3039/Team Stick: Stay out of our business

Team Stick: Stay out of our business
Date of Scene:	22 August 2020
Location:	Hell's Kitchen
Synopsis:	Two stick fighters meet in an alley, the four ninjas who also met there didn't leave conscious.
Cast of Characters:	Bobbi Morse, Matthew Murdock

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Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi Morse is on forced vacation. Deputy Director Hill demanded it. Bobbi figured she'd put that time to good use by //not// talking to Lance Hunter, but instead checking out the seedier part of Metropolis. Some thugs though she looked like a good mugging target. They choose poorly. Nightwing turned up too and the two bonded over their use of double stick in combat.

Nightwing had the gang hauled away by the police, but not before they vowed revenge, that they had powerful friends. Nightwing ignored it, having heard that before. But Bobbi, well, she can't leave well enough alone. She took a photo of the guy.

Hill warned Morse that if she caught her 'logging on' during her vacation, the vacation would be extended. So she twisted Agent Perkin's arm for access and traced footage of the mans cell phone. Strangely, for being Metropolis thug he made a lot of trips to Hells Kitchen, New York.

It wasn't too far a trip from the Swordfish Bar. No, that's a lie, it's quite out of the way. But, she was curious now, the itch had gotten to her. Wandering down the dark streets at night trying to find the shop fronts that the thug had kept visiting, eventually, she takes a break down an even darker alley way.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
It turns out the thug wasn't lying. He did have powerful friends, or rather he did errands for powerful people who did not like their affairs to be meddled with, let alone investigated. Bobbi's investigation of the seemingly legitimate store fronts was noted, and when she slipped down that alleyway those people decided it was time to send her a message.

There were four of them, moving like smoke and shadow, two dropping down with eerie silence from a fire escape ahead of her, while two others slipped into the alley behind her. These weren't simple thugs but men in full ninja-yoroi complete with hoods and black masks, blades gleaming in what little light from the street penetrates the alley's shadows.

One of the ones in front, speaks, "You should not have come here," he warns, his words carrying the accent of a native Japanese speaker. "You will get this one chance to turn away and never come back. Do not waste it."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
It's not that Bobbi is trying to make Hill regret sending her on vacation, she just has a penchant for finding trouble. She holds out her hands in a friendly gesture, and hearing their accent speaks Japanese to them, /Well, this is an unpleasant surprise. I'm afraid you just piqued my interest even more/ Her accent is southern Japanese, probably pickable of around Fukuoka prefecture. She never could master the subtle difference between the north and south.

/You have me at a disadvantage, which believe me.. that's really rare,/ she continues as her hands lower to her thighs where her staves rest. Switching back to English, "So don't take this the wrong way, but I need answers and I'm going to get them from you - one way or another."

Bobbi expects anyone willing to wander around at night in pajamas is probably not cosplaying a shinobi. She draws her staves lightning fast and both dodges to the left while also striking a stave out behind her to start closing off the trap she's wandered in to. Not her best work, she'll admit, but she doesn't have all the resources of SHIELD on this.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Even with his face shrouded surprise shows in the ninja's posture when he is addressed in Japanese. He remains silent however until Bobbi promises to get her information one way or another. /No you will try/ he promises in Japanese before the trap is sprung.

A blade flashes silver to Bobbi's right as she dodges left, her baton striking her would be killer in the solar plexus driving the wind from him as he staggers back. The second ninja behind her rushes forward, but there is a ping of metal on stone in the alleyway and suddenly that man is falling a red and silver baton rolling on the dark wet floor of the alley. A fifth figure drops from the shadows, cutting a strange silhouette with his devil horned cowl. "I got your back deal with the two up front," he says before laying into the winded swordsman with a pair of heavy punches.

In front of Bobbi, the two other ninja rush forward, working in unison, one coming high the other low to try and cut off her escape.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi's eyes widen in surprise at the sudden fifth figure. Backup? Again? Dayamn she loves this country. Her surprised look turns in to a wicked smile as she turns back to the other two, giving her batons a twirl and flicks her hair back. The combat is fast paced and she recognises a true desire to kill in these people. Sometimes a warning means a dead body. It makes for a change of pace, fighting against something other than guns.

Left baton covers the first blade as she slips back just out of strike rang and hits the sword with her second baton before the ninja can redouble his strike. She lets her second baton hang loose as it parries another strike, though the strike is true and she stumbles a little to the left. A narrow one foot leap off of the alley way wall brings her just past the cut of the sword.

She twirls her batons again and cracks her neck, /Upgrades, nice/. Certainly a big step up from the thugs she and Nightwing faced in Metropolis. Now she knows she's stumbled on something big. Her two staves click together to form a staff and she gives it a spin as the first blade comes slashing in. It narrowly misses, as she intended, her staff crashing down on the ninjas wrist violently and her free hand punches him under the chin.

Her staff thrusts out to the second ninja and the tip sparks as it attempts to stun him, though he is well trained and it narrowly misses his face, not falling for a parry with his blade or hand like a lesser fighter would.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
The mysterious fifth fighter switches from fists to a stick of his own when he parries a sword slash with a clink that sounds down the alleyway before he delivers a quick kick to the sternum sending the ninja backwards as he cartwheels to pick up the baton he threw to announce his arrival, coming up at a safe distance from Bobbi's back, giving her space to work her staff, but cutting off the enemy's chances to get behind either of them again. "Nice, sticks," the fifth man quips, with a smirk coming through in his words. But that's all the time there is for words as the ninja rally and rush the pair from both sides.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi draws in a breath to reply to the mysterious horned ninja behind her, having not yet had a good look at him. This seems less like an elaborate ruse then perhaps she has stumbled upon someones turf. The ninjas come at them again. Bobbi thrusts out her staff at the first ninja on her right, forcing him to stop his advance as it sparks again.

She knew he'd do that, patterned, she leaps forward with and with a soft click separates the staff in to two batons again, faking her range of attack so that as the second ninja on the left strikes in, he gets a stun baton right in the throne.. zzzzZAP.

The first ninja grapples Bobbi's wrist as she spends too much mental power dropping the first to the ground. Her baton goes flying. She blocks an attempted stab with the back of her palm, getting a nasty cut across it and lets out a cry of pain and anger before head butting him to make some space, then giving him a fake high kick, baiting him in to blocking with the sharp of his blade, then doing a reverse spin kick across his jaw.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
The horned fighter parries the sword stroke sent his way, trapping the blade between both staves, he feints with a kick, and the ninja flips away. The horned fighter follows, striking in quick succession with his staves and driving the ninja backwards while he tries to find his footing. But it's too late, each blow makes him less stable and finally the horned fighter sweeps his leg sending him falling to the ground as the horned fighter leaps up twisting in the air to bring his foot down to knock the man cold.

On Bobbi's end of the fight, the second ninja lays there twitching, the first's head is turned sharply by the force of Bobbi's kick, bouncing off the alley wall. Shaking it off his eyes dart from Bobbi to the horned fighter before he speaks. "Just because you defeat us does not mean this is over." Then he makes a final charge at his foes planning either to kill them or go down in the attempt.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
/You ju~~," she starts to say but before she can get a sentence in edge wise the man is sprinting at her. She tosses her stave at him, expecting him to knock it away, which puts his wrist right where she wants it. She leaps up on the left foot, right foot landing on that wrist, which brings her left around for a flicking kick across his face.

But, this is quite clearly something that many of the SHIELD ladies have been taught - as their masses start to drop, her right foot hooks behind the mans neck, dragging him down with her all the way to the ground by the neck, trapped between two ankles.

Bobbi first learnt those kinds of techniques off of Agent May and she rarely gets an opportunity to use them as they leave you prone on the ground, which is not an ideal place to be where there's more than one attacker. She lands with an 'ooof' on the hard cement ground and peers down the length of her body to see if she got him or not. It's a bit of a hail mary.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
The hail mary pays off, it seems the ninja hasn't fought many ladies of SHIELD and he is brought down to the ground head slamming against the concrete leaving him unconscious and the battle over. At least for now.

The horned fighter steps a little more fully into the light of a bare bulb burning above a doorway a few meters down, tucking his staves away in a holster on his hip. "Nice moves," he asks, offering a hand up. "Where'd you learn them?"

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi lets out a breath and offers her left hand to him as he helps he up. She holds up her shaking right hand, a nasty cut across its back, "Damn." She presses it against her top to slow the bleeding. The black shirt will stain but it's cheap and disposable. Almost everything Agent Johnson does crosses her desk. It was Coulson's call to bring her in to SHIELD - a random hacker off of the street, but every senior agent in the team instantly adored the young rebel.

"The Devil of Hells Kitchen," she says in surprise. The horns make sense now. "Wow. Very Co.. Awesome." She dusts her hand off on her thigh and offers her hand to him again proper, "Bobbi Morse, Agent of SHIELD aka.. Mockingbird." Though the alias is not used very often, it has popped up in the news from time to time. It's a great way to avoid speaking as Dr. Morse on TV. "And thanks, you are extremely impressive too. I don't think I've ever seen someone fight like that before, except for that youtube video of you."

She picks up the first stave, holsters it, then the second stave, "So I clearly stumbled on to something far more interesting than I expected. You wouldn't happen to know who the pajama party is?" Hill is not going to be happy that she has prisoners for interrogation on her vacation.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Daredevil smiles as he's recognized, though his lips are drawn into a concerned line when he sees the wound. "That's me," he says, lightly despite the concern, "Though a lot of people call me Daredevil after the video." For his flips and for wading out into the chaos of the Battle of New York in pyjamas and a mask. "Mockingbird, I've heard the name before," he says with a nod. He bends feeling along one of the ninja's sashes before tearing off a length and handing it to Bobbi. "For your hand, hope the cut's not too deep."

As for his skills? "And thanks, I had an interesting teacher." At least that's the polite word for him.

"They call themselves the Hand. Basically a criminal cult with delusions about magic and immortality. Whatever you stumbled on here, Agent Morse, it probably isn't good. What's SHIELD's interest? I didn't think you guys got out of bed for less than plots of world domination."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi accepts the sash and takes one end in her mouth, wrapping it about her wrist and then tying it off. "It'll do, thanks," she finally starts to catch her breath and looks back at the guys on the ground. The way he fumbles around for the sash confuses her, but she doesn't comment on it. "Daredevil, nice name, has a good ring to it."

She suspects he's just being polite claiming to have heard of her before. She doesn't do the 'hero' thing, preferring to stay in the umbra of the spy world. "Actually. I'm on vacation," she admits and chuckles. "Attempted mugging in Metropolis lead me all the way here.. to ninjas. And these guys can really fight too." She frowns, "They were clearly playing for keeps. The Hand. Another cult. Too many cults these days. Why is a cult seeking immortality hiring low level thugs to shake down businesses in the slums of Metropolis?"

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"Thanks," Daredevil says with a smile. "It's grown on me."

Indeed the Mockingbird remark might be a bit of a slip on on his part, having heard it not in the news but in his other identity from Daisy.

"Sounds like an interesting vacation," he offers with amusement and understanding, the sound of a man with similar priorities. Days off? What are those? "They definitely don't hesitate to kill, and they use cut outs like your muggers to keep their activities off the radar, but they fund their whole operation with crime, drugs, guns, assassination, whatever gets the job done as quietly and as effectively as possible."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi kneels down and looks over the uniform of one of the ninjas, then looks back up to Daredevil, "They don't look like Yakuza either. I've never heard of these guys before. I wonder if SHIELD has a file on them." She frowns, surprised she never learnt about them when she was living undercover in Japan. "I don't like it when the bad guys are that good at hiding, who knows what they're up to. Well, may be you know."

She pats her staves, "Nice sticks Daredevil. I met another double stick fighter in Metropolis. He goes by the name Nightwing. He's part of the Titans. You're.. with 'the defenders' right?," she says taking a stab that her memory on the subject is right. "The three of us should share notes on these guys and share fighting style notes. It's a rare thing to meet other fighters using double stick. Also.. thank you, I don't think that fight would have gone my way without your help - I owe you one."

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"Well they're very good at hiding, I've fought them off and on for years, and I only know what I do because I've met a couple of defectors. Though I know recently they've been working with a mole inside of Roxxon Energy. Wollingsly, they killed him when the Defenders," he nods, she was correct about that association. "And I raided one of their warehouses in Chinatown a couple of months ago. Tang Chen Shipping. You might have better luck running down that stuff than we've had. Oddly Roxxon isn't too open about potential rogue employees."

The name Nightwing gets a flash of recognition on his face, "Heard of him, works mostly out of Bludhaven right?" he'd done his research on the other heroes before he donned the mask. Nightwing had drawn his interest for obvious reasons. "I'm definitely up to meeting with you both and sharing tips and information," he says. "It's good to meet some fellow stick fighters. Got your phone on you? I can give you a number I can be reached at when it's time to meet." He says, if she does he dictates the number rather than punching it in himself, explaining, "Gloves," holding up the heavy fighting gloves he wears.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi dips a hand in to a thigh pocket with a small grunt of pain. She takes out a phone and a small plastic bag of sim chips and a battery. She opens up the back of the phone and looks at the different sims, "Work, Personal, Other Work, Other other work.. this one, fresh, I'll call this the Mockingbird sim." She smirks to Matt and slips it in, as well as the battery. The emergency battery system is disabled, it's a proper SHIELD burner phone.

Most importantly, she's not logging on to work, so Hill can't get upset at her for working. Once it's booted up, she offers her phone to him, "All you Daredevil." She sorts through her sims, "Aha, here you are," until she finds one with FBI written on it. The rest go back in to her pocket.

"I'll look in to Roxxon for you. I'll keep it off books for now, unless we find something disturbing. Then it goes in to the level 7 black hat box, which is where I get to feign risky operation parameters which works on everyone except the Director of SHIELD." Did she just admit she knows how to pull a fast one on Deputy Director Hill?

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"Seems you SHIELD agents come prepared," Daredevil offers as she works through her sim cards, before the number business is sorted and the phone is handed back and the card is taken, "Nice," he says slipping it into a little pouch on his belt without comment.

There's a knowing smirk at the SHIELD maneuvering. "Seems like SHIELD trained you in bureaucracy-fu as well as hand to hand and stick fighting." There is a nod of approval at that. "Anyhow, I should get out of here, let you call this in and do what you need to do, but I'll be looking forward to your call about the meet up," he says.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi nods her head to Daredevil and smiles, "Oh you have no idea. Thanks again. I will be in touch." She takes out her new Mockingbird setup and puts in another sim, "Perkins. I need you to quietly get a message to Simmons. MHmm. Yes the usual. Well I'm in Hells Kitchen and I have four unconscious ninjas... yes I said ninjas, don't interrupt. I need them interrogated without Hill finding out it was me.. so get my protege the mes.. no, you can't," she says.

Her voice easy to pick up by Daredevil when he leaves, even though she's being fairly quiet, "it's not believable that you'd catch four ninjas. Stop arguing or you don't get the usual... thank you. Tell Simmons they're part of a group called the Hand and I need the file on Roxxon Energy asap."