13705/The Lion and The Big Man

The Lion and The Big Man
Date of Scene:	31 December 2022
Location:	Maskies Turf, Staten Island, NYC
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Frederick Foswell, Sally Pride

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Frederick Foswell has posed:
It has been quite a while since you had a lead about the alien tech tricking into the hands of various street gangs in the city, and you were beginning to suspect that the case was getting cold. Then, that's when the Pidgieon with the note tied to it's leg came by. It's still unknown whether it was one of Pete's friends or if it was by pure luck that the bird arrived, but it came with a message, a message that specifically asked for you to arrive in the Huntingdon Hills shopping plaza in Staten Island. Huntingdon Hills at one point was a small but popular shopping plaza, complete with giant movie theater in the center of it. But, the 2008 economic downturn caused it to crash and burn hard, leaving it a holllow shell left to rot, at least until the Maskies took over.

The Maskies were a vicious band of street thugs, bitter ex cons, and if the rumors were true, crooked off-duty cops and security guards who banded together and formed a surprsingly powerful gang in the area. The Maskies were infamous for wearing various kinds of masks and other head coverings to hide their faces, and for brutalizing those that angered them. Going into their turf was risky, but hey, a lead is a lead.

The note instructed you to go to an alley across the street from the plaza and wait their for your contact. If you were to do this you'd begin to hear what sounded like rustling coming from a nearby building. Suddenly, the door flies open, and out comes... Freddie Jr.

Sally Pride has posed:
You don't look a gift carrier pingeon in the mouth. Beak. Whatever. Not like wading into the middle of a 'risky' part of the city is going to slow down someone with the literal courage of a lion.

Stealth wasn't exactly Sally's strongest suite, but she knows enough to keep a low profile while playing stakeout. From the alley with a pair of binoculars, which only do so good when many of the windows and doors are boarded up. But if she can watch them come and go, maybe get an idea of how they're set up inside...
A sound interrupts her thoughts, instictively pivoting on her heel as she dropped the binoculars to hang from the neck strap and brought up her claws... only for it to be Freddie Jr. A blink of surprise, then realization as she lowered her hands. "Geez kid, what are you doing here? You're lucky I didn't pull a gun."

Frederick Foswell has posed:
Freddie Jr. looks down a bit when Sally gives him a light scolding, but then lights up as he says, "My Mom's Uncle owns a restaurant nearby. I've been hanging out at his place after my Scouts meetings after I nearly got my shoes stolen. For the past few nights I've been noticing those masked creeps hauling crates into the old theater, and I thought you'd be interested in knowing about it."

As he says this you suddenly hear the sounds of a truck approaching the theater. A few moments later a hijacked UPS truck parks near the entrance of the theater and a man clad in a red and yellow varsity jacket, blue jeans, and red sneakers comes out of the truck. The odd part, he was pantyhose over his head. He walked up to the front entrance of the theater and knocked three times in a certain pattern. Suddenly, the door flew open revealing two more Maskies. One of them, a man clad in a black sweater, jeans, and a ski mask looked around for a moment before turning and nodding at his partner, a stockier, shorter man wearing a leather jacket, jeans, and another set of pantyhose over his head. The men then marched towards the truck's cargo door and opened it. They climbed into the truck for a moment, and came out hauling three crates, carrying them into the theater. Freddie Jr, who had been struggling to see over your shoulder to see the men, taps your shoulder gently and asks,

"Why are those guys wearing pantyhose over their heads."

Sally Pride has posed:
While Freddie Jr. is explaining why he's here Sally hears a truck across the street. Sounds like it's overdue a tune-up, but that's probably to be expected this time of year a delivery company would have a jam packed schedule. She grabs her tactical binocs and lifts them back to her eyes, nodding a bit as she watches them unload. "You've got sharp wits, kids. There's a lot of illegal things that could be in those boxes." Including ilicit alien tech. She stifles a snicker as he askes about the pantyhose. "Because it was probably cheaper to steal em from their moms than go out and by the proper kind to use for masks." Not necessarily their mothers but that sounded funnier in her head.

Sally folds the binocs up and tucks them into a pocket. Gives Jr. a pat on the head. "Thanks... but you should probably go back to the resturant while I check it out. You could get in bigger trouble that missing shoes if they found out you were here watching them."

Then she turns to slink from the alleyway and make her way across to the mall. If she can confirm what it is they are moving she can decide on how to handle the situation from there....

Frederick Foswell has posed:
Jr grins in satisfaction as he gets the pat on the head, and nods silently as you order him to head back to his Uncle's. As Jr slinks back into the Restaurant you make your way towards the truck, which is idling and pouring out exhaust in big clouds all over the street, but making for a semi-decent smoke screen. As you climb into the truck you see that there is only a few crates left in the truck, one of which was conviently left slightly open. If you were to open it you would see.... diamonds. So, this was actually a diamond smuggling racket and not a alien tech depot. True, this may not be what you were originally looking for, but putting a gem smuggling racket out of commission could put a damper in the activities of the local crime outfits, and piss off the Big Man as well. Besides, whose to say one of the other crates didn't have alien tech in them as well.

Suddenly, you hear footsteps approaching the truck, and a man clad in a navy blue sweater, jeans, and a red ski mask climbs in. The Maskie gapes dumbly for a moment before pulling out a pocket knife and charging you.

Sally Pride has posed:
Who's to say the diamonds aren't for use in some nefarious tech? There has to be a reason mad scientists are always stealing them.... But before Sally can ponder the use farther or investigate the actual quality of the glitteries she hears someone else stepping up into the truck and turns around.

Hey, this one has a proper mask! Also a knife, which he rushes her with. Must be a local to Gotham or New York if he isn't freaking out over freaky animal people snooping around.

Unfortunately for him the truck doesn't provide a lot of room for one to get a good rushing speed. Sally grabs for his wrist as he lops at her, twisting to disarm the knife. Then twisting the rest of her body throw the man off his feet and shove him back out of the truck. That's going to draw some attention, but it's enough time for her to scramble for the back right behind him. She doesn't really want to throw down in the confining space of a delivery truck.

A little too close to being cornered in a cell to her liking.

Frederick Foswell has posed:
The man cries out in pain as his wrist is twisted, makig him drop the knife. He is then shoved hard and is sent sprawling out of the truck and onto the cold concrete below. As Sally steps out she would see the red masked Maskie slowly climbing to his feet. Suddenly footsteps start rushing over to the truck and a man clad in a werewolf mask and black t-shirt comes running out of a alley near the front of the mall, clutching a metal baseball bat. He pauses after getting a good glimpse of you, before charging at you and swinging his bat

Sally Pride has posed:
"If you were smart you'd stay down. But they're never smart..." Another masked hoodlum comes running in from the side. But they're not being the least bit stealthy and Sally hears him coming soon enough to turn and brace herself. The impact with her upper arm is still enough to make her stagger just a little though. "Fine. My turn."

She unclips the shock baton she picked up from the last tussle with NULL, thumbs it on, and shoves it to the man's midsection in hopes of catching him before he recovers his bearings from that slugger swing.

Frederick Foswell has posed:
The bat holding hoodlum is struck hard by the stun baton. He screams in pain, which is luckily masked by the sounds of the truck running in the background. As the man collapsed his red mask clad partner's eyes widen before he suddenly shields himself with his arms and says fearfully,

"Ok! Ok! I give, don't hurt me!"

Sally Pride has posed:
The man surrenders, but that doesn't stop Sally from walking over and grabbing the front of his shirt for the intimidation factor of pulling his masked face close to hers. Close enough he'd be able to tell it's a lot more real than his buddy's mangy werewolf mask. And not just some fancy superhero animal theme costume. "That's some pretty high profile goods in there for a bunch of masked street thugs. Who're you really heisting this stuff for?"

The shock baton gives an ominous crackle at her side as a reminder.

Frederick Foswell has posed:
The thug began to struggle in your grip after seeing you weren't wearing a mask, but finds that your hold on him was too firm on him. Suddenly, he says,

"The Big Man! We are moving them for The Big Man! This ice is hot! Very hot. I mean straight from the store hot! He's wanting us to hold them in the theater until he can find a buyer." He then pauses before adding, "Except for this huge ass ruby, he claims he needs it for a project."

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride expected the diamonds to just be for the value, but the bit about a 'huge ass ruby' catchs her attention. Though it's not the first time she's heard of some villain wanting gems for some super weapon or such. "But I'm going to guess from experience that none of you punks are high enough to actually be told what that project is... You're just here to pack mule the loot." This 'Big Man' at least is clever enough to use a name that wouldn't be easy to track down.

Frederick Foswell has posed:
The man cringes for a moment, before sighing and saying,

"Yeah, I don't know shit about this project. In fact, I don't think any of us know. We are just waiting for one of Big Mans lieutenants to come and get the gems." The man's eyes light up and suddenly say," The Gems are being kept in Theater 4, let me go and you can have some of them."

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride laughs softly. "You think I want the gems for myself, how cute." Then tosses the guy over by his.. well, they're not friends or anything by his admission but you get the idea. "I do appreciate knowing where to look though, thanks." She hooks the baton back on her waist. And draws her handgun.

And lets the punks sweat it for a moment, before moving her aim to shoot out one of the tires on the truck. They don't really have any reason for her to care if they run or not, but they're not going to be able to flee with some of the good so easily.

"You might want to reconsider your career choices. Your boss probably ain't gonna be very happy with you." And with that little quip Sally turns to head inside.

Frederick Foswell has posed:
As you walk into the old theater the smell of mildew,mold, and oddly enough, stale popcorn fills the air. It's quite obvoious that this place has not been used in a very, very long time, no wonder they chose this place as a hideout for their stolen loot. Your footsteps echo across the theater, giving the whole place an aura of a horror movie, which was not helped by the old tattered movie posters and dirty and tattered carboard cutouts of old movie characters. As you are about to go down the hall where theater 4 is, you suddenly hear a voice say,

"Yeah, this gig is only fer da pay. NULL ain't paying me shit as a security guard. Cheap pricks."

Standing near the entrance of Theater were two Maskies, one wearing pantyhose over his head and wearing a leather jacket, blue jeans and a blue t-shirt. The second maskie, a younger man wearing a sweater and ski mask laughs as he says,

"Yeah, NULL sounds like they suck. My mom and dad think I am working at a Wendy's right now." The two men then laugh.

Sally Pride has posed:
While she may be above actually being scared that doesn't mean she's not aware of the eeriely ominous feel the place has in being so neglected. It still makes the hackles on the back of her neck stand, though that's probably more out of wariness than anything else. She slinks along... then stops. Edges up against a wall. NULL?!

... Oh, it's just a disgruntled worker doing a second job. Yeah, typical corrupt operation, the only ones really making any money is the ones on the top. Sally considers for a moment. It's not a surprise they're standing guard at the theater she wants, since that's the loot stash.

"Yeah, NULL sucks." Said as she comes charging towards the door, aiming her body low to check one and send them crashing into the other. "But you didn't really pick a better second option either!"

Frederick Foswell has posed:
The two Maskies look at Sally in shock, but are too slow to react. The NULL guard Maskie screams as he collides with the younger one, sending both crashing to the floor in a heap, leaving the door open for you to open. As expected, the room was filled with crates full of diamonds, but no huge ass ruby, at least not one you could see.

However, before you could check the crates, the sound of crackling is heard as the projector's booth suddenly comes to life and static fills the screem

Sally Pride has posed:
Of course the supposed ruby isn't here. Oh, well, better she looked and be disappointed. That or it's buried really well and she probably doesn't have the time to dig around befo--

Ears flick up at the sound of equipment activating in an otherwise delapitated building. Reflexively Sally drops to dive into a row of seats. Then remembers the display isn't going to be able to see her. Oh, well, probably safer to duck down in case someone comes in anyways, so she stays there and peaks up between the seat backs at the screen...

Frederick Foswell has posed:
The screen suddenly turns away from the static and reveals one of the oddest looking men you have ever seen in your life. On the screen was a tall,muscular man wearing a green dress coat, orange sweater, brown pants and shoes, a pair of white gloves, and a fedora. However, the most striking part was his face, which was covered in a iron mask, and the back of his head appeared to be wrapped in bandages, obviously to cover his identity. He turned to where you were hiding and said with a obviously distorted voice,

"You might as well come out, I know you are here."

Sally Pride has posed:
Well how about that, it's not a normal projector. That's what she gets for asuming.

A moment to study the figure on the screen and unable to tell much thanks to the mask and the layers of clothing. Someone knew how to keep their features as undistinguishable as possible. Then the lioness got up, and leaned on the back of the steets in front of her like it was just a casual occurance. "Well that's a pretty fancy setup." Okay to be fair she wasn't exactly being super stealthy either with the way she's been storming through.

Frederick Foswell has posed:
The Big Man's head follows Sally as she emerges from her hiding spot and leans on the seats behind her. The mask on his face hid all emotion, but you can somehow detect an aura of curiosity, annoyance, and slight ambition coming from the man. He looks at you with what you can assume to be a glare that could pierce metal as he says,

"It appears Montana was right, mutant animals are real, and are trying to take a bite out of the Big Man's neck." The Big Man's distorted voice then laughs at his owm before continuing.

"I had a feeling you'd show up tonight so I set up this whole scenario to meet with the mutant who thinks messing with the Big Man is a good idea and discuss one thing.... Mutagen."

Sally Pride has posed:
A tilt of the head. So he's one of those kind of schemers... does that mean he specifically risked people talking in semi-public about his plan just on the chance she'd catch wind of it. And it just happened to be overheard by some kid that just happened... No, there's no way that couldn't be a coincidence.

If only Sally knew...

Sally mmms. "Montana.. Montana.." Mock fingersnap with her claw tips. "Oh yeah, the cowboy wannabe." Followed by a shrug. "Discuss what? Just because I was made in part with it doesn't mean I know much about it."

Frederick Foswell has posed:
Big Man's masked face hides his emotions yet again, but a light, distorted chuckle is heard as he suddenly reaches out and grabs another one of those alien guns and examines it.

"You know," he began, "When Weaponsmith came to me with these alien guns I though I had an edge in my climb to the top. But then Montana comes to me one night talking about giant lions and lizards looking for me after dispatching my men. I did my homework and discovered more of you exist. Turtles, dogs, foxes, and more. It got me thinking. Why settle for guns when I can have Enforcers like that, the perfect elite soldiers to make me top man of the Underworld. Then, I realized I had no idea where to find the damn stuff. Then, I remembered you.

Big Man clasps his hands together as he says, " I let a little rumor come loose in areas where I know you'd be lurking around, knowing you'd soon come crawling into my web like the fly you are. Now tell me, where do I find Mutagen?"

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride waggles a clawed fingertip in the air. "Yeah. Maybe should of had some minions that were a little more careful about where and when they were boasting about their big deals about that."

Mentally she sighs. A certain rat would probably say this is why his students kept to the shadows. And a certain cat would be too pissed at someone else thinking they can use mutants as tools again to really care.

"Well, credit where its due, pulling off this little scheme just to talk to me is a bit impressive." Sally gets up from her reclined position amongst the seats. "But just being made that way doesn't mean I know. Or have a reason to tell you."