3428/The Owl Takes Flight

The Owl Takes Flight
Date of Scene:	19 September 2020
Location:	Don's Bodega, Bensonhurst, Brooklynn
Synopsis:	Donnie and Mikey meet The Owl, and add another Rogue to their Rogues Gallery.
Cast of Characters:	Leland Owlsley, Donatello, Michelangelo

---

Leland Owlsley has posed:
To say that The Owl was in a bad mood was a understatement. In the past month or so two of his "projects" had been disrupted by heroes. First, the O'Riley' Twins reported in the latest earnings call that their warehouse in Bludhaven was raided by some of the Bat's sidekicks, which set the Parliament expansion into Gotham back by months. Then, those fools at the Weeping Widows got another hero on their backs when they tried to burn down a store, bringing the police down on their "Club" even more. The only upside to these months were the progress The Asura's were making in their black market deals. Not only had they managed to gain a stronghold in Brooklynn in the form of half of Bensonhurst, but they managed to tap into a new black market, the sale of boosted bikes. True, this wasn't as large as the business shark had been hoping. But, anything that profit to The Parliament, and to him was good in his book. Besides, Rajit and his Father in India had been more than gracious to him ever since they agreed to join The Parliment, with Rajit himself proving himself professional in the Parliament's board meetings.

Tonight, The Owl himself was visitng one of the covers for the now lucrative bike theft ring, Don's Bodega. The place used to be some sort of multi-room general store back in the day, but was now sitting abandoned, the perfect place for criminals to settle in at. Owl, of course, was actually Leland Owlsley, the infamous Wall Street shark, so he had to make sure his face was never seen associating with these various criminal factions. As a result, he was currently wearing a rather expensive masquerade mask shaped like a Owl's face. His long, brown hair was clearly visible and almost resembled an Owl's head feather's as he waddled around the now bustling bike chop shop, accompanied by two Asura gangers, one of them a tall, Caucasian young man wearing blue jeans and a black t-shirt with the image of a horrific Hindu demon on it. The second ganger was a Indian man wearing the same clothing. As they walked through the shop, Leland turned to one of the men and said,

"You are doing surprsingly well for such a low-level racket, The Owl is pleased. Tell Rajit he will be getting a bonus." One of the gangers grinned widely, not knowing what was about to come.

Meanwhile, a scream of horror echoes through the streets of Bensonhurst, followed by the sounds of a struggle.

Donatello has posed:
    For much of the afternoon and early evening, intense calculations were being done in the sewers of Brooklyn. Intense heat and computer fan noise eventually came to a loud crescendo in the form of a dot matrix printer coming to life and slowly churning out a result. The MIYAGI AI was tasked to continue its search for the whereabouts of Dominic Dominic -- aka Dom the Bomb -- a notorious exotic animal smuggler, and finally had some results to show for it. Its creator, the mutant turtle known as DONATELLO, tore off the sheet. "Mikey!" he called out. "Miyagi got a lead on Dom the Bomb! I wanna check it out!" Without waiting, the normally cautious turtle had already started fastening his purple eye mask and tucking his bo staff under the strap across his shell. Finding this scumbag was all Donnie had been talking about this week, even if he never told his brother why.

    And so, that is how a pair of humanoid, mutant turtles found themselves on the Brooklyn rooftops, leaping from building to building in an effort to get to Don the Bomb's last known whereabouts. Donatello leads the way, following the directions on the dot matrix printout gripped tightly in one of his hands!

    "Just another block, Mikey!" Donnie calls out. He seems much more intent to get there than he normally might on one of their patrols. The turtle stops at the edge of a brown, brick building next to their destination. He crouches behind one of the half-walls on its roof and waits for his brother to catch up to get the first look...

Michelangelo has posed:
It's //damn good// to be out of the Lair! That place gets real stuffy sometimes, and despite the high ceilings and spacious lounging areas, it can feel legitimately claustrophobic. So when Don suggested that the pair leave and go on some sort of patrol? Mikey was in. SO in. "Don't need to tell me twice, dude. I'm in!" See? He's in. He was in the middle of a video game, but such things can be paused for situations like this. With his orange bandana secured, he leaps up to arm himself with his own trademark weapons. Smoke bombs, shuriken, but above all? Nunchucks.

"So what's up with you and this guy anyway?" Michelangelo offers in the way of conversation as they rooftop hop, the baby brother of the quartet only a meter or so behind the genius of the family. "Don't think I've seen you this riled up about something since... well, I can't even remember the last thing that got you this pumped."

Landing with a neat sounding noise behind Donatello, Michelangelo takes his breath. Baby blue eyes from behind the mask take in the scene, before his head tilts a little bit. "Pssst, Donnie. Does that sign... say... Don?" There's an awkward pause. "The dude we're after is Dom, right?" Just to make that clear. Any subsequent jokes about the situation are put on hold though, given the scream of horror that then echoes through the streets. "Maybe we're in the right place after all! Happy accidents!"

Leland Owlsley has posed:
The sound of cursing and footsteps gets closer and closer to Don's, accompanied by the sounds of what sounds like a bike. Suddenly a young woman comes into view, being closely chased by a large, bald, man wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans. Suddenly, the man catches up to the woman and roughly pulls her off of her bike. While the woman is down, the man delivers a few kicks to her gut, and a rather nasty looking punch to her face before getting on her bike and riding off, turning into the alley near Don's. Meanwhile, the young woman is lying on the sidewalk, seemingly motionless.

Donatello has posed:
    It's true, Donatello hadn't been this engaged in bringing pain to an enemy in some time, but pumped might not be the right word for it. Dirty deeds would be done if they found their mark and Donatello was certainly not pumped to do it. As he settles in behind the half-wall, Donatello turns his head to watch Michelangelo fall in behind him. "He hurt Kai," Donnie explains. It actually doesn't explain the situation too well, but it's a fact.

    When Mikey asks about the sign, Donatello darts his eyes to watch his brother. Dom. Don. Dom. Don. Donatello's brow rises, suddenly, and he quickly unfolds the paper in his hands. He stares at it for a couple of seconds before peering over the half-wall and at the bodega's sign. DON'S BODEGA.

    "Miyagi!" Donatello hisses, crumbling the paper into a tight ball. His brow forms a harsh line, giving off a truly Raphael kind of vibe. But then, the scream. Donnie glances at Michelangelo and gives a shrug. "Yeah," he mutters. "Real happy sounding. C'mon."

    Donnie reaches back and unstraps his bo. With a nod to his brother, the turtle silently leaps down into the shadowy alley -- ready to ruin this bike thief's night. For now, though, he's content to wait in the darkness for his brother.

Michelangelo has posed:
"Oooooh, right." Mikey drawls in response. "...so are you two like, a thinngg now, or what's going on there?" Woop! No time to respond, for they're down and launching into the action.

Stealthing down the side of the building in the shadows is no problem. What //is// the problem though is how to best decide on what to do from here. "You go after the biker dude, bro. I'll make sure the girl is alright. I'm way cuter than you, so she won't freak out as much. Heh heh heh." Before anything can be said or protested, the orange-themed turtle is off towards the female that had been ripped off her bike and badly beaten. This does bring him into the light just briefly, but he's quick to try and scoop up the felled woman and bring her back into the shadow of the alleyway. If successful, he'll snap his fingers a bit while examining the damage. "Hey, hey. Woman person. You okay?" Whisper whisper.

Leland Owlsley has posed:
The bald bike thief does not notice the two giant turtle and pushes the bike towards a metal door in the side of the building. The man grunted and knocked on the door three times, but the knocks came within 5 seconds of each other, perhaps a code of some sort? The door opens and a voice with a Indian accent laughs out while saying,

"Dude! Is that a Stingray 2000? That's worth a fortune!"

The door opened and the sounds of heavy metal filled the air as the bike thief pushed the bike in. Meanwhile, the woman seemingly wakes up after being carried into the alley. She does not see Mikey's features in the shadows, so she does not immediately scream and flee. She groans slightly and says,

"I think I will be fine. But that man stole my bike!"

Donatello has posed:
    Mikey's drawl brings a sudden look of concern from Donatello. "Wait, who told you that?" he whispers. "Was it Raph?" But, it's true -- the time for Mikey to reply would come in a bit, because there's business to be had tonight.

    Normally, it might have been better to let the turtle with the medical expertise to tend to the wounded, but in this case, it worked out. Three knocks. Five seconds. Donatello watches from the shadows, only emerging once the door has shut.

    Donatello stands up and walks to the corner of the alley, peering out to watch Mikey tend to the woman. "Hey, Mikey," he whispers, bringing a hand to his mouth to project his voice. Without waiting, Donnie returns to the door and delivers the secret knock. Before the door has a chance to open, Donnie steps to the side and presses his shell against the wall -- anyone opening the door wouldn't see him standing next to it, holding his bo at the ready.

Michelangelo has posed:
"We'll get the bike back for you, girl." Michelangelo replies in a comforting, somewhat saucy tone. He does enjoy playing the hero. "You just stay here, huh? Let Mikey save the day!" And with that, he bails out of the area with a neat flip, disappearing further into the shadows. Now to catch up with his brother, who hopefully hadn't gone and done anything TOO crazy.

"Let's just rip in and kick some serious shell! These guys are bums!" Doubtless excited by the prospect of kicking some butt, Donatello's fortunate presence and cooler head prevails as he knocks on the door and then takes cover. "Let's do the pincer strat, dude. You come in from this way. I'll do up a distraction so that when you knock this guy out, not everyone will come rushing for you. Then you can sneak in and get the the girls bike back." And just like that he's slinking off again, sticking to the shadows as he scouts another door. Perhaps even the front door.

Leland Owlsley has posed:
The second Donnie does the knock a pair of footsteps is heard approaching the door. The door opens, and a heavy set Indian man wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans peers out. The man appeared to have ear-buds blazing very loud heavy metal, which was audible as he turned his head around looking for whoever knocked. Suddenly, he steps out, pulling what looked like a pistol out of his waistband.

Meanwhile, Mikey's scouting proves successful when he finds another door at the end of the alley, this one being being the cargo bay. However, the sound of spray pain fills the air. If you were to take a peak you would see a tall, Caucasian man wearing a black beanie, a black t-shirt, and blue jeans spraying graffiti on the wall. The graffiti appeared to be a drawing of a horrific looking Asian demon strangling what looked like a Purple Dragon. It's quite obvious that whoever these guys were had a thing against The Purple Dragons.

Donatello has posed:
    As the footsteps grow louder, Donatello grips his bo staff tightly. He gives Michelangelo a nod, managing a faint smile in response to his enthusiasm. But then -- he realizes. It's just him and Mikey. If anything happened to the younger brother, it would be Donnie's shell! If anything didn't go by numbers, or if they were seen or reported...Leo would never let him hear the end of it. Donnie squints and lowers a hand to his canvas belt to retrieve a throwing star.

    When the door swings open, Donatello flicks his wrist suddenly, sending a throwing star to take out the alley's street light. Expecting the sudden darkness, Donatello is free to suddenly swing his heavy bo staff at the metal fan's forearm -- an attempt to disarm him, or even send him to the hospital this evening.

Michelangelo has posed:
"Cool art, dude." Michelangelo comments. "Can I get you to paint my van? Sort of needs the touch of a pro." The turtle had snuck up on the black beanie wearing caucasian with gleeful intent. The moment he turns around, a hard PUNCH is set right into the nose of the spray painting goon, hoping to knock him clean out. If all it does is knock him off balance, then an immediate follow-up will take place to try and get the guy in some sort of sleeper hold, thus rendering him unconscious through more subtle means. He was pretty good at doing the ninja thing when he had to.

Leland Owlsley has posed:
The Beanie wearing goon only has enough time to turn around with a look of shock before suddenly getting punched in the face. The man grips his face in pain and suddenly falls off the concrete platform he was standing on and crashes down into a group of metal trash cans, causing a loud clatter and knocking the man out. Meanwhile, the heavy man lets out a surprised gasp when the lights go out, and lets out a cry of pain when his arm is hit with the staff. However, he appeared to still be in the fight when he suddenly takes a swing in Donnie's direction with one of his meaty fists.

Donatello has posed:
    Strength without poise does not --- No. Brute force without a guiding light cannot illuminate a --- No. There was a lesson from Master Splinter floating around in Donatello's mind, but he can't latch onto it. Something about how brute force is no match for a mind at peace. But, Donnie's mind is not at peace. It's clouded. He was warned about this.

    The meaty punch comes barreling in and cracks the turtle right in the plastron. He lurches forward, the wind briefly taken out of him. His recovery happens quickly, though, and the bo staff is swung in an uppercut at the street toughs's jaw -- a shot meant to incapacitate.

Michelangelo has posed:
"Yeeted." Michelangelo comments with a grin as the man he had targeted not only fell, but fell into a collection of TRASH CANS! Loud ones, too. Was that enough of a distraction for Donatello though? Maybe... but maybe he needed just a bit more. Eyeballing a nearby truck, likely used for cargo runs given the area he's in, the orange-branded turtle steeples his fingers together in an innocent manner. "Now, Mikey..." He starts. "...what would Leo do?" Thinking up a mental version of his oldest brother, Michelangelo frowns. It's probably not the answer he was looking for. "...but what would //Raph// do..." A mental version of Raphael appears at his side, giving him the all clear. "...sick."

Moving forward, Michelangelo jumps forward to hop into truck. Searching around the glovebox, he miraculously finds the keys to the ignition. Licking his lips in excitement, the turtle turns the ignition over to spring the truck into life. The engine roars in obedience as Michelangelo puts his foot down on the clutch, before into first gear. Then? Foot to the floor! The truck lurches forward at a sudden pace, headed straight for the cargo doors. The intention? Not crash INTO the side of the building, but to crash //through// the cargo bay doors and into the interior, thereby drawing ALL the attention to himself.

Leland Owlsley has posed:
The street tough takes the uppercut so hard his head tilts back violently from the impact. He then collapses onto the ground, unconscious and groaning in pain, leaving the door open for Donnie to sneak into the building.

Meanwhile, Owl was just about to leave the building when a very loud, and very violent crash came from the back of the store. The Owl snarled in anger and shouted,

"What was that noise!? You imbeciles check it out, I'll stay right here!"

The sounds of footsteps and swears filled the air as most of the gangers rushed towards the cargo bay. Meanwhile The Owl stood in the center of the store, two gangers with him acting as bodyguards, his green Overcoat seemed to billow in the breeze coming from a broken window and his Owl mask showing no emotion. But in reality, the Owl was furious and ready to tear apart whoever dared meddle in his affairs.

Donatello has posed:
    And sneak he does! Donatello, one of the brothers who dared meddle in the evening's affairs, moves silently into the back room of the store, finding very little in the way of opposition. He takes it slow, advancing with light feet. His silence is suddenly interrupted by some of the loudest ninja-work he'd ever heard. Donatello's head turns suddenly in the direction of the crash. Michelangelo...

    Shaking his head, Donnie creeps around the corner of the back hallway to finally get a good look at the star of the show: Owl, along with his two bodyguards. Donnie is the smart one, but it doesn't take a genius to realize that three against one is bad odds. But then again, Mikey's out there dealing with who knows how many?

    Donatello lets out a small tuft of air before he continues his silent ninja-like walk, readying his bo by gripping it tightly in his two hands. Maybe he can even the odds, a little bit? His vast experience in these matters make Donnie realize that the bodyguards usually go down a bit easier, so that's where he goes first. From his quiet spot, just a foot or two behind the Owl and his two guards, Donatello swings his bo staff at the back of one of the bodyguard's heads! It's the last moment of quiet before the showdown. It's also the last moment of Owl's former life -- the one where mutant turtles didn't live in New York City.

Michelangelo has posed:
"COWWAAAA-/BUNGGGAAAAA/!" Michelangelo cries as he grips the wheel tightly, jolting around in his seat violently as he ploughs through the building. He didn't really think such an action through though, as his head slams against the steering wheel when he was thrown forward due to the sudden shift in momentum. Always wear seatbelts, kids. "Ow..." He murmurs, lifting a hand to his head as he rouses from his brief state of unconsciousness. As his vision starts to clear up before him, he can see the gangsters that The Owl had sent to investigate start to converge. "It worked!" he cries in delight, before gulping. "...oh damn. I gotta get outta here!" throwing the truck into reverse, Michelangelo starts to back the vehicle out. The entire truck 'beeps' loudly as it reverses, slowly, out of the establishment and back out into the cargo bay and beyond, leading the gangsters on a merry chase.

Leland Owlsley has posed:
The Bodyguard suddenly goes down with a heavy thud, screaming in pain as he does. The two other men turn around suddenly, and Donnie gets a good look at Owl. The Owl was a slightly chubby man of average height wearing a large, almost baggy green overcoat, green paints, and a brown tie. His wild,long brown hair almost resembling a Owl's feathers as the Brown and White Owl mask hid his features. However, his emotions were heard through an almost animalistic snarl as he turns around, along with the bodyguard. The two men appeared shocked for a minute upon seeing the giant turtle before them, but Owl quickly gets over it and says,

"I don't know what you are freak! But, you've made a fatal mistake interfering with the Parliament's business tonight. Now, you will die!"

As he says this, The Owl flex his fingers, revealing metallic talons that slide up from under his sleeve and onto his fingers. He suddenly leaps towards Donnie in a surprisingly athletic move, swiping at him with his talons while the second bodyguard pulls out a switchblade and starts to rush at Donnie.

Donatello has posed:
    CRACK. As the bodyguard goes down, Donnie takes a quick step backwards to get a little more room for the other two. When the Owl spins around, Donatello gives his own look of surprise, then squints his eyes for a moment. The turtles didn't really encounter the costumed villains too much -- their group was more ninja warriors and common street thugs. This was new. Though, something deep inside Donatello, perhaps a remnant of his old life, reminds him to be cautious of owls.

    "Is it really a Parliament if it's just you, though?" Donatello wonders aloud, riffing on the term as it refers to a group of owls.

    No time for repartee! Donatello has a switchblade and a set of mechanical talons to deal with, here. The ninja quickly makes a lifesaving move. As the switchblade comes towards him, Donnie moves his bo into a defensive stance to block, but this leaves him wide open for the talon. It would seem that even mutant turtles bleed red, as the swipe cuts across one of Donatello's biceps, leaving a set of deep red cuts and a spray of blood onto the tile floor.

    The sudden pain causes a hiss from the ninja, who quickly responds by doing two quick jabs with his bo staff -- one end meant for the bodyguard and the other meant for Owl!

Leland Owlsley has posed:
The Owl lets out a triumphant laugh as he manages to scratch the Turtle's arm, getting blood on his talons in the process. However, he is not prepared for the jab to both him and bodyguard. Leland is hit hard in the gut and stumbles back a bit, while the goon is hit on the head and, like a pile of kindling, collapses onto the ground. Leland then snarls again as he says,

"He might've been weak enough to be taken out by that staff, but The Owl is more that capable of killing you himself."

Suddenly, he leaps up into the air and does a surprisingly athletic karate kick in your direction.

Donatello has posed:
    And then there were two. With the odds evened out a bit, Donatello spins his bo in a little flourish as he squares off against Owl!

    "The Owl really likes referring to himself in the third person, doesn't he?" Donatello quips. But, there's no time to laugh, because it would seem that Owl has had some training in martial arts!

    Donatello was not expecting the Owl's sudden display of proper karate form and was taken completely off guard! With no time to 'paint the fence', Donatello receives a swift kick to the side, where his shell and plastron meet.

    The turtle lets out an "Ooof!" as he slams into a nearby merchandise shelf, causing a few items to come spilling down. Taking a deep breath, he jumps up onto his feet. "It looks like The Owl knows some karate," he adds, pronouncing ka-rah-tay the Japanese way.

    Donatello lowers himself into an athletic stance, bending his knees and staying loose and ready. He looks like he might be readying himself to defend against Owl's next strike, but instead...

    ...Donnie lunges forward with some martial arts of his own! The turtle starts a series of jabs and punches, fully ready to keep the pressure on.

Leland Owlsley has posed:
The Owl was about to attack, when he suddenly finds himself under attack himself. He tries his best to defend himself, but the blasted turtle manages to land a few hits on him. He suddenly stumbles back, gripping his chest and gut in pain. He snarls at Donnie again and suddenly up his mask a bit, revealing his mouth. He then pulls out a whistle from his overcoat and blows very hard into it. Suddenly, the sounds of wings flapping fill the air as two owls fly in and immediately swoop down at Donnie, trying to attack him.

While this is happening, Owl rushes up to Donnie and jumps up into the air again ans starts hurtling towards Donnie, moving his talons in a slashing motion as he did.

Donatello has posed:
    As the owls come swarming in, Donatello readies his bo staff. "Well, there's the parliament, I guess!" Donnie calls out, sounding a little worried. Where the heck is Mikey? Donnie starts swinging his staff, trying his best to deter the birds as best as he can. It seems to be going okay -- no pecks, no scratches -- but one of the birds manages to take hold of one of the straps from Donnie's eye mask. The turtle jabs his staff at the offending bird, but suddenly he finds a much larger, and deadlier, Owl coming for him with his talons!

    Donatello is surrounded, more or less. He has a bird tugging at his eye mask. He has another making repeated attempts to swoop down on him, and now the Owl coming for him on the ground. Quick decision time! Donatello swings around so that his hard, armored shell is there to take the brunt of Owl's slash. The talons might add an additional scrape against that shell, perhaps even create a chip in the outer layer, but it's not going to break or rupture. The attack does send Donatello hurdling forward and onto the ground.

    The turtle quickly parlays the sudden fall into a tuck-and-roll, springing back to his feet, now free of the bird tugging at his eye mask. Donnie spins to face the Owl once more. As one of the pet birds comes swooping in for another attack, Donnie quickly jabs with a swift attack from his bo!

Leland Owlsley has posed:
The Talons scrape across the shell making a loud, almost nauseating scrapping noise as it does, leaving big, wicked looking scrape marks and what looks like a small chip. Leland looks on in shock at the shell and suddenly says,

"Impossible! These Talons are supposed to cut through anything!"

Before he can do another attack however, The Owl hears police sirens in the distance. He snarls and looks at Donnie, the eye holes in the mask revealing a look of pure hatred as he says with venom,

"You are lucky the police are coming or I would've finished you here! But, don' get too comfortable, I might not have gotten you tonight, but you have made a powerful enemy tonight, and The Parliament will not rest until you are dead and everything you care about is in ruins!"

The Owl then turns and flees into the shadows, his coat billowing in the wind as he does.

Donatello has posed:
    The scrape of blades against the shell is a sound all too familiar with Donnie. He barely winces. As the sirens become louder, Donatello also shows a touch of worry. He's not exactly the sort of thing the police would react well to once they get on the scene. Still, the ridiculousness of the situation is not lost on the young turtle.

    "So, this Parliament...That's them, right?" he asks, gesturing to the pet owls that have seemingly called off their attacks. Well trained birds, those are. It's clear that the teen is trying to get under Owl's skin a little bit.

    But, then Owl promises to bring death and ruin to everything he cares about. There seems to be a lot of that lately. As the sirens grow louder, Donnie slips into the shadows of the rear hallway and back into the night. It would seem that the turtles have earned another enemy.