17258/HUNGER: Dealing in the Dirt

HUNGER: Dealing in the Dirt
Date of Scene:	24 February 2024
Location:	Pier 90, Hell's Kitchen, NY.
Synopsis:	Quake, Batgirl, and Daredevil find themselves drawn to what seems like a routine arms deal between criminals and turns out to be something far stranger.
Cast of Characters:	Matthew Murdock, Daisy Johnson, Barbara Gordon
Tinyplot:	Hunger

---

Matthew Murdock has posed:
The news has been full of talk of aliens, space, and what that could mean for Earth. It's been playing on the radio in Matt's apartment (there's precious little use for a TV, though they do have one unplugged in the closet) since the strange arrival at the Atlantic Starport. A bit beyond his paygrade (though maybe not Daisy's), it was almost relaxing to see a potential problem that didn't need Devil of Hell's Kitchen to do do anything more than sit back and say 'hmm.'

No, his business is closer to home. It's not even outside his self-appointed home turf of Hell's Kitchen. Pier 90 off the Hudson River Greenway is mostly a parking lot, long ago converted from a merchant dockyard. It's concrete, boring, and if you look north you can see the terminal for the Disney Magic Cruise. An ideal place for crime.

A couple of vans are parked away from one of the lamps that illuminates the upper deck of the pier, with a couple burly guys scrolling through their smartphones and blowing cotton-like vape clouds into the air. It was an arms deal, or so Matt's informant had said while having his tibia fractured in four places, and the last thing the local hoods needed was even better guns. Especially if one of the buyers was coming all the way up from Gotham.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"SHIELD is going to have their hands full in the coming months..." That's what Daisy had commented about the aliens arrival. And it also meant she would be busy as heck but then again that was nothing new by now since she had become a more senior agent. (Daisy a senior? Hah!)

Things were being kept rather hush-hush for now so she was taking advantage of spending some time over at Hell's Kitchen with Matt until she got the report to go in. And that meant doing some intense night activities (not that kind!), like staking out a guns deal happening on Daredevil's turf. Those thugs should had known better.

"You know, you could had just broken it in two places instead of four."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
When an arms deal of this variety comes across Batgirl's 'Oracle AI system', she's bound to check in to it. The threads were pulled on, various internet sites were monitored, infiltrated, and a lot of nerds were tracked to much more nefarious names, identities, all of it leading to Batgirl making a trip to New York... in her personal Bat-wing jet.

The jet had been landed atop a building several blocks away, using a near-silent VTOL manuever to land itself upon the roof, and from there, Batgirl became a shadow in the sky's sky.

Now, she's perched atop the corner of a roof, her back to shadows, while a bright sign rests to her right, allowing her shhadowy cover to deepen around her, envelop her, and help her be one with the shadows themselves!

With her black cape gently flowing in the late February breeze, Batgirl commands her flock of six drones, bat-shaped aerial surveilence vehicles, to deploy around this location, sweeping high through the sky, the drones fan out, watching what is unfolding below with a direct feed in to Batgirl's wrist gauntlet computer system.

Her emerald green eyes observe what her drones are recording, a calm expression resting on her half-masked face.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you," Daredevil recites back to Daisy, voice low as he watches the gathering from his hiding place, "Worked for Moses. Besides, it's just a fracture. He'll feel it, heal it, but never forget it."

Matt may abide by the Ten Commandments as he was always taught, but nothing in those Commandments say anything about roughing someone up for selling guns on his block. Besides, it served as good reason for the wider criminal fraternity not to mess with Daredevil.

"Someone else is here," he says in a low voice to Daisy, tilting his head slightly to better pick up the sound. The rhythm is familiar. A job with the Defenders. New York Harbor. The Kotta Kaze, "Batgirl."

The whir of the drones is unusual to him, and his sightless gaze follows them through the air. In a sudden burst of momentum, he hurls his billy club through the air. The trajectory is perfect, the stick bouncing off the concrete to fly in front of the drone's camera. Not striking it, but certainly drawing the attention as the club flies back to Matt's waiting hand.

Once he's sure the camera is looking at them both, he waves to it with a smirk on his lips.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Ah, quoting the scriptures to me." Daisy is used to that of course so there's a smile to her voice when she makes that small quip back at Matt, "Reminds me of Sister Maggie..." the Sister at the Orphanage who made sure they learned their Bible. Among many other things. Daisy missed her. "She did always like you best for some reason."

Yet the talk of them having company brings Daisy out of reminiscing the past, eyes trailing the streets. She's dressed in an armored suit not that different from Matt's but the colors differ with hers being black and blue even if it still has the same kind of half-masked face to keep her identity secret. Because it wouldn't do well for a SHIELD agent to be doing vigilantism.

Batgirl is a familiar name though so when Matt seems to identify here she mmms, "All the way out here in Hell's Kitchen? The informant had the good info then, this most likely involves Gotham gangs."

Daisy then gestures to the camera Matt launched the billy club at, beckoning with a finger as if calling Batgirl to come join their perch.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
The strike of the club, the movement, it all registered within the drone, which lingered its optical sensor upon the duo in the dark for but a few moments, before it whirred and flew off to the northeast.

The two would be left to wonder if the drone's owner had registered them, or was intending to join them, with sseveral moments passing before Matt would likely hear motion to his left, back in the darkness there-in, which is likely no real obvious hindrance to the Hell's Kitchen Devil.

The sound of a cape, quietly moving, heralds the arrival of the Batgirl, who steps in to a small column of light streaming in from between two adjacent buildings, just enough to strike across the golden bat logo upon her chest, and up over part of her face, and her right eye. She stands within the light long enough for the two to easily register her, before she falls back from the light again.

"Daredevil, and friend." Batgirl's quiet voice speaks, softly modulated in a way that retains femininity, while still adding a touch of her own Devilish flavor to conceal her natural voice, if just a little.

"Your city has attracted some of the filth from my own." She informs them both, as another of her drones quietly sweeps by overhead headed southward.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"Thought you were about to get all Aslan on me: Don't quote the ancient spells at me, I was there when they were written," Matt jokes, his mood lighter than usual, "And I'd have to remind you that you aren't even thirty yet. And she liked me because, unlike you, I'm not a godless heathen worshipping the sinful mundanity of the world that is rather than the world to come ... and I'm handsome."

The joking back and forth is a bit of a tradition these days. A long way from lurking on rooftops on his own with only bitter thoughts for company. Not that long ago, he would've worried that it was dulling his edge. But then their attentions are focused on Batgirl, and the joking is set aside in favor of the dramatic mask one puts on with other vigilantes one only partially knows.

"They get around," is all he tells Daisy, before Batgirl is there with them.

"Didn't think we could handle them?" he asks the Gothamite, turning his attention to her, "They don't exactly look like the Masters of Evil out there."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
There is no disputing out of Quake when Matt calls himself handsome. Really. She knows! The rest though? "I would like to point out that you did not mind me getting rather sinful last night.." she could go on. Oh, indeed she could. Yet she also knows Batgirl is approaching and so she shuts it, her eyes turning just a fraction before Batgirl announces her presence, vibrational powers betraying that approach.

"Quake." Is the dry response to being called 'and friend'.

"The deal seems to be going to happen any minute now." She says, taking a step closer to the edge of the building they were perching at, surveying the two vans and the pier, "This calls for a team up." she suggests, "Wouldn't want you to come all the way over for nothing. So what do you say we show these thugs they are selling in the wrong neighborhood?"

Give it to Daisy to always call for a team-up. Too much time at SHIELD for sure considering how much of a loner she used to be before.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"The more the filth from Gotham spills out, in to New York, the more your eyes will seek answers in our city." Batgirl's softly modulated voice responds to Matt. "My mentor isn't fond of that." She adds, a faint smirk of her own touching her visible visage in the dim shadows she resides within.

Daisy's admission of her own super hero identity is instantly logged in to Barbara's computer system, as she'd not had any information on Quake, until now. "Nice to see the Daredevil has a bit of help. His efforts in this region are well respected." By who?

the shadow covered Batgirl passes behind some barriers on the rooftop as she moves toward the ledge, garnering a vantage point of what lies ahead, and below, on the ground.

"I'm happy to provide a distraction from above, to unsettle them, to make them easier to get the jump upon." She says, her eyes looking to her left now, toward the Hell's Kitchen duo.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"I'll bet he isn't," Daredevil says of Batman, having only encountered the Caped Crusader a single time but the man still having left and indelible impression. He says nothing more of the Bat, however, just in case talking too much about him will make him manifest from the shadows. He and Daisy had laughed at the rumors among the criminal element that the same could be said of Daredevil, but when it came to the Dark Knight Matt could almost believe it was true.

A hand reaches out to Quake, seeming to simply touch her arm. In truth, it's a form of soundless sign language made up of a few subtle taps on the arm. A few basic words. Reassurance. Go Left.

"Sounds like a plan," he tells Batgirl, straightening up and turning his attention to the men on the ground as another car pulls up nearby, "You come down from above, Quake and I will pincer."

Then he's off and moving. The first thing the men see of them is a dark red billy club sailing out of the darkness and striking one of the burly men in the solarplexus. He drops, heaving to try and fill his lungs with air, as the melee begins.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Daisy knows better than to invoke His name like that. Like Daredevil she is a believer Batman can just manifest from the shadows such is the legend of his name in Gotham. Not that she has anything to fear from the Bat, right? Right?

She doesn't have to look to know what those taps mean, the vibrations echoing over. Subtle taps to some but to her they resonate. There's a wordless nod out of Quake and she starts veering over to take the left side, ready to engage. "We have a plan, let's go."

And she literally throws herself from the building, off towards the gathering of thugs. Her vibrational powers direct her through the air, slowing her ascent and turning it into a hero landing as she drops right amidst a trio, the impact and subsequent vibrational blast sending them flying. One hits a wall, going unconscious while the other two hit the ground, rolling.

She moves in tandem with Matt afterwards, the pincer attack effective as they coordinate without talking. Just simple taps that Daisy knows Matt will hear. And so will she when he does the same. And when you get Barbara's drones in the mix?

These thugs never had much of a chance.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
The Bats of Gotham all come with individual pros and cons, but the pros of having Batgirl here? You have the benefit of the 'Tech Knight' being on your side. Case in point, as Daredevil and Quake engage on the ground, they find the enemies before them being lit up by bright lights shining down from above, specifically targeting the men's faces. The Bat-drones sweep in from the east, coming in like a squadron of elite jet fighters, the drones lay down a cover of light, and smoke. Little pellets begin peppering the ground around each of the black market weapons dealers, undoubtedly causing confusion, disorientation, and no small amount of fear at what was happening during their little meeting here tonight.

Babs doesn't hold back either, in so far as to say she steps from the ledge of the building, and utilizes her glider-wing to sweep herself down toward the fray. Her drones intercepting two men backing up to search for an exit route from the docks toward the alleys for cover.

Each man is suddenly run in to by Batgirl gliding down from above, casting them both to either side, one stumbling, the other slammed up against a wall. With her form dropped in to a crouch, Batgirl sweeps the legs out from under the gangster still standing, dropping him down to his tailbone on the ground, as she lunges toward the second man before he can get his gun drawn. Batgirl grasps his wrist with one hand, the other grabbing the barrel of the weapon. She crushes both of them with her strength enhancing armored suit, feeding her hands extra power to disarm her enemies.

The man hollars as his wrist is broken, and his gun crumbles to pieces on the ground.

A knee is delivered in to the man's gut, before Batgirl spins him around, throwing him over toward his companion, leaving them both rolling backward in to a brick wall, feet up, and then heels slapping down on to the ground beneath them.

Batgirl stares at the two for a moment, before she turns to walk toward the others, her golden boot crunching on what is left of the pistol she'd smashed in to a plethora of gnarled pieces.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Daredevil's fighting style isn't the surgical, efficient type that the Knights of Gotham may be familiar with. He's a boxer at his core, and even with the other martial arts piled atop that, it still wins out. His style is about landing hurt-bombs and being able to roll with the punches.

One of the men lashes out at him, and his shoulders twist to turn a strike against the head into a subtle bruise on the shoulder. He returns the strike, turning the man's nose into a gout of blood that splatters across the side of the van. The billy club whips out once more, the high-tensile cable wrapping around ankles to bring the man to the ground.

As a group, they make short work of those present. The ones still conscious not ready to resist being bound up for the authorities.

By the largest of the vans, Daredevil reaches out to open the doors. He tilts his head and seems to sniff the air, his mouth curling into a grimace. He disappears into the back of the van, and a moment later something clatters to the concrete outside.

A weapon. A long arm of some kind. But strange. Certainly not something made for human hands. The inside glows a menacing yellow, and as Daredevil climbs out of the van there's metallic crates full of the things behind him.

"These aren't local ... "

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Quiet falls upon the battlefield. It was done, their enemies were either unconscious or having surrendered. Quake's early playful demeanor is fully gone now, adrenaline and focus what shows in her eyes and posture. For all her easy-going attitude sometimes she takes this very seriously. One of them could get hurt and she couldn't stand having Matt hurt. Not on her watch. Tonight it seems they will be fine.

Curiosity brings her over to the back of that van. It's not like she expects much of a surprise so when she spots those weapons there's a whistle. "No. No they aren't..."

"Alien. Not sure I like the coincidence of us just having had alien contact at the Starport a few nights back." she doesn't believe in coincidences at all. Seems like she'd have to report back at SHIELD sooner than she expected. Ah well. She lets out a brief sigh.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Batgirl spent a few more moments around the duo that she'd just thrown down in a pile together. She knew they were not unconscious, and thus went about wrangling them up like a couple of stock pigs ready to be auctioned off. With one zip-tied, and in more pain than the other, Babs kneels on the spine of the second, drawing his hands around behind the small of his back to loop a tie over his wrists too, one of them still shattered from her powerful grip moments earlier.

"Through strained voice, pain rocking his nerves, the man lets out a little laugh. "Foreplay, eh, Bat?" The thug says, trying to look over his shoulder at her. "I'm all for it, Red... Why don't you give me your number, we'll continue this elsewhere once I'm back out on the street. Gotta love New York, right? How about it?"

Babs ignores him, as she cinches his zip-tie tight enough to elicit a yowl of pain from him. She stands up, her cape waving around her legs. "Hold tight, lover boy. NYPD will be here shortly."

With that said, she turns toward where Daredevil and Quake were around that strange weapon. She soons appears with them, her drones moving in a grid pattern in the sky above, while Babs eyes the weapon with a curious stare.

She pulls a device from her belt, and crouches down beside it, her wrist gauntlet coming up, with a blue glowing display showing all manner of sensor information. With the device in her right hand extended toward the weapon, Babs sweeps it over its surface, as she reads her wrist computer.

"Whatever it is... I like it." She quietly says, ever the tech nerd, especially when it comes to unique power sources.