turns out to be some kind of magical alien or earth god or something. "They'll probably blame us if they get away." Whiplash wasn't sure if that would be a good thing or a bad thing. It'd make it easier for her to do her job, sure. But what if she was tracked home? It might put Anna in danger. That needed to be avoided at all costs.

[Tiffany Korta]

Revenant gave a broad smile, well that worked better than I expected, but there was no time for celebration the gansters were still a threat and the other hero was seriously wounded. She gave Whiplash a little concerned look.

“Will you be okay a minute? I’ll start rounding them up.â€

With only a quick pause for the answer she kicked off toward the gangster who was fleeing, with an almost unnatural speed. Reaching him she scooped down and without pausing tried to scoop up the prone man.

“Will you people never learn? You’re in totally the wrong kind of business for this city."

[Derin]

Whiplash took another deep breath as the pain in her leg faded to a manageable level. She should not have become involved in this fight. The conditions were entirely wrong.

The man in Revenant's grip struggled feebly and shouted for help. The man with the gun shot at Revenant, but the bullet flew wide. Whiplash made a note to take his gun away as soon as possible. The remaining unarmed man gaped as Revenant before turning and running for an alley. Go on, little man. I can come back for you later.