Owner Pose
Helena Bertinelli Gotham has a reputation for so many things. Of course, there is Batman at the top of that list. Right below that name is crime, organized crime, and villainy. Corruption isn't far down from the others. One that does stand out are the amazing shows and performances that still, doggedly, return to Gotham season after season in spite of all those other things on the list that righfully should chase them off.

Tonight, Huntress is not out for a show, but does happen to be near by one of the many historic theaters of the city. Her goal is to track down information on someone that does business with one of the gangs that has claims to the area around the theater. She has no idea about what show might be at the theater tonight but, given the lighting, it is clear the show is still underway to some degree. It means fewer risks to regular Gothamites if she can get in and get out before the show ends and the sidewalks swell with people.

Making a deft jump from atop the theather's six story tall roofline, across the alley to another building, Huntress crosses over to where a second alley intersects behind the buildings. Looking down to the wet alley pavement several stories below, she sees a group of the gang members she has been seeking out. She fires off a grapple bolt from her crossbow, securing it across the alley. Stepping off the edge of the rooftop, she lets the line lower her into the alley at a safe rate.

Dropping to the pavement from a few feet above, she unclips and starts to walk toward the gang members, speaking quietly, "Nice evening to loiter, isn't it? I have questions. If I like your answers you can just go right on loitering. I really don't care. But if you decide you don't feel like talking, we're going to have issues."
Zatanna Zatara In a sweater and corduroy pants, an older man, balding, blocks the one-way door open for Zatanna with his back.

"You have a good evening, Ms. Zatara. Good to have you back with us. Good to see a full-house, too. Like the old days."

"It's good to see you still on the job, Mr. Stevens. Thank you for everything. Remember to get those flowers from my dressing room for your wife. I'll see you next month, " the magician replies smiling, shouldering her bag, she steps out into the alley.

Zee has exchanged her iconic top hat, and formfitting tux for a tailored black suit straight from Harajuku, comfortable and stylish under a long black coat relieved by a dash of piquant red scarf.

As the door shuts, voices muffled by traffic out on the main drag come to her. Probably kids from the amusement park, hiding to smoke a joint on the sly. She glances their way, then frowns; something about the way they are standing doesn't feel right. Then, walking like she owns the place, she closes the distance between them, realizing that she knows the woman whose back is to her facing the group.
Helena Bertinelli Huntress had not, yet, picked up on the approaching figure of Zatanna behind her. From Zatanna's perspective, she would see a taller figure with slender shoulders, her figure largely hidden by a cape. Dark hair is easily seen as are the two points from the woman's purple mask that rise up and call back to a rather Bat-inspired silhouette and shadow. It could indeed be inferred to a well travelled member the heroic community that this is likely to be Huntress. Or, well, one of the two of them. By voice it could be confirmed to be the elder of the two, probably.

As Huntress closed in on the gang members, they all turn toward her. Several reach into their clothing for weapons. The leader of the group speaks with annoyance, "Bitch, we don't owe you a thing. But you come walking in here like you're the queen and we should just roll over for you? No. Not going to happen. Tell us why we shouldn't just open up and ventilate your ass right now?" he defiantly postures.

Huntress hasnt taken a weapon in hand for herself, yet. "I'm not here to wipe the alley with all of you. But I will. I'm here for information. I want to know which one of the mob families you're getting your weapons from. I know it isn't the Falcones. So which smaller family is it? The Antonellis? The Carsones? Or do you guys favor the Chinese knockoffs for their price and availability?"
Zatanna Zatara The dark hair, the cape and the stance tell the mage who is facing off with the smart-mouthed tough guys. The reach for weapons doesn't faze Zee either. But, the question posed is intriguing.

"Hey boys. Did you all come looking for autographs?" Her low contralto voice purrs from the shadows, "No need to get heavy. Answer her question nicely and then we can all go home early."
Helena Bertinelli The leader and his group of almost a dozen followers seemed more than ready to pull their weapons and take their chances against Huntress alone. The odds were quite in their favor, from their perspective. However, just hearing another voice offering back up to the vigilante is enough to give them pause. The leader hesitates, "... damn it.." He didn't like when things got out of control and that was exactly where this unexpected confrontation was heading.

Huntress didn't turn herself completely around to see who was behind her, rather she stepped to the right side of the alley and pivoted to allow herself to catch sight of Zatanna and keep an eye on the gang leader. It also took her out of her unexpected backup's line of sight to the gang. "Wow. Guys, look who it is? It really is your lucky day. You've been graced by the presence of Zatanna Zatara. You now.. the magician who really could turn you into lizards if she felt like it." A smile tugged at her features. "So now? You've got two of us with interest in your answer. What's it going to be?"

A long few seconds pass as the leader tries to find a way not to lose face in front of his guys that also doesn't get a gun (or magic) fight to break out in this confined space. One of the youngest members of the gang forces him to commit to action by cursing and pulling a revolver out, "man, fuck this shit! We aren't talking!" The snub nosed .38 rises quickly, aiming toward Huntress!
Zatanna Zatara Resolving any confrontation peacefully is nearly always the magician's first choice of outcomes. And, for a moment, Zee, who can read an audience with the facility of long practice, felt the tension drop significantly. But, what can a person do faced with the impatience of youth? The drawn gun changes the tenor of the conversation entirely.

Sometimes, a single word can change the course of a person's life. So, rather than let someone get hurt, the magician lifts a hand, her manicured fingers catching the light as she whispers, "!ekanS"

The cold metal of the pistol grip becomes soft and moves in the boy's hand.
Helena Bertinelli The leader was just about to tell Huntress at least something of what she was asking. But the kid has to get all big-man and pull a weapon he hasn't even fired before. The situation begins to devolve quickly for, just as Zatanna turns the weapon into a snake in the kid's hand - which justifiably earns a high pitched shriek from the kid as he half drops, half throws the former weapon toward a nearby dumpster.

This cry is mistaken by the others of the gang as the Kid getting injured somehow. These Bat-Types have all sorts of weapons and gadgets that aren't firearms. Who knows what was done to hurt one of their own.

To turn a phrase, this is the point where everything goes to Hell in a hand basket (Helena handbasket?) ... it's a good phrase but a terrible joke and no one is laughing just now as the rest of the gang begins to pull their weapons. There were a total of 13 gang members, now down to 12 with weapons. The leader had yet to pull his, trying to shout down his guys, "Hey! HEY! STOP!" his hands up trying to calm the situation but common sense has already left this situation and he gives in, pulling a sawed off shotgun from under his long coat. He turns to focus on Zatanna. Because freaking snakes!

Huntress saw this all unfolding and was ready for it all - except the snake. She had not expected Zatanna to get involved other than as a distraction. So that made things interesting. As the multitude of guns come out, she flings two smoke pellets at the feet of the gang members even as she crouches into a spin away from the group, her cape fanning out and obsuring where her body actually is.

The spin completes as the gun barrels come up and the smoke pellets erupt. An initial hail of bullets fly through the space Huntress had been occupying, but she was already mid lunge away - tucking and rolling behind the same dumpster that gun/snake was flung at. She'll take her chances.
Angelo Tampambulos     And so, having reported in to his superiors back at SHIELD about the anomaly they sent him to investigate last week, Angelo finds himself back in Gotham once more. I mean, he is attached to ARMOR, the Alternate Reality... whatever acronym insanity they set up. The point is, he is one of the investigators dispatched when extradimensional anomalies are detected....

    Not that there is one of those in this area. He specifically left Zatana's presence out of his report last week, and when asked about some of the details, he glossed over one thing or another. But since he is doing a followup on the anomaly he found back then... even though it lasted for just over three seconds... ironically, the timer showed three point one four five nine seconds. Huh, Pi. That hits him as he walks about the back of the theater, intending to work his way backstage to visit with Zatana and see how she is doing... and to ask for a bit more of her expertise on matters of dimensional anomalies.

    He hears her voice call out a word he doesn't recognize.. I mean come on, aside from Zatana and her father... who actually would recognize words spoken backwards? But he steps into view just after the gun is transformed.

    And then the shriek happens, and he calls out in a casual manner, as if he hadn't a care in the world, "Did I come at a bad time?" he says even as the situation devolves into firearm insanity. At which point he adds, "Drop your weapons people. I did not have any desire to get into a fight tonight. But if I do, you won't like the outcome."

    This is said as four of the gunmen turn to face him, even as he holds up his wallet to show the badge within it. And.. the first shot from those four blasts the wallet right out of his hand, "Oh bother." he says, still not seeming afraid, "Do you know how much paperwork you just made for me?" he asks as he steps to his left, ducking in behind a brick building corner just as a couple other shots ricochet off of the bricks... chipping them as he reaches for his SHIELD issue ICER pistol.

    A long suffering sigh escapes his mouth as he adds, "It is not too late to drop your weapons." The man really didn't want to fight tonight.
Zatanna Zatara "Fun! Just like on stage!" she thinks as smoke obscures the alley. Now, the question is what is going to appear. A dragon? The Wizard of Oz pulling strings behind the curtain?

No, to her complete surprise, it is a rather good-looking Greek bearing a badge rather than gifts. She smiles to herself.

Eyes narrowing, she returns her attention to the boys. Her lips pucker in a moue of disappointment. She never imagined that they would be so squeamish. Chalk it up to experience then.

To avoid a stampede of boys playing with guns turned into serpents, Zatanna lifts both hands and gestures in a fanning motion at the group, "!ecI"

A crackling sound follows reminiscent of large chunks of ice grinding along a riverbank. The gang boys might lose some skin as their fingers and the palms of their hands freeze on their weapons.
Helena Bertinelli Well the situation just keeps getting worse for the gang. It went from one target to three and a big cloud of smoke swirling around. Those pellets weren't large so their contents does begin to dissipate rather quickly, their purpose served. Of course four of the gang members are now aiming and firing at Angelo. Two and the leader were aiming at Zatanna and that left the fife that still had weapons to try and shoot Huntress. Their bullets were just chipping chunks of the old brick off the wall behind her last visible location.

While Huntress pulled her crossbows and prepared to fire stun bolts - she wasn't trying to kill this particular group of bad guys after all - Zatanna had already begun to deal with all of them. More shrieks of alarm and pain are heard as the below zero temperatures began to freeze exposed fingers and palms. Most of the weapons drop to the filthy pavement with metallic clattering but at least three are too frozen to the hands holding them to be removed. Those gang members are whimpering and out of the fight as they try to figure out how to get the painfully cold metal free of their hands.

The gang leader calls out in alarm, "All right! ALL RIGHT! We give up! Just stop! Please!" He is one with a weapon fused to his hand. The heavy shotgun threatens to tear skin from his right hand while he struggles to hold the wooden pump handle in his left hand to hold most of the weapon's weight. "I'll talk!"

Huntress hadn't been expecting any backup, let alone someone from law enforcement. That could get complicated, but she had to focus on what she came for. Rising up from behind the dumpster, her weapons holstered again, she waited for the last of the smoke to drift away. "Well, glad you decided to see some reason." She doesn't get any closer to the gang leader; she wasn't that foolhardy. "I said I wanted information and I'd be gone. I'll keep my word" she shoots glances toward Zatanna then the newly arrived and unrecognized Angelo meaningfully. "Who are you buying your guns from."

The leader seems a bit less panicked as his guys give up fighting and instead stare sullenly as they've been bested by snakes and frostbite. He takes a breath, "It's the Carsone family. Just a side job one of their guys has with us." He stops short of giving up a name but Huntress is right on him.
R"I want a name."

The leader sighs and swears under his breath. He'd had a good thing going but knew it was blown up now. He grimaces and finally complies, "Andy Capretti. I... think he's just a low member. I don't think anyone higher up actually knows he's skimming guns to sell us..." He looks at his hand with pain across his features - the same expression the rest of his guys have just now - and then he looks pleadingly toward Zatanna as if maybe she'll stop the pain she started but he's entirely too scared to ask.
Angelo Tampambulos     It's not like Angelo likes to show off some of the more... classified things he is capable of. But the fact that these guys are really no threat to him can't help but color his reactions. He knows he is better than them. Or more to the point... entirely superior to them.

    So, when they predictably think they have the upper hand, he turns in his tiny covered area and as he steps out, his ICER held at the ready. The order to surrender makes it so he has no need to fire. That and the ice magic making the punks lose the will to fight.

    But he advances with his own weapon still trained on them. "Ladies." he says cordially, "I hope that I am not interrupting anything important."

    That said, he falls silent and lets the ladies have their chat. But when Huntress gets her information about the firearms, he lifts his brows and asks, "Well, that is some decent intel. Shall we throw the little fish back into the water then?" he asks, gesturing to the punks.
Zatanna Zatara Zatanna is not above letting someone suffer for their art, even if it is amateurish, criminal and performed in back alleys out of the eyes of the public and the law. Catching the Huntress's eye she nods and walks toward Angelo.

"Angelo, darling, you're frightening everyone with your badge and gun," she says, playing the Grand Dame as she winds her arm through his and leans.

"Let me warm the fish, first, now that they have sung for their supper." She flicks her fingers and the gun warms enough to release their hands. It doesn't replace the skin that froze and detached itself, clinging to the metal.

Turning to the Huntress, "Did the fish sing well enough? Or do you have more questions, friend?"
Helena Bertinelli Huntress fights the urge to arch a brow as Zatanna crosses over and takes Angelo's arm. Huh. She looks back to the poor gang members. They thought they had the advantage at the beginning and even then they were outgunned without even realizing it. Huntress certainly wasn't expecting backup but she wasn't one to throw away making a meaningful impression of intimidation. In Gotham crime circles, word travels fast and if word happened to be that Huntress could some how bring in Zatanna or Agents of SHIELD? Well that was not beneath her to keep in her back pocket for some future standoff.

A nod to the other two and Huntress confirms as she walks over to join them - and keep everyone on the same side of the group of gang memebers. "All done. Those I'm after aren't here. Maybe not even in Gotham right now. But I have what I need to continue my investigation. Thanks. Much appreciated." If not expected!
Angelo Tampambulos     Nodding, Angelo offers Zatana a bright and cheery smile. "My Lady. Would you perhaps be able to help me avoid a mountain of paperwork and fix this?" he asks as he stoops over and retrieves the wallet with a chunk of the badge missing from a bullet impact.

    And as he does so, he puts his own weapon away. "Well, if you're satisfied, then I don't see why I should have to get officially involved. It wasn't my plan to run some sort of sting op here. I will not step on your toes if you decide that these fish are too small to keep." he says towards Helena.

    But he returns and re-intertwines his arm with Zatana's. "So, how did your show go?" he asks her as if there was not just some violent altercation that happened here.
Zatanna Zatara "Show me then?" She angles them both toward the light to scrutinize the badge. "Well, those little criminals. If there are no electronics inside," she squints at the badge, prolonging the moment, deliberately forgetting the existence of the caped woman behind them. "I'm terrible at restoring electronics."

She slips her arm out from under his and takes the badge out of his hand, ".erotseR," she murmurs.

Flipping her hand over, she returns the badge to Angelo. "There you go."

Slipping her arm back under his, "Would you like to get a bite to eat? I just finished performing, and I'm famished. There is an excellent Italian restaurant not far from here."

The magician glances back over her shoulder,hoping to see the Huntress gone.
Helena Bertinelli Huntress doesn't take another moment. A glance back to the gang still suffering as Zatanna lets the proverbial blade twist a bit more before hopefully reversing her freezing spell, and the vigilant has her crossbow in hand, firing another grapple line toward the rooftops. As it finds purchase, her ascender pulls her silently off the pavement and up into the gloomy Gotham night. In a blink of an eye she is out of sight and leaving the area quickly. The last thing she needs is SHIELD turning its attention on her.

That would be a real lousy conversation to have with Oracle.
Angelo Tampambulos     It's not like Angelo planned to pin down Helena. He lifts his brows as she ascends and departs. "Well, that's how you know you're in Gotham." he says as he lifts his head and then turns to regard Zatana. "You guys can go." he says to the punks before turning towards the exit of the alleyway.

    "Italian you say." he says in a cordial voice, "Please allow me to buy you a meal there then." he says as he walks out with Zatana into the night.