9970/Gotham: Human Trafficking Rush Hour Chase

Gotham: Human Trafficking Rush Hour Chase
Date of Scene:	04 February 2022
Location:	Chelsea - Miagani Island
Synopsis:	Green Arrow, Arsenal, Batgirl and Misfit are joined by a passing Spider-Man in stopping a convoy of human traffickers from making off with their abductees from the Manhattan refugees.
Cast of Characters:	Stephanie Brown, Oliver Queen, Peter Parker, Roy Harper, Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe

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Stephanie Brown has posed:
The wire tap on Anthony Capenzo's phone had revealed the man's Gotham Maggia crew were preparing to fill a big order from human traffickers. Refugees from Manhattan had flooded down to Gotham as fast as the HyperLoop could bring them. Mayor Lincoln March had ordered that derelict buildings which had been slated for demolition as part of his Narrows Revitalization Project, be hastily converted into emergency housing.

The result was better than sleeping in a tent, but it also created a situation that Gotham's seedier element had preyed on. Drug dealers, loan sharks, thieves and prostitutes had descended on the area, more than the strained Gotham police presence could keep out.

With many refugees who were alone and knew no one in Gotham, it was a particularly rich hunting ground for Capenzo's men to conduct abductions. The Bats had put out word to the allies, but the information on when it was going down had come in at the last minute, leaving people scrambling.

Capenzo's men are focused on a series of four run down buildings that collectively hold hundreds of people. They've spent the last week scouting out those they wish to abduct, marking their locations. Now they have brought in extra manpower to make the abductions under the cover of darkness, and take them off to vehicles waiting to transport them a short distance away. Gotham PD have been paid off, enough at least that the police won't be enough to stop them.

Stephanie Brown is wearing her Batgirl costume, and coasts her Batcycle forward, lights out and the electric motor set to its quietest mode as she scouts for the vehicles. Over comms she says, << We know they have a big panel van rented for it, but weren't able to find it and get a tracker on it. But there are probably going to be more than one given how many people it sounded like they are after. >>

She coasts around some bushes, and stops, pulling over into the edge of the foliage. << Ok I think I may have spotted them. Looks like 3 large vans and a panel truck. Plus some accompanying cars. >>

Oliver Queen has posed:
Oliver Queen has himself and Arsenal set up with combat motorcycles, specially equipped with multiple secured quivers for easy armament. Not to mention a bit of bulletproof shielding in the front, but not so much that they should feel invulnerable. But Oliver thinks invulnerability is overrated. He shoots better under the threat of death.

<<We've got eyes on them, Batgirl. Hell's own moving company. Alright, folks, we all know our business. Take them down safe, with minimal risk to civilians. Expect them to react violently to us. Don't they always?"

To Roy, he adds, "I'd say don't do anything I wouldn't do, but you know that I'll do really stupid things. So just...don't do anything stupid, huh?"

Peter Parker has posed:
It's not the kind of chatter he expects to hear from the NYPD, but it is as revealing as the radio codes and GPS tags.
One cop remarks to his partner about a convoy to ignore. Another dispatcher gives a warning to stay away from certain streets. A cop visiting a hooker tries to give details while she pesters him about the "big score."

Put it all together, and it's a hook to hang your hat on. Or your balaclava mask.
Peter had just finished delivering the food to Aunt May's friend at the edge of Crime Alley when the data is assessed and collected together. So, two minutes later, Spider-Man is webslinging through forbidding valleys of gothic Gotham, closing in on the location of the convoy...

Roy Harper has posed:
You can't...you can't tell Roy not to do something stupid. He's 19 and not wired for safety and good sense. "Gotcha, Green," Arsenal says on the comm as he opens the throttle of his bike, momentarily coming up on just the back wheel, then he rockets forward toward the trucks, weaving in and out of traffic like a lunatic.

He glances up down a cross street as he jets through an intersection and sees a legendary swinging form amongst the buildings. "Oh shit, these guys have had it," he says over the comm. "That's the ball game, we can all go home. Spider-Man is moving in."

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    Charlie is perhaps conserving her strength, or well maybe she is just working another angle. Regardless she is sitting on the back of Batgirl's batcyle fully costumed up as Misfit She is multitasking though watching two little HUD feeds of the twin Oracle Drones that are flying along overhead mapping out a birdseye view and displaying tactical map and threat assessments to the two young women.

    "Ahh yiss." she mutters out loud when they spot the three large vans and panel truck. "Dang.. wish I had two more drones with me..." still she gives some commands and has the drones ID/Tag the trucks and circle overhead. Letting the little smart suckers cycle through various spectrums as well, might be able to get heat signatures and figure out if anyone is already all loaded up in the trucks after all.

    <<Trying to see if they are all loaded up to the brim or if we have any decoys....>> pause <<Oh right, Misfit over and out.>> that is right isn't. Honestly she is used to working with the other bats and isn't sure how one talks to archers. She sort of kips up on the back of the bike not messing up Steph's balance though and then vanishes in a slash of pink and purple smoke. Appearing up on top of a building look down at the vehicles as birds eyes as Oracle's drones. <<Spider-man is awesome!>>

Stephanie Brown has posed:
As Charlie watches on the feed, and the rest watch visually, cars start to pull up, one after another. Doors open and women are ferried over to the vehicles, their wrists and mouths duct-taped and then put inside the three vans and the back of the panel truck.

Batgirl glances up as she hears Arsenal's comment. << He's back in Gotham? Well we can probably use the help. >> She looks back as a few more vehicles pull up, and then the sounds of the rest of the Bats engaging with the abductors in the buildings can be heard.

Stephanie is just about to suggest they move in, when a police car pulls up. "Nuts, someone working with them?" she says aloud to Charlie. Though it turns out that isn't the case. The police officer steps out of the car, focused on the group of men outside the vehicles. He doesn't see the one at the front of the panel truck that pulls out a gun. There's a crack of a gunshot and the cop goes down. The men start hurrying for the vehicles, hopping in not just the 3 vans and the truck, but in sedans and SUVs.

<< They are bugging out! Let's stop them! >> Batgirl says. She guns the engine to give Charlie warning and then pulls out after the vehicles.

They split up immediately, half going left and half going right, and at the first opportunity then they make turns to further separate. Each van and the truck have one to two vehicles escorting them with gunmen in them.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man can almost see it coming. Then the shot fires and the cop falls.
He lets go of the webline and lands HARD on the street next to the cop. He is aware that they are scattering, but he takes a moment, just a moment, to fire a thick net of sterile webbing into the guy's chest. He'd been testing something that was porous, but only one-way, and this would keep the guy alive until an ambulance arrived.
Even as he sprung towards the truck, firing two weblines at the rear panel, an automated knowbot transmitted a 911 call to Gotham PD, requesting an ambulance. He whispered the general location of the wound, and what the webbing was doing for amy EMTs to follow up with.

The call sent, Spider-Man snags a trash-can lid and is suddenly street-boarding behind the panel truck.

Oliver Queen has posed:
Oliver Queen calls out on the comms as he hits the gas on his bike, <<Arsenal and I will take the ones going left, the rest of you take the one going right. Spider-Man'll have to figure things out on his own until he joins our family cellphone plan.>> he says.

Roy may have taken the initiative (foolishly, of course, but there's time for that later), but Oliver catches up quickly, drawing his bow and arrow as he heads in pursuit, <<We need to slow them down before we blow the tires or they'll flip and burn!>> he warns, then veers a little bit to the driver's side of the van, hefting up an arrow and aiming it to fly, driving the arrow right through the side view mirror as a warning.

Roy Harper has posed:
<<Slow 'em down. Got it.>> Arsenal opens his throttle wide and goes...down the wrong street? He just veers off sharp left and is gone. With the throttle wide open, his engine sound can be heard echoing through downtown off of the many building. Arsenal took a shortcut! He recklessly blasts through an intersection against the red light, causing several cars to honk and swerve to avoid hitting him. Avoid hitting him by /inches/. But the action creates a heavy traffic snarl, which will force the two vehicles he and Oliver are trailing to slow down so they can reroute.

<<That slow 'nuff for ya, Green.>>

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    <<Ack!>> at the crack of the gunshot. <<Oh.. crackers.. okay Spidey has it... and... is surfing. See I told you Spiderman was awesome.>>

    The little Oracle drones split up, focusing on the vehicles going to the right. She trusts the archers to handle the left after all. Once they are tasked she leaps off the building she was watching it all from and vanishes once more.

    A split second later her feet touch down on one of the cars racing to the right escorting the vehicles with more precious cargo.

    She crouches quick, hooking a grapple hook into the metal of the car long enough to lean and throw a dark metal sphere forcefully into the cabin of the car she is on.

    Honestly she is already gone and doesn't feel bad about the bad gunman in that car by the time it explodes with fast drying goop literally everywhere.

    Non-lethal. Well as long as they don't crash into a wall.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The vehicles have split up now, each of the heroes having one to chase plus any escorts, with Batgirl and Misfit working together. A trio of cars, two sedans and an SUV are accompanying the van they chase. They roar around a corner, speeding up as one of them spots the motorcycle rapidly closing the gap on them.

The sedan on the right suddenly veers to the side and crashes into a vegetable stand on the side of the road that was closed for the night, boards pulled down to close it in from the winter night. The contents are scattered across the ground as Batgirl zooms past with a glance at the produce.

<< My cabbages! >>

She grins as she opens up the throttle and weaves between the SUV and the remaining sedan. The drivers of each look over and see her between them and they both steer at each other. She locks up her breaks, the Batcycle doing a stand on the front wheel as she rapidly slows and the two cars slam together where she'd been. It doesn't stop them though as they separate and weave back and forth as they cover the fleeing van that has three bound women in it.

The back window of the SUV lowers and a gun barrel for some kind of rifle sticks out, aiming towards Batgirl.

Oliver Queen has posed:
Oliver Queen sees the snarl that Roy has created, <<Not bad, kid.>> he says into comms as the slowdown lets him catch up to the first of the vans. The guy behind the wheel looks nicely petrified, the arrow through his window having given the proper message.

"Hey, buddy, look, isn't that Spider-Man over there,' he points and the idiot turns his head only to have Ollie leap from his cycle onto the side of the truck, grasping the guy's hair and slamming his head into the wheel.

"Now, put your foot on the brake or I put your head under the wheel, capisce?"

Peter Parker has posed:
"If everybody had an ocean...across the USAyyyy..."

One panel truck. Two in the cab, at least.

"Then everybody'd be surfin' like Califor-ni-ayyyyy..."
An escort of two sedans. One driver, one riding shotgun, two in the back. They swerved out to flank the truck.

"You'd see them wearin' their costumes...and their web-shooters, too..."

One of the sedans dropped back as the other one pulled forward. The men on the right-side of the car facing him were drawing weapons.

"...a bushy, bushy black web-bing..."

And just like that, the right side of the car has a fresh coat of webbing.

"Surfin' USAYYYYY!"

Roy Harper has posed:
Arsenal is going way too fast to turn around to deal with the van he's supposed to be dealing with, so he decides on another tactic. He goes around the block and ends up heading directly toward it! He's opens the throttle wide. Arsenal is on a motorcycle and playing chicken against a van!

"C'mon, handsome, let's see what you got," he murmurs as he careens towards the van at a high rate of speed. But even Arsenal has limits and he quickly realizes that sometimes when you don't think out a plan it goes your way...and then there's this time.

"Shit!" he yells. Bow out. Grapple arrow in. He fires up wide, toward the side of a building. When the arrow sinks into the brick, four anchors pop out from high-tension springs, likewise sinking in. He lunges off the bike as the grapple pulls him up, up, and away. The bike spins out of control and smacks right into the grill of the van then gets pulled underneath. The van /mangles/ the bike, but the bike manages to shred one of the tires, causing the van to spin out of control.

<<Hey, Green, remember that...remember that bike you let me use?>>

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    When the vehicles to the right split up like that, she did send one drone to follow the spidey-truck and get it all on video just in case.

    Charlie though does work with Steph on the SUV trusting the other heros to do their thing right. They are professionals and all. Even if one is singing and surfing behind the box truck like that. Panel truck. Truck.

    There is a chuckle at the cabbages joke, though a bit later the gunner in the back of the SUV taking aim does merit a <<Watch out Batgirl, gunner>>

    She isn't leaping into the fray though, she is gripping the roof of the other Sedan having leap through .. smoke.. however the hell she is doing whatever she is doing to appear on the still moving Sedan before the other one even crashed. <<Ah... petes sake...>> as they just shoot up ventilating their own roof like that, causing her to vanish in more smoke before she is shot.

    She appears a heartbeat later on the road ahead of the sedan, hurling something from her smol fist at the front of the Sedan before vanishing in more smoke.

    As it impacts the grill it explodes, and not into fast drying sticky goop but an actual boooom as it blows the engine block and front right tire.

    Still non-lethal, though this time only because of her aim as it careens into a fire hydrant.

    Anyone's guess where Misfit bounced off to this time.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
As the gunman aims his assault rifle towards Batgirl, she flips a button with her thumb, turning on a headlight and flicking it to max brightness. The light is dozens of times brighter than a headlight has a right to be, blinding the gunman as he sprays fire towards the light.

He slams in a fresh magazine and takes aim, shattering the light which brings a chortle of success from the man. He blinks as his vision clears, and finds there's some kind of unicycle-looking remote vehicle following the SUV, the shot-out headlight on it after it separated from the Batcycle.

"The light isn't her, where the f-" is all he gets out before the quiet Batcycle swerves over from the side, falling in behind the truck, and the seat ejects the caped heroine so she flies forward through the open back window!

The SUV roars around a corner, a man out walking his dog late at night seeing it slide past, a man's head sticking out the back of the SUV while a black and purple glove punches his face repeatedly.

Oliver Queen has posed:
The man Ollie grapples tries to fight back, throwing a clumsy fist only to have Ollie dodge to the side, "Rude! I can excuse human trafficking, but bad manners? Sick!" he says. He reaches in and undoes the door latch, letting it swing open with him on it and using an arrowhead to cut the guy's seatbelt, yanking him out and flinging him to bounce off the concrete. Luckily, they've slowed down a lot so he mostly just gets some road rash as Ollie swings in and stomps the brake.

<<I already wrote them off my taxes, kid. Don't make a habit of it, though,>> he says, then looks over at the terrified thug in the passenger seat.

"Hi. Green Arrow here. If you pull that gun, I'm going to stick it up your ass." he says, getting a numb nod in return.

Roy Harper has posed:
Arsenal is standing on a ledge up high on the building after the grapple stunt. He peers down at the van, which swerved off the and careened into a bunch of parked cars. Anyway with that shredded tire, it's not going anywhere. But the driver and passenger are collecting their wits and starting to get out. No telling what they're going to do with their captives if they think they'll be caught.

Looking down fearlessly from several stories above the ground, but on a narrow ledge, Arsenal sighs. <<I really wish I could fly. That would come in real handy right about now.>>

Arsenal locks and loads another grapple arrow. He fires and swings down in the direction of the van he disabled. "Hey boys," he calls out. "You miss me?"

Peter Parker has posed:
"Run 'im over!" one of the back-seaters yells, and in the next moment the sedan swerves towards him.

And that is when Spidey execute a sideways-somersault that lifts him, trashcan lid and all, over the sedan as it passes under him...

...and then, thanks to the limited visibility the webbing does allow, slams into the side of an office building.

The lid slams into the street, then skates along behind the truck, only reeling himself in while the truck driver wonders where the escort car went.

A few seconds later, Spider-Man climbs onto the roof of the truck, and decides to say hi to the other escort car by tossing the beat-up trashcan lid into the rear windshield, which is good for a little chaos. The smashed window causes the occupants to look everywhere, trying to spot the thrower...

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    A small black drone dips down in front of the SUV, which in the interior they are trying to contend with a batgirl in the back smacking the crap out of their assault weapon buddy. Mostly scouting the lay of what is going on in the front seat really.

    <<I mean.. mood... I would totes have spooky Raven wings and swoop around.>> chipper ADHD or something seriously <<Also Spiderman is having the most fun I think.. bonkers .. absolutely bonkers. Do you think he gives autographs?>> still watching it all in a tiny little PnP window in her goggles as she works.

    She hops off the roof she is on now and vanishes in another slash of smoke, appearing between the driver and the thug in the passenger seat of the SUV in the same spill of pink and purple smoke. It is probably heart attack inducing to be honest. One moment no askew batgirl knock off in between them. Said passenger trying to angle to get a shut between the kidnap victims at Batgirl. The next moment there is an a smol batling shoving a taser charge in the gunman's face and giving the driver a pull over or you will certainly regret life gesture. "Caw caw jerkface" which honestly runs with the banter not that the criminal has any clue who the crazy girl is.


    

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The third punch is the charm. That's the one that connections beneath the hoodlum's chin and sends him off to dreams. Hopefully dreams about reforming and becoming a functional member of society.

But probably not.

Batgirl hears the sound of Misfit's arrival, waving away some of the cloud of smoke that accompanies her. "I'll get the van," she says, climbing to that back window, getting a foot on the back door and then leaping up into the air as Misfit is forcing the driver over.

Batgirl shoots her grapple gun, the bat-shaped head lodging in the back of the van. She pops her cape out into is batwing shape and suddenly it's like she's a kite, being towed behind the fleeing van.

It takes a corner which she banks to swoop around, finds a sky bridge between buildings right in front of her. Yelping, Batgirl dives, just avoiding smashing into it, using her speed gained to land on the roof of the van.

"Ok, had about enough of this," she says, grabbing a pair of batarangs from her utility belt. She dives forward, slamming them through the metal of the hood. Electricity arcs out of the electric batarangs, the circuits in the engine quickly dying and the van losing speed and rolling towards a stop, while the men inside bail out before it's fully at rest, drawing hand guns.

Roy Harper has posed:
The swinging Arsenal slams into the driver who is climbing out of the van, knocking him back and on his butt on the sidewalk. Then like lightning he fires a hunting tip arrow right into the guy's leg. Driver lets out a scream and clutches his. "You move and the next one goes in your chest." He's...he's probably bluffing right? Arsenal would just murder the dude. Right?

The passenger takes off running as fast as he can. "Seriously?" Arsenal says out loud. Like a bolt, he takes off running after the guy. And Arsenal is faster. Way faster. As he runs, Arsenal takes a device off his belt and throws at the fleeing passenger. As the device flies through the arrow, bolas snap open and wind around the runner's legs. He goes flying forward face first into the road. Coming to a stop next to him, Arsenal quips, "THAT is going to hurt in the morning, my dude."

<<Clean up on aisle 4, please.>>

Peter Parker has posed:
There is an excited arguing in the cab of the truck as they see the other escort car misjudge the turn and plow into another car. Probably wondering what they're going to do next.

Might as well make it easy for them.
The front and side windows are suddenly covered in webbing. The driver, for once, makes the right choice and hits the brakes, the truck shuddering to a stop.

The driver yanks the door open, gun ready...and gets webbed to the side of the truck. The other man jumps out and tries to run. He gets about 20 feet before his feet are webbed to the street.

<Broadcast, wide channel. Trash pickup. I'll hang out here until the real cops arrive. Unless there aren't enough and I could give Homeland Security a call.>

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    Charlie waits for the SUV to slow down to pull over and then vanishes from the front seat in another splash of smoke. In her place is a small metal sphere that tick.. tick... booms. Those not like the one that hit the front of the sedan but more of that explosive incredibly stricky fast hardening restraintg goop. Filling the SUV darn full.

    Misfit watches the men in the van bail out drawing hand guns and cocks her head, from her vantage on top of said van. She clicks her tongue disdainfully. <<Honestly you think more creeps would give up when confronted with doooooooom. Not the Doctor kind but you know.. .can't win prison doom. I wonder if Doctor Doom has criminals in his country...>> she head shakes and then flicks both hands out trying her double bat-a-rang throw she has been practicing.

    It isn't at all perfect. "Dooom!" is cried though as she throws. The right one is spot on clocking the shotgun passanger in the temple, drawing blood, and knocking him over off his feet. The one from her left hand though takes the driver right in the arm with the sharp end not the blunt side. "Wooops... needs more practice...!" she squeeks as he does drop the gun to grab the arm clutching around the bat-a-rang sunk into his flesh as blood sprays into the air.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Batgirl replies to Misfit, "I don't know," as she telescopes her bo staff to full size and swings it at the guy's head. *CLANG* "I mean, you hit him."

She does stop to bandage the wound to stop the flow of blood, after adding a pair of batcuffs to his wrists.

"It's ok, you're safe now," she says to the women in the van as she moves to help them out. Into her comms she says, << We have this van stopped. Looks like the tracers on the others they are all down now. Good job everyone. And if someone's in haling range of Spider-Man, pass along our thanks. >>

She glances back in the direction of the buildings that the people had been abducted from, blocks away now. "I hope Nightwing and the others get Capenzo," she says.