1066/Woe to those who work in the shadows.

Woe to those who work in the shadows.
Date of Scene:	09 April 2020
Location:	A warehouse in Chinatown NYC.
Synopsis:	Mastermind crosses off a mark. Atlin retrieves some artifacts. Ben sticks a lot of guns to the roof. The Triad have a no good very bad day.
Cast of Characters:	Ben Reilly, Martinique Wyngarde, Atlin

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Ben Reilly has posed:
Triads are bad dudes. Everyone can agree on that right? Mobsters in general are bad guys. The Triads have been a little more active lately though. Trying to kidnap girls in plain day, getting into fights with super heroes where they normally lay low. Trading in black market Amazon artifacts selling them to private collectors. Which usually just means other rich criminal sorts and not legitimate business men. In this case there's a good mix of a lot going on. Atlin caught wind of some artifacts that had been uncovered and were being sold on the black market. Some questions pushed on some thugs would have gotten her a location. A warehouse in Chinatown.

The Triad boss overseeing tonight's illicit deals? Is the assassin known as Mastermind's latest mark. A decent price on his head for what should be an easy enough hit. Quick pay day and call it a night. Easy days at work are great aren't they? And what brings a Scarlet Spider into the vicinity tonight? Tracking the Triad goons who tried to snatch a girl right in front of him a few days ago.

The warehouse is well lit inside and clean, not at all the dusty dirty sort of place most would expect illegal deals to be going on. But there are precious relics on display behind secure glass cases. The customers haven't arrived yet, that doesn't happen for another hour. So for the moment it's Triad thugs with guns and no doubt more concealed weaponry, patrolling the warehouse, and a couple of Soldiers talking to a Lieutenant. The thugs are relaxed though. They're not expecting trouble tonight. They're not joking around and goofing off, but they are not as alert as they should be. They're in the heart of their territory. They feel safe and secure. They're going to regret that. A lot.

The Lt turns to a few of his guys and directs them to a van parked just inside a closed loading bay door. They go over to it and pull out another protected case with some sort of urn in it, clearly of Amazonian design to anyone that knows what they're looking for, as are almost all of the other artifacts. Some are just regular old ancient Greek artifacts, still valuable but not Amazonian. Others are definitely legit. The building has rafters and a skylight that Martinique could use to get in and get into position for her hit.

Martinique Wyngarde has posed:
Martinique Wyngarde doesn't like, certain kinds of bad dudes. She also has reasons to acquire currency. Some gang boss, who also has been targeting some of the few refugees from Hammer Bay that made it into New York, becomes high on ther radar.

She quietly climbs onto the roof of the warehouse, cuts open a high window, and slips herself on through, climbing silently onto a rafter. Then she triplechecks her weapons.

Atlin has posed:
Truth be told, if one were to tell Atlin of the kidnapping of young women, it would have been enough to get her to act. The fact that relics of her culture had been stolen and profits taken from their sale? Well...it hadn't worked out well for Maxie Zeus, it wasn't going to go great for the triads either!

This time she knew, she had information and preparation; Atlin wasn't going in there in borrowed clothing with no weapon to speak of. Instead beneath her outer 'robe' the woman was wrapped in the figure-hugging one-piece outfit of her light armor. A quiver of specially made arrows rested at her hip and the Amazonian alloy bow rested in her hand. Some people favoured a more subtle approach to a situation like this.

Atlin was not one of those people, the Amazon 'Daughter of War' was stalking towards the front of the warehouse.

Ben Reilly has posed:
The Triads have no idea what kind of night they're about to have. There are a couple dozen of the goons plus the two Soldiers and the Lieutenant directing them all as they go about their work. The window that Mastermind slips through has a good view down onto the crowd below, though it'll leave her exposed once she takes the shot, a whole lot of open space around her for Triad guys to fill with bullets. But surely she's been in similar situations before and come out unscathed. The boss barks at the two guys carrying the case with the urn in Mandarin and they hustle about their work, hurrying over to a pedestal to put the case on with it's treasure nestled in layers of velvet for padding.

The front of the warehouse is guarded by two Triad members in worker's clothing, looking like a couple of guys outside taking a smoke break, or slacking off. But they are a little too alert for workers just taking a break. They don't notice the stalking Amazon though, just as the guys in the warehouse don't notice the stalking assassin above them.

There's a scarlet figure on a nearby rooftop, the nighttime hiding the more garish nature of his suit. His mask is partially covered by the hood of his sleeveless blue hoodie. Stealth mode engaged. He doesn't move in though, hanging back and observing not rushing the situation. Little does he know his decision to move in on the Triad guys is about to be stepped up.

Inside the boss is directing the workers to get the last item out of the vehicle, a ceremonial dagger carved with Amazonian script. It's just a regular metal weapon, corroded with time but still culturally important.

Martinique Wyngarde has posed:
Martinique Wyngarde is definitely mindful of escapes. And sometimse doesn't even need to make them in a hurry. Fortunately mobsters don't tend to be the... strongest willed people, depending on peer pressure and collective action.

So she's not worried. She just pulls out her twin handguns, lays her body out on the rafter, and starts lining up her shot. While starting to riffle through the minds of the goons, wondering what they fear more: cops, or another gang.

Atlin has posed:
Atlin was not Diana of Themyscira, ambassador of love and piece to Man's World. She was a warrior, and she wasn't about to be particularly forgiving. It really was the thug's own fault for lacking disipline after all, right?

There was a little warning. A rush of motion before the heavy metal limb of a bow now ordinary human could pull back impacts with the head of one of the men. A twist of motion, there's a boot headed for the face of the other and both men are sent sprawling before they'd really realized their mistake.

It might have made for a sucessful stealth entry, if it wasn't for the woman proceeding to the door and simply ripping it open with her bare hands.

"THIEVES!" she calls loudly, lifting her bow once more. "You have one chance to surrender!"

Ben Reilly has posed:
The thugs fear super heroes more than the cops, but they fear other gangs more than the super heroes. Super heroes don't necessarily abide by law and order. Gangs don't at all. Other gangs will kill them where as super heroes generally will wound them and then they go to prison. The minds of the men are simple things though. Some have aspirations, some do not. One of the soldiers is plotting ways to take the Lt's job. The other is thinking about getting out of the gangster game and settling down. Their minds range the gamut from boring and dull to active and interesting. But all of them are unaware of the danger lurking above them, or the danger lurking outside.

Both men are utterly out cold, almost definitely with concussions. They had less than a moment to react, less than a moment to raise the alarm. And neither did. They were a little too surprised by the armored Amazon to raise said alarm. So no one inside comes to investigate. The two guys hit the ground with a thump but it's not loud enough to alert those within.

Then the doors come off. Quite literally in this case as Atlin rips the bay door clear off the building, exposing the front end of the van that the artifacts were hauled in. A perfect distraction for the woman inside on the rafters. The Triad goons all take a moment to react, too stunned by the entrance to do anything with expediency. It all breaks in a flash though. Or possibly with the sound of a gunshot from above? Either way they sprint into action, drawing weapons and opening fire on the woman framed in the light pouring out of the warehouse.

"That wasn't very stealthy!" Comes a call from nearby. The soft thwip of a webline the only thing to announce him before he lands in a crouch what he hopes is just outside of striking distance. Surprising Amazons is a good way to get parts of you lopped off. "Like... not at all stealthy." The scarlet suited spider person tilts his head to the side, the white eyeplates of his mask giving away no emotion, but there's amusement in his voice. "Hi." Yes, greetings as bullets fly and people are springing into action. "Mind if I lend a hand?"

Martinique Wyngarde has posed:
Martinique Wyngarde takes her shot. As she does, so, firing four or five rounds at the boss, aiming for the chest. That's job one, get him DEAD.

But as she does so, she casts an illusion out to the goons, the lower end people. What they see, and hear, and truly believe, is that they hear 10 cars pulling up, opening out. They hear shouts, in a mix of English and Sicilian. And finally they see 30 men crashing into the place, with semiautomatic rifles pointed. That ought to be a distraction.

Atlin has posed:
The nocking of the arrow in Atlin's bow is so fast the Spider might swear it had simply 'appeared' there, but even as the weapon is pointed his way there was no release. Most would-be assassins and foes didn't take the time for greetings and ask to lend a hand. Puzzling was an understatement...then there was gunfire coming her way and shouts of panic, leaving the woman to move. She was many things, but fittingly bulletproof wasn't one of them!

"MOVE!" is about all the warning the spider gets from the Amazon, then she's weaving between the gunfire with suprising speed. The loosing of her arrow? It offers a strange almost silken noise from the unnatural bow, but the impact? That was enough to yank the poor thug off his feet and send him screaming backwards to get pinned to the wall. Yeah, he'd be needed medical attention.

There was a frown on her face, after all an Amazon had no issues with killing her foes...but she'd been outright begged by her poor contact in Man's World to -try- not to. Sometimes the promise was easier to keep than others, but when the next near super-sonic arrow is launched? It spears through the firearm of one of the wildly panicing triads in stead. She'd -try- at least.

Of course, their panic is...strange, she can sense it as much as see it. Certainly they were intimidating, but there was something...more at work.

Ben Reilly has posed:
"That's rude. But I can understand a little. I did surprise you. Shouldn't point bows at people if your'e not gonna fire. Bet I could dodge it though." The scarlet mask with the blue hood tips to the side, until a hand goes up to sweep it off the top of his head. He's standing just out of sight of teh thugs insides, to the side of the ripped open door. He zips in the door after her and with a quick webline he yanks himself up towards the rafters. There may or may not even be a called out 'Yeet!' as he goes sailing through the air, reaching out with a hand to rather gently cuff a guy which sends him tumbling to the ground, weapon dropping out of his hands. "There are a lot of guns but uhh... what are they shooting at?" Scarlet is quizzical even as he's throwing weblines at guns to yank them out of people's hands. The goons are turned around firing at all sorts of stuff. "Who... are you?" He asks as he spots a shadowed Mastermind up in the rafters with him. Or rather he's now up in the rafters with her. He eave pauses and waves a hand at her before he webs a handful of guns to the ceiling.

The guys are all losing their minds. They're firing all over the place, mostly not at the Amazon or at the Scarlet Spider though. They're firing at walls and cases (thank the heavens for bulletproof glass) and everywhere else, but very little at the two invaders. A couple of guys rush to the fallen boss and try to drag him to safety, only for one of them to get caught by a riccohcet and to go down. Mandarin and Cantonese are being shouted and hollered as the men try to communicate amidst what they see as a massive invasion from another gang.

Several thugs seem to notice the Amazon amongst them and turn their guns on her, firing away, though their aim is awful, shaken by something they can see but Atlin and Ben cannot. A couple of thugs who are now sans guns rush at the warrior woman with knives and a baton to try to take her down.

Martinique Wyngarde has posed:
Martinique Wyngarde exhales sharply when the boss drops. She knows the kind of firepower she just hit him with, so whether they give him first aid, or even get him to a hospital, is beyond her concern. She thinks there's a ogod chance he died before he hit the ground.

So, she starts to shimmy out of the window... when uh. Wait. "Who am I? Who are you?" she hisses through her teeth. "And get out of my way, don't you see they're dangerous?" she explains, slipping her firearm back into its holster.

Atlin has posed:
Atlin doesn't quite have the same amount of time to chat with strangers in the rafters, but she does indeed notice Mastermind there now. She'd question or query, but bullets zipping her way has her twisting and ducking behind storage. All this wild shooting could hit her, or worse still hit what she came here for. She needed to move fast!

A deep breath comes from the woman, a moment to prepare herself...than she was errupting from cover, a rapid salvo of draw-nock-shoot flowing as she shoots arrow after arrow. She only had twelve of them, but hopefully that was enough for the rushing amazon, and each one hit like a rail spike launched out of a cannon!

Ben Reilly has posed:
The boss on the ground is unresponsive. At the very least he's in massive shock and his body is shutting down. Blood pools underneath him spreading along the floor, a streak of it stretching from his feet to where he fell. Yeah, he's definitely dead. The soldier still standing that was attempting to rescue him realizes this and instead pulls his gun and starts blazing away at the supposed attackers, the bullets panging off the metal walls of the warehouse, bouncing, hitting other thugs or just burying in concrete.

"Yeah. I see that they're dangerous. They have guns and they're Triad." Ben fires off a little webbing at the window that Mastermind cut through to block off her exit. "Soo uhhh that guy down there that your work? Killing is bad you know." He even goes so far as to wag a finger at him before he yelps as a bullet skips past him, though he was actually dodging the bullet a moment before the yelp, the bullet skimming past his suit. "That was close. And RUDE!" He calls out as he webs that guy's gun and yanks it out o fhis hand, the man cries out as a finger or two breaks with the force of the gun being yanked.

Atlin is running around down there with the men. Web lines fire down from the rafters regularly to yank guns or melee weapons out of hands, but there always seem to be more guns or weapons to grab. "The heck. Are all their jackets bigger on the inside?" Ben calls out as he keeps yanking weapons. A Triad soldier goes to swing a baton at Atlin only to have it yoinked, and to stand there like a deer caught in the headlights, no doubt to have his lights put out by the warrior.

Cries go up from Triad thugs put down with arrows, legs and arms and hands and guns. The guys are trying to fight a three fronted battle. Above, the invading gang and the Amazon, and they realize they can't. They break and the thugs try to flee, running for the exits, a group of them turning the corner of a shelf and finding an angry Amazon.

Ben is distacted, which is a perfect time for Martinique to slip out through a different window if she desires. "Look out to your left!" He calls down to Atlin as he throws out a web pellet that explodes and pins a couple of guys to a doorway they were trying to escape from. "Hey you gonna help us here or just keep on trying to make your escape?" He asks as he looks up, trying to find Mastermind, if she's still there.

Martinique Wyngarde has posed:
Martinique Wyngarde gestures down. "That guy is running a ring that kidnaps girls, and sells them. And he's been sending protection rackets to harass REFUGEES. Who have no money, no home, nothing. Refugees. He made an enemy, and he has it coming.

She trise to get past him. Consdiering the webbing,t hen just shrugging and shooting out the next window over to try to dive out.

Atlin has posed:
For her part? Atlin had lowered her bow, slung it over her shoulder and resorted to more direct means. Bracers-protected forearms intercepted a bullet headed for her face, but she dives and reaches for the decorated dagger, gripping it in the palm of her off-hand.

The men retreating? They weren't her problem and she didn't know the true scope of the panicing thugs crimes. Instead? She readies herself to intercept those that hadn't quite given up!

Ben Reilly has posed:
"Yeah. I know. Which means he needs a good long time behind a good strong set of steel bars to reconsider his life and his actions. Not you know... dead." Ben's voice is sad about the dead guy, but he doesn't have time to continue that bit of the ocnversation, too busy dodging bullets sent up his way pinging off the beam he was balanced on. He rolls through some acrobatic moves that carry him down the beam and away from the gunfire and the sparks it's producing. "So hard to have a good conversation these days. Bad guys all running around interrupting. Didn't anyone teach them that it's rude to interrupt people?" Web lines, more web lines, all of the weblines. Most of Ben's contribution to this fiasco has been in the form of stolen guns that are now littering the cieling where they've been webbed in place.

The fight down on the warehouse floor is short and easy. The Amazon cleans up. The men are not experienced fighting in melee as a group and she moves through them like a scythe moves through wheat, putting them all down. Some broken bones, a lot of concussions, but mostly a lot of thugs that won't be getting back up anytime soon.

"Hey y... and you shot the window. Alright. Have a good night!" He calls out to Martinique before shaking his head. "Really? Have a good night? She just killed someone. Idiot." The Scarlet Spider chides himself before he zips down to the floor and flicks a guy in the head who was rushing up on Atlin with a sword. Where did he get a sword? Ben flicks him and he slumps to the ground. "So uhhh what's in the cases?" He asks, jerking a thumb at them, then diving to the ground when a thug opens up on him. "Oh the shooting wasn't done. My bad."

A small group of Triads that were out back waiting to welcome the customers come storming in guns blazing, sending a whole lot of lead down range at Atlin. Since Ben is hiding, like a good spider.

Martinique Wyngarde has posed:
Martinique Wyngarde crashes out the window, and hangs on. When... When Ben calls out to her, she looks back. "I just saved lives. Which is more than some people do." And then at that, she starts to crawl back into the roof, making her getaway into the night.

Ben Reilly has posed:
After Mastermind slips out the rest of the cleanup goes quickly. Scarlet and Atlin deal with the crowd of newly arrived thugs in short order and Ben helps Atlin get her artifacts prepped for transport, probably in one of the Triad vehicles outside. It's not long after they're gone that the real cops show up to start arresting Triad goons, though there's a LOT of confusion about the bullet holes in literally everything. But alls well that ends well. And while yes a Triad boss died, Martinique wasn't wrong in that he was a very bad man. And Atlin retrieved her artifacts.