14230/To the Nth Degree

To the Nth Degree
Date of Scene:	23 February 2023
Location:	Tenderloin District
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Shredder, Joseph Gardner, Shayera Thal

---

Shredder has posed:
    Karai got away, it was clear that despite the youth and inexperience of her team, the young woman is very good at what she does. What she didn't know is that she was tracked by a werewolf, and while she didn't have any particular issues with Belinda in person, she didn't take seriously enough the other's desire to see the object returned.

    Karai had landed at a coin laundry in the Tenderloin District, a great place if you're a criminal who doesn't want there to be a lot of law enforcement getting in your business. It's where Belinda tracked her, and while it seems rather unassuming, the secrets are in the back. The high walls of the buildings around make the alleyway like a little nestled city of itself. There's no direct street access back here, not anymore, temporary structures clog the alley entrances, so the area is mostly unnoticed. Even from the sky it's hard to see much, plenty of cover shadows the space, meaning any significant intel would have to be gathered from the ground.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman off on a side street a gargoyle moves. It's actually Hawkman, borrowing Batman's MO. Well, imitation is the purest form of flattery. A falcon (that he named Cyrus after watching 'The Warriors') flies onto his forearm guard. There is a silent communication between the two after giving and with a 'skree' the raptor takes off. The corvids down on the power line actually told Hawkman what he needed and then some. Hawkman did not mention this to Cyrus, merely thanked him. Falcons can be prima donnas. Hawkman indicates the building over his comm. Then he steps off the building, wings folding, an atypical short spear in his hand. "What's the plan?" he asks.

Shayera Thal has posed:
Hawk Woman has been staking out the place for awhile, having called Hawk Man in for assistance because she knows it is not a good idea to do solo jobs. She had bad things happen like that so she wants back up. "I've been watching the place. It seems that our mark has been seen coming and go from here.." She looks at Hawk Man. "Go in though the back...I'm going to go check out the front.." She says confidently as she takes her war mace and then jumps down and lands and starts to approach the laundry.

Shredder has posed:
    The front o fthe coin laundry is...well, just what one would expect. A series of people, mostly lower class, sitting and playing on their phones, waiting on their clothes to finish tumbling about. As a superhero walks in, several look up, a little stunned and unexpectant of someone of such stature arriving. They look around, as if expeecting an epic battle to break out, a little apprehensive, though curious as well.

    The back of the coin laundry has much more interesting things to see. The alley outside has several chests, some refrigerated and plugged into the exterior outlets. Some are just storage crates. The property behind it is shared by what can only be other criminal types behind some other stores. A few are standing around idly, smoking as they chat. None seem to be in any particular hurry, but all of them have a sidearm of some form or another. The building in question though? It doesn't have anyone showing to guard it's merchandise.

    All in all, the area seems to be a happy little village of crooks, perhaps not all aligned, but at least respecting each other's territory in the little narrow village between streets.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman moves toward the back with a nod. He'd dodged bandits in Africa. His past life, Gunhawk, was pretty good at sneaking about. He holds the spear before him point down. Khufu planned some of his tomb traps and trip wires were still the norm. Also ninjas are trap sort of culture. Find, disarm, remove, reuse. Right? "Be careful," a cardinal warns. Hawkman notes the criminals and says nothing. He points to himself and thee laundry. they would do well to let him pass. He isn't wasting time with them right now. On the way out is another matter.

Shayera Thal has posed:
Hawk Woman begins to walk around the laundry mat curiously, she does take not of the various people here and then gives them a nod. She doesn't try to project a air of trouble, but she is going in expecting it with her Hawk Helmet on as it starts to scan the area, looking for secret doors or trying to ID possible perps as she begins to make her way towards the back room, hoping to leverage her authority on this for a search. She does make note of the civilians too and is going to have to be careful, the last time he faced them down they weren't shy about bringing in the civilizan or having plain clothes thugs.

Shredder has posed:
    From the front there is an 'Employees Only' door which contains a simple lock, nothing fancy really. The white paint is worn and stained with years of improper cleaning.

    The criminals in the back, have a few heads that turn to watch Hawkman, though none of them directly make a motion against him. One particular man watches intently, and flicks his cigarette on the ground before pulling his phone out of his pocket and walking toward the back entrance of another place of business.

    The rear entrance to the laundry seems to be taking advantage of warmer weather, the door isn't even shut, but is instead propped open, and there's sounds of Japanese pop music that can be heard inside.

Shayera Thal has posed:
Well it is a normal lock and she is going to have to pay it back as she reaches over and uses strength four time that of a normal human to just 'crush' it and then make her way in. She holds her war mace at the ready expecting anything as the helmet compensates for lights, sound, and other distractions as it begin helping someone who has the perception of a barn owl to look out for things.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman moves quicker seeing the man with the phone. How fast can you text bro? He lunges through the door, spear ready. Then as his eyes adjust to the interior lighting he listens -for a phone going off somewhere.

Shredder has posed:
    The back room is entered from both sides, and both of the heroes can see each other from the small space. There's a safe bolted to the floor, half the size of a person, and several schedules on the wall that appear to be times for the laundry machines and the times they empty the money from them.

    The pop music is coming from a TV on the wall, playing a video. Various papers are scattered on a close by desk. But as the two enter, there is a certain ringing that seems to begin, the kind that is only at the edge of the hearing register, but causes a headache. It starts to get more intense. A sonic weapon of some sort.

Shayera Thal has posed:
That is rather intense for someone with avian scenes too. She holds her head and groans as she then taps her helmet as it tries to pin point the location of said sonic weapon. And when located it she plans to yeet her mace at it. Normally a stupid idea I never know why she does it in the show but this case it might be a good idea.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman merely has good hearing. He bears up under it, seeking a hidden entrance. Then he gets a bright idea, despite the pain and tries to cause the sphere to activate and move around. Fast. Maybe he'll hear the banging. He also looks for a CCTV on the side. C'mon sphere! His spear is reversed and aids him in standing. The sonics are beginning to hurt.

Shredder has posed:
    The biggest problem with Belinda's info wasn't that she didn't find the right place where Karai was. It was that Karai didn't have the sphere. It was carried off by another, and to a different location. The sphere doesn't react at all, giving the indication that it's not close.

    The source is behind the TV, a sonic emitter that is far more advanced than anything else in the building. It's hardly invincible, relying on the fact that it's hidden more than it's durability. When the mace crashes through the TV the pop music stops, and the ringing along with it. It gets quiet, but the back door is soon darkened.

    "I help you two? Breakin' and enterin' is a crime, you know," the towering blond man asks. He stands about 6'9" and easily weighs over three hundred pounds of muscle. He wears a denim vest and matching blue jeans with a black T-shirt. Not friendly looking.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman looks over the bruiser. Of curse you had a 6' 9" muscle man as security in an ordinary laundromat. He says, "So are lethal sonic weapons. Go call the police. Let's see what else they find here. You have a rap sheet, Tiny? Let's find out. Or we'll leave here, no harm, no foul."

Shayera Thal has posed:
First order of business. Retrieve her mace. Hawk Woman makes her way over to the mace and picks it up and then she turns to look at the chest of the man then look up to stare in hi face. Goodness this guy can't be human. "We are looking for a person." The cop part of her kicking in as she pulls out what looks to be a picture of Karai. "Have you seen this person?" She then pauses as Hawk Man goes bad cop on her then back to the man. "We tracked the perp to this location.

Shredder has posed:
    The man smiles, his heavy jaw makes a good smug smile. "Yeah, I got a sheet," he says without any mind to hide it. "And yeah, I seen her. Now get out before you get your birdy costumes ruffled. He stands to the side in the rear doorway just outside, pointing for them to leave as if he has some authority to do so.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman looks at Shayera and shakes his head. He backs out towards the door, his wings unfolding slightly. "Leaving, but not because you say so. And we're not easily ruffled." Meanwhile he's thinking like mad and flicking his Absorbascon search engine. He watches for Shayera's moves.

Shayera Thal has posed:
Shayera assumes the authoritative cop stance as she doesn't look to intimidated by the big man. She doesn't act threatening either because posturing can cause trouble. "Where have you seen her." keeping her voice calm and leveled trying not to push just keeping it as casual as possible. No need for threats or violence just yet. "We are looking for her in the involvement of a stole artifact."

Shredder has posed:
    "Good for you," the large man answers Shayera. He doesn't have any qualms about looking intimidating. "I don't know anythin' about your artifact, and I'm willin' to wager if she does she won't be...forthcoming. Sometimes it's better to just lose on the search, lady. B'fore youse gets hurt."

Shayera Thal has posed:
Hawk Woman is quiet as her mind goes over how best to deal with this person. Obvious the man is muscle, plain and simple. She sighs softly and then places her war mace on the magnetic clamp that holds it in place. Her neck goes right *CRICK, then left *CRICK* and her eyes narrow. That is when the first comes around and attempts to bury itself into the man kidney. Best to disable fast and she is banking that while he is big, does not come from a high gravity planet where the winged folks are four times stronger than the average human.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman listens for any cries of alarm from his feathered friend out there, be it cardinal or falcon. He also looks carefully around the laundry for any signs of a hidden door. The safe is suspicious. What laundromat needs a safe that size?

Shredder has posed:
    The mountainous thug is faster than he looks, and as Hawkwoman brings her fist around at his kidney, he snaps his forearm down to block. He's clearly taken by surprise as the impact of the much smaller person's fist does that much damage, and he staggers sideways, and grabs his arm in surprise. "Little girl, that wasn't a good decision," he says, an almost happy look on his face. He throws his foot out, a massive step kick thrown to try to knock her up against the wall of the building.

    Inside the safe does seem to be the particular odd item in the room. It has an electronic lock, much bigger than one would need for deposits, even if they were doing deposits of change. Not only that, there is a change sorting machine on the table on the other side of the room, which one might expect to be closer to the safe if it was used for money.

Shayera Thal has posed:
Hawk Girl knows some self defense, had to being a military brat. She raises her arms up and does what is considered a breaking block with her hand. A move that turns aside the blow while also using force to damage the offending limb. Still she was not expecting the hit to possess that much impact so she skids along and slams into the wall. Kicking up dust and debries as she does. Groaning she moves in this time and aims kind of a one to punch going for the jaw and then the solar plexus.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman may have a little too much faith in his smaller partner. But he takes this opportunity to approach the safe and attempt to cut the hinges off the door with his spear. Illegal. All so illegal. What passes for law enforcement on Thanagar? Do they have warrants? He hacks at the door with the Nth metal spear.

Shredder has posed:
    The man grunts as Shayera strikes back, the wind getting knocked out of him, opening himself up to a rather nasty blow to the jaw. It sets him off his feet, toppling backward as some of the other crooks turn to look at the exchange. They seem uninterested in helping either side, though. He props himself up, and pops his jaw back from a dislocated position. Ouch. "You can punch kid," he confesses, "I'll give you that. He gets back to his feet. "Can't give you what you're lookin' for, though," he posts up a ready pose again.

    The safe isn't prepared for Nth Metal, being your average safe. The hinges come off as easily as any other metal object, and inside the safe is revealed to be...weapons. No guns, no high tech gadgetry. Kunai, shuriken, kurisama, smoke pellets, weapons of the ninja. It seems to be an emergency resupply station. The bag has an emblem on it, a footprint encircled.

Shayera Thal has posed:
Hawk Woman has to admit this human is alot tougher than he looks. So she isn't ruling out a possible metahuman, mutant or whatever they are calling them these day. She rubs her jaw with her thumb and once more goes in attempting to disable him. Her furious fist doing the talking for her as she picks a spot and attempts to hammer to repeatedly with her fist, keeping one up for guarding while the other does the punching.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman kicks the safe over. "Do you still want to put up a fight, or call the cops? Because I have funny feeling we won't be charged with anything. Let's make a deal... you tell us what we need to know and we leave now and let you clean up the mess." That's what he wanted to say. He sees Shayera rubbing her jaw and... With a screech like a bird of prey he flying at the thug, attempting to slam into him with his full weight, grabbing for his throat with his free hand.

Shredder has posed:
    The thug uses an open hand, skilled in street fighting he definitely is. He bats the punches, looking for his opening when he suddenly finds himself caught by Hawkman. He's set off his balance, but swings to try to take the moment up to body slam Hawkman. It's clear that he won't win this fight against two superhuman entities, but some guys just gotta go down the hard way.

Shayera Thal has posed:
Hawk Woman just kind of thinks to herself this has gone on long enough and she just kind of ignored the very obvious target. And since Hawk Man has distracted him she is going to go with it so with the infamous Heyah she is famous for attempts to kick the man in the testicles. Just full strength, right in the balls. Fuck fighting fair.