14191/Cats and Sonjas Sneaking at Night

Cats and Sonjas Sneaking at Night
Date of Scene:	19 February 2023
Location:	Midtown
Synopsis:	Catwoman and Red Sonja get into a bout of thievery as the Barbarian attempts to Contain the Catwoman.
Cast of Characters:	Mary Jane Watson, Selina Kyle

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Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Members of SHIELD were occasionally tasked with things like guarding diplomatic personnel. Tonight, it means that Mary Jane is outside along the street near one of the embassies along Midtown Manhattan. It's cold and very,very brisk. The residence has a large number of exotic cat-themed artifacts within, and the diplomat has a reputation of having just a few too many things than he should be able to afford on a salary.
    It's cold, and Mary Jane is out walking on the street in a jacket, scarf wrapped around her head as part of her observation routine.

Selina Kyle has posed:
Someone else is out tonight, wearing the insulated version of her skin-tight catsuit as she prowls. Catwoman usually works Gotham, but the rumors were too good to pass up. And after all, the good citizens of New York deserve an accurate accounting of their public servants' alleged financial indiscretions.

Actually, by the time she is finished, Selina expects to have done much to reduce the value of the collection.

Catwoman normally works high-rise buildings, so getting into a mansion should be child's play. She's been watching MJ making her rounds for a little while now, so she has the timing worked out pretty well. When the other woman rounds a corner, Catwoman makes it out from cover to the tall fence, clipping the alarm wires before vaulting lightly over it. She crouches in the bushes, waiting for the next round.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
The girl is clearly on watch, but with the repetition of her pattern she's probably a rent-a-cop type being hired to beef up security. So it's fairly simple to move over to bypass her when she's walking in one direction and just wandering along on the next bit o fher sweep. Selina goes to casually dart over the fence and get to the bushes ever so cleanly, without any sort of notice.

But then there's one thing that doesn't quite fit. The girl's normal pattern would have her be coming back just about now when she would be passing the fence in theopposite direction right as Selina gets into full cover of the bushes. But there's no sign of her nor sound of her walking back and forth.

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle has been doing this for far too long NOT be suspicious. Ordinarily she would be disabling the window security system about now, which is what she pretends to be doing. Instead, she takes discreet looks left and right and up with the infrared goggles. Cat's don't have extra senses, other than intuition and inherent distrust.

So Catwoman pulls out a tool from her belt, pretending to work on the window. Her other hand stays close to the whip.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
There's still no signs of the girl. No signs of her walking back in the direction. The girl was definitely patrolling, she's off her timetable now, and there's no signs of her coming back along the path. Or across the street. Or having turned about. Selina goes to sweep along at ground level while being in paranoid mode.

Across the street, by the nearest building rooftop, Mary Jane has climbed her way up to it, an dis waiting for Selina to fully commit to breaking in to be tracked. Selina's likely not going to spot her silhouetted against the darkness from ground level.

Selina Kyle has posed:
Gone gone and gone. No, that's not right. The smart side of Selina's brain would call for her to abort and come back another night. Except that only adds to the -thrill-, and Catwoman lives for the thrill.

Between sweeps she has the chance to size up the alarm system. It's expensive, but relatively simple. A couple of magnets, wire cutters, and a small screwdriver to flip the latch, and she is opening the window... just that quickly. If MJ looks away or blinks a couple of times, the burglar slips quickly inside.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Well, Selina's committed and going in. Good. The smileon Mary Jane's face is almost sadistic now. The girl silently jumps down the rooftop, and goes to head in the same way that Selina just did several seconds later. Quickly making sure that Catwoman hasn't left any sort of surprises or alarms behind.. What Mary Jane does is then carefully prop the window back into place and keep it latched. Selina rushing out tha tway on full autopilot later on will get her head banged in hard.

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle isn't one to leave boobytraps, or much of a trace at all, for that matter. In the dark suit with padded boots, she moves quickly and quietly through the house. She had cased the house earlier, so she knows where she is going. Skipping the curio and the shelves, she makes her way up the stairs. Down the hall, pausing just once to check all around, then into the office she goes. There is a safe in the wall behind the desk, and that is where she goes.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
And Red Sonja knows all the tricks of the trade (minus a few millenia advances in technology, perhpas). So it's easy for her to keep up with Catwoman, and hopefully stay fully unnoticed as well. She calculates Selina's steps, where the target will be.. And then she considers. What's a way to make a game and sport of it? She slowly grins then as she moves to make sure she has nothing over in her hands and goes to stalk along silently. Selina's going to the office.. REd Sonja looks over for reflective surfaces in the direction Selina is facing.
    Stalking, Red Sonja goes to move into the office hopefully in near total silence, not a reflection nor sound if she moves so smoothly to give her away while Selina is bent down and focused on the safe.

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle crouches behind the desk and opens the panel for the safe. A stethoscope helps to hear the tumblers, and she slows her breathing to minimize background noise. It's something she does by touch and by sound, which gives her the opportunity to make another visual sweep with infrared. Sonja may be good with the shadows and quiet when she moves, but body heat is body heat. The clicking of the safe's lock continues, and that's when she speaks.

"Nice night, isn't it? You're not Mrs. Homeowner, or you would've turned on a light. My guess is that you were making the rounds outside and something made you change your patrol pattern. But either way, it really doesn't matter. Nothing is broken and nothing is missing."

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Red Sonja would look down at her, still over in the hoodie while musing over and crossing her arms, "REgardless, you seem to have been caught in the act. And you have committed tresspassing on a diplomatic property." She would grin and flash her teeth. "But where's the fun in that?" She would casually gesture over at Selina. "We don't have to play pretend here."

She's not armed, clearly isn't out to take the place herself, and was over on watch duty. She would fold her hands and wait for Selina's reaction. Tense, ready.. But not hostile. At least.. Not yet.

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle slowly rises, keeping her focus on the woman in the hoodie as she closes the panel hiding the safe. "Caught in the act of -what-, exactly?" she purrs. "Play pretend? Is that good cop - bad cop pretend, and should I bring my own handcuffs?"

She looks the shadowy figure over, then adds. "You don't look like a cop, though. I'm not picking up any equipment and I don't think you've got so much as a badge to flash, do you?" She shifts her weight, cocking her hip and resting a hand on it in a saucy pose. "Or were you looking to play some other kind of game?"

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would grin, "Oh, a game. A fight. No alarms. We play nice. If I defeat you, then you leave the little shiny thing here. If you win, I let you go unaccosted." Sonja knows a woman who doest his for the challenge.

"No noise. We see how far we can go and not make any mess." A melee throughout the buliding with an unknown woman with the challenge to not knock a single item out of place or set off an alarm?

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle tilts her head, red lips pulling into an amused smile. "So which is it, really? We fight or we play nice? Because honey, when *I* fight I never play nice." Selina knows this woman is too confident and too amused by the prospect for this NOT to be a trap. And while Catwoman may be good, a straight-up fight was never her first choice.

"I'll do you one better, if you want to make this a game. We fight, but YOU have to keep me from breaking anything. Because honestly, I really don't care if I do or not. The other choice is simpler; I leave and you don't see me again. What's it going to be?"

The whip uncoils and snaps out in a single, practiced motion. The tip coils around the neck of a porcelain vase, and Selina waits.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would grin over at Selina, "Very well. You have adapted the terms of the wager. I accept." There's a feral looking grin over on her face. Seemingly in contrast with her body. But of someone who takes this as a challenge and is sure that they can win.

"And I'll suppoes you don't want to break pretty things for the sake of breaking them. That does a disservice to you." She goes to a defensiev stance - deferring to Selina to start when ready. And the safe still hasn't been opened yet, though Selina can probably do that in just a couple more seconds over at it.

Both women are overly sure of themselves and fully arrogant.

Selina Kyle has posed:
"That's a good assumption, but sometimes if a girl wants to get away she's got to break a few eggs." Catwoman replies. With a flick of her wrist, the whip snaps and sense the vase flying in Sonja's general direction. Not directly AT her, however, but close enough that someone with really good reflexes could make a grab for it.

With the vase in the air, Selina dive-rolls smoothly over the desk and sprints for the doorway. Apparently she has little or no intention of fighting.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
The vase is caught one handed over and then flipped up and over back to it's place. The door that Selina is charging back towards closes 'towards' the two. So there's a pop up and over in the hand of Red Sonja, even as she moves to finish her twirl..

She flips a small dagger through it, which goes to hit the knob of the door, slamming it shut with a jarring -crack-.

So much for no noise. But it's hard to go through the door without re-fixing the lock or forcing it open.

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle makes two steps towards the door (it's a BIG office) when the thrown dagger hits the knob and slams it shut. She turns towards Sonja, then, the whip writhing on the floor behind her like some sort of snake.

"You're not just a simple security guard." she declares. "That was good, by the way. The catch with the vase. Whether it was real Ming or a fake, that's still not something you buy at Sears."

The whip swirls again, cracking towards Sonja's wrist (a feint), before another quick lash aims at the woman's closest ankle.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
The whip slashes out at her. Sonja knows the way the game is played. She's not fast enough to fully evade thewhip at close quarters, nor can she fully take a hit. It pulls far too hard. "Yes, appearances -can- be deceiving." Sonja taunts, even as the lash goes to spike towards her ankle. It goes to yank and flip her. Instead of resisting, she goes to roll with it before it can fully retract and yank her down hard.
    She goes to land and brace hard on the ground, pulling her full weight with it. She has far better leverage than Selina and is braced, so Selina can either be pulled off balance with thew hip or retract it to not be yanked along.

OR come up with something completely different. This -is- the Catwoman.

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle knows that she's clearly dealing with an experienced fighter here. Regardless of whether she's happy about it or not, she has to play to her strengths. Sonja rolls with the whip crack and braces, pulling the whip with her full weight and surprising strength.

Catwoman lets herself be pulled, but not off-balance. No, she tumbles forward instead; closer to Sonja. Doing a light walk-over, when she lands on her feet again the claws come out.

The slashes are rapid and seem to come from all directions at once as she attacks the unarmed woman.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
The unarmed woman takes the strikes, fully withdrawing. Slashes go at her as she grins, "I suppose I presumed no weapons. You did notagree nor is it sporting for me to expect one such as youw ould play by the rules. The fault is mine."

Selina's fast - maybe as fast as she is. Selina's changing hte rules. Sonja's still playing by them in her own way. She said she'd keep quiet an dnot break anything. However, there's still one thing she can do. Even as claws slash into her and tear out bits of skin. Her ankle snaps up. Whip uncurled from it. Whip snapped up to her hand. Coiled. Then Sonja is going to use it to parry the strikes over on the handle.

Moving for wrist blocks with it rather than trying to use the handle to intercept the claws on it. It's a lovely weapon and something personal. SHe's not going to -wreck- it for something like this even while she's bleeding from the slashes.

Selina Kyle has posed:
The slashes aren't getting her anywhere, other than cutting up the sweatshirt, and Selina figures that out pretty quickly. Not only a skilled fighter but one with a high pain tolerance as well. Selina switches up without warning, a sweep kick to try and knock Sonja off her feet followed by another kick using the same momentum to strike higher. Just in case.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
The double kicks are fast - too fast to completely evade. So Sonja goes to take the first one's hit. It strikes her but she takes it in a position where she can lessen the blow and absorb it. She goes to get a solid snap attack on the inside of Selina's thigh, attempting to use the strike that's hit her as just enoguh space to immobilize Selina for a second for a quick strike aimed at the inner curve of her leg. The handle of the whip is used bluntly to aid in it!

Presuming the strike impats, it would leave much of the leg numbed.

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle's inner leg is exposed after the kick, and she realizes it too late. Sonja absorbed the kick that should have done more, and Selina can only watch as the whip handle is used to hit the pressure point.

Selina goes down with a soft "... damn." Her right leg is mostly numb now, but she rises while keeping her balance on the left. "Who are you? Really, I mean." she asks.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Red Sonja would grin over at Catwoman, "My name is Sonja. And you will be leaving the target here tonight." She has her hand on Selina's whip still, and can strike her at any time. But is holding off. "You fought well . You stole well." Praise. With just a hint of 'but I did better' in her tone. she is defensive, but not attacking.

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle sizes up the other woman, quiet for a moment. "Sonja." she repeats, no offering her own name. Selina takes a step, strongly favoring her right leg now. "As you can see, I'm in no position to continue this fight right now. And I've *stolen* nothing. I've broken nothing. You've done your job." There's an implied 'this time', but she doesn't say it. Selina extends her hand, then, palm up. She wants her whip back, apparently.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Red Sonja gives the whip back over to Selina openly, "Good. I appreciate a good workout." Flashing a smile over. But the whip is given back, no further attack is given. "Next time we contest one another I expect an actual -effort- to it."

Might a challenge this way get Selina to actually smile some?

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle's red lips DO pull into a playful smile, then, the whip taken and coiled back in place without a second thought. "Maybe next time we'll have some real stakes." Selina waves her hand casually around the well-appointed office. "These are... baubles. Trinkets. I steal the ones I find interesting, not because I need to cash but because they -are- interesting. A fight for -things- is not worth it."

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
There's a laugh from Red Sonja, "Yes, next time we shall have a contest for stakes and a challenge. Not worthless things such as the ones here." Wait, she was the one on guard duty? "So, next time let us set our wager upon something more proper to be fought over."

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle raises her right leg, bending the knee and flexing to work out the numbness while they talk. "You're cute, red." because of the hair, naturally. Her smile becomes playful, then. "I'm glad to see we think so much alike."

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Red Sonja would laugh, "Thank you." Taking it as the compliment it was intended as. "These paltry things are but worth a practice at. But not even worthy of that. I look forwards to defeating you on your own turf." Where she wouldn't have to hold back so much

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle gives the woman another once-over, then she steps to the window (since the door is jammed). Click... slide... twist... The window pops open easily, and that's all that happens. "Tell your client that they should pay for alarms on the upper floor windows as well." she offers. Already she is favoring her leg less. "Come to Gotham sometime. We'll meet under the water tower." She pauses before tumbling out the window, just in case.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
There would be a grin from Sonja, "When you dream.. Scream for me." She goes to laugh ever so quietly.. Then makes her way out another door towards the street. Not bothering to cover up the slashes on her body from the claws. She still has the rest of her shift to work through after all. Beneath her as she thinks it is.