9401/Fight in the Narrows

Fight in the Narrows
Date of Scene:	01 January 2022
Location:	The Narrows - Miagani Island
Synopsis:	Nightwatcher saves Arsenal's ass and together they fend off a gang fight and save a woman and her daughter.
Cast of Characters:	Roy Harper, Raphael

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Roy Harper has posed:
Wee morning hours. New Year's Day. The Narrows. One would think that the shit runners would take a night off for the new year, but no such luck. It's made worse by the fact that it is unseasonably warm in these deep-night, early-morning hours. Several gunshot reports rang out in the night here a very short time ago, but it's the Narrows. GCPD will get to it when they can. Maybe.

Arsenal has had a lot on his mind lately. A real fucking lot. And that does not make sleep an easy thing. So here he is in what may be the single worst place in all of Gotham outside of whatever freak house torture chamber that Joker calls home. A new strain of Vertigo was recently developed in Starling City and it made its way to Gotham like lightning. And tonight the gangs are fighting in full gear, competing for valuable territory to sell this new drug.

The shadowy figure that is Arsenal sits on the edge of a rooftop overlooking a stretch of what, if this were any civilized part of any civilized city, might be a park but in the Narrows it's a stretch of weed-choked grass that happens to not have any buildings built on it. There's even a tree! Kind of. Two gangs are fighting and there are casualties. Arsenal was content to sit there on the roof and let the idiots kill each other. The streets get a little safer that way and maybe he can crawl into his bed later without fresh blood on his soul.

But now a woman and her child are involved. Apparently one of the gangs broke into an apartment and grabbed the girlfriend and daughter of one of the lieutenants of the rival gang. Sure, she's no innocent flower but she doesn't deserve this treatment. She's down on her knees clutching her sobbing daughter to her body begging them to let the girl go. She's not even begging for own life, just her daughter's. That just won't do.

"Well shit," Arsenal says as he stands. "Time to go to work."

Raphael has posed:
Raphael is not a frequent visitor to Gotham City, but he's got business coming up there - if the plan of a friend of his comes to fruition, that is. A night-owl by nature, slipping away from his family to catch a ride to Gotham in the wee hours was not difficult, and as the armored Nightwatcher, they'll never know he was here. One thing that the mutant turtle is starting to learn on his increasingly frequent 'field trips' is that Gotham is a crime-ridden hole... he can only imagine how much worse it would be without the assorted Bat-family around.

Raph doesn't have as much on his mind right now as Roy does - he's only here to familiarize himself with the city should his friend's plan go pear-shaped, as plans often do. All the same, the sound of gunfire and criminal activity draw his attention. He finds himself on a similar rooftop, staring in disgust at the gang war below. He's no more as apt to intervene in these losers wasting each other as Arsenal is, but it's the same trigger that draws him to action. He may be the most unhinged and hot-headed of the TMNT, but he still stands for justice before all else.

The Nightwatcher drops down into the fray without a second thought, the chain of a manrikigusari looped loosely around one arm as the armored (but still rather turtle-shaped) form stalks towards the gang. "Alright, punks, leave the girl and her kid alone before I start breaking things." The voice is filtered through a helmet speaker, but he can't hide a distinctly Brooklyn accent.

Roy Harper has posed:
Arsenal cants his head curiously a bit to the side. In the shadows under his hood there's even a small grin. "Well what the actual fuck do we have here?" he asks himself. "No way pudgy Iron Man here is gonna one-up me in my own back yard," he mutters, but there's no anger or malice in his voice. It's more like...someone showed up to play so let's go play.

Bow out. Stun arrow knocked. Oh wait, there's a second one...nope, there's a third. Three stun arrows knocked. As he fires them, he's looking down for something to jump to. Yeah, the kid doesn't even have the courtesy to look where he's shooting. The arrows will hit. He already knows it.

As the lithe Arsenal parkours down off of several window ledges to the get to the pavement, three gang bangers immediately around Raphael seize up as their body's nervous systems are overloaded with 50,000 volts of electricity. Each collapses to the dirt and grass utterly stunned. They aren't even conscious enough to see the shadowy form of Arsenal running to the fray.

Raphael has posed:
"Whoa," is Raph's immediate assessment of the situation as three punks drop immediately. He's got enough presence of mind to realize that he wasn't targetted, however, the ninja noticing the figure with the bow moving down to the street. "All right, if we're on the same side, we're on the same side," he says to nobody in particular, dropping the ball end of the manrikigusari, spinning it on its chain before flicking it at another goon, dropping him with a swift strike and a nauseating crunch of metal on bone.

He's a terror in a fight, the Nightwatcher, keeping one end of the balls and chain close, spinning it to deter attacks to one side, striking with the other. There's a snarl as a bullet strikes his armor, snagging the shooter with the length of chain and dragging him in to headbutt him with his helmet. "Freakin' guns, man."

"So what's the story with dese lowlifes?" he shouts towards Arsenal, at least for the moment considering him a potential ally. Or at least not an enemy.

Roy Harper has posed:
On his way to the fray, Arsenal is set upon by multiple combatants. He quickly demonstrates that his bow can do more than shoot arrows. He ducks this attack or that, spinning to strike dudes with the bow, sending them crashing into la-la land. But even a hand-to-hand combat expert like him can't dodge every attack. That's just what a fight is: combatants beating the shit out of each other and hoping they get beat less than the other guy.

And so *WHACK* right in the back of Arsenal's knees he gets hit with a bat. No way that didn't hurt. But like many warriors, he uses pain as a motivator. He's going down anyway, so he tucks and rolls with the hit, coming back to his feet...but with an arrow knocked! Nothing special with this arrow. Just a regular, deadly, razor-tipped arrow pointing right at the bat wielder's throat. That combined with the angry glint in Roy's eye spells certain death for this loser. But there is the slightest moment of hesitation, as though something passes through Arsenal's mind. And in that moment he lowers the bow and fires the arrow into the attacker's thigh. Fucking painful to be sure, but not deadly. He spins around. "There's no story. What you see is what you get. Shit-stain losers."

He squats down to speak softly to the woman and her child. His back is to Raphael as he does this. "It's okay, I got you. I want you to turn and run as fast as you can to your apartment. Lock all the doors and turn off all the lights." He stands back up and knocks an arrow to cover the woman and her daughter's retreat. His back is still to Raphael. "Behind you. Shotgun," he says to the armored turtle.

Raphael has posed:
The main disadvantage of the Nightwatcher armor is the reduced peripheral vision. Raphael could probably tank a shotgun to the back, with both the thin armor plating and a large shell underneath to protect his vitals, but that's an unecessary risk. He sweeps the manriki around, dropping low and taking the thug out at the knees, the shotgun firing off into the air with a terrifying roar. Raphael grabs it, cracking the weapon over his knee and all but roaring at the goon before kicking him unconscious.

"Shit-stains is right," he growls. "On your six!" Not waiting to Arsenal to respond, he drops one end of the chain and flicks a kunai at the punks coming up on Roy from behind, causing the lead to drop his weapon and grab his pierced hand with a scream. He scoops up his chain again and leaps into the fray, jump-kicking another goon as the ball and chain starts whirling around him once again.

Roy Harper has posed:
"Thanks," Arsenal says as he trots forward several steps. The woman carrying her kid is just a few feet from her apartment door but one of the bangers is on her. There's no way she's going to make it to the door before that dude -- with a really nasty-looking hunting knife -- gets to her. "Fuck," he murmurs under his breath. His non-lethal options from this distance are minimal. Plus he has a razor-tip knocked. No time to change it now. Just as the attacker passes in front of a parked beat-up Chevy Nova Roy fires. The arrow sinks deep into the man's forearm and then into the metal of the Nova, pinning him there and likely crippling that arm for life. The banger kneels there screaming as the woman gets inside and slams the door shut.

Tactical error! Roy was too focused on saving the woman and her child. Four guys decide they're ballsy enough to take on one scrawny kid, so they tackle him at the same time. And down he goes. Light glints off a switchblade that one of the men pulls out. 'Oh well. Nobody lives forever,' Roy would likely say if he were evaluating his own impending death.

Raphael has posed:
The Nightwatcher is, despite being the out-of-towner, perhaps better equipped for this situation, sweeping his ball and chain around again and keeping the area around him clear. Arsenal appears to be in trouble, and Raphael doesn't have a lot of options that aren't immediately hazardous. So... hazardous it is.

"Cowa-fuckin'-bunga," he growls, hurling himself into the fray as he drops the manrikigusari and pair of matched sai are drawn from concealed sheaths. He's good with the ball and chain, but these weapons are like extensions of his own body. He catches the switchblade between the tines of one sai, twisting his wrist and snapping the blade as he socks the guy in the face with his other three-fingered fist.

"I'm startin' to think we both might've bit off more than we can chew," he mutters.

Roy Harper has posed:
If it wasn't for Nightwatcher's immediately intervention Roy would be straight-up dying right now. Instead, he elbows a guy in the mouth, shattering most of his teeth, and then crawls out from the pig pile. "Don't know what you're talkin' about," Arsenal says with a smirk. "I had this all under control." His bow is still under the pig pile so it's going to be hand-to-hand for a bit.

Out come two wicked combat blades from sheaths on the legs of his tactical armor. There is a whirlwind of red and black as Roy -- spooked from his near death -- spins into action. Let's be plain about something: some of these guys sustain lethal wounds from the knives. He doesn't prefer to kill, but he's no Batman. Sometimes some chuckleheads don't give you any other option.

At this point, there is no way these bangers stand a chance against Nightwatcher and Arsenal. So they rout! After wiping the blades of his knives, he re-sheathes them. "Watch where you step," he says, breathing a little heavy from the exertion. "That bow is expensive."

Raphael has posed:
"Riiight," Raph says, the sarcasm thick on his voice, but he doesn't immediately argue - there are more important matters to worry about. Raph, for his part, isn't intentionally killing anyone - his sai have sharp points, but they are not primarily used as stabbing weapons, more for turning aside blows, breaking weapons, and to reinforce his hands when he punches. That being said, he is wearing a large metal suit and not checking his blows - he's not Batman, either.

By the time the battle breaks Raphael is panting hard, the armored getup more taxing than he likes to let on - he usually doesn't drop into the middle of a gang war, after all. He checks his footing at the warning, careful not to step on the bow as he puts the sai away, gathering up his dropped manriki chain and wrapping it around one arm.

"You're pretty good in a fight," he says, leaning heavily and resting his hands on his knees. It's the most compliment that usually comes out of Raphael.

Roy Harper has posed:
Arsenal is also winded. He walks slowly to fetch his bow, but taking his time to also study Nightwatcher. "That's some impressive armor," he says with some question in his tone. "You, uh, a new face out here in the nights of Gotham?"

The teenager inspects his bow for damage. Seeing there is none, he slings the bow into his back holster. He holds a hand out toward Nightwatcher. "I'm Arsenal," he says, then he can't help but chuckle. It just kind of gets away from him and escapes his lips. "Sorry. I still get a kick out of referring to myself by my code name. But rules are rules, I guess."

Raphael has posed:
"Kinda new, here on business," Raph says, finally getting his wind back and checking his armor over for obvious damage before going over to shake Roy's hand. "Nightwatcher," he says. "Code names are fine by me, that's how this kinda thing works, anyway." He grins, but it can't really be seen behind the visor. Roy can probably tell that he's wearing armor and not a powered suit, even though it kinda looks like one, but it does hide his face, which is the important thing for Raph.

He looks at the prone thugs after a moment or two. "Should we call this in? Do the cops even come out here?"

Roy Harper has posed:
There is a brief snort from Arsenal. "GCPD doesn't come into the Narrows until they have like 20 dudes. They'll get here eventually." He does a slow lap around Nightwatcher. "So what's up with this armor?" he asks curiously. "It's shaped really weird. You got a few extra pounds on under there? Wheat thresher accident when you were a kid?"

Raphael has posed:
"Yeah, we'll go with that," he says. "Helps with the anonymous-ness. Ain't nobody wanna see me under this." This... is probably not precisely true, but it's honest enough not to come off as a lie. Plus the protection, that ain't a bad trade-off for the lack of mobility.

Roy Harper has posed:
Arsenal does another lap around Nightwatcher. "There's just...some weird shit going on with the shape of that armor," he says. But finally he stops his circling. "Ah fuck it, I ain't gonna try to dig into your shit," he says with a cocky half-grin.

He gestures toward Nightwatcher with a head-flick. "Thanks for saving my ass. Seriously. I would have been dead. Rookie mistake tunnel visioning on that woman and her kid. I'm lucky you were there."

Raphael has posed:
"I'da done the same thing, so it's a good thing we was both here," he says. "Ain't no way this fight woulda been a one-person job anyway," He upnods to Roy in acknowledgment. "An I'da taken a shotgun to the shell if it weren't for you." The armor does looks like a shell, doesn't it? "So we're even and all."

Raphael flicks a grappling hook up towards the roof of one of the nearby buildings. "I'ma split before any of the boys in blue swing by, they're always fulla questions. Maybe we'll run into each other again sometime."

Roy Harper has posed:
Arsenal waggles a finger at Nightwatcher as he whisks off. "There's something odd about you, Nightwatcher. I doubt I've seen the last, or the weirdest, of you." His teen metabolism has recovered from the vigorous fight and he trots off into the night.