16718/(Cannibal) Angels We Have Heard On High

(Cannibal) Angels We Have Heard On High
Date of Scene:	30 December 2023
Location:	Abandoned Warehouse
Synopsis:	Arsenal, Freefall, and the Shadow discover a metahuman and organ trafficking scheme in Chinatown! Pt 1 of many.
Cast of Characters:	Roxanne Spaulding, Roy Harper, Natasha Cranston

---

Roxanne Spaulding has posed:
Anyone with an ear in New York City would have heard of the presence of the Triad in Chinatown. It seems that word on the street is that a group of thugs have been intimidating several families that own places like laundry mats, small dimsum restaurants, and local bakeries.

Naturally, the families don't really speak up, except for one young woman. Clearly Chinese in descent, she's maybe 15-16 years old, and being worried for her father, she went to the cops. Since nothing happened yet, the cops haven't done anything, but maybe our plucky heroes can?

Roy Harper has posed:
For the most part when Roy Harper has been in New York as of late his activities have been focused on Hell's Kitchen, given Team Arrow's interest in the area. Their battles with the entrenched Triad there have certainly taken far more time and resources then originally anticipated.

But if nothing else they have certainly helped to keep Arsenal well occupied when activities with SHIELD or the Outsiders aren't pulling him away.

There is no way to be certain that the recent reports of a Triad causing trouble in Chinatown are in any way related to the those in Hell's Kitchen, but it is still a pretty good reason to check things out if nothing else and so the redheaded archer has slipped out to patrol, slinking across rooftops and alleyways, keeping a discrete eye on things, looking for any signs of trouble.

For a change though, he is not patrolling alone.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    "Threats aren't a crime," says one police officer, unwilling to put in much effort to help Those People, who probably brought Those Criminals over with them in the first place. "Until and unless they do anything, our hands are tied."

    A different officer in another precinct carefully and diligently takes down her statement and promises to send it on, only for his superior to quietly dispose of it, unwilling to jeopardize the 'beneficial arrangement' he has with the Triads over something this trivial.

    What he doesn't know, however, is that the officer has been keeping copies of his paperwork ever since he noticed some of it had a tendency to disappear. He looks at his copy again, then studies the girasol ring on his finger for a moment before placing it into an apparently blank envelope and calling a particular delivery service for parcel pickup.

    The courier arrives shortly after, and while no words are exchanged, the matching ring on her finger allows him to relax. There's no record of the copy he made, so his superior will remain blissfully ignorant of this defiance... But now The Shadow Knows.

    The Shadow doesn't merely make use of purloined police reports; she maintains a network of informants and indirect reports, and the girl's complaint isn't the first indication she's gotten. It is, however, evidence of a larger pattern best nipped in the bud before it becomes a problem. Chinatown isn't her usual haunt, but she speaks the local language well enough.

Roxanne Spaulding has posed:
While insisting that she go out patrolling, she realized that there is literally nothing preventing people from recognizing her. Roxanne Spaulding has never worn a mask, so there was a bit of a rush, going to the local party shop to find a mask, any mask of some sort before the evening begins.

And that is why a certain Roy Harper is not alone this evening. Dressed in that black slim fitting bodysuit with some purple accoutrement on the side, her jacket, and what seems to be a harlequin mask, she follows along with the more experienced hero.

Parkour! Parkour! Parkour! If he's finding those leaps much easier this evening, it's because she's changed the g-forces upon them to give a little boost to their agility.

Not too far behind, she stops on one of the rooftops near the warehouse, where there's certainly some sort of activity below.

It's your standard loading dock where noir drug deals and other sorts of criminal activity take place. On this evening, it looks no different. At least four boxes marked with biohazard signs are brought from the warehouse by forklift onto a rather large unmarked truck. Each time they end up being slid on over into the truck, there's a bit of shaking and rattling, as if something alive is inside.

The thugs looked spooked whenever that happens and they just grumble amongst themselves, trying to get the job done as quickly as possible.

But there's more!

Anyone with amazing eyesight, might catch something in a nearby alleyway. Can't be more than 5'2", but it seems to be a Chinese teenager, snooping, pulling out her camera and taking pictures? video? of the goings on.

So far, none of the goons notice her.

Roy Harper has posed:
Maybe masks are showing a little abundance of caution. In a city of eight million afterall, for anyone not in the public eye, what are the chances are someone recognizing you?

But at the same time, with facial recognition technology and all the other tools that individuals and groups -- both legitimate and otherwise -- have at their disposal, why take the chance right? It's a good enough reason for Roy at the very least.

The rooftop workout is definitely a little easier then normal and each jump made to hurdle the gap between buildings and over alleyways sends him a good three or four feet beyond the ledge. Nothing excessive perhaps. But a definitely change from what he is used to and Arsenal flashes a brief grin towards his patrolling partner for the evening.

On the whole it has been fairly quiet and uneventful. Perhaps not the worst thing in the world given that they haven't really worked together before. Of course, things can change in a hurry.

Like when they come across the supposedly abandonned warehouse with that quiet activity out back by the loading docks. Crouching low on the rooftop, Arsenal raises a nightscope to one eye, scanning the scene below, lit up in a green glow through that eyepiece.

The biohazard symbols on the boxes draws a frown and just a hint of tension in those shoulders and he continues that slow survey until something much more concerning catches his attention, right at the fringe of the scene.

"Uh oh," the redhead says quietly, turning to Roxie and offering up that scope. "Take a look. Over towards that alleyway," he urges.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    There's the alley, there's the girl... And there's a large figure coalescing out of mist and shadow putting a hand on her shoulder and leaning in as if to speak to her - or maybe bite her throat out, if it's a vampire. Who can tell at a distance?

    "{You've courage and wit in equal measure, child,}" the Shadow addresses the girl in Mandarin Chinese, the voice no less inhuman despite being almost quiet. "{Those vermin do not appreciate being seen, and value their privacy higher than an innocent's life...}"

Roxanne Spaulding has posed:
The fan is about to hit the shit.

The young girl, Gwen Matsura, is most assuredly not Chinese. These days, the common trope of 'all Asians are the same' apparently was something that happened with the police that didn't exactly take her worries and concerns seriously. So, naturally, while she recognizes the language, it's still gibberish to her. But most importantly, the speaking shadow makes her incredibly startled. A brand new gen-active getting scared and startled is a bad thing.

Her eyes glow as she lets out an eep, her eyes glowing with a bright purple energy. From her chest, a dragon emerges. Not like a komodo dragon, but an energy construct of an Asian-styled dragon. Not exactly Chinese, Japanese, or anything else in particular, but something more of an amalgamation of various traits.

The construct swirls around her protectively before breathing out a spout of 'fire' as a sort of warning to the shadow.

The goons aren't stupid. Even though the alleyway isn't exactly right next to them, one of the main thugs, raises his brows and they all reach for their guns in their chest holsters.

"Make sure the package is delivered. Keep on loading! You two, go and check that shit out. Eliminate the brat this time. She burned Mai's face off. We need to get her back." he says before going back to shout and yell at others to continue the loading of the trucks.

"..."

Roxie looks on over in the direction of the alleyway and squints, as she doesn't notice the shadow, but she does notice the girl, and the eventual energy construct that comes out of her. "Is that... did she just make a dragon?!?!" she asks, sounding somewhat impressed and jealous at the same time.

Tapping Arsenal on the shoulder, she motions towards the thugs heading towards the way of the girl. "Who do you want to handle? I'll take the others."

Roy Harper has posed:
It is definitely not something that one sees everyday, that much is certain.

Roy has handed over the nightscope to Roxie by the time that the Shadow manifests there before the unfortunate young woman who is having a night of surprises it would seem. It would be easy to miss that presence there at all. At least it would be if that swirling purple dragon hadn't suddenly manifested there, casting a glow over the mouth of that alley.

Ahhh, the things that misunderstandings are born of. From up here on the rooftop there is no way to tell what is being said -- assuming that Arsenal speaks Mandarin at all, which is not as big a reach as it might seem on the surface. No, all he sees is a dark figure, sheathed in shadow and looming over the teen.

So naturally his bow comes up in a flash, a quick flick of the wrist making the compact composite design snap out to it's full extension. An arrow is nocked and fired in one smooth motion, the blunted tip of that taser projectile beginning to crackle with blue electricity almost as soon as it has left that string, plummetting down towards those shadows.

Of course all that sudden light has the unfortunate effect of drawing a whole lot of attention towards that same alley, and as the guards on duty turn and start shouting, running in towards Gwen and her mysterious -- but ultimately innocent -- assailent, Roy is already hurtling off the roof, firing another arrow -- this one with a grappling hoot at the end -- as he begins to swing down.

Leaping before he looks. Yeah, that's pretty much Roy.

"Help the girl! I'll run interference!" he calls back as he plummets downward to put himself in the path of those onrushing men.

As far as plans go, well, it has the benefit of being simple, right?

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Denials, shock, surprise, fear - those were things the Shadow had expected. The fire dragon and the taser arrow, not so much. Fortunately, the fact that she's already throwing herself backward to get clear of the dragon's fire means the arrow goes wide, discharging in a cascade of sparks on the pavement.

    The shouting from inside the warehouse does a wonderful job of focusing her attention back, however, and as she straightens up she turns back to look at the girl. "I see I owe you an apology, but that may have to wait - they're coming for us, and apparently they remember you." she says, drawing her guns as she turns to face the alley entrance nearest to the warehouse exit. "If you had a plan to get out of here, I recommend you use it. Now. I--" she pauses and briefly looks up at where Roy is swinging down, then corrects herself. "We shall deal with your pursuers."

Roxanne Spaulding has posed:
A scared Gwen is scared. That of course means that 'Sweetie' her rather unoriginal nickname for the construct is on the offensive. The construct seems to have a bit of sentience as it occasionally snaps towards the Shadow every now and then.

But as a newcomer floats on down from the nearest building, her hands spread apart in that classic superhero(ine) pose as a flyer lands, 'Sweetie' turns quickly and sends a gout of 'flame' towards Roxie.

Gwen squints and falls to her knees, just grabbing at her head even as her eyes continue to glow brightly, "G-get away!" the young woman screams.

And there's that gout of flame! The only way she doesn't get fried is putting up a gravity shield, dissipating the energies, much like how gravity can bend light, her shield does the same to the 'flame.'

However, that means that her attention is diverted from floating down gently, and she lands in a pile of cardboard and some packing peanuts to somewhat break her ten foot fall. OMPH!

Meanwhile, the camera pans it attention to Roy and his shenanigans.

There are three well suited mainland Chinese men have their attention mostly diverted towards the glowing energies in the alleyway and the bright purple dragon that spouts out fire. Continuing to yell at each other in Mandarin, "Gut her! For Mai!"

AS if this is one of those Chinese action flicks, knives are pulled out in lieu of guns. Surely, a sixteen year old Japanese girl is no match for knives, right?

Roy Harper has posed:
In all fairness Roy hasn't really seen Roxie in action.

Oh, he's had a taste, but he was at best on the outskirts of her gravity effects when they first met and while the little extra 'oomph' in their rooftop travel is certainly nice. But the redheaded archer doesn't really have any idea of her greater strengths and weaknesses.

Though perhaps that will come to change pretty quickly. Especially given that the unfortunate Gwen seems -- understandably -- rather panicked, lashing out at those would help her more then those that would hurt her.

In fairness of course, that might have a little something to do with the fact that those that are looking to hurt her haven't reached her quite yet. And while the Shadow is moving to help block the way -- at least if that dragon construct doesn't get to her -- for at least a moment Roy is going to have to hold down the fort alone.

Which is okay. It's nothing that he's not already used to. All things considered, he would rather face a few men with knives, even if they are well trained, then a simiar number with guns. Though more often then not those with the guns are rarely well trained.

Flashing a tight grin as the men rush him, Arsenal drops into a crouch, bringing that bow up once more, firing off yet another arrow. As this one leaves his bowstring the head of the arrow pretty much explodes, long cords with heavy weights at the end emerging in a tangle. It looks messy, but it is surprisinly effective and the bola arrow coils around one of the on rushing men's legs, taking them out from under him and sending him sprawling on the pavement.

Then the rest are on him, too close to make the bow practical. At least for firing arrows.

No doubt Roy has other weapons on him. He might favor the bow, but the name is Arsenal. He almost certainly has knives tucked about on his person, at least one gun, and a variety of other impliments hidden amongst his costume or arrayed in his backpack. No sword though. Next time.

But he faces the rush with just his bow, lashing out with it, using it's greater reach to slap sharply at those hands that thrust the blades his way, smacking them across the wrists as he twists and weaves amongst them.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Roy senses the presence at his flank before he quite sees it -- but the gloved hand that clamps around the wrist of one of the knife jockeys and yanks it off course makes it clear he's got an ally at his side rather than another enemy. "I don't think we've met," the Shadow comments almost conversationally as they pull the knife jockey out of balance and right into the path of their rising knee strike. "From the equipment I take it you're affiliated with the Green Arrow?"

    A spin and a step and the figure fades into mist and shadow again, only to re-appear a moment later to sweep the legs out from under another one of the Triad goons.

Roxanne Spaulding has posed:
Considering that her player is the ST for this scene, it's more than likely, there will be minimal action from the Roxie. Such a sad thing.

But at least it only takes a minute or two for her to snap back to reality as she starts to get up to see the fisticuffs starting to happen. Unfortunately, the thugs have only served a distraction for our heroes, as the truck is fully loaded and starts driving off.

"I'll get the truck!" Roxie calls out, as she starts to zip zoom, bouncing on one box to another before she starts to fly in the direction of said truck, more than likely with the intent to cause a traffic accident with minimal injuries or casualties.

That brings the focus back to the thugs and Gwen. The first arrow of Arsenal strikes true, as the thug's eyes open wide as the bola wraps around his legs, causing him to faceplant onto the ground, effectively knocking the man out.

The other thug has his wrist grabbed and he too is startled much like Gwen, but unlike the girl, he has no psychic dragon construct. So instead, he is spun, knocking him off balance, when the sudden leg appears and boom! Shadowkick and shadowtrip are super effective! The man faceplants and hits the asphalt, now unconscious.

That leaves the third, who starts rushing towards the scared girl and that's when...

SHRIIIIIIIIEK! The sound of a raptor (as in bird of prey) can be heard. Not just one, but three! It seems that Roxie didn't need to cause an accident as these giant humanoid cannibal angel-birds do!

...The third thug is dumbfounded at the sight. The angel/bird things catch his attention, even somewhat forgetting the fisticuffs, leaving him completely open.

CHAOS!It's chaos everywhere!

Roy Harper has posed:
Look, just because the strange shadow person is suddenly there, helping out doesn't necessarily mean that he jumped the gun by firing an arrow at them. It could be a trick, or an enemy of my enemy is my friend kind of deal, and will ultimately end in betrayal and tears.

It is, in all likelihood however, much more likely that yes, Roy might have jumped the gun a little by firing that arrow before the entire situation was fully known or understood. It happens. And it seems that his shadowy ally is none the worse for wear, so no harm, no foul, right?

At least that's the approach Roy is going to take.

"I'm sure there's a few archers out there that don't know one another," the redhead counters with a bit of a grin. "But yes, we work together from time to time. Name's Arsenal," he says, offering up a brief introduction. It seems the least he can do for someone he tried to zap into unconsciousness.

But he is already whirling, the uncoming birds of prey a concern to be sure. But not one that Roy is going to focus on, not until the last of the Triad gangsters -- he presumes -- is down. So another arrow is nocked, another arrow is sent flying and this time the head of it explodes outward as a full-sized boxing arrow expands just in time to thunk that last man in the head. "That one's for you Ollie," he murmurs, that grin still very much in evidence.

Then he is crouching once more, scanning the air around them, seeking out those screeches as he retrieves a net arrow from his quiver. "Uhhhh, the birds aren't with you are they?" he asks his new ally, gaze circling wildlym briefly following Roxie as she takes off in pursuit of that truck before returning to the matter at hand.

One problem at a time.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    The Shadow shakes her head. "My sources indicated something special was going to be transshipped here tonight, but were unable to narrow it down any further beyond that," she replies, then inclines her head at the warehouse entrance.

    "That said, it would seem that their freight is being disagreeable. Perhaps one of them will be willing to fill us in in exchange for keeping them from being eaten?"

Roxanne Spaulding has posed:
Now that the threat of the thugs seems to be over, at least, the three in front of them, that means Miss Gwen Matsura starts to calm down. Sweetie disappears and she takes some time to peer at Arsenal and the shadow creature. Not wanting to stick around, she grabs her dropped phone and starts back towards the alleyway to the otherside.

Surely, our heroes will run into her again soon. Or at least hear about her.

With that,the camera pans over towards the freight truck, which thanks to the angel/bird/harpies has effectively crashed into a telephone pole. If it wasn't for the last minute shield by a certain Freefall, would the damage to the truck be more and the occupants inside might not make it out.

Noticing Roxie floating there, one of the harpies starts to bumrush her, its claws extended, apparently wanting to tear at her flesh. A sound of surprise can be heard, as she goes on the defensive, keeping herself safe in a repulsive bubble of gravity as she crouches on the ground. The creature continues to move back and forth, trying to grab at her, but for now, it's not effective.

The other two work on tearing open the freight truck and carrying the boxes out from them.

From where the Shadow and Arsenal are standing, it's hard to make out what exactly are in those boxes, but they would certainly find out if they get a bit closer!

Roy Harper has posed:
It isn't lost on the redheaded archer that Gwen is slipping away and while it might be nice to have the chance to question her more closely about just what she's seen, to see if she can shed more light on all of this, the poor girl probably has been through enough.

Shooting one last glance after the departing teen, Roy gives a brief nod to the Shadow. "Well then. I suppose that might be the best place to go and get a few answers," he admits, turning towards where the sound of the truck crashing echoes down the dark alleyways of the city.

He doesn't linger, not to make sure that the Shadow follows, but instead tears in the wake of that fleeing truck, long strides eating up the distance rather quickly. It might not be clear what's in those boxes -- though again, the biohazard warning labels certainly raise his hackles -- but the bird-like creatures seem to want them.

They are also attacking Roxie, which again, doesn't necessarily make them the bad guys here. But it does make them dangerous.

This time before plunging right into things, the arrow Arsenal fires off is aimmed for the air right over the truck instead of at any specific individual and as it arches overhead it abruptly explodes in a bright burst of sound and color, meant more to distract, to blind and confuse perhaps. Rather then render anyone unconscious.

PLaying nice maybe? After a fashion.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    The Shadow pauses for a moment to scrutinize the way the harpies' claws glance off Roxanne's bubble and makes a snap decision. She draws one of her pistols as she closes the distance and fires a shot from a few paces out, aiming for the bubble -- if the bubble deflects the bubble it should ricochet right across the harpy's field of vision, almost certainly badly distracting it, and if the bullet passes through, then at least this shot won't injure anyone.

    ... Of course, there *is* the outside chance that the bullet's impact will dispel the bubble entirely, in which case she'll have to be quick with follow up shots to keep the harpy from maiming the girl.

Roxanne Spaulding has posed:
TWANG! The arrow flies towards the harpies as they continue tearing into the boxes, opening them up.

Just as the wood starts to fall open, the arrow flies over their heads, completely oblivious to what's about to happen. The flashbang arrow does exactly that.

FLASH! BANG! The bright light and the extremely loud explosion catches the two male harpie-angels offguard, as they wince and try to cover their eyes. For now, they are completely blinded.

The third harpie-angel, the one attacking the bubble is lucky in that only the sound affects her. Just like her brothers, she winces at the sudden sound, and for a brief moment she stops the continuous pummeling of that gravity bubble. As she lands, the bullet strikes the bubble, and deflects.

It seems that the Shadow really knows her linear algebra to calculate such vectors with such precision to where it hits the female harpie-angel causing another pained SKREE!

"Get the goods." she says, yelling back to the two.

What exactly are the goods? Four transparent tubes that are most definitely human sized. Inside, are four 'humans' that look absolutely terrified, as if frozen in place against their will.

In addition, there are other tubes, a bit more grisly. Literally, one of the tubes is full of gristle. It's a bunch of flesh, perhaps the remains of something that was once alive, though it seems that even while it floats in whatever fluid it's in, an eyeball has grown out of the fleshy mass and it turns away from the flashbang.

There are less body horror parts. An arm that is clearly flesh transformed into some sort of metal. A pair of wings not unlike the ones the harpie-angels are sporting. Then there's a set of lungs with gills also floating in similar fluid.

Just what were they transporting?!?!

Roy Harper has posed:
While the Flashbang arrow might have indeed done its job, Roy is not entirely sure that's a good thing. If nothing else it gives him a much up closer look at the contents of those boxes then he might have rathered.

The sight of people stored in tubes is never a good thing, not in this line of business. It is pretty rare that those in said tubes are there willingly, and even if they are chances are something unsavory is going on with those that are keeping them there.

It's the body parts that seal the deal of course. Organ trafficking is far from unknown of course, and combined with the human trafficking as well suggests that this group of Triad gangsters are mixed up with something pretty despicable.

All in all, it's more then enough to knock that customary grin off of Arsenal's expression.

What he doesn't know however is what these flying bird people's interest is in all of this. That's a problem. Worse, taking them down while they're holding those boxes could risk making them drop them so the redheaded archer hesitates, nocking an arrow and continuing to race forward, dropping into a crouch by Roxie, bow directed upwards to provide a little cover.

"You okay?" he asks tightly, keeping eyes peeled for a likely opening.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    The Shadow regards the tubes - and the body parts - with a cold fury burning in her eyes. "New plan," she notes to Roy. "We only need one of them alive to answer questions."

    With that, her next shots aim for the harpy's wing joints, to keep it from escaping.

Roxanne Spaulding has posed:
PEW PEW PEW! Yes, that's the sound of bullets hitting their mark, causing the female harpy to cry out in pain and fall onto her knees, not too far from the former gravity bubble that was Freefall.

Trying to flap her wings, she struggls, before she screeches once more in frustration. "REMEMBER THE MISSION!"

There is clear concern on at least one of the harpie's features. The more handsome one, the Warren Worthington from Wish.com, tries to reach out, but is stopped by the other. It's either the tubes and bodyparts or the woman.

In the end, he chooses the former and not the latter, picking up the tubes with both people and bodyparts along with the third. And with the flap of their strong wings, they fly off!

Only one tube remains, with a young man seemingly frozen inside. His face looks absolutely terrified as he's cryofrozen. Anyone taking a closer examination would see the name: Horatio Megalos.

Anyone with access to police reports would know that a Mrs. Megalos, an old lady presumably his grandmother, put in a missing person's report three weeks ago.

Then of course, there's Roxie that finally removes the gravity bubble, as she hears a familiar soothing voice. She's battered and bruised, mostly from her ironic fall earlier, but it doesn't seem too bad. "I'll be fine." and she looks at the struggling harpy. "What are we going to do with her?!"