8926/How delicate is a canary

How delicate is a canary
Date of Scene:	03 December 2021
Location:	The Glades
Synopsis:	Red Arrow has a meticulous, cunning plan to capture some thugs. But then the Canary drops in.
Cast of Characters:	Thea Queen, Dinah Lance

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Thea Queen has posed:
Returning to 'normality' after dealing with certain supernatural elements which had even included a trip to Egypt had come easier than Thea expected. If one can call normal being up on a rooftop building at 2AM, dressed in black and red leathers just across from an old factory building where a drug deal is going on.

Better that than finding some peace at the bottom of a bottle though.

But now here she was, perhaps hardened by all the experiences she had gone through and those she had met, even Asgardians. It also made her realize how frail she was, being human and all. Which meant this operation had been crafted to precise detail. The wire tiping, the nights spent following the gangs, realizing their routines. Knowing their numbers, the deals. She was rather proud of herself. And tonight, it was when things were coming down.

She knew they would be here tonight, making a deal with another Glades' gang for a piece of the pie that was the drug business in Starling City. And so she had prepared the place for visits. She would cut the power, put them in the dark and then move in with infrared goggles, taking them out one by one.

What could go wrong with this plan?

Dinah Lance has posed:
The link from Gotham to Starling was tenuous, and given Dinah's resistance to using tech, it took a lot of bootwork.

Not legwork. Though legs were involved. Boots to the face, chiefly.

Powering her way through the supply chain, she found out who was responsible for the sudden rise in production for exports. And it all pointed to Carlos "Fandango" Cortez. In Starling.

A bit more surveillance as the blonde bimbo Dinah using the guise of checking out flower wholesalers led to this night, and this place. And tonight she was going to disrupt their operations with a message: stay out of Gotham.

Tracking Fandango to the place the deal was going down, she waited enough time to ensure all the major players were there.

Then...

The first hint of trouble came to the people inside the building when a motorcycle engine, running at redline, approached at high speed. Dinah, having spotted several avenues for ingress, chose the one likeliest to cause shock and awe.

First a little curb-jump onto the back of a '70s sedan, shaped like a wedge as they were wont to do from behind. Then tearing up the sedan at full speed to catch air and sail over the wire fence and its barbed wire top. On the other side hit the entrance ramp at a diagonal and grab air again, crashing the bike through a window.

Inside the building the first hint of real danger is when a redlining bike smashes its way in, its rider spilling deliberately, sending the motorbike off as a ballistic missile while she slid across the floor, jumping to her feet at the last second in a thicket of thugs.

Puglism begins. It doesn't end.

Thea Queen has posed:
There. They are all together. Excellent! And now, it was time to start the music, like a perfectly crafted orchestra about to play one of the classics. The 'Ride of the Valkyries'? Maybe that would be proper. Hand reaches for the remote to blow up the lights and--

Pause as Thea hears a bike at high speed tearing through. Certainly not her brother as she was -sure- he was out of the city tonight. And so was Diggle. This was her op!

But now there's an upstart putting her fingers in her soup. So rude... Not that she couldn't help but notice the savage way in which the Canary tears through into the building and starts dishing punishment. And with it being a vigilante it also made it so she was going to have to improvise. No shutting down the lights as it could prove deadly to Black Canary. So it was time to join the fray.

Arrows fly through the air, through that window Dinah got through. Some of smoke to cover her way in from any stray shots and a last one with a rappel line attached. A moment later and Thea is coming through, falling upon the thugs with a knee and starting to dish out punishment as well. Not with her fists, but with bow and sword!

"And there goes my perfectly crafted plan!" she says in ways of complaint to the other vigilante when they are brought closer together by rather tenacious, determined thugs!

Dinah Lance has posed:
She caught the first arrows from the corner of her eye. The smoke ones. ~Ah. Green Arrow. I'm in his turf that mak...~

Then Thea slides through, whinging.

"Hey, you didn't put up a sign or anything! How was I supposed to know?"

Calling ahead is a thing Dinah...

"Anyway, improv is more fun, don't you thINK!"

The volume and pitch of her voice rise on that final word as she desperately throws herself down to the ground as a gun-wielding gunsel looms out of the smoke almost with a bead on her. The bullet lands so close that a shard of concrete near her face flies off and cuts her cheek.

Scissor kicks in succession from ankle to knee solve that problem temporarily, followed by the backward elbow to the neck as the thug hits the ground. He's going to be busy relearning how to breath, giving Dinah time to get to her feet in a showy backward jump/flip.

"Name's Black Canary, incidentally. From Gotham-ways. I assume you're with the Green Arrow dude that came into my town?"

It's amazing how seasoned vigilantes can hold conversations mid-fight, right? Or, for the thugs, annoying.

"SOMEONE SHUT THOSE TWO RIGHT UP!"

That would be one of them now, in fact.

Thea Queen has posed:
"I am sure the Green Arrow will have your number." Is that a sarcastic tone in her voice? Is Thea implying good ol' Green Arrow knows all good-looking blonde vigilantes numbers? But whatever else she was going to say next is drowned as Thea also has to dodge out of the way of a thug emerging from the smoke. Nothing a good kick between the legs doesn't solve. Quick and efficient. And then a blow on the temple with the side of her bow does the rest.

She will admit this is sort of fun. Maybe funnier than her original plan! Not that she will ever admit it to this hot rod!

"I am the Red Arrow. From, well, here." Are all the arrows color coded? "And yea, I know the Green Arrow dude." now she's amused. And it now proves he most likely has Dinah's number too! See how these things go?

Big mistake on telling those two to shut up though. Thea immediately turns to the sound of that voice and unleashes an arrow. An arrow that breaks into a net flying at high speed. A quick cry, followed by a muffled sound is telling that it worked, the shouting guy now fully pinned to the wall inside a net. Trick arrows are always fun.

"We are trying to have a conversation here. Do you mind?"

Dinah Lance has posed:
"Is it just me..." Canary pauses to duck, roll, and kick, popping up like a demented weeble as her foe falls back into the gun arm of another who was getting a bead. The shot goes wide. Way wide. "...or are gunsels and thugs just getting less and less class over time? Was once a time they'd let a couple of nice ladies chat."

She looks across at Red Arrow with a grin that freezes as her face turns more worried. "Behin..."

Ah, never mind. Instead of shouting warnings, just ...

The sound energy can be SEEN in the smoke, projecting from her mouth, leaving standing waves in the thick cover, to strike at the person behind. The person who screams, covering his ears, giving Thea plenty of time to turn around and strike if she so chooses.

Assuming that being even outside the main target of the Cry doesn't stun her. But she's tough, right?...

Thea Queen has posed:
"Oh, I had realized the same. There's one good thing though, many of them like to sideway shoot their guns. It's amazing how much they miss." And Thea's body certainly was thankful for that, because even if her suit is somewhat bulletproof those things still hurt like heck! She is still using her bow now, seamlessly shifting it from melee to ranged as occasion calls for it. An arrow shoot to one, a sticking to the nethers on another.

The look on Dinah's face perks her to attention, she blinking at the shout being projected and then immediately starting to shift about to the assailant behind her... Until that blast catches her on the edges. She doesn't fall at least but she seems to be struggling, staggering back and then tossing herself away from the waves. In mid-flight she hooks an arrow to her bow and shoots it to the man, the arrow 'exploding' into a red goo that covers him up and keeps him sticked to the ground. Eewwww!

"That's some powerful voice right there.." She hisses, lying on the floor a moment.

Dinah Lance has posed:
"Sorry 'bout that!" Canary calls across to Thea. "If I paused to warn you, he'd have had that pig sticker in you."

There's a short pause in the conversation as Canary finds her hands full with a trio of thugs who've figured out their only chance lies in numbers. It's not much of a chance, but time spent dealing with Thea's attacker has put her on the defensive and she's backing up to keep the trio in front of her ... just in time to step into a pile of boxes.

Really these people. Running an operation without any regard for safety regulations and protocols. What kind of idiot stacks up boxes of ball bearings?

The kind of idiot that thinks continuing to fight in the face of two celebrated costumed vigilantes is a wise idea.

The stack of boxes is knocked over by Dinah, half of them falling down on her, taking her to ground, a situation that would be a massive problem were it not for the fact that the other half fell to the ground directly, splitting wide open and now spreading ball bearings in a massive wave across the floor. The trio she was battling have two go down almost immediately in the suddenly changed footing. The third does a comic routine, practically, like straight out of Laurel and Hardy, before going down. Hard.

Dinah for her part is just struggling to get out from under some very heavy boxes.

Thea Queen has posed:
With the thugs going for a dancing routine over those ball bearings it gives Thea time to get up to her feet, a tap on the side of her head to see if her ears are still there. All good apparently! And being the honorable vigilante that she is she goes over to those fallen vigilantes by the ball bearings and knocks them out. No mercy! And not that honorable at that either...

And it's as if they were mind reading each other because Thea then says when she approaches the crates Dinah was in, "Must be some real dumbasses to be stacking up boxes of ball bearings.." she reaches to help get some boxes out of the way from where Dinah is and extends one hand over to her.

"These guys are giving Starling thugs a bad name." A faint smirk playing under the domino mask. If Dinah takes the hand she will help pull her out. "Come on. No time to rest. Fandango is most likely still around." apparently they are after the same thug boss!

Dinah Lance has posed:
"Rest my ass!" Canary says with mock ferocity as she gets to her feet.

Then the closest thug gets a solid kick right where the sun don't shine.

OK, so the ferocity wasn't mock after all...

"If he does the same crap here he does in Gotham... well, he's slime. He'll go straight for the sewers, or whatever else passes for that kind of exit. Let's see what's downstairs."

Canary starts to move, carefully sliding her feet to kick the ball bearings away to avoid slippage. After three steps she pauses.

"Where's the stairway down?"

Someone didn't come in with a plan, apparently.

Thea Queen has posed:
Someone *did* come with a plan! A plan that is in tatters but maybe something can still be salvaged. "This way." Thea says without hesitation. Someone made homework apparently! And that included knowing the layout of the place like the back of her hand.

As they make way to the stairs she pauses to reach into a beltpouch, bringing out a pair of fancy goggles that she tosses to Dinah. "Put those on, they will help." not that stylish though, but they do appear to be infrared. And then she fetches another one for herself, slapping them on. Yes, she brings two pairs. In case one fails! Oh, no. Is she turning into one of those vigilantes that over-prepares for everything?

Once goggles are in place she clicks on a small detonator she had within a pocket of her suit and a moment later the lights go out.

Colorful cursing is heard from downstairs. Most likely Fandango. Who didn't come prepared with nightvision goggles! Pffff, unprepared thugs...

"He's close, let's go!" She urges Dinah on.

Dinah Lance has posed:
"You're alright, arrow chick!" Dinah says with a grin. "Don't know your name, but I'm going to have to learn it because you're loads of fun!"

And then she hears Fandango and grins even wider, this one not so pleasant. It's the kind of grin sharks make before they rip off a huge chunk of flesh. Only less pleasant than even that.

"Let's get the sucker. Have fun making him afraid."

And down she goes, following the path Thea set up, moving more silently and hard to follow even with IR goggles on as she makes use of cover and silence to slip through the unfinished basement piled high with ...

... bales. Of some kind of plant. Surrounding tables apparently used to process and/or package said plant.

Thea Queen has posed:
Arrow chick?! "Red. Arrow." Thea spells out the name back to the Canary, her lips twisting grumpily just for the split of a second. Maybe she is picking up after her brother. He is the one that is always grumpy and broody. Ugh...

"I know you though. Black Canary." A beat, "You live up to what I heard of you." neutral tone delivery. Was it a jab? Or a compliment?! There's a slight smile on her expression though.

But now nightvision goggles are on and they are able to pursue the stumbling Fandango who didn't remember to bring such goggles with him, because who would had known there'd be vigilantes here tonight?!

Thea has gone silent as well, following alongside the other vigilante. The man is heard further ahead, a gun in hand and pointing behind him while he walks. He shoots into the dark. "Stay away! I will shoot you down!" he threatens even if his voice is full of fear.

"I will set him up." Thea whispers, "Want to go for the takeout?" and she readies her bow, arrow knocked and shoots it across to a wall on the opposite side, it starting to 'beep'. Another one of her special arrows? It does the trick though, calling Fandango's attention who starts shooting that way, leaving the avenue open for a Dinah.

Dinah Lance has posed:
"Red Arrow, sure. That's what I meant," Canary lies with a grin, not even attempting to conceal the fun she's having. "And yeah, most people have heard me."

Not 'of'.

"Probably because when I scream, people in central Africa hear."

Way to bury the joke.

Jocularity aside, once the stalking begins, the Canary is all pro, moving silently, slipping between the bales, always keeping herself away from where Fandango is pointing the weapon, using the noisy echoes of his shots to cover sudden moves in a different direction, darting ever closer.

Once Thea promises the setup, the OK symbol is held up and Canary melts further into the shadows, preparing for an attack.

The arrow flies. The beeping starts. And Canary attacks...

...from above.

Feet first she flies through the air, having used a stack of the bales of whatever it is being processed to give her elevation. Fandango takes a boot to the head, the neck being forced to turn from the impact so the other boot takes the side of the face.

Fandango didn't stand a chance, really, not with the darkness and the pair hunting him. Of course as she crashes down to the ground with him, Canary is blinded as her night vision goggles glare brightly in the light of an industrial flashlight. Pointed at her from the man at the far door. The man with the gun the flashlight is attached to pointed at her.

"Oh, shit!" she says as she blinks away the enormous green spots in her vision, unaware of the peril. "Who turned on the damned lights!?"

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea can't help but wince, then shudder when Dinah has her way with Fandango. Uff, she wouldn't like to be in his place! That's for sure... See, this is why she does all this planning, not wanting to be on the wrong end of a beating! At least they usually leave their opponents alive. Usually.

The young vigilante is moving in to join with Dinah when that flashing light comes to life. She narrowly misses getting blinded herself with being on a different angle even if she has to look away for a brief moment to blink away the bright spots. Yet that doesn't stop her. She saw the gun. She rolls on the floor, to get a better angle from the side and draws out two arrows that she shoots in succession. One pierces through the man's hand. The one holding the gun. The other? It goes right through his shoulder and pins him to the door he had just opened up. A cry of pain is heard out of the man and Thea is soon enough close to Dinah.

"Hey, you alright?" she says. To Dinah's benefit and herself too. Just in case Dinah heard someone and decided it might be another enemy. "Think we are on the clear now."

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah eventually manages to get the worst of the green spots out of her eyes, and she looks around at the changed scene, seeing the pierced hand, and the shoulder pinning the moaning man to the door.

Looking past, then, she starts giggling.

"I thought this kind of stuff only happened in the movies," she laughs, pointing. At the man with his trousers down at his ankles, pinned to the door of the bathroom behind him.

"You know, you're OK, Red Arrow." It seems Thea has graduated to someone who doesn't get a name made fun of. "Thanks for the assist there. That could have been nasty." She claps Thea on the back before heading over to the conscious, moaning, bleeding crook. Ostensibly to check to see if he's going to live. (He will. He'll just hate the physio.) "I owe you the drink of your choice next time we meet. You ever come to Gotham or NYC?"

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah eventually manages to get the worst of the green spots out of her eyes, and she looks around at the changed scene, seeing the pierced hand, and the shoulder pinning the moaning man to the door.

Looking past, then, she starts giggling.

"I thought this kind of stuff only happened in the movies," she laughs, pointing. At the man with his trousers down at his ankles, pinned to the door of the bathroom behind him.

"You know, you're OK, Red Arrow." It seems Thea has graduated to someone who doesn't get a name made fun of. "Thanks for the assist there. That could have been nasty." She claps Thea on the back before heading over to the conscious, moaning, bleeding crook. Ostensibly to check to see if he's going to live. (He will. He'll just hate the physio.) "I owe you the drink of your choice next time we meet. You ever come to Gotham or NYC?"

Thea Queen has posed:
IR goggles to have an advantage. They only let Thea see shapes and not full details. So that the man had came out of the bathroom with his trousers still down? That had been lost on her. It's only when Dinah starts giggling that she first frowns, looks at Dinah, then at the man. Then lifts the goggles to squint at the man.

"Oh gosh.." She can't help letting out a chuckle herself. "Should had stayed in and finished what you were doing.." she tells the guy with a small shake of her head. "Would had went better for you."

A grin back to Dinah, the tension on her shoulders finally leaving her as apparently the mission has been concluded successfully, "Yea you are ok too. Even if you seem to have a penchant to destroy my elaborate plans.." not that she seems to mind that by her tone.

"Now to talk with our friend and make sure we figure out exactly what he is doing with all these." she gesturing to the plants stacked up in bales. The question from Dinah has her nodding, "Yea. More New York but I wandered Gotham in the past. And we definitely should. I will get you my contact and you just have to let me know when you are free."

Dinah Lance has posed:
"OK, Red. Arrow. Red Arrow. You're down. There's a pizza place in Brooklyn I like to hang out in in the fishnets. Bring some dates, friends and colleagues in the biz with too. Turning it into a regular crime fighter hangout. If you're up for that, that's great, though they don't do the hard stuff."

Canary mimes drinking a bottle.

"Just beer and wine, so if you need a stronger jolt, well, there's bars I like too."

She turns and faces the man pinned to the bathroom. "Now Junior," she says to the thug that's at least a decade her senior. "You're going to tell me what you know about the bales here and where they were headed." She twangs the arrow so it makes a sound like a contrabass. "Or my pal Red Arrow here is going to give you a new, descriptive nickname."

Thus far her tone has been sweet, if assertive. It gets dark.

"Pincushion."

Twang.