2013.07.22 - Dead Men Don't Negotiate

John Carmichal had caught his first case since opening his investigation firm in Gotham. It wasn't anything fancy, or high profile, but it seemed like a good start, and might help him get his skills back in order. He'd been training with his secretary Jocelyn Stream, so he was sure he could handle himself in a fistfight at least, and he'd finally managed to get his gear straightened out with a contact, so he was feeling even more confident. It didn't hurt that Barbarah Gordon had also seen to outfitting his office with computers, networks, and tech support. She was a fine lady, that Barbarah. Easy on the eyes too. One almost forgot she was stuck in that wheelchair. The case: Track down a missing (read: runaway) kid, whose parents were worried had fallen in with a bad crowd. Namely the boyfriend they were convinced was a junkie, or some kind of criminal. They had forbidden her from seeing him again, and she had gone out the window that very night. Mom & Dad square were beside themselves and had hired John Carmichal to find their baby girl. He'd been tracking her movements for the last three days, and the picture was getting uglier, and uglier the further he got. Things weren't as cut & dried as Ma & Pa had painted them. Sure, the girl had friends who did questionable things, but there were rumors of abuse at home too. That didn't sit right with Carmichal, but a job was a job. He'd find the girl, then maybe make sure Pa never touched her again either. The trail had led him here. One of his contacts said they might have seen the girl being transported...(yes, transported) into this neighborhood, by a group of sex traffickers. What had the world come to? Carmichal hangs out, loitering as it were, on the street, smoking a cigarette, eyeing an old building with a group of thugs hanging around out front. He'd been watching people going in and out all night, and was convinced, this was the place. He lifts his hand to his ear, and mutters quietly "Hello, yes...I have it on good authority, there's a brothel operating out of 9225 South Hampton Avenue, near the old Monarch Theater. You might want to send a few units, I fear there's going to be trouble...." at that, he steps back into the shadow of the buildings behind him, and literally steps out of his clothing, which pools on the ground. He pulls a mask over his head, and puts his coat, and hat back on, as he begins to fade from view amidst a roiling cloud of fog which forms. The van was being followed, Darkwing didn't want to just take down a single person. When the van stops the teenaged vigilante actually lands upon the roof of the van, his boots making a little dent in the ceiling. His blue eyes are hidden by his optics. He stops a bit on the roof,"Get out here." He says firmly. He's in a bad mood. Almost getting blown up recently will do that. The Ghost was just making his way across the street invisibly (though probably not to Darkwing's optics, if they have IR capability, which they likely do). When he hears the THUD on the van that had just pulled up, he eyes the....kid? Tilting his head, but still moving. What was it with kids getting into the hero business these day? He'd met more kid-heroes since his return a month ago, than he ever met back in the 40s. Moving in to back up the kid, assuming the kid needed backup, The Ghost pauses not far from the van, his hand drawing out a pistol that looked like something out of a science-fiction serial. This he holds, muzzle down in a 'ready' stance, but isn't as yet, aiming it anywhere, of course, he's still invisible so may not even be noticed as yet. He remains silent, waiting, though he glances toward the building. Stay here, or breach the building? Questions questions! The thugs around the entrance of the building however, are also reacting to Darkwing's sudden appearance, weapons being drawn, people spreading out in a wide semi-circle around the van, aimed at the person on the roof. "Look what we got here Joey...izzat a new boy wonder, or just some wannabe?" he chuckles lightly. Joey just snorts "Doesn't matter....shoot 'em. We don't need this shit tonight!" At that, the thugs open fire in concert, aimed at Darkwing. Jumping over the the men, Darkwing's fast to the point of bordering of superspeed. "Didn't anyone warn you about me? I'm not like Robin." He says as he moves in to break one of the men's femur from behind in a particularly nasty maneuver, even as he strikes the man in the back of the neck knocking him out cold. There's not a single wasted movement to the teen's moves. He downs two more in rapid succession. "If you want to give up that's fine, but I'd prefer you not. I've not gotten to have even a mediocre fight this week." He says as he continues to whirl and strike. As the gunfire erupts, the Ghost has raised his weapon, and sort of "popped" into existance just close enough to be seen by the fringes of the semi-circle. His pistol raises at the nearest thug who begins to turn his gun on the fedora wearing hero. The Ghost was already aiming, and so his shot goes off first "ZzzzAP!" and a spherical bolt of energy, like a ball of electricity fires out, smashing the man in the chest. The man immediately goes ridgid, and topples over onto his back with a strained grunting sound, as his body lays there twitching. The Ghost looks then and sees Darkwing literally tearing into the other thugs like a sugar-rushed muppet-ninja. Thugs are thrown, bashed, falling, screaming, and a few are running. The Ghost simply watches for a moment, not wanting to chance shooting the other hero. The van's engine starts up and the wheels begin to squeel as it makes to flee as well, with the Ghost squarely in it's path. He has time to turn his gun on it, and fire once more before it's on him. He disappears as the van rolls over the spot where he was...was he crushed by it? Is he under it? It's unclear, though the van seems to suffer some kind of mechanical problem just then with the engine coughing and dying, and the van halting its progress. As he gets clear of the ones right near him, Darkwing throws a batarang at one of those fleeing and hits him in the back of the skull causing him to collapse. "Anyone else want to fight?" He asks smiling a bit, a cold grim thing that has absolutely no humour at all behind it. Standing there with his hands on his hips, he's like a demented Peter Pan if Peter Pan wanted to kill everyone and leave their bruised broken corpses behind. There seems to be some kind of ruckus inside the van, until the rear door flies open, and one of the thugs who had been inside is thrown from the recesses, landing on the ground with another loud grunt. A bolt of energy follows soon behind, leaving him twitching, and then 2 more tell-tale "ZZZAP!" sounds can be heard inside the van, before the side-door opens, and The Ghost exits, offering his hand to someone else inside. Stepping out behind him, looking dazed, and frightened, come 3 girls of varying age. Likely between 14 and 17. They're dressed provacatively, one of the younger ones hugging onto one of the older ones tightly. "There you are ladies, just stay here...you're safe now. The police are on their way..." the Ghost says. At least he hopes they're on their way. He DID call them after all. He looks at Darkwing, tilting his head. "Nice work, kid..." he says "Care to help me clean up the rest of this scum?" he asks "Or would that be me, helping you?" he asks with a chuckle. "That's all on how you look at it. Just don't interfere with my fighting and we'll be ok. I want to be rid of these scum. Normally I'd kill them but Father has asked me to not kill anyone despite Mother saying that is the simplest way to deal with these filth." Darkwing says, his voice practically dripping with disdain at the crooks,"They're sloppy when they fight." This is among the worst sins. The Ghost just stares at the kid for a moment, and finally shrugs "Kid, as long as you don't get yourself killed, I don't care how you fight." he says "Not everyone fights the same way...I doubt I could pull off any of your moves." he says "anyway, there's a girl inside I'm looking for..." he says pulling out a small photo "If you see her in there, sing out...." he says "Try not to kill anyone though, huh?" he says "Your pa's probably not the only one who might have an issue with that...." he says "I had a real hot tomato read me the riot act for shooting a guy in self defense last week." he says "And I didn't even kill him." he grunts, and turns then heading toward the building. "Nice meeting you by the way...names Silver Ghost." he says moving up the stairs toward the door of the building, and then simply stepping through it as if he were what his name implied. Well Oracle might scold me as well." Darkwing says as he nods to the Ghost,"You can call me Darkwing." He says as he uses a grappling gun to go to the roof. He'll start at the top of the building and work his way down. This is why he left swords at home. He gets out a couple batarangs as he enters the building and moves quiet and stealthy as a cat. No sooner had Ghost walked into the door and through it, than gunshots rang out beyond, spacking into, and through the door. Seems the tustle out here may have alerted the thugs inside, who apparently had set up a firing line inside the door. As Darkwing made his way to the roof, he'll find it's been left unsecured, due to the craziness happening at ground level. Though once entering the building he'll find sentries here and there as well as room after room of drugged, and/or bound girls of various ages, and stages of undress, who have clearly been used and abused. Some longer than others to look at them. In the main hallway on the ground floor, the thugs, behind cover keep shooting at the Ghost, who simply strides forward, no bullets touching him as more and more fly. "You filth keep wasting your ammo like that...don't mind me." he says lifting his own gun, dropping them here and there with bolts of electricity. One comes out of a door to his left, rushing him, and he swings his free hand in a hard left hook, his fist connecting with the man's jaw, and sending him staggering before another bolt hits him, dropping him to the ground twitching. Eventually there's more twitching thugs, than upright ones, and the Ghost sets about poking his head into rooms, looking at each girl for a moment and speaking quietly "It's okay sweetheart, the police are on their way...." he says to the few who are sober enough to be frightened. He makes his way to the 2nd floor, ghosting through the door again, and once more being met with gunfire. The sentries are taken out quickly and efficiently with Darking wasting no effort to take them out. The batarangs knocking more than a few of them out in a bit of a rough way, some of them put up a fight and end up broken and bleeding on the ground. "Stay. Don't leave until the police get here. Not safe downstairs." He says firmly to the girls in each room as he fights his way down making sure to clear all the rooms and zip tying each hoodlum's arms behind their back after they're on the ground and ankles together as well. The Ghost finally gets through the 2nd floor, one below the one Darkwing is on, and reaches the final room. He pokes his head in and finds a thug, arm wrapped around a girl's throat, gun to her head. "I'LL KILL 'ER, FUCKER....DON'T YOU COME NEAR ME!" he cries out. The girl just happens to be the one The Ghost was looking for. She's clearly high as a kite, dazed, far away look in her eyes. She doesn't even know her life is being threatened. "That ain't gonna help your cause, fella...." the Ghost tells the man. "Let the girl go, and all you get is a nice ride to jail. Kill her..." he says "and I'll make sure you die slow...." he says menacingly. Once he has the floor he's on dealt with, Darkwing finally catches up to the man holding a gun to the girl's head. He doesn't even say anything just stands there managing to do a fairly credible imitation of the Batman loom. Maybe's it is the fact he has the blood of the man's goons on his gloves from the punching. "Surrender." That's all he says after a dramatic pause. The thug's eyes are wild. He's clearly doped up himself. He lurches backward, keeping the girl's body in front of his own shielding him, gun still pointed at her head "I'LL DO IT! I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD, I'LL PAINT THE GODDAMNED WALL WITH HER BRAINS...NOW BACK OFF!" The Ghost doesn't move, but he's tense, and if Darkwing's as good at reading body language as he probably is, he'll notice The Ghost is tensing to do something. "Alright....alright...just relax..." he says backing out the door, with a quick muttered "keep his attention" to Darkwing. He slips out of the man's field of vision, and fog begins to roil up in the hallway. Darkwing can probably hear soft footsteps moving down the hall, but there's no one to see making those nearly inaudible sounds. The Ghost, now invisible again makes his way into the room next door, and then silence falls once more. "How long do you think you'll live if you do that." Darkwing asks in a cold voice as he stands there still, his body seeming to relax,"Do you wish to find out or will you surrender and live past this day? Because if you kill her, I assure you, my training to kill you will win out and I will leave you to die in a very gruesome manner." He says in that same cold voice, and judging from the way he's standing he can do it. The thug's eyes scan the room "Where'd the other guy go!?" he practically screams. Two heroes, both threatening his life...well, that'd at least made him pause for the moment. He keeps the gun squared at the girl's head. She just mumbles incoherantly and drools a little, whining as if someone were trying to rouse her from a really good dream. Suddenly in a near blur of motion, the Ghost rushes the man from within the wall to his right, but instead of attacking the man, the Ghost seems to grab the girl, who just slides right through the man's arm, as she's tackled to the ground. The man's gun goes off as he's startled by the sudden appearance, and movement, with a cried "FUCK!" before he manages to aim the gun toward Darkwing, not really sure where the Ghost, or the girl had gone, and not noticing they're laying prone at his feet. As soon as the girl is out of harm's way, Darkwing's already thrown a batarang at the man's hand and rushing him. The dark haired teen's cloak flows behind him as he jumps into the air, aiming to kick the man squarely in the face. "Pathetic." He says in that cold cruel voice. He'd love to snap this fool's neck but he did promise not to kill. The thugs bullets miss the teen hero as he rushes the man, and as the thug is kicked in the face, he goes down like a sack of bricks. The Ghost lays there shielding the girl in his arms, until the man falls, and then lifts his head. "Did you get him?" he asks the young man standing over him "Great job, kid...." he says sitting up, and then standing up, and reaching down to pick up the girl, whose head lolls a bit, still doped out of her mind. He turns his head hearing sirens approaching, and grunts "what was that....at least a 20 minute response time?" he shakes his head. "Cops in this town are slacking...." he comments "Thanks for the assist, kid, but if you don't want to deal with the coppers, you might wanna ankle it now....I got what I was after here, so I'm gonna blow...." he says reaching into an inside pocket of his coat, and producing a small card with embossed foil lettering on it. The card says simply "Compliments of the Silver Ghost". This he tucks into the thug's collar, and turns, carrying the girl toward the hallway. When Silver Ghost goes to tell the teen to beat it, Darkwing's already managed to pull one of his father's tricks and when the man's not looking simply seems to vanish. He's good at that kind of thing. The shadows are you friend when you're trained from childhood to be an assassin. There's no calling card but the tales of him will no doubt get told to the police and he'll have to explain to his father the Batman but least everyone is going to survive and there's no chance that they're going to die tonight, a few might be on crutches or in slings for a while but they'd all live. The Ghost makes his way outside, carrying the girl, cradle style, looking up and down the street. He can see the lights flashing as they approach, and heads for a nearby alleyway. Before long he too has disappeared, girl in tow, into the night, which leaves nothing but a mess for the cops to clean up. Mission accomplished. For now.....