2012-09-19 Thief

She should still be in New York, spending time working on getting donations and doing a few jobs while in the other city but Selina got contacted for a job here that promises quite a bit of money. Money that will keep the big cat charities in money for several months, a good way for her to catch up from when she couldn't work for over a month.

Dressed in her costume, Catwoman's scoping out the subject of her attention, the building one that is known for being a small warehouse where a small cache of diamonds can be found, owned by one of the crime lords. Whatever her employer's interest in them is... she doesn't know. She doesn't ask more questions than she needs to. All she knows is that she's supposed to go in, get them and get out. And of course there is the matter of the delivery but that'll be thought about /after/ she gets out of there alive.

Nearby, atop a disused shipping crane, Gotham's youngest vigilante has made his nest. A pair of binoculars clasped in his hands, he surveys the warehouse below intently. Across town, a low-level thug by the name of Jimmy Bixby is being loaded into an ambulance with several broken bones and a number of internal injuries. Before he lapsed into unconsciousness, he told this particular vigilante a potential location of a prominent crime lord. Eager to prove himself, Darkwing waits and watches. Is his quarry actually there? That's anybody's guess. Bixby didn't know much. But nothing will be gleaned without a stakeout.

Getting in is easy. For a building that has precious gems inside of it the owners took very few percautions. Very little in the way of guards, a laughable security system, all things easily circumvented on her way into where the diamonds can be found. Catwoman doesn't allow herself to ruminate over all that, however. She needs to keep focused. Centered.

The box is found after a bit of footwork and pried open and then upended, there being very little in the way of care given when she pours them into a bag she brought with her. Time is taken to make sure no clues to her having been here are left behind as well, /that/ being what costs her precious moments.

Darkwing was rather perplexed by the sudden appearance of the woman in the catsuit breaking into the warehouse. It honestly wasn't what he had expected. Nevertheless, watching her deactivate the security system and slip inside prompted him to his feet and moments later he's slipping through the same gap she made. He keeps to the shadows, however, watching her curiously as he weighs his options in his head.

On the one hand, she's a criminal and she's stealing. On the other, she's stealing from a criminal who most likely didn't acquire any of this through legal channels. Does he stop her or wait for his target and let her go. As she moves about the place he quietly slips a batarang from his belt, holding it ready between two fingers.

The bad thing about easy jobs is that one can get lulled into a sense that they will be able to waltz right back out. That the entire thing is just one big cake walk and nothing can go wrong. Such is the case with her tonight, Selina just not as mindful as she normally is. Hence why she fails to realize that there's someone else here, watching. Waiting.

The box is given one last inspection before she rises from her crouch, the leather issuing a faint creek as she does. Calling this a job almost done once she's fully straightened, Selina turns and goes to leave, her path putting her right past the unnoticed Darkwing.

When Darkwing moves, it is a series of actions that all seem to happen at once. His is practiced precision and grace, that of someone trained since birth for such things. His wrist flicks, the batarang whistling angrily through the air before meeting a nearby light bulb. A hiss of shattered glass fills the air as the light goes out, plunging their immediate surrounds into darkness ... and that is when he acts.

Propelling himself out from his hiding place, Damian directs a booted foot at Catwoman's midsection in an effort to knock her over. The eyepieces of his mask begin to glow, adjusting for the sudden loss of light. He's otherwise silent, his attacks methodical. No need to waste too much energy on a mere thief, right?

Not in the possession of night vision gear or gifted with the ability to see in darkness that is just shy of absolute, the attack hits Selina who is startled by the sound of the bulb being broken and the sudden inkiness that surrounds her. The impact is literally breath-taking as it impacts just below her diaphram, causing her to go flying, her body sliding upon the bare concrete until her shoulder hits the box. What the... Working to regain the ability to draw air into her lungs, the Cat rises slowly, the claws that cap each finger now extended, the diamonds forgotten as the bag lays mere feet from her. "Where are you, you lousy coward," she calls out. "Come out and get your ass handed to you."

“Big words for someone struggling to breathe,” Darkwing taunts from the darkness, a feat of ventriloquism allowing his voice to sound as if it is coming from behind her while he lurks at her front, “I thought scum like you had good night vision.”

The teen's hand reaches instinctively for the hilt of the katana at the small of his back but he stops himself. No need to cause undue injury. Thieves deserve such punishment, true, but his father would not approve of such brutal measures when the fight looks so easily won. He darts forward, this time crouching low to try and sweep her legs out from under her with his own.

Throwing voices? That is confusing in and of itself. Who of the 'hero community' in Gotham can do that? Selina almost asks for the person's name but she's now being rushed, this attack something she's clued in on as her eyesight has finally adjusted for the lower level of illumination, and just in time for her to spin in effort to get out of their way. At the same time she lashes out, trying to rake her claws along what she can only assume is their face.

"I didn't know the Mafia started letting circus midgets work for them," she hisses out in mid-turn, her voice tight. "How about we just end this and you walk on out and let me go about what I'm here to do." Which is grab the bag of diamonds again and get the hell out of the warehouse.

“Agh!”

Darkwing maneuvers quickly to get out of the way of the swiping claws but while they miss his face they catch his shoulder and dig deep, painful trenches across his shoulder. It hurts but he internalizes the pain, using it for fuel. Rather than back off he darts forward, recklessly, and attempts to tackle Catwoman about her middle so he can knock her to the ground.

The yelp gets Selina to smile, the sound familiar. Means someone got claws sunk into them. Not where she had meant for them to but at least the other person is spared the loss of an eye or potentially embarrassing facial scars. "Awww, did the kitty get y..." Her sentence is cut off as she now squeaks, caught in that tackle. The pair of them hit the ground, Selina on the bottom, the momentum then used to try and flip him off of her.

Darkwing tumbles with her but he is resolved to make no more mistakes that might earn him another wound. It will be hard enough to explain how he got the cuts on his shoulder when he's meant to be in his room on the other side of Gotham studying social sciences.

As she rolls him, he does not resist and instead moves with her to grant himself a little more momentum than perhaps had been intended. As he stops, he crouches and fetches a handful of three small batarangs from his utility belt. In one fluid motion he hurls them out behind him, hoping to pepper the Cat with them as she stands.

“You talk too much. Are you attempting to compensate for your obvious failings as a warrior?”

Oh ouch. They hurt her feelings. Well, no, not really. Selina has had worse insults tossed at her over the years and that, while amusing, has very little effect on her. She can't say such however as the stranger throws the... batarangs? Surely they can't be. But they do look familiar. A twist gets one of the projecties to miss her but the others hit her, the tips gouging into her flesh as they rend the leather. Drawing in a hiss of pain through clenched teeth, she looks at where she's been hit, one shoulder and a thigh, relieved to see that they'll bleed but the injuries are not life-threatening.

One is pulled out and trown to the side and the second kept once it's removed from her flesh, evidence to show Batman. As swift as he was, Selina gets her whip in hand and swings it out, trying to snare the younger one with the end.

"A whip now?" Darkwing asks, springing backwards to land on his hands and propelling himself out of reach. He's lucky, it seems, because it cracks to a stop mere inches from his face as a mean little smirk crosses his features. His eyes flicker momentarily towards the bag of diamonds, left to the side for now, and suddenly he's darting out to grab at it.

There are many things she is not necessarily exceptional at but the way he looks at the bag is such a tell that even a blind man can see it. He darts to the side and she's right upon him, yet again swiping at him with those claws. "Do not taunt me," she whispers, her eyes narrowed. She's not the most pleasant of people right now and Damian's about to find that out, her mood now shredded.

“Your threats are empty, woman,” Darkwing hisses, hands darting up to ward off the claws but unable to keep a few from getting by, “Effete words from an inelegant thief.”

He brings both his feet up, attempting to plant a two-footed kick in her chest with all his strength as his free hand scrambles to try and gather up the bag.

The kick is mostly deflected but it hits her shoulder after those feet are brushedto the side, getting her to clench her teeth. "Shut up," she whispers angrily, going down to her knees at the same time she raises a fist. Will she connect. The kid's good. Very good, even. So she just might not be able to make the punch connect. But even if it doesn't she just might distract him which she hopes will buy her time to get the gems.

Now Darkwing has a choice to make. Pick up the bag and take a bunch to the face or roll out of the way and leave the bag open. He wants it, sure, but he'd not about to risk losing consciousness with a criminal who is obviously as mad at him as Catwoman is. So the choice is made. He rolls to one side, away from the bag, to avoid the punch and quickly climbs to his feet.

And as he gets to his feet Selina rolls, makes a grab for the bag and then stands, her prize in hand. "Don't take it personal," she eventually says after giving the batarang in her other hand a quick glance. "I really need to go, though. I got to drop these babies off," the bag is shaken to indicate the 'babies', "and then I got to get back." And yes, someone will be given a call about this at some point.

“Run, thief,” Darkwing sneers, standing to his feet and resting a hand on the hilt of his katana just in case the woman chooses to rush him, “Next time I see you, I'll show you what they do with thieves in the land of my birth.”

He could attack again, yes, but the advantage is lost. Strike from the shadows. They're on an even playing field now and while his ego won't let him flee, it seems as though she is going to do just that and he's ready to allow it. Still, he won't let her leave without barbing her further. He tilts his head to one side, “You will not be so pretty without your hand, I think.”