3090/Metropolis Date, Day two, An Adventurous Detour

Metropolis Date, Day two, An Adventurous Detour
Date of Scene:	25 August 2020
Location:	Suicide Slums New Troy Metropolis
Synopsis:	Adventure! Intergang! Explosions! ...We should not have gotten involved.
Cast of Characters:	Valeria Richards, Jason Todd

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Valeria Richards has posed:
"So this is the 'Suicide Slums'," Valeria notes as she walks down the dirty, graffiti ridden streets of Suicide Slums in New Troy. She still has that fake ID Jason had given her, though where they are heading... a bar just down the way... likely won't even ask. Her unstable molecule suit is back in her bracelets, as a member of the Fantastic Four, even a junior one, in this area would get some hard looks.

Instead she has changed back into the short jean shorts she had worn to the concert, along with a halter top backless tank in bright blue. She has a small purse with her thats shaped like a silver cartoon kitten face that has her essentials and thats it.

She actually did leave Jay's jacket back in the hotel room when she changed, mostly because as much as she enjoys wearing it, she enjoys being able to show off her outfit just as much. They only have one more night left in Metropolis so she intends to make the best of it.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason is basically wearing what he wore to Herowood, but he changed out his jeans for something cleaner, and got his boots polished by the guy in the hotel lobby. Since Val was going to stand out down here whatever she did he might as well look like a successful sort of scumbag, to make the other ones think twice.

"Yep," he says, "They talk a good game about it being worse than the Narrows but they're full of shit, it only seems that way out of contrast."

Though bad as the Narrows or not it was pretty bad. The last cop car they saw was two blocks back from traditional border of the slums, the last cab four, and he doubted any of the bus stops that dotted the sidewalks saw service after dark.

Just his kind of place. He could feel that thrill of adrenaline that came with dangerous surroundings, tempered by Val's presence and the knowledge it was going to be his ass if he got them into too much trouble.

Though at this point the bar loomed up ahead, neon sign flickering like a beacon above the sidewalk on the next block. The odds were good they'd make it without problem.

That's when the first sounds of bass reach them. Then lights turn the corner coming from a sedan far too fancy for the neighbourhood and two SUVs trailing behind, halogen lights announcing their presence along with the pounding of the bass of expensive stereos inside.

They couldn't have told the world any more clearly there were gangsters in those cars if they'd had their own neon signs like the bars.

As the cars roll past, grabs Val and pulls her into the shadows for a kiss as the cars roll by, before watching roll off past the bar, then turn towards what looks like a rundown factory.

Breaking the kiss Jason asks Val. "How much adventure are you looking for tonight?"

Valeria Richards has posed:
Val's eyes flutter a little-- the sudden and unexpected kiss with the slight nervous and yet excited thrum of everything in her for being somewhere //dangerous// (she may have talked a big game about coming to see Jason in Gotham but in truth she had never been south of Bristol) had her off-guard. "Mm? How much adventure can I get?" she teases, sliding her arms around his neck, almost pulling him into another kiss...

But then she sees the glint in his eyes and follows his gaze. "...mm. Your detective senses see something afoot there, Sherlock?" Her tone is a bit dry, but she doesn't pull away quite yet. "I can do adventure. Trouble, even." She steals a quick kiss then. "So what's the evil plan?"

Jason Todd has posed:
There's a moment of hesitation while Jason ponders whether exploring what Val had thought he'd meant would be more fun than seeing what the obvious gangsters were up to. As usual he wants it all. "Hold that thought," he says about what Val had meant, before he turns his attention to the facility the gangsters had pulled into. "Sneak around back, see what they're up to," he says, laying out his 'evil plan'. "Strictly recon," he says sounding less than sure of that fact even as he says it. "Sound good?" he asks Val, meeting her eyes.

Valeria Richards has posed:
"Sounds fun," Valeria agrees easily. "And easy enough, I'm sure." After all, some absolute morons were superheroes. She knows, she's met several at various social functions she's been dragged to as Mom and Dad's favorite girl child accessory. "I'll follow your lead," she says, then leans up for another kiss.

They would probably be better off if they went back to their hotel room for the rest of the night.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason returns that kiss then his face sets into something stern and business like. "Okay, we'll cross the street as normal walk up towards the building and duck into the alley behind it. Hopefully there should be a good vantage point to see what's going on."

Then with that he leads the way, crossing the street and walking with Val arm in arm until they come up to the corrugated aluminum of the building and the shadowy space that could generously be called an alley between it and the next building.

"This way," Jason says squeezing into the space between the buildings hearing broken glass and old needles crackle under his feet, he slows his pace, moving slowly, quietly, so much so that words from inside the shell of the factory can be heard.

"Bruno Manheim sends his regards," a cold businesslike voice can be heard to say. "Here are the samples, the rest are in the truck."

"Not bad," another less refined voice says. "My very own raygun. Check it out boys?"

As the men talk, Jason inches along until he finds a place where the aluminum of the building is torn along the ground a roughly triangular hole granting access inside.

Jason crouches down and peers through, "Okay, going to crawl through, follow me in five seconds, we'll meet by the rusted out, whatever that is, about ten feet inside. Okay?"

Valeria Richards has posed:
Val looks at the hole with some trepidation, but nods. Adventure. She peers through it to check what he is talking about. "That rusted thing," she replies, "is probably the housing for the gears that moved those conveyor belts." She looks back to him frowning. "Ray guns? Do they mean laser pulse weapons, heat combustion weapons, or something more exotic like theta radiation beam guns?"

Jason Todd has posed:
"Then yeah, the rusted gear housing," Jason says taking Val's word for it as for the guns, there's a shrug and a grin. "That's what we're here to find out."

Then without another word, Jason tucks and rolls through the hole coming up in a crouch on the inside of the factory, coming to a stop with his back to the gear housing. Rising and turning for a peek at what's going on beyond it and the conveyor belts it served. The layout was pretty standard another ten feet on the other side of the row of conveyor belts a cube van was parked with the back open, one man standing guard and that man was looking at the deal going on around the other side of the cube van, where the guys in the cars stood in a semi-circle around another man and two bodyguards.

Jason pauses a moment listening, by the snatches of conversation he could hear, they were in the negotiation phase, setting the price for the merchandise in the van. Jay settles back down, and beckons Val forward to join him at the gear housing.

Valeria Richards has posed:
Val frowns a bit, and slips through the hole though not nearly as... graceful as Jason had. Actually, her purse gets caught, and she pauses to uncatch it before crawling through, mentally cataloging the likely substances on the floor of the place with distaste. She scrambles over to him behind the gear housing, already peeking inside it through one of the rust holes to see how the gears inside are out of reflexive curiousity.

Jason Todd has posed:
Next mission? No purses. Jason notes watching with a bit of frustration as Val gets hers caught on the wall. When she joins him, he asks, "Can you see them through the housing?" he asks. "So, here's the plan, the guys we saw in the cars are trying to re-negotiate to show the sellers they're the big swinging dicks in this situation, it'll take awhile, I'm pretty sure the sellers are Intergang, they're not going to budge. Anyhow, I'm going to need you to stay here, while I go under the conveyors and take out the guard, then I'm going to help myself to a ray gun and you're going to figure out if we can use it or not, okay?"

Valeria Richards has posed:
"No, I can't see them through the housing, I'm looking at the gears. They seem to have minimal rust, so that's good at least." Priorities. "Intergang?" Valeria frowns some.

"Fine I can stay here," she agrees, though more because she sees where she can get the panel off. "And Ray gun is just such an overly broad term." She does nod to his plan though if not a little absently, still peeking into the housing.

Jason Todd has posed:
"An international gang, focus on selling tech to other criminals," Jason says, before he looks at Val and snaps his fingers. "Hey, focus on the mission okay, the gears will be alright."

He glances up over the housing and sees his opening. "Just stay put." Then he's rolling under the conveyors, he comes up running, the guard at the back of the cube van just catching sight of him before Jason's fist hits him in the temple and he's yanked back out of sight of the others for three more punches to the face putting him out.

Jason grabs his ray gun, some sort of rifle, and slings it on his back, then checks an open crate in the truck, pulling a futuristic looking pistol as well.

Jason sprints the ten feet to the conveyors before rolling again. Pretty much a perfectly executed stealth mission. He doubted Damian or Tim could have done it better or faster.

Valeria Richards has posed:
Valeria, however, already has a small omnitool pulled from her purse and is pulling the side panel off the housing.

Yes, this is an //essential// item she carries almost all the time. Like her phone, her compact, and her favorite lip gloss.

The panel makes a creaking sound as she pops it off, even as she is trying to do so quietly... rust and neglect can't be willed into silence. "Huh. You see that is interesting," she murmurs to herself as the top half of her body disappears into the housing. "That doesn't belong at all... what are you controlling, hmm?" Talking to components like she's back in her lab.

Jason Todd has posed:
That creak sounds as loud as a gunshot to Jason's ears, as he rolls up into a crouch and dives for the cover of the housing. "What are you doing? The gears aren't the mission, there's no telling if they heard that-"

"Gino, what was that noise?" calls the main Intergang negotiator.

There's silence before the man says to his bodyguards, "Go check it out."

Jason's eyes widen with frustration, just what they didn't need right now. "Val," he tosses her the pistol as he unsling the rifle. "Got five seconds, how big of an explosion would say about a hundred of those make if they went up?" he asks, checking over the weapon, keeping one eye over the housing now on the two guards walking towards the back of the van.

Valeria Richards has posed:
Valeria almost drops the pistol that's thrown to her, making a startled noise. "You shouldn't throw weapons of unknown provenance," she begins quietly, looking at the pistol first and then back inside the gear housing. She then crawls back inside the housing, getting a bit more grease and grime on her, though she's still got the laser pistol in hand.

She withdraws after a couple of grunting noises, fumbling with a medium sized black box with blinking lights on it. She taps it with the laser pistol. "First of all, this pistol is clearly one that shoots high-intensity laser beams, so if you are thinking of exploding them, it simply won't be that impressive," she snips. "Also, this is a very //inefficient// design on first glance. Really, these guys are paying way too much for this garbage. After a few good shots the crystals inside will totally crack," and she's already popped the pistol open, so to speak, revealing a small red focusing crystal for the laser. "Really, it's just low quality all around."

She puts the pistol down on the ground, ignoring the sounds of the searching goons while she tinkers with the omnitool on the side of the box. "This, however, seems to be an interesting device. It seems to be sending a continuous RF signal to what I assume are other devices in the area, and from the--" she makes another grunting noise, prying off the lid with some effort, "--oh yes, look, a timer." She frowns. "What is it counting down to?"

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason looks at Val with incredulity as she casually returns to looking into the gear casing instead of, okay, along with cracking open the pistol. "Damn it Val, what's so damn interesting about some old gears."

Then she produces the black box with the timer, and Jason's eyes widen with surprise. "A very bad day," Jason answers, knocking the box out of her hand, (probably not the smartest idea) before grabbing her arm and hauling her towards the hole in wall. "We've got to get out of here before this place blows," he says, using the laser one handed to expand the hole with an unsteady blast of energy leaving a wider if more jagged exit from the building.

It also draws attention, a shout of "Over there!" is followed by more laser blast lancing out towards them. Jay shoves Val ahead. "Get through the hole," as he turns to fire back.

Valeria Richards has posed:
Valeria lets out a squeak as she's shoved towards the now-slightly larger hole, diving through it very ungracefully while protesting about wanting to look at the black box in more detail. The sudden gun (laser) fire actually shakes her a fair bit though, and on the other side of the warehouse wall she looks hurriedly for somewhere to hide, or something, as the shouts of those inside grow louder and angrier.

Jason Todd has posed:
The other side of the wall is barren of cover only pressing to the detritus strewn ground or running for the street provides any sort of protection. All the more frightening as actual bullets start to fly as the would-be buyers join the fray.

A few seconds later, Jason dives through the hole barely avoiding hitting the wall. "We've got about ten more second," he warns, tossing down the rifle. "Also you're right about the crystals, they're crap." Clearly their only weapon isn't weaponing any longer. He nods for the end of the alley. "Go, and hit the ground as soon as you're out on the street." He just had to hope whoever set the bombs weren't waiting to ambush survivors.

Valeria Richards has posed:
Ballet flats and short denim shorts are NOT meant for this sort of adventure! Valeria's feet make fwap-fwap-fwap noises as she runs down the alley into the street. A car horn honks as the old Cadillac nearly collides with her, which only misses her by sheer luck. "What the fuck are you doing, girl?!" yells the driver before peeling off down the street. Heart pounding, she finishes crossing the street and sinks down against the wall of the building, shoving her omnitool into her purse finally. Oof! What's even happening?!

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason isn't too far behind Val, especially since he has nothing fire back with, he flips off the car as it rolls on past and when he reaches Val, he puts himself in front of her crouching low as...

BOOM

Their world becomes nothing but heat and sound for a moment, with shattered glass from the windows above raining down shortly afterwards.

Through the ringing aftermath, Jason's heavy breathing can be heard, and his voice, distant but audible beyond the ringing. "Val, are you okay?"

Valeria Richards has posed:
Valeria snuggles against him, not answering for a few moments. After the ringing slowly goes away (and people are beginning to filter out to see the damage), she finally nods. "I'm fine." She peers over his shoulder at the wreckage of the building. "...should I have shut that box down?" she asks softly, looking worried.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason don't move for awhile either, breathless with adrenaline rushing through his system. Also he was fairly sure he got a bit of the debris in his shoulder. Val's comments about the box earns a brief pause, should she have? He glances back at the building and breathes a little easier, "Looks like there was more than one, we'd have been in there when it blew."

Jason pushes off the wall to stand, then offers a hand to Val. "You okay to walk? We need to get back to the hotel."

Valeria Richards has posed:
She allows him to help her to her feet, nodding. "Yes. Back to the hotel." She practically glues herself to his side. "Are you okay?" She asks as they start moving.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason wraps a protective arm around Val as the make their way along the street weaving through the various locals who've come to watch the show. Nobody seems to take particular notice of them, but Jason keeps his head on a swivel all the same.

"Think something tagged my shoulder during the explosion, but," he flexes that arm, the one other than the one he has around Val. "I've had worse, I'll be fine." At least when he patches himself up back at the hotel anyhow. "Should have left all of that alone, not my city, don't know the players like I do in Gotham," he glances over to Val, grimacing, "Sorry."

Valeria Richards has posed:
Val shakes her head a little bit. "It's fine." She turns her head to try and look at his shoulder, but it's not easy. She stops and just is content to be led away, not saying anything else until they get back to the hotel.

She's obviously a lot more shaken than she's willing to admit. Maybe her mom wasn't entirely wrong about things. ...maybe.