10851/Racing Is Life

Racing Is Life
Date of Scene:	22 April 2022
Location:	Robinson Park - Miagani Island
Synopsis:	A street drag race with some ambushes set to make sure one driver wins, draws the attention of Batgirl and MANTIS. Inque is just present to make a bad situation worse. The crowd is saved from an out of control car, and the guilty culprits end up in the paddy wagon.
Cast of Characters:	Stephanie Brown, Miles Hawkins, Inque

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Stephanie Brown has posed:
A less-used section of Robinson Park, this area suffered greatly over the last few years. The sight of a fight between superpowered villains and Batman and Robin, the foliage was damaged, some of the plants beyond the point of recovery. The city council has dithered over funds to replant and help return the area to its former state.

Which has turned it into the kind of out of the way place that Gotham's more youthful element can come to drink, do drugs, and race cars. A bit of a course has gradually formed over the last year or two. A zigzag that runs more or less one direction, weaving between old dead tree trunks to a turn around point and then back again to the finish line.

Music is blaring from speakers mounted in the back of a car. People mostly in their early to mid twenties, with some older and younger, wander about drinking and looking at each other's cars. Engines rev as people show off.

Of course, arguments abound, especially between the drivers. "I'm not implying you're chicken shit. I'm outright saying it," a guy with thick black hair and an Italian-habit of talking with his hands says to a black youth. "Bringing your weak-ass shit out here but afraid to race the pink slip."

The younger man eyes his friends who are gathered around him, no doubt judging how much he'll fall in their esteem if he doesn't stand up to the challenge. He looks over at his car that he's spent a lot of time restoring from a piece of junk into something that looks nice and has a good engine.

He should probably spend more time paying attention to the sly grins on the friends of the older driver. But he doesn't, and says angrily, "Alright, you're on!"

Miles Hawkins has posed:
"Miles, is this *really* the sort of thing you want to get involved in?"
Even through comms, the exasperation in John Stonebrake's voice can be heard, bringing a quirk to the corner of Miles Hawkins' mouth.

"You'd prefer I go out and get shot at?" Word of the drag race had come down via an enthusiastic report by the duo's self-appointed assistant Taylor Savage, who knows someone who knows someone who does the races but would *never* do this kind of thing himself, no way! And so while this sort of thing would usually be under their radar, the report now sees Miles dressed and ready for action. And currently floating several hundred feet above the park in a hovering Chrysalid, its running lights turned off to be almost invisible against the night sky.

"Hardly. But I have to admit when you decided to go out and start 'M.A.N.T.I.S.-izing' with the idea of making a difference in the city, I got the distinct impression we'd be looking at a more... shall we say, dramatic one?"

"It's not as dangerous as drugs or guns," Hawkins admits. "But it's still dangerous, and children could come away seriously hurt, or worse. That's good enough for me."

A grumbling sound comes back from the comms, but it looks like he's won that point for now. Leaving Hawkins to study the downwards displays in peace, for a moment. His view limited somewhat by the tree cover, as low-light imaging isn't full-on thermals, but still a birds-eye view of the action.

Inque has posed:
    At night at a relatively unlit park is probably the best place for Inque to hide after an active night of nefarious doings. She's all but invisible in the shadows, her inky blackness blending in smoothly. Like a puddle of night she moves her amorphous form from one shadow to the next until she hears the sounds of roaring engines.

    Tonight was a good night. She had successfully infiltrated Genetech, having gotten a lead on the mutagen that had created her. Apparently, despite the initial failure of the illegal tests, somebody had cracked open old files and had started working on them again. She couldn't let what had happened to her happen to some other innocent person. She may not be the most moral person on the planet but she does have lines.

    She can feel the USB drive inside her, as she keeps it close to her core. On it are all the files of the experiment, the mutagen, and the new experiments that are ramping up again. She sabotaged the local servers to hide her pilfering of data, but it'll only slow them down, since they have offsite backups to restore from once they've got the infrastructure rebuilt. Still. More than enough time for her to act.

    Still, with a job well done, can take a breather and enjoy herself, so she'll allow herself to witness the motorcycle race. Maybe even get involved. In a nearby shadow she pools herself into her solid human shape, something of a seductive Southeast Asian woman in all black and light blue hues. She can't make herself pass completely for human, but this is close enough.

    "Ladies, gentlemen," she says as she steps out of the shadows, her voice silky smooth. "It seems there is to be a race on." She weaves her way through the cars, languidly tracing her fingers across the hoods of the cars. "Is this something anybody can bet on, or are we being boring and only racing for pink slips."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
In the branches of a tree nearby, a darker spot in the dark night keeps an eye on the happenings below. Stephanie Brown had overheard the conversation in Gotham U student union by chance. Three students talking about a horrific crash that an acquaintance of theirs had been in. A crash suffered while racing, and that had left him in intensive care at a nearby hospital.

"Can't believe he'd have lost it like that," one of them had said. "I mean he is such a good driver. Was going to enter his brother's car in the races out at the speedway next month," one had said.

A little investigation on the Batcomputer and some good ole investigative footwork had revealed a pattern to Stephanie. A lot of crashes suffered at these races. Most of them just a bit of damage to the car, but not so much it still wasn't worth a lot changing hands. But a number of the wrecks had been bad. The overheard conversation wasn't the first person to end up in the hospital over these races.

Now, Batgirl watches as the drivers go to their cars and pull them over to the starting line before getting out to go over the rules of the race. "Down to the end, around the old statue, and back again," says the older driver. Batgirl knows he's known on the streets as Razor. The younger black man she doesn't know, though catches his name as one of the youth's friends tell him in a worried voice, "Hey, wear your helmet Aubrey. Don't care if anyone gives you a hard time for it."

Batgirl's eyes are on the crowd as much as the two drivers. So she notices when a girl that is part of Razor's entourage steps away from the others, pulling out a phone and tapping away. There's little doubt the text message is going out to the three people Batgirl spotted hiding out along the course at two different spots, plus at the turn around. "Probably letting them know which side of the track Razor is on, and which their mark is on," she says with a scowl.

The airborne view might give Miles a good chance of spotting one or more of Razor's confederates. Meanwhile, Razor looks over at the smoking hot Asian woman who steps out. "Oh there'll be plenty of action," Razor tells Inque in a suggestive tone. "Can help me celebrate when it's over," he tells her. Another person, not part of either group, as there are plenty of onlookers, is taking bets, and looks to Inque, "Kid's got 2-1 odds," he says, making the youth the underdog.

Miles Hawkins has posed:
"Hm." Although he doesn't have audio at this range, Hawkins does see the confrontation with Razor, and one of the others pulling out a cellphone as they walk away. "We should have let Savage come along after all. He could tell us what's going on down there."

"Absolutely not!" Back at the Seapod, John Stonebrake pauses in his indignation as he hears something in his partner's tone. "Why, what's happened?"

"Nothing yet. It looks like they're getting ready."

"Ah. Time to break up the party, then?"

"Not yet. Something doesn't feel right." Hawkins takes a moment to consult his guidance system, which includes maps of the area. "They're probably going to be using this stretch of road. I'm going to have a look."

And still running dark, steers the Chrysalid off to the side to peer down the length of track. It's not soundless, but most people probably won't give it any more thought than they would any of Gotham's usual nighttime aircraft.

Inque has posed:
    Inque's eyes go to the bookie. "Does he, now," she says smoothly. She languidly walks over until she's standing in the car's shadow. "I think I would /love/ to celebrate with you... Razor?"

    She sneaks a tendril of herself up under the car, the head of which creating a blue-grey circle from which she can see from. She searches around until she finds what she's looking for. The break lines. An appendage slithers out from the tendril forming into a scythe and neatly cuts the tube.

    "Well," she says, pulling the tendril back into herself before moving back to the crowd, "good luck. I have a feeling that you need it." What a way to top the night, with a little bit of mischief and chaos.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The cut brake line slowly begins leaking out fluid onto the ground, while a girl walks out front of the two cars, holding a red scarf. "Alright, boys, it's time to race!" she calls.

The youth pulls on a helmet, to a few rude comments, and gets into his car. Razor climbs into his as well, sliding in through the window as the doors are welded closed. "See you at the finish line," he tells Inque, giving her a wink and then revving his engine several times.

Batgirl considers moving to stop the race before it can start. But knows the resulting chaos and people scattering, a mix of cars and pedestrians, is as likely to hurt someone as the race might be. "Crap," she says to herself, realizing she's going to need to stop the people along the course. She uses her line launcher, handle pulling her rapidly along the horizontal cable once she's fired it secure between a distant tree and her own. Grateful for the equipment. She'd never have made it to the first person in time with her old Spoiler gear.

As Batgirl heads for the first person on the track, the girl out front of the cars raises her scarf, waving it around in the air. She pauses dramatically, and also milking the fact most people's eyes are on her. And then waves the red scarf down. The two cars peel out, racing down the dirt track towards the first turn!

Miles Hawkins has posed:
Behind his headset's lenses, Hawkins' eyes narrow as he's able to spot the waiting interlopers on the track, getting a zoom view of each. "John, look at this."

At the Seapod, Stonebrake nods slowly as a series still images come up on his display. "That's suspicious. You think they're looking to sabotage the race?"

"Definitely. And with these turns at high speed -- " Hawkins turns his head, peering back up along the track and spying oncoming headlights. "Damn! They've already started."

So much for breaking up the party. "Right. Now what?"

"Now we cut down the risk factors. Then we put a stop to this."

Having a car that can fly in a straight line instead of having to navigate all those turns, gives Hawkins an advantage in reaching the interlopers before the cars do -- but only so much, since those two aren't exactly taking their time. It's only the first one who gets the time for a good scare, as the dark figure with organic-looking ribbing drops down nearly on top of him, landing in a low crouch with a low, distorted voice coming out from what looks like (in poor light, at least) insectoid mandibles. "You get *one* warning. Leave. Right now! The next time you see me will be your last." Before going flying up into the night sky and out of sight (or actually, reeled up and whisked way by the waiting Chrysalid).

But that little bit of theatre costs precious time, so the other two waiting on standby -- can go right on waiting. Hawkins will take just enough time to lean out the side, targeting them before letting fly with his paralysis darts, looking to freeze them in place before they could lay out their respective traps.

Inque has posed:
    "Well, pooh. Somebody here is trying to spoil all the fun," Inque says with a pout. She takes off in MANTIS's direction, losing all human definition. Her limbs are more like ribbons and her head has a featureless blue-grey circle that would indicate something of a 'face'

    She's fast. Inhumanly fast. There's something about being able to make herself both rigid and fluid at the same time that makes the hydraulics of her biology push herself into the superhuman range.

    She manages to catch as the hero ziplines up into his vehicle, and stretches herself to follow, losing all definition. The sentient liquid catches the underside of the Chrysalis pulling herself up the rest of the way. From there she searches for a way inside. Any little opening, just a crack. She finds something near the engine intake and makes her way into it.

    From there, she flows around the engine, being careful not to touch it. She wouldn't want to boil, after all, and finds her way into the electronics. It's so easy to short it out, as she flows into the circuits and wires and explosively expands, pulling the electronics apart.

    Then she finds her way to the air circulation system and flows herself into the cabin, taking the passenger seat, heedless of the danger. She forms back into her semi-human form, the blue-grey circle turning to address MANTIS. "Well. You're new around town," she says with some amusement. "Let's see how you handle this."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Batgirl whizzes quietly through the air, propelled by the handle of her line launcher. She's just about to release and glide down to the first man, when she sees the figure up ahead drop out of the sky.

Stephanie's eyes narrow and she makes sure her costume is recording. Of course it's recording. Barbara Gordon has her wired up like a contestant on a reality show.

Seeing the reaction of the first accomplice is enough to tell her that this new arrival is not there to help sabotage the race. Indeed, the first man runs off, looking like he might have wet his pants.

Batgirl looks up, seeing the flying craft above. As the armored figure leans back out, it gives a sudden shudder in the air just as MANTIS appears to be taking aim to fire something. She's not sure entirely what he had in mind, but it seems he has his hands full.

She redirects, heading for the second man. Meanwhile the cars are roaring along, passing the spot the first man had waited in ambush with a laser pointer to try to momentarily blind Razor's opponent. As the second man hears the roar of the engines coming on, he pushes out a log, just thick enough to cause a driver to swerve, or at least take a bad bounce when he hits it, likely losing control and sideswiping a tree. Or worse.

"Oh no you don't," he hears a woman's voice say behind him. He turns and just makes out a pair of black, pointy ears and a cowl, before a hand hits him with a blow to his nose and eyes. He's thrown back away from the course, and Batgirl hurriedly drags the log out of the way just in the nick of time. "Shoot, this is going to be cutting it close," she says as she doesn't have time to use the line launcher, instead shooting her grapple and letting it propel her towards the top of a tree, spreading her cape into gliding wings before diving towards the man rolling out a police-style spike strip just short of the turnaround point.

Miles Hawkins has posed:
The Chrysalid gives a lurch as Inque starts shorting out and breaking up electronics, spoiling Hawkins' aim as the dart shot goes wide. "John!!"

"Miles, hold on!" Stonebrake's eyes widen as a number of the Chrysalid's displays suddenly turn red. his fingers flying across the keys in response as he tries to bypass the blown systems. "Stabilizer failure. Rerouting now -- what happened?!"

"I don't know, it just -- " The M.A.N.T.I.S. pauses through as Inque flows her way into the passenger seat, and despite the mask and insectoid-looking headset hiding a lot of his expression, his surprise is palpable.

His first instinct then, is to neutralize whatever new threat this is -- keeping one hand holding the steering vane steady as the arm he was aiming snaps crossbody at the elbow, and he looks to fire a paralysis dart at point-blank range. How well *that* is going to work, however...

Inque has posed:
    Shooting Inque is like shooting water. She laughs as the dart passes through her with a *splorch*, sending droplets of herself splashing the passenger side door. Even though they're separated from the main body, they quickly flow together and pluck the dart as a third appendage appears to taken in the droplet.

    Letting one of her ribbon arms absorb back into her body, she brings the new one around to examine the small projectile. "So what do they call you," she asks casually, seemingly unworried about the impending crash. "Stinger? The Bee? No, too drab. We already have a Wasp, so that's taken. And a Scorpion."

    Despite having taken aggressive action against the Chrysalis, she doesn't seem all that concerned about the superhero sitting right next to her. She doesn't even attack him or anything. "I think you have more pressing matters to attend to," she says, gesturing to the console system that's all turning red, "than worrying about me."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The cars roar around a corner, the younger driver giving Razor a race for his money. And his car. Razor's hands grip the wheel as he snarls that the young driver made it this far. The last time someone made it that far, the spike strip sent them crashing off the road. Totaling the car. The driver got taken away by an ambulance. Razor never did check to see what happened to him, and he doesn't think about that fact now as he bumps the other car, making sure he'll end up in the path of the spike strip which is friend is deploying up ahead in the dark.

Batgirl sees that sharp metal roll out across the dirt track and realizes she isn't going to make it in time. Still in the air, she throws a batarang with a line trailing it. It flies true, hitting the spike strip and snarling itself in it. Batgirl banks with her glider cape, passing behind a tree so the line suddenly is yanked around the trunk. The spike strip flies off the road just as the cars reach it!

The slide around the turn around the statue and start the race back the length of the track towards the finish. As Razor uses his brakes heavily on that turn, a lot of his remaining brake fluid is lost.

Miles Hawkins has posed:
As a scientist, Hawkins tries to keep his mind open to all possibilities. But seeing one of his darts splash right through its target and have her just chatting away, was something he was *not* expecting to see. It's not fear that drives his next actions, although Inque has probably inspired quite a bit of it in the course of things. No, it's the fact that he can recognize that he's in danger, and having too many things to deal with at once. Fortunately, he doesn't have to deal with them all on his own.

"John, take her up! NOW!" The M.A.N.T.I.S. hitting the release on his seatbelt and then the driver's-side door -- he had lowered the Chrystalid closer down to take his shot, and a drop that would have probably left an ordinary man broken or worse, isn't more than jarring as the exoskeleton soaks up the worst of the impact.

Inside the Chrysalid, the abused stabilizer screeches as the flying vehicle suddenly angles itself upwards as Stonebrake activates the remote flight function, starting a power ascent with Inque still inside.

Inque has posed:
    Well. He got away. "And I never even got his name," Inque says, disappointed. As the Chrysalis suddenly ascends she turns to the passenger side door. "Time for me to make my exit."

    She tries to open the door, but finds that her electronic sabotage has sealed it shut. "Damn." Still, she can always get out the same way she got in. She flows through the air circulation vent, and makes her way through the car until she reaches the outside.

    Clinging to the underside she sees that she's much higher up than she expected, but unconcerned, she releases herself and falls to the earth. She seems unconcerned with the fall, and hits the ground with a *splat*, the result looking like what you would expect if you spilled her namesake.

    Reforming herself is easy. All the drops and splatters of her seem to go in reverse as she pulls herself together and she lifts herself up, forming her human shape. "I think I've managed enough mischief today," she says to herself with a smile as she walks back towards the crowd. "Now, to see how this race ends up."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
A second batarang is thrown, this one also trailing a line, but not as long, and with a small weight on the end to help it wrap around a body and subdue a person. It not only wraps the man who deployed the spike strip, but it goes around a tree trunk as well, binding him to it for later pickup.

Batgirl doesn't wait to see the result though. She taps a few buttons on her utility belt and there's a fast approaching light and then her Batcycle roars up, Batgirl grabbing the handlebars and swinging on without stopping it.

She bends low over the bike, cape flapping behind her as she jets forward at speeds that Razor and the other driver would likely crap themselves to be reaching. The zigzags require a rapid series of leans, and then she's shooting past the two cars.

"Holy shit, it's one of the Bats!" someone in the crowd yells as the three vehicles round the final bend. Batgirl gets ahead of them and holds up a hand to them in a stopping gesture. The younger driver breaks hard. Razor tries, but his foot take the brake pedal all the way to the floor. He zooms past the slowing Batcycle, the car caroming out of control right towards the watching crowd ahead!

Miles Hawkins has posed:
"Miles, what *was* that?"

"I don't know... " The M.A.N.T.I.S straightens up, craning his neck as his display zooms, tracking the ascending Chrysalid. Scowling as he makes out the dark blotch emerging from it and dropping -- but whoever, whatever that was, they don't seem interested in pressing the attack. "She's gone. You can bring it back down now."

"Right. I'll see if I can keep it from dropping like a stone, but... Miles, the race!"

In all the chaos, they had both nearly forgotten. The M.A.N.T.I.S turns his head, seeing the pair of lights joined by a third racer -- a motorcycle?

He doesn't waste any more time staring, wondering at the new player. Tonight has given him a hard lesson on the importance of action. The exoskeleton whines with cycling power as he takes off running, sprinting faster than a regular human could. Even then, it's only the fact that he was interrupted at the second target that gives him any kind of a chance at overtaking -- if he had gone all the way down the road, there would have been no chance.

As it is, he's close enough that he can see one of the cars his the brakes, and the other streaks right past. "Something's wrong. John, get me there!"

Smoke is trailing from the Chrysalid now, but Stonebrake brings it sweeping down and behind hard enough to scrape sparks off the road. Not bothering with getting back into the cockpit, the M.A.N.T.I.S. jumps up to land on the hood, crouching to let it carry him that way as they streak towards the out-of-control vehicle. But even then they won't be able to intercept it in time -- !

Tensing down into the crouch, the M.A.N.T.I.S. springs forward in an exoskeleton-powered leap, clearing the last thirty feet --

--to come down onto the hood of the speeding car like a wrecking ball, smashing the front of its hood in and down to kill most of momentum and send it skidding away at an angle, not hard enough to actually flip it over. Hard enough however, to get flung off himself with the impact, static filling the heads-up display as he goes sprawling into the trees and out of sight.

Inque has posed:
    Inque smiles wryly as the heroes manage to keep anybody from getting seriously hurt. Still, mischief has been managed and this whole scene has been highly entertaining. Sadly, there's no clear winner as none of the cars managed to make it to the finish line.

    "Ah well," she says, sounding disappointed. "At least I didn't bet any money on the race." With that, she slips back into the shadows to make her way to her secret lair. She had gotten her data, and witnessed a very entertaining race. Tonight has been a good night.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
After those moments of panic, and then relief, the spectators quickly begin to make themselves scarce. Batgirl climbs off her bike and goes to check on Razor. He's roughed up but conscious, and in better health than the people he would have it would have been.

The younger driver climbs out, visibly shaking. "You know he had three guys waiting to ambush you," the blond in the Bat costume tells him. "Razor and the one who put his last opponent in the ICU will be having a talk with GCPD. I suggest you rethink how you put your car to use," she tells him.

He nods rapidly. "I will. Thanks. Thanks Batgirl. Thanks... ah... tell Insect Man thanks," he says. Not knowing who or what MANTIS is. He climbs in his car and drives away. At a more reasonable rate of speed, as Batgirl makes a call to Commissioner Gordon for a pick up.