8015/On the Hunt in Gotham City

On the Hunt in Gotham City
Date of Scene:	27 September 2021
Location:	Coventry - Miagani Island
Synopsis:	Spider-Man and the Huntress share information and build on a mutually-beneficial working relationship
Cast of Characters:	Peter Parker, Helena Bertinelli

---

Peter Parker has posed:
Gotham City was always going to seem like Transylvania-West to Peter Parker.
Granted, there were a LOT more places to swing from than in the Big Apple. Lots of gargoyles, sills, ledges, outcroppings, the whole shmeal. But it also had that dank Victorian Whitechapel feel, for most of the city.

And there were some criminals loose in the city that made Jack the Ripper look like an amateur.

The one identifying herself as "The Huntress" had sent a message requesting a meeting on her home turf. The roof of an apartment building called Coventry Gardens. Since the Spider-Comm update, it was easy to find.

However, due to two muggings and an attempted sexual assault, he was five minutes late. He hoped she wouldn't mind TOO much...

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
"Hey, I think that's Spider-Man," a teen kid says to his friend. "In Gotham? You're trippin. It's not Spider-Man," his pal tells him. They are both young kids smoking under the awning over the porch of the trashing apartment building, which looks under construction thanks to the "improvements" in Coventry, ignored in other parts of the city. They squint up into the air but Spider-Man swings by so quickly they can't be sure.

Huntress is already on the roof in her purple and black, standing in the shadows of a chimney on the roof. She looks up as Spider-Man swings in. She has her arms crossed and looks unhappy, but that's really her default mood. "You're late," she mutters to him. It is drizzling a little bit but it looks like she doesn't mind. She gives Spider-Man the smirk though.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey sounds pleasantly sheepish. "Sorry. I had to accost some pedestrians in passing. They're certainly a lot SHOOTIER in this city."

Yeah, he's in the doghouse, but he's been there so long, he installed cable and wireless Internet.

"I got here as soon as I could." He looked around. "No assistants tonight?"

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress hmms, "I don't really want to talk about it," she mutters, "They wanted to ambush you and try their hand at fighting Spiider-Man. I told them that...they have horrible ideas," she explains, "I'm really beginning to think training them was a bad idea."

She shifts in her stance and looks defensive at her appraisal of the situation, "I have some information for you. That's why I called. I guess I could have sent them to deliver it but I wanted to tell you myself."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man nods. "Well, my dance card is empty for the next four hours. Then I have to pay an informant a visit."

He holds up a finger, then taps something in the air and raises both hands in front of him as if he were at a standing desk. "I'm still working some bugs out of the speech-to-text plugin. Go ahead."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress frowns a bit and turns her neck to watch Spider-Man tap and hand wave in the air, "What the **** are you doing?" she wonders.

She waves the thought off and gives him the eye again, saying, "Okay, listen, The Gunsmith has taken up The Tinkerer's interests in New York Imports. See, I'm not sure if both of them work for the Kingpin or if they're both out for themselves---either way, this new guy likes guns. A lot. And he wants more of them to ruin neighborhoods like this one."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey nods, fingers diddy-bopping in midair, looking for all the world like typing on an invisible keyboard.

"Part of the Spider-Comm system I mentioned. If you can wear insert for mask lenses like me or prefer contact lenses, you can access the augmented-reality options for the system. Helps with navigation, communication...it's a pretty neat setup for a homebrew system." He glanced to Huntress. "You interested? It was originally for the Spider-types, but there's plenty of room for Honorary Spiders, and it would make arranging meetings like this easier."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress shakes her head, "I don't need a Spider-keyboard. Or a Spider-Hoverboard. I'm good with old school shit and stuff Oracle gives," she tells him and then asks, "Did you get what I said? The Gunsmith? New Guy? More imports from New York?" she asks him.

Huntress sighs a bit, "This neighborhood will be going to shit if we don't do something. And I'm not letting that happen. I'll break his legs too."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man nodded. "Got it. Gunsmith. Tinkerer interests in New York imports. Tinkerer is connected by at least three levels to the Kingpin, but he also freelances. Check for arms deals moving from New York to Gotham." He looks up. "Yep. Got it all. It does explain a couple of rumors. The amount of weapons traded has slackened the last few weeks. Maybe Tinkerer is stockpiling for this Gunsmith."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress crosses her arms again now that she knows Spider-Man heard her, "Hey I got an idea, how about you be ...a ...Huntress--ite ...a Hunterite--yeah there we go, you can be an honorary member of /my/ group," she tells him amusedly, sounding like she's just making details up on the spot.

"Do we need a New York rendezvous for these guys? Or to intercept the guns again?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man chuckles. "If you have your own network, I'd love to get plugged in. Communication between the criminals is improving. We have to do the same."

He ponders for a moment. "Might be better to get them in Gotham. Moving that kind of hardware across state lines makes it a federal beef, and would guarantee ATF got involved, and they play harder ball. Much less chance of Kingpin or the guy he's dealing with to get their resources back, and it'll pinch both of them."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress nods, "The group...said Gunsmith is /also/ hiding out in The Narrows," she tells him, "So I see why he's close to the Tinkerer. But this guy has crazy shit guns for every occassion. Maybe you should wear a bullet-proof vest," she tells him. She inclines her chin up slightly as she judges Spider-Man's size.

"What? Oh a network?" Huntress wonders, "The Group and I talk over a short range comm. That way the Hunters can talk to me. They need a fancyass nickname, maybe the Hunters," she muses.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey smiles slightly under the mask. "Maybe call them the Predators if you want to sound scary. Anyway, I have a pretty good defense system. It's called 'Not Getting Hit.'" He taps his skull. "Up here, I have an early-warning system. It was short range, but it's slowly spreading in radius. I call it my Spider-Sense. I can sense trouble before it happens. It's always on, and the warning time it gives me makes it almost precogitive awareness. Of course, I can get overwhelmed - five attacking at once with firearms is about the max I can handle - but if I control the combat area, I can maximize how effective I can be."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress nods like a student, "Spider-sense huh? It's a precognitive sense? Wow that /is/ useful," she notes, "Don't even need a crossbow huh?" she wonders amusedly.

"I'm sure we did some good work last time but it didn't stop them. The imports are going to keep coming," Huntress explains, "I wonder if we can stop his supply chain."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man sighs. "Good luck with that. They have multiple underworld courier services for this sort of thing, and in case it goes sideways, they only have to eliminate one, maybe two, to legally insulate themselves. BUT...hit them in the wallet to REALLY hurt them. Hitmen and thugs are cheap. Losing $25 million in cash, bonds, and gold? THAT is an OUCH they have a hard time recovering from. It isn't one or two battles...it's an extended campaign."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress puts her hands on her hips, "Seems like we're going to keep repeating ourselves otherwise," she tells him. "The Underworld? You're good at fighting the Underworld right?" she asks him, as if wondering what that actually means.

"Yeah well, maybe they were testing the waters last go around. There was nothing like 25 million in that truck we stopped," she explains.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man nods. "Yeah. Hammerhead, Silvermane, and the Kingpin probably have dart boards with my picture on them. I actually think I got to Level 3 Villain Recognition with Hammerhead. Level One is, 'Is that Spider-Man?' Level Two is 'Spider-Man!' And Level Three is simply, "...YOU!!" Definitely Level Three with Hammy."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress looks out at the sky and then glances back at Spider-Man as she comments, "The life of the party," she says, "The Gunsmith likes to build shit too---like the Tinkerer, but he gets his hands dirty so I'm sure it'll be interesting breaking his shit up. You know these guys got some insane plot going every time. Anyway, I'll bring the Group---the Predators," she notes, "Who are you bringing?" she wonders.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey looked thoughtful. "Depends on who's available, really. I mean, I could get Spider-Woman or Scarlet Spider, but with all the Honorables, it wouldn't be that much of a surprise if Superman showed up."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress frowns, "Superman? Why would he show up?" she comments as if she doesn't believe him.

"He's on your Spider-Network too?" she wonders.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey chuckled. "I know, right? I had to tell him about Spider-Comm operating in Metropolis, and he got interested. Supergirl and Wonder Woman both are Honoraries as well. I think Wonder Woman got the full rig, though. Heat vision melts contact lenses or mask lenses."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli nods to what he says, "Alright, well you can't contact me the same way next time," she tells him, "I think we'll be able to hit it pretty soon," she adds, "You're available right? You're not in school?" she wonders.

Peter Parker has posed:
"Uhmmmm..."
Spidey looks a little bashful. "Yeah, I kinda have classes, but they are set up in the morning. They tend to do these deals behind closed doors and don't usually stick to bankers' hours. Worse comes to worst...I can handle missing a class for a good cause."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress sounds like she's digging into Spider-Man's personal life but that's only because she's a teacher and she says, "Just don't miss too much school," the comments. "I'm sure we'll need to sneak in there late like last time," she explains, "Guess I'll be going then," she adds.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man nods. "I promise. Besides, I tend to stay ahead of the curriculum for this sort of thing. A syllabus can be a lifesaver for a guy like me."

He pauses, then says, "...Thanks for the info, by the way. If we can get ahead of these crooks, then trying to run stuff between cities will be a lose-lose for them. Guaranteed."