9096/Meanwhile, Back at the Scene of the Crime

Meanwhile, Back at the Scene of the Crime
Date of Scene:	15 December 2021
Location:	Abandoned Amusement Park - Amusement Mile
Synopsis:	Kate brings in Dinah and Helena for follow up.
Cast of Characters:	Kate Kane, Dinah Lance, Helena Wayne

---

Kate Kane has posed:
Beneath her cowl, Kate's red lips twitch. "Yeah, and that's when Oracle told me Batman doesn't want to talk about it." She sounds soooooo impressed by that. Dinah can probably guess just how well that went over.

She eases toward the broken gate, continuing up and over it as if it weren't there. "So, that's all I know. The woman's calling herself Huntress, has the skills to back them up, and claims she's from an alternate timeline. She haunts this area and claims Oracle's vetted her enough to give her access to the Birds' network." In other words, she doesn't know much. "That's true, but I don't think she actually trusts her." A beat. "Oh. And I've asked her to join us."

They are at the amusement park because Kate is fairly certain whomever left that Queen of Hearts card for her the last time she was out this way is still lurking out here. She'd like to find out more. She's pulled Dinah along for the ride. And to help her continue this new Huntress' quiet evaluation.

Dinah Lance has posed:
"Batman doesn't talk about a lot of things. When he talks it's mostly disapproval. The stories I've heard..."

Dinah shivers as she follows Kate. "Never play a prank on him. That's all I'm sayin'."

Her own parkouring through the obstacles keeps her up with Kate easily, not even interrupting the string of chatter.

"What's she like, though? Person, I mean. Personable or more grumpy-pants like Belfry?" She laughs, then, at a thought. "Are we Mutt-and-Jeffing her tonight? If so, am I good cop or bad cop?"

While the banter is light, Dinah's eyes are sharp, focused, and in the game. As are her ears. Even her nostrils are twitching slightly like they're trying to pick up hints of anything wrong. (She found something wrong with those, but not much to be done about that dead rat.)

"Why here, though? I'm just curious."

Helena Wayne has posed:
Since her arrival in THIS Earth's Gotham, Helena has been following her mom-instincts: accept your situation, mark your territory, and own it. And so the Huntress has unofficially claimed the Amusement Mile as her own. The local gangs are certainly aware of it, at least.

Batwoman and Canary are making their way through the amusement park when they catch a movement in the shadows. It's more like a shift in the shadows; a black and purple cape. Huntress steps more out into the open, her stance shifting as she sizes up the two.

"Batwoman." she greets, gaze flickering to the blonde. "And someone who's not a Bat. I wasn't aware that fishnets were within the dress code."

Kate Kane has posed:
"Less grumpy pants. More spandex," Kate replies as to Huntress' character. "You can make up your own mind." Oh, they'll totally end up Mutt'n'Jeffing the kid, no doubt. Though that has more to do with just who they are than anything else. Kate simply wants Dinah's impression.

"Last time I was out this way," she says in answer to Dinah's final question, "I found a Queen of Hearts card strung up with a present for me." She moves swiftly, shadow to shadow, confident in her hunting partner's ability to keep up. "Gas bomb. Fear toxin, when I analyzed it. Someone was planning a party." And she was the guest of honour. She and the young Huntress, it seems. "You get to help me find the host."

Then, the Huntress is making her presence known and Batwoman is drawing up short. "She's a rebel that way," she tells the young woman, gesturing to Dinah. "Huntress, meet the Black Canary. Canary... This... is Huntress."

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah fingerwaves at Huntress as she gives her the once-over. Then twice-over with more analytical, tactical eyes. "Code named Tweety Bird in some circles. Don't call me that if you value your hearing though."

Oracle's sense of humour isn't washing.

"But yeah," she continues more affably, "not a bat. A bird. And the fishnets are tradition. You've got to have the right legs to rock them, though. Not everybody can pull them off."

That's not what the rumour mill says at the meet-and-greets...

"This your place? Nice. A bit of a fix-er-upper, though, isn't it? Need a hand with cartage, painting, burning it down with gasoline fire and other such renovation activities?"

Helena Wayne has posed:
Huntress' eyes are hidden behind optics in her cowl, but she nods slowly to the blonde. Purple lips pull into a wry smile at the code name, but she doesn't repeat it. "Nice to meet you, Canary. And you keep right *on* rocking the fishnets, as far as I'm concerned."

Huntress steps closer, the cape billowing enough to show the high-end utility belt complete with grapple gun and hand crossbow. Taking a glance around the amusement park, she shrugs. "It's a work in progress. I'd scrub away the blood stains, but the locals insist on adding more."

"They're kinda stupid that way."

"So what've we got, Batwoman? Did I hear you say the Queen of Hearts mixed with fear toxin?"

Kate Kane has posed:
"Some people have no pride of place," Kate replies dryly. Her picks up a little in the wind and she looks toward the funhouse, using small finger movements to adjust the lenses in her mask as she looks for heat signatures. "I came back to poke around the other day." Huntress was there, after all, when she found that playing card suspended on a wire. "Salvaged one of the trigger mechanisms and a release cylinder. It was halucinogenic, derived from the fear toxin, unless my analysis is off." She's not Batman. But her equipment is nearly as good. It's not like she can't compete with him on a purely financial level.

She just lacks the help of Lucius Fox. Though her Dad's resources do help.

"The Queen of Hearts, though. I've seen it before. I need to see if there's been any more movement out here."

Dinah Lance has posed:
While the pair talk, Dinah hums a little snippet of something to herself. Some piece of ancient pop trash.

Oh. Juice Newton. Queen of Hearts. How topical, Dinah! And so up-to-date and relevant!

Dinah's eyes stray over the scene, picking out hints of shadows within shadows and other signs that the trio are not alone, acting for all the world like a watchdog as the two with more of a clue as to what's going on talk, taking it in like instruction.

"Just to clarify," she adds when it sounds like the pair were pausing. "Are we expecting company? 'Cause if we are, maybe we should take a position that's more tactical. And split up. And talkie-talkie by comms."

Helena Wayne has posed:
"I did a preliminary recon of the perimeter, and all is quiet on the Western Front." replies Huntress, dropping another metaphor. "Unless someone lost more of their deck of cards inside, we should have the place pretty much to ourselves."

For her part, Huntress doesn't -have- a lab. At. All. She's limited to whatever she can buy at the local hardware store, for the most part. Not that she's much of a chemist anyway. No, computers are more her thing.

"But it does make sense that whoever dropped the Queen would expect us to return for an encore performance."

Kate Kane has posed:
"Which probably explains the extras out of a bad Tim Burton knock-off," Kate replies. Because Dinah's not the only one to notice the shadows have eyes. And legs. And, oh, look. Guns.

Big. Surprise.

She moves now, a blur of red and black. In her hand is her own tranq gun, which discharges with a soft *thwpt-thwpt* as she moves to engage.

The gun is slid away before she makes contact, however. Because, let's face it... it's a whole lot more fun to actually punch them in the face.

Dinah Lance has posed:
"Isn't it always the way." The words are resigned. The tone of voice is ebullient. A gleam gets into the crazed Canary's eyes as action opens.

~I was beginning to think this was going to be all-talk!~ she says over BirdComm, her voice almost happy, as she, too, darts into action, blonde hair and almost-bare legs standing out in an outfit that otherwise blends into the surroundings.

But who cares about blending in? She's the goddamn Black Canary!

Disembodied legs and hair race, seemingly through obstacles, as she moves separated from Kate, but in parallel. There's no pause or slowdown to shoot, so she contacts instead, exploding into a small knot of gunsels like a hand grenade.

Wrapped by more hand grenades.

In a barrel of gasoline.

Elbows. Knees. Fists. Feet. And that's two gunsels down before they even realized, quite, that there was a threat approaching. A third is sent reeling back with a forehead smash to the nose.

~Wheeeeeeeeeeee!~

Helena Wayne has posed:
Huntress doesn't have her crossbow at the ready, and she doesn't bother to draw it either. While a sane person would run away, she runs towards the figures in the shadows. It's like the three of them are separate claws of the same foot.

A few front handsprings to build some momentum, then the blur of purple and black crashes another group. She leads with a flying kick, turning quickly and fighting efficiently. Huntress is precise, almost clinically so, in her application of blocks, critical strikes and pressure points.

She is quick, too. A brief surge of the shadows almost overwhelms her until she dodges free with a combination of back walk-overs. Regroup, then charge in again.

Kate Kane has posed:
Dinah crows, as usual, and Kate snirks softly. <<Since when do I invite you out for just talk?>> How about never?

She moves with military precision and grace to dispatch the mooks that try their damnedest to get the drop on the trio. There aren't so many of them as to be an overwhelming threat -- not to her or Canary, anyway. She keeps an eye on Huntress, watching her dodge free and return for another round.

Cracking a couple of skulls together, she comments, "So, who trained you, Huntress... Seriously?"

Dinah Lance has posed:
~This is going to sound crazy,~ Dinah opines, ~but I'd swear she fights like Bats. I know his style. This is it. Modified for the physical differences.~ Having shared some of the same teachers as Batman helps in spotting the style.

A gun comes out in Dinah's little knot distracting her momentarily from conversation. Evading the point of aim until she sees the wrist tightening to pull the trigger, she quickly and precisely kicks the offending forearm. The gun roars and another gunsel shouts in pain as the bullet enters his thigh, ending his participation.

"What a dancer!" Dinah enthuses as the gunsel swings the point at her again, fruitlessly firing and hitting ANOTHER of his allies in the right shoulder after a gently-swung elbow.

Then the gentleness ends with a brutal, smashing boot heel to the face. And the gratuitous follow-up of an elbow to the jaw, dislocating it (the jaw, not the elbow) for extra injury and insult.

~I've got two more on me.~ *SNAP* ~One more on me. We should keep one conscious for quest...~ *CRACKLE* *POP* ~Not mine, though.~

Helena Wayne has posed:
"Seriously...?" Huntress quips back, pausing to deliver another combination of her own. "Canary's closer than crazy." And yes, the girl DOES fight a lot like Batman. Not completely, however. Batman may be light on his feet for such a big guy, but when he fights he *fights*.

The acrobatics have to come from somewhere else.

<Like I told you during our last... outing... Batwoman, I'm from an alternate Earth. And yes, I learned to fight from Batman. Just like I learned to pick locks from a certain cat-burglar.>

She's got one left on her, and Huntress gives him her undivided attention for a moment. He moves first to aim the gun, but her strike lands first. Hollow of the shoulder, fingers go numb, the gun hits the pavement. Grab the wrist, turn and pivot. <POP!> Dislocate the shoulder, and the mook is going to be sobbing for a while.

<I called them Mom and Dad, but they're gone now and there's no going back. The Butler took my blood sample, and I left it with him as a show of good faith.>

Kate Kane has posed:
Oh, Kate's noticed that, too. She just wants to hear the girl's answer... and whether or not she evades the question. Turns out, she doesn't.

And the answer isn't at all what Kate expects. <<That explains the need-to-know.>>

She spins around, sliding under a gun. Her hands snap up. An elbow bends the wrong way -- and it's not hers. The body is then propelled into a tangle of others and she lays about with fists and feet until she's got one last fellow by the throat, pressed up against the wall.

In the end... Well, there are a pile of bad guys, one songbird who doesn't wear fishnets, and a trio of vigilantes who are seriously going to need some beer and pizza when this is all over.

Kate looks at Huntress. "Dad, huh? Oh, we're gonna have a field day with that." Oh, yes, they are.