August 13, 2015:
Red Hood and Armory/Lunair interrupt an arms deal between gangs. A candy bar is given and there are guns. So many guns.
New York City
On the edge of Little Italy, at night.
Characters
NPCs: None.
Mentions:
Plot:
Mood Music: [*\# None.]
Fade In…
New York City is the city that never sleeps. But in this era, nights are often active in their own right. Street lights have supplanted torches, shadows and fireflies while concrete glistens beneath LEDs, signs and the odd headlights. Most of those in gainful employ, routine, mundane life are hidden away in the illusory safety of their own homes - hidden away from a past when life was fraught with violence. For some, though, this veil is pierced by reality. Street walkers are employing their tricks, charms and smiles. Stay a little while for a good time? Please don't kill me?
A couple of drug dealers have set up at the opposite ends of this block in Little Italy, while men in suits discuss the contents of a car's truck. One man in a suit is inspecting some guns. An arms deal. Other men with long, black trenchcoats hover like hyenas waiting at the edge of a kill. The air is ripe with possibility and an uneasy, understood peaceful tension. Too much and the cops come down on everyone. No good for business, really.
And Lunair is a rooftop kind of gal. Gunslinging is cool and cinematic, but rare. So she's watching through binoculars, deciding who to pick off from beneath her black blanket. Hmmm.
Mutant Town is a mess. There's a thought of abandoning that particular safehouse and moving more permanently to one of the others he has stashed about. With his last payout, that really shouldn't be a problem at all…but he's waiting. For now. It's quite an interesting thing to watch and possibly see if there might be something he can dig into.
But tonight, he's following a lead. A lead that brings him to the very same group making the arms deal. Most may not notice something like the glint of light coming from binoculars, but most haven't had Red Hood's training. There's a smirk under his helmet even as he makes his way to the rooftop currently held by the figure under the black blanket.
"I can't imagine that the panhandling is good up here. You usually need to go where people can hand you the money."
Lunair isn't touching Mutant Town without some friends. She still makes her grocery runs as she can, but things are limited there. That thought lingers on her mind. But she's on the job, so serious face on!
Below, the dealing and wheeling continue. One of the wise guys is chatting at an Asian man with a soul patch, and both laugh. Girlfriends, right? They nod. Grunts. If things were up to grunts, most of the time things would be settled with a stiff drink and a poker game. But they aren't. A few linger, and there's chatter amongst the guys who are inspecting the weapons. A gun lifted, cocked. One man reassuring the other that these are the real deal. High quality.
Lunair has her armor on, in dark black and green - her visor was open to use the binoculars, but she lowers them as Red Hood appears. A squint. "Hi Red Lightbulb. And not until I perfect my sign," She murmurs. "I'm guessing you're here about those guys doing some shopping?" She inclines her head.
For now, the mooks are unaware though a few are joshing around.
Red Hood sort of snorts at the name she gives him, but…it could be a lot worse. "You think a sign is what gets you the dough? Do people actually -read- the sign? No, you need to have an animal or two with you and look clean and tidy but down on your luck as if you're really not usually doing something like this, but you're asking for money for the pets."
He glances past her at the mooks having fun. "You trying to stop this deal or make sure it happens?"
"I see," Lunair murmurs. "I honestly wouldn't know," She admits. "But thanks for the advice," A wry smile to the Hooded one. "I'll call you Red then," She nods. Then she looks to the mooks. "I was debating using a rocket launcher or being more clean about it," Sigh. "But then I remembered grandpa gets annoyed if I destroy lootable firearms. I'm guessing you're here to stop it, too?" She peers up to the hooded one, letting her visor fold down over her face.
This seems to be a good natured exchange and deal. Peace is being brokered amongst firearms. A united front could be problematic on down the line. Another gun inspected, this one an SMG of some sort. There is some serious firepower in that car's trunk. There's a duo smiling and talking over a katana. One guy showing it off. Cool! Just mooks, and a couple of higher ups. The higher ups seem to be inspecting the goods. Talking business. A street walker gets shoo'd off. She huffs and moves away to ply her trade.
"You don't pay attention to your surroundings much, do you?" Red Hood offers when she mentions that she wouldn't know about the panhandling. He glances over at the chatter going on below before smiling under his hood, "I suppose you could say that. What were you planning on doing then? Just picking them off and taking the arms for yourself?"
Lunair tilts her head. "I do. But seeing something isn't the same as experiencing it," She points out. She looks to the Hood and then to the mooks. Headshake to the Hood. "Nah, I was just going to pick them off or blow them up. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the arms. I can leave that to you, if you want. What were you planning?" She asks. She seems politely respectful, if teasing.
The chatting continues, and now some grenades get inspected. Some joking, more laughter. The car's trunk is still opened. The katana man and his wiseguy pal are chatting. Yup, swapping stories. Seems amiable enough. For now. A few keep watch, but the binoculars are down and much like in horror movies, few look up.
"Might I point out that blowing them up will, most likely, either set off the firearms in the car or cause the car itself to explode…or both?" Red Hood points out. "So, your job was just to kill off the mooks? Really? I mean, they don't seem like they're bad guys, really…aside from making some sort of arms exchange. Maybe they're doing it so they can feed their family or pay for a loved one's operation?"
The helmet is expressionless, so it's easy to hide behind it. "They don't seem like folks someone would pay good money to take out."
SSiiiiiigh. Lunair looks to Red Hood. She stares at him from behind her visor. "Are you trolling me or something? I'll leave them to you if you're going to fuss about it. You have no idea what I know or don't know. So - hop to it, Fishbulb," She makes a shoo gesture with a single hand. "And I didn't say that was totally my plan. But hey, if you want to be responsible for more people getting whacked and a bunch of organized crime people working together, whatever. I'm sure the well armed human traffickers will appreciate your kindness."
They're still chatting, unaware of the Hood and company.
Red Hood ahs, "So you're about taking out Organized Crime in general. I get that." He turns again to the mooks, "I'm just after the stuff in the car, to be honest. I mean, if you want to shoot these guys in cold blood, go for it. If you know they're doing human trafficking and giving drugs to kids and all, hey…more power to you. But I'd appreciate it if the merchandise was unharmed."
Nodnod. "Mhmm. And of course they are. Drug money is booming, especially since there's been a lot of laws about prescription pain killers. Heroin's been coming back big," Lunair explains. She looks to Re Hood. "Sorry I snapped at you. I'm really hungry. I've been out here for /hours/," She admits. "Anyway, yeah, that's fine. I'm sympathetic to needing gear." She makes her own, but it's easy to forget what a hamper not being able to do that is. "All yours, Red." Nod again.
"Anyway, I can start picking them off when you're ready." And lo, an alarmingly huge sniper rifle (is that thing to take down elephants?!) appears beside her on a tripod. "I can fire the first shot to give you an opening. I'll probably get one of the higher ups." Just say when!
A gloved hand digs into a pocket and offers a couple of protein bars. "Got into a habit of always carrying a few with me." One never knows how long a sting will take and he's not as stoic as his former mentor. Red Hood glances at the mooks again before he shrugs, "I don't -need- it…" he just wants it. There's another moment before he nods, "All right. But leave the chatty guys for me, all right?"
He might make them an offer they can't…or shouldn't…refuse.
Lunair pauses, accepts one. "Thanks, I owe you one, Red," Nodnod. Lunair is also somewhat stoic but today she's a little more playful and grumpy. "Well, okay. Chatty guys and merch, all you." It's almost palpable that she beams beneath her visor. "I'll eat after this. Ready?" She shuffles to the side to get behind her sniper rifle.
And Lunair will wait for him to nod or give her a signal. While the higher ups finish inspecting one last box. The two chatty guards are chortling about something or other, sounds like chat about some hits they took out. Shoulda seen his face. Ooh yes. They have no clue about what awaits them.
"Give me a count of twenty, then go." And with that, Red Hood is darting off the rooftop to make his way down to street level. While there are two keeping watch, he's been watching them as well and noting their patterns. It's how he can sneak up behind the two chatty guards and press the business ends of guns to the backs of their necks.
"You make a sound, you're dead. Do you as I say, you get to live. Capisce?"
Lunair nods. She quietly counts to twenty, and waits for Red to get into position. She plays well with others, and seems to like Red Hood well enough. She waits for a moment, then when she hits 20, takes aim and with alarming, unerring accuracy, takes a shot at the mafioso chatting with the guy about weapons. One moment he talks, the next, there's precious little of his head save a stump about his neck. The dealer looks horrified, and looks ready to scream. He soon joins his friend in the afterlife.
It's now the Red Hood show. The two guards sort of lift their eyebrows. They tense, reflexively and perhaps getting ready to duck and grab their weapons. "Who are you?" The one mafioso asks.
"I'm the guy holding guns to your head. Now, you can do as I say or end up like your bosses there. Really, your choice." Of course, it leaves Red Hood with nothing to shoot with should someone fire at him or try to attack him, but he seems to know what he's doing right now. After all, these guys just saw their bosses taken out…and not even by him!
"I'm going to count to three. One…two…"
Lunair trusts Red Hood's judgment. She will be his back up perched up above.
The two goons just look at each other. "Man, if you don't kill us, their bosses will." Time to turn around and try to double tackle him!
The thing is, he didn't think they were all that bad. Red Hood has his own set of morals and these two seem to have drawn the long straws. Instead of being immediately shot at the base of their skulls, the two are pistol-whipped as they turn. "Come on, guys…I liked you!"
Not that he's not itching for the fight. It's been a little while and he was getting antsy.
Lunair has her own set of morals, and can understand Red Hood's. She is watching from above, quietly amused.
The two get pistol whipped and fall. They are pretty easy to knock out, at least. The trunk is now open for Red Hood to loot, but one gets the feeling that he'd best loot quickly - post fight brings opportunity for more vulturelike criminals, and someone is likely to call the cops which actually have a better response time than some cities.
Carrying a bunch of guns really isn't going to be the easiest…or stealthiest thing to do. Red Hood takes a moment to assess the situation before he closes the trunk and goes to the front of the car. If anyone's in there, they'll get tossed out…if the keys are there, great. If not, then he'll hotwire the car to get it going. It's much faster this way.
Lunair looks quietly amused, but she'll wave to him from the rooftop, letting Red take the goodies. The down goons will likely be fine, arrested and/or walletless, but fine. The cops will show up to pick the goons up. For her part, Lunair doesn't seem to follow Red Hood - even if she is a bit curious.
A wave is given through a rolled-down window as the car screeches away. He'll check his phone as he drives along, noting the small beacon that he stuck on Lunair before they began the attack — she might eventually find it, she might not. Sometimes that Bat-tech can come in rather handy.
Lunair smiles at the wave. What a curious guy. She seems faintly amused. Lunair is unaware of the tracker stuck on her. She probably won't until she does the laundry or takes a shower, because otherwise - ew. But she is definitely trackable.
Nevertheless, the cops will round up the downed goons and clean up the higher ups. New York City's block then settles into an uneasy rest.