| Smokey and the Bandit | |||||
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| What: The Arrow Family and their allies keep a hijacked truck of medical supplies from falling into wrong hands. They make with a bit of hijacking of their own at the end. | |||||
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The truck has come out from the West Coast. It is full of medical equipment and medicines for Gotham City hospitals. Not far outside of Gotham, the truck was hijacked. It is now making its way through the city.
Through a tip, our intrepid heroes know of the plans. They sit and wait for the truck as it travels through Midtown Gotham.
"I see it heading this way," calls Green Arrow over the comlink after lowering the binoculars. He stands on a rooftop above the city street. The truck has arrived in the middle of the night so traffic is light at the moment as the eighteen wheeler rumbles along. "Everyone ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," 'chirps' the Canary over the coms, Dinah sounding a little nervous. Sure, this entire situation isn't exactly unlike others they have found their collective way into in the past, but still. Too much potential for things to go south badly.
Waiting for Arrow's cue, she waits, having chosen a building several up the block from his, hoping the others will be ready as well.
A violet 1967 GTO sits among the parked cars in Midtown with the engine idling. It happens to be in a No Parking zone, but you wouldn't know because the sign has been removed and is in the GTO's trunk. Even if the sign was up, the car has no license plate or registration markings.
The Question sits behind the wheel, folding a piece of paper between his gloved fingers. When Green Arrow's voice comes from his watch, the faceless man puts the paper on the dashboard. It's a tiny origami caduceus.
Picking his fedora up off the seat, The Question puts it on and casts his sightless gaze into the side mirror to 'see' the approaching truck. He puts his left wrist in front of his missing mouth.
"Ready," he answers in his eerie flat muffled tone. And then his left hand is on the wheel, his right on the gearshift.
What kind of man can drive without eyes? That's the Question.
The fact that Ollie actually decided to call Kate in surprised her. Sure she knows enough of the arrow clan that it isn't a major thing, especially if they need help, and especially in a situation like this, but...
The fact that she was called in, well...
"I'm ready." is all Hawkeye in the end is able to say from her spot on a rooftop not too far away, her bow at the ready.
"Damn right I'm ready," Roy Harper practically chirps, as he adjusts his trucker's cap on his head, grinning like a loon as he perches on a rooftop, bow and line arrow at ready.
There was no way in hell he was gonna pass up a chance to pass up a chance to drive one of -those- when he had a chance. Hell on wheels.
"Arsenal and Question, go for the cab and floor it. We are going to get attention quick, I bet." Green Arrow fires an arrow diagonally across the street with a line spoiling out behind it. He slings his bow up onto his shoulder in time to catch the end of the line. "The rest of us to the rooftop of the trailer and keep the bad guys busy."
The truck comes rumbling down the street now. The diesel puffs out exhaust into the Gotham night while the deep murmurer of the engine and gears shifting wakes the few folks that call this area of town home. Green Arrow takes a breath and leaps from the rooftop as he swings towards the trailer. "Let's go folks."
Dinah's own approach to getting close to the truck is a bit less Robin Hood in style and more circus performer with several leaps helping her get into position for the final, well-timed flip that sends her sailing for the roof of the truck's trailer. Her footing sure, the landing is almost spot-on with only a slight stumble at the end to make things exciting for a second or two.
"That was fun," she quips as casually as if she was talking about anything but putting herself into mortal danger by that stunt. A crouched position is assumed for balance, the others now being waited on by the songbird.
The Question puts the car into gear as the truck passes and stomps on the gas. The tires smoke and squeal until inertia is overcome, and then it's smooth purring as the customized engine does its thing. The Question rolls through the gears, gaining on the truck. Crossing from left to right (what if there was oncoming traffic?), he pulls up even with it on its passenger side. The Question takes his right hand off the gearshift and puts it on the wheel as he rolls down the driver's window with his left. Yes, rolls down - it's vintage.
"Pardon me!" he yells to the truck. "Would you have any Grey Poupon?" Completely deadpan, as the streetlights strobe across an unnerving his missing face. His tie streams out the window in the wind. His hat, inexplicably, stays on.
That 'Let's go' is all Kate needs to hear. It could be argued that she 'springs' into motion, but to be honest that isn't exactly the right way to phrase things. Instead, as the truck gets near to her location, she takes a few steps back, reaches for an arrow with a reinforced shaft, runs, and then...
Jumps.
There's no fancy flips or anything like that. Instead she lands with a bit of a thud and in a functional crouch, while she also tries to jab her arrow into the truck so she doesn't slide off.
As soon as Arsenal sees the height of the truck, he fires the arrow, the line trailing behind it until it secures in place across the street. Bringing up the grapple attachment so he could slide down in place, Roy swoops down, using the brakes on the thing until he was right in place above the truck's path... and then lets go, to land on top of the roof of the cab with an audible thud.
"Hell, Q, I wanted to drive!" he calls down, holding on to the top of the cab's little lights for stability. "Don't tell me you've got dibs on the wheel, Bandit!"
There are two men in the cab of the truck. Both are dressed in heavy parkas. Honestly, they are a bit much for the last chills of winter that refuse to let go. The one riding shotgun does a double take at first seeing Question. "Step on it, Larry. We got one of the Gotham do gooders....I don’t know which one. The creepy one with no face." That is when the thump above them makes them look up. "Aww hell. Sounds like another." The truck lurches forward as it tries to pick up speed. Shotgun grabs the radio. "Got dogooders. Say again. We got some damn heroes." He hangs up the radio and is going for his gun now.
Green Arrow lands on the roof top a split second before it begins to pick up speed. He wobbles for a second before getting his balance. "Damn. Last time I try to make like Tarzan." He drops to one knee on the trailer roof pulling his bow from his shoulder. "Heads up now. We know the street was being watched. We are going to be getting attention." Even as he says that, the first rattling of machine guns can be heard and the ding of bullets against the trailer.
"The heart wants what the heart wants," replies The Question to Arsenal. "Far be it from me to get in the way." Shifting again, he accelerates past the truck. The GTO barely swerves as he stretches to roll down the right window.
The Question stomps on the break only to accelerate again, as he flips the valve on his belt buckle. Thick yellow smoke boils out of his coat. It pours out the open widows toward the truck.
There's a silent glance at Green Arrow as he lands, and it looks /almost/ like Hawkeye is rolling her eyes at that Tarzan joke. But before she can even say anything, there's that sound of rapid gun fire and the bullets hitting the trailer. And when you mix in how the truck suddenly starts to pick up speed...
Well, before Kate can even think about firing off an arrow she reaches into her quiver for a short live. One that is maybe 3 feet long at most, that she also can clip to that arrow she jabber in, with the other end clipped to her belt. After all, if she were to fall, it'd probably majorly suck.
"You okay Greenie?"
Still holding on to the light attachments on top of the cab, Roy adjusts his grip just a bit, pulling out a cable loop, using it to secure himself to the cab so that he can hold on, whistling as yellow smoke starts coming out of the Question's car.
A hop, and he lands on the driver's side rail, aiming to try and get the door open. If the driver was going to open a window to look out, well, he was getting a fist in the face. And if he was lucky, the driver was a lazy slob who didn't lock the door.. otherwise, he was going to have to get in the hard way...
There are cries from the cab as the road ahead of them is full of smoke. The truck drops in gears with a roaring whine on engine as they attempt to accelerate into the back of Question's car. The driver actually does roll down his window as he tries to see around the smoke. "This ain’t much bette...Owww!" he cries out as the punch lands. He pulls back into cab trying to get the window back up. The truck lurches to the side crushing a parked car half way to the curb before the truck veers out back into traffic.
The ping of bullets against the trailer gets more numerous as they approach opposing buildings. Gunmen can be seen up there even as one jumps to land on the trailer with the heroes.
"Still here," Green Arrow says with a grin before jabbing his own arrow and line into the trailer. He brings his bow up and is firing towards one gunman on the roofs with calm detachment despite being on the roof of a moving truck. "I believe this what they call a target rich environment."
The sound of gun fire gets Dinah on the move, rolling and dodging as much as is safe to do so while the truck's in motion. One roll puts her right in front of the sucker who managed to get onto the trailer. What does he get for his little stunt? A kick leveled right for the 'gems'.
"I'd play a little nicer but there's no time for me to be a lady," she points out, directed in part to the guy she is attacking and partially to Green Arrow who will undoubtedly cry foul like he does every time she kicks a guys in the balls.
The truck kisses The Question's back bumper, miraculously not leaving a mark. He seems unfazed by the jolt. The miniature origami staff and serpents are still on the dashboard. Pulling away from the truck , The Question yanks hard on the wheel and does a one-eighty in the intersection up ahead. Gunning the engine, he comes at the truck head on. He is perfectly still in the drivers seat, as if he was out for a Sunday cruise. The Question's lack of face gives the impression a mannequin is driving. Or a crash test dummy.
Over the comlink The Question speaks a mantra: "I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar. I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar. I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar...."
"And then some." is said as Hawkeye reaches for an arrow. A trick arrow to be exact. The fact that she never let go of her bow probably does buy her an extra moment or two as she aims, and then lets go.
But what sort of trick arrow is it? I mean, why even bother with a trick in an area like this, with so many targets? The simple answer is, regardless of if she actually hits anyone or not, as long as this arrow hits near someone, or possibly multiple someones, it should do good, if only because it's a 'tear gas' arrow.
"Any bets on how long it'll take these looser to crack /the/ joke?" is said not just to Ollie, but also to Dinah as she cracks some nuts. All though if she had a better grasp on what was going on with that car, Kate would be making a joke herself right now.
"Oh c'mon, don't make me play 'Knock knock'," Roy grimaces as he quickly goes for the door lock, aiming to get the door unlocked quickly before the driver gets the window rolled up. As soon as he gets that door unlocked, he swings the door open while keeping a hold of it, lifts his feet up...
"COWABUNGA!"
... and kicks his way in, aiming to knock the driver into his buddy so that he could take over and drive.
"Damn, Pretty Bird. One might think you have some pent up anger. Glad I am such a gentleman and a scholar," Green Arrow yells over the sound of engine and roar of rushing air all around them. He is pulling arrows and firing them quickly now as gunmen pop up like whack a mole. Kate's tear gas explodes clearing out a quickly approaching mob of gunmen. Two more leap towards the truck to try and escape the stinging eyes.
"That idiot is going to ram us," laughs Shotgun. "Get a load of that." He is leaning out the window trying to take shots at Question and fails to see what is happening to the driver. That guy is caught by Arsenel' s heels and is knocked sideways where he breaks his rib against the stick shift. He cries out in pain as he ends up crashing against Shotgun not letting the other man get back into the cab.
Black Canary merely shrugs, her expression as unapologetic as the gesture itself is. "It's a quick way to get them down," she murmurs before looking around, trying to keep tabs on the younger archer. She doesn't comment on the joke. This time "You know... I really am not sure why, but I got a very bad feeling."
The source of that bad feeling is seen once the glare of headlights is squinted against, the car Question is driving and the direction in which it's heading getting her to cuss in a manner that could be considered profane. "I think we're going to be... in for a world of hurt."
At the very last minute The Question casually slides to the car to his left - the truck's right. He even puts the signal on. Reaching into his trenchcoat he pulls out a Bungee Cord with his right hand. With a flick of wrist, he aims one hooked end at Shotgun's weapon, and lets the other end catch on the door lock button (yes that's manual too). As he passes the truck on it's passenger side, the flat voice comes over the comlink
"On what side shall I make the next pass?" Still with the casual tone. The Question might as well be 'What's for dinner?'
And even before that tear gas goes off, Kate is drawing and trying to fire more arrows. But she does take a moment or two to aim before firing them, thus they aren't as rapid fire as she'd like. And yes, two of the first arrows she fires while doing that are aimed at those two guys rushing away from the tear gas and towards the truck.
Of course she probably only gets one, maybe two more arrows off after that, as the car continues towards the truck. Sure an arrow is aimed at it (despite who, or what appears to be driving at it), but then in the moment or so it takes her to aim, not only is it too close, but then it swerves.
"Funny. I had a bad feeling about this since the moment I was called in."
Getting himself situated behind the wheel, Roy tries to keep one hand on the wheel and the other un-fastening the harness that was keeping him not-quite-completely seated.
It doesn't help that the driver's recovering with groans, and that Shotgun is trying to push the driver back into Roy, which is why the cab swerves every so often as Roy is forced to fumble with the harness -and- trying to punch/push the driver back. Goddamn it, stay -put-, you son of a bitch!
One of the men escaping the gas attack makes it to the truck but is struck by Kate's arrow and is falling over the side. The other misses the truck top completely as he lands in a garbage dumpster. Bullets rain down towards them but the swerving truck makes it hard to even get a decent shot off let alone accurate.
"Have some faith, ladies. It's me." Green Arrow manages a smirk before the truck starts going back and forth. Parked cars are so much fodder and the sound of crushing metal mixes with the diesel roar. Green Arrow falls over but manages to grip on to one of the raised bits along the roof. "Drive straight," he yells into the comm.
The tear gas gets to Dinah some who coughs, eyes watering. She misses Oliver's falling until it's too late, making how he catches the edge a good thing. Gritting her teeth, she reaches down after all but throwing herself off of the edge, her teary eyes holding to his face. "Thought you already fell for me..."
The Question tilts his head at 'Drive straight'. Not quite the answer he was expecting. "Pithy," he says, pondering the Zen interpretations.
As 'Shotgun's' swearing over his plucked away firearm fade away, The Question reaches into the seam his passenger seat and pulls out a child's toy. The thing is a foot long stick with a dinosaur head on end, and a trigger grip on the other. A squeeze of the latter, lets the dinosaur bite down on the bungee cord and remove it from the door lock.
As he turns the GTO around, The Question tosses the toy, the cord, and the shotgun out the window and barrels after the truck again.
Unable to reply to Ollie -because- he has his hands full, Roy settles on just grabbing the former driver by the neck and slamming him into the dashboard. AND STAY THERE. Then it's time to try and steer with his -knees- while getting both hands around the harness and fumbling...
GOT IT!
One hand to wheel, Roy finally gets himself seated down, adjusting the clutch and the pedals until he has it under control.
One hand goes to the commlink.
"Sorry, Smokey, had to deal with the driver and the..."
Another fist goes out to try and sock the Shotgun passenger before he does anything further...
Yeah. Kate's still here.
And she tries to fire a few more arrows towards the apparent sources of the bullets even as the big rig moves.
"Faith? Sure...."
As the big truck moves along, the cops have heard about the shooting and people attacking the truck. There is a police barricade right in front of the truck as it moves into Downtown. Shotgun gets cracked in the face by the snapping free cord but still cant get back in the cab yet with Driver and Roy still tussling.
Green Arrow pulls himself back up to his knee in time to see the barricade in front of them. "Get through it, Arsenal!" he calls through the comlink. "Hang on, ladies. We go for ride,"he yells with a laugh. Finally, he speaks once more to the com. "Question, any chance you can help the kid drive this thing straight?"
"Ohhhh..." Dinah looks at the barricade which should be short enough to not cause too many bits and pieces of it to reach the top of their perch but she still braces for it. Laying flat on her stomach, she curls one arm up over the back of her head while she grabs onto the edge with the other, trying not to fly off while trying to keep herself protected.
"There's only one way to find out," The Question quips. Or it would be a quip if his voice had normal intonation. Pulling up to the right side of the truck again, he puts the GTO in neutral and pulls out the key. As the engine dies and the car starts to lose momentum, he crawls out of the window and grabs the truck. The wind pulls at his tie and coat tails. His legs flail before finding purchase on the runner. The Question puts his arms and shoulders inside the cab and yanks the driver away from Arsenal.
"Hey," he says putting his blank face right into the driver's, "you should look where you're driving. I do." The Question headbutts the driver as he wraps his legs around the side mirror. Orange socks peek out from his dark blue trousers. The GTO eventually rolls to a stop, left in the distance.
There's a glance up at the whole 'Hang on' bit. That is before Kate tries to stab the top of the truck with a second reinforced arrow so she can hold onto one with each hand while she crouches down.
"..."
Yeah. No fancy quips from Hawkeyes as she looks right at the barricade.
The Question's assistance getting that oh-so-annoying driver out of his way, Arsenal is able to get both hands on the wheel. "Thanks, Q," he greets the faceless vigilante. "Now make like Speedy Gonzales, get in here, and hold on to your hat."
Shifting the clutch to get even more power into the engine, Roy adjusts his trucker's cap so it sits lower, almost like it would afford him more protection.
With a roar, the engine gears up, and the truck practically leaps forward.
The truck barrels through the wooden blockades and big orange barrels of water. Wood and water shatter and splash around them as the truck fights Roy for control trying to careen off course. Even as the water falls, police sirens join the chase. Several GCPD cars pull off in pursuit. More bad guys are trying to get in there too as a few more shots are heard from above.
The water is cold and smells a bit fetid on top of it, enough so to make Dinah gag. "Oh come on," she grunts, unhappy. "I already took a shower before we left. I didn't need another one." She stays low, not wanting to look up only to get shot for her troubles. "This is the worst family outing. Next time I'll plan it!"
The Question is pelted with wood wand water. He loses his grip on the truck with one hand and both feet. He hangs one with one hand and dangles. His hat flies off but he snatches it with the free hand before he pulls himself into the truck and sits in Shotgun's empty seat..
"Ow." He says as he jams it back on his head, dripping water from the brim. He actually burned some chi - not to do the driving stunts , to grab the fedora.
The Question elbows the slumped driver in between the shoulder blades with one arm while he drags a sleeve across where his eyes should be with the other. If he has no eyes, why does he need to wipe away the water?
The Question looks forward as puts the driver in a headlock. "Drive straight." he tells Roy. It sounds a lot more Mister Miyagi than the way Green Arrow said it.
"Hey. I'm not even a member of this family."
Kate just has to say that as she ends up getting sprayed by the water from those barrels mixed with shards of wood.
All though after a few extra moments, Hawkeye does work up the confidence to try and fire another arrow or two, hopefully towards where that gun fire is coming from.
Lifting his head slightly to see at the rooftops, Roy grumbles, "Easy to say, when you're not being distracted. Hold on to your hat, they can't possibly have people on -every- rooftop." Okay, if he remembered things when he was here before visiting Nightwing... slowing down the truck, think about this a bit more rationally...
Tapping his commlink, Roy grins devilishly. "Hey old man. Making a right turn. Consider this your signal... hold on to your hat, and to the birdies..."
And Roy spins the wheel about five seconds later, and takes a huuuuuge right turn, trying to keep the trailer steady while changing streets to now head towards Gotham's bridge...
Roy guesses right and gets the truck away from the shooters on the rooftops. They begin to run for stairs to try and redeploy themselves. The police chasing them make the turn and stay in pursuit.
Green Arrow is barely able to hang on as he slides across the trailer top grabbing his anchor arrows. "Don't kid yourself, Hawk. Welcome to the family. Now try and shoot some tires before gets all of us splattered over the streets." He gestures toward the pursuing cops. "Pretty Bird, maybe a song for the troops?"he asks with a wink and roguish grin.
The Question puts his free hand up against the roof of the cab as Roy make's the turn. He brushes the sun visor, scattering some papers, one of which falls in his lap. He picks it up and 'stares at it' for a minute, and then shoves it in his pocket.
"I'll catch up," he tells Roy, and then climbs back out the window. He takes the driver with him. As The Question kicks away, both he and the driver are surrounded by the yellow smoke. When it clears, they're both gone.
"Gee.... Thanks. Then don't forget my birthday is next week if I'm family now."
Yeah, Hawkeye just had to make a joke like that as she holds on for dear life. Once again she's glad she has two anchor arrows, as well as an anchor line to keep her on the truck. But since she's holding on like that, she can't exactly fire anything off at the moment.
"And if you give me the get out of jail free card, I'll kick you."
"You'll wh---" There's a blink as Roy looks startled towards where the Question was, before he jerks both eyes back towards the road, and the bridge. Bringing a hand to tap his earpiece, Roy calls in. "Hey old man... no more snipers at the rooftops. Now about the police... can't call in SHIELD, not international jurisdiction. So whaddya want to tell them? That we're hijackin' everything from the hijackers?"
"Longer we can hold off that conversation the better. Not like I am getting invitations to the Policemen's Ball right now," Green Arrow responds back down to Roy. He slides his way towards the back of the trailer and tries to get hold of the ladder that runs up the back door. He swings one leg down but stops as the high speed truck bumps and shakes. "No gimmicky cards for birthdays, got it," he manages towards Hawkeye. "Be ready with a shot if you get one."
The cop cars accelerate and try to speed by the big truck. The cannot hope to outweigh the truck but maybe discourage using the bridge. The patrol cars try to get in front of the truck before the bridge.
Oliver had asked Dinah to sing just moments ago but has been too busy trying to hold on to focus like that, her attention too diverted to make the use of her power practical. Looks like it isn't necessary for her to do so anyhow, giving her a reason to sigh in relief.
"I don't get why we don't just stop," she eventually comments over the coms. "The stuff needs to get to the proper people, after all." Right?
Meanwhile The Question has ducked into an alley with the unconscious driver as the police cars speed by. He ties the man to a lamp post with his own clothes. Reaching into his pockets, The Question retrieves a blank business card and puts it in the man's pocket. Then he climbs up a fire escape and jumps rooftops toward the Central Business District.
Oh yeah. Be ready with a shot that won't injure the police. Easy?
"Well I still am." Hawkeye tosses back verbally as she draws a plain old sharp, and tries to find a mark to fire at.
"But let's not go into that right now."
"... You realize that by not stopping now, I'm -so- in trouble if we get busted for this, old man?" Roy grumbles briefly. Somehow he didn't think Fury would accept "Following the Old Man's orders" as a reason.
The police cars trying to pull ahead causes Roy to lower his trucker's hat a bit to hide his feature a bit more. Nevermind he was wearing shades and such... maybe he should've gone back to a domino mask.
"Screw it, we're playing chicken," Roy mutters, as he shifts and stomps hard down on the accelerator. Hold on to your hats and bustiers, ladies and gentlemen.
"Cause I don't have pointed ears yet still doing the vigilante thing," Green Arrow responds to all as he holds on to the ladder. He tries to get his bow down his free arm as he circles his legs for bracing but still cant get a shot either. "Cause I don’t trust the GCPD to not ask us a million questions and then just take this to the young people. Some fat insurance rep. We are beading toward the Thompkins clinic. Just prefer the cops don’t sed us get there."
The cops have almost overtaken the truck when Roy accelerates. They are running out of room and breaks begin to squeal.
Right. Vigilantes. That'll take a bit of time for Dinah to get used to even with all the time spent on capers like this. Heaving a little sigh, she looks at the Arrow, smile fondly at him but is otherwise quiet.
If Hawkeye had a free hand, she'd facepalm right now. If she had more experience with the bat crowd, she'd suggest something else. Instead though...
"If that's your issue Arrow, then you should of planned ahead." is said before Kate continues to line up a shot, while trying not to get thrown from the roof of the trailer either. Once that she flat out refuses to take on the police (of course if this was Bludhaven she wouldn't be anywhere near as reluctant).
"Heck, next time you plan something like this, clue me in a bit more ahead of time!"
A half-asleep security guard in a municipal garage awakes with a start as Department of Transportation utility car suddenly lurches into gear and smashes through the pay gate. The Question is driving it. He turns on the yellow light bar on the roof starts speeding down cross streets to get back to the chase.
"If Arsenal looks in the space behind the seats," he says over the comlink not announcing himself as usual, " which I do not recommend at high speeds, he will see some oversized heavy coats. The visor had a map tucked into it, with the name of a business, from which I have just...liberated a few documents. Gotham Ice Manufacturing."
"Yeah, an hour freezing my butt off, still no Nightwing," Mia's voice comes over the comm link, no hello or anything, just an exaggerated whine. "Wait, hold on, I've got cops coming my way and-" Pause. Things start to become a little more clear. "I really should have seen that coming." Click.
Within moments, Mia is on the road, on her bike. "So, let me guess- you knew this was going to go South somewhere around the bridge somewhere around now," her voice sounds a little echo-y, now that she has a helmet on (safety first!). "So you abused my pure and innocent schoolgirl crush to make sure you had someone here to distract the cops. My babysitting rate just doubled."
Driving onto the bridge, Roy keeps on speeding, pausing for just a minute to reply to Question, "Can't check -now-, busy -driving-!"
And dammit, where -was- the emergency...
"Oh, _THERE_ you are, Speedy," Roy's relief is quite clear. "Don't be silly, it's not like I expected Ollie to think -that- far ahead. Besides, you think _I_ would leave you hangin' waiting for the Wingster just so we had a backup plan?"
There was a brief pause.
"Okay, uh... fine, I'll -triple- your rates."
"Details, details," Green Arrow flashes a grin at his fellows on the truck top. "Way too overrated. Besides, calvarary is her." He pushes the bow up his shoulder as the truck heads for Old Gotham.
The cops manage to pull up just be fore crashing into the water as they had been racing on either side of the truck. They have lost momentum and now have to start from scratch. They back up and try to head for tbe bridge single file.
"Time for the Bandit, " Green Arrow calls over the comm to Roy.
Bandit?
"Oh God, no, please. Not the Bandit." Dinah implores. "That is such a bad idea on so many levels it is not even funny, Arrow."
Dinah is along for the ride, however. There's no way to get off of this damn truck and even if there was... well, she's in it for the long haul, really. She wouldn't leave her family on their own to deal with this. Just not how she is.
As the police cars slow down, The Question flies past them on to the bridge in the DOT car. He pops the trunk and begins weaving and swerving back and forth across the lanes. The tunk's contents spread across the road behind him as he pulls up behind the truck - traffic cones, a jackhammer, some shovels, a tool box which smashes open and litters the asphalt with tools.
"What exactly is The Bandit?" You can hear the ache of curiosity in The Question's otherwise hollow voice.
And at that talk of 'Nightwing' happens, and of course Hawkeye rolls her eyes. And yet as they hit the bridge, and the police are forced to change tactics...
Well, she lowers her bow for a second. That is before she winces at what Ollie says, but she just doesn't ask.
Yeah. If she only knew...
And then there's a flash of red and gold in between the trailer, and the line of police cars. "Why is it I end up in conflict with law enforcement more these days than I ever did as an actual criminal?" she wonders aloud, slowing to a stop at the toll booth, and abandoning the bike on the road, physically blocking the way for the cops. There's only a few moments for her to run to the edge of the bridge and leap, using a grappling arrow to avoid hitting the cold, cold depths of the river below. "Is now a good time to mention I stole one of Roy's bikes?"
"... that's my bike you left behind?!" Roy exclaims, continuing to drive on. "DAMMIT, MIA! You go back and get..."
There's a slump of his shoulders as Roy removes the trucker hat and puts it over his heart. "It's dead now, is it?" he says mournfully. "Fine, I'll get revenge for you, my Arsecycle! Even if you were a piece of crap anyway!"
"We've talked about using Arse as a prefix, Roy."
And as she waits for the other shoe to drop so to speak, Kate chimes in over the com, "Just forget about your ass bike for now Harper!"
"No one watches classic movies any more," Green Arrow bemoans into the commlink. But the Bandit, in this case Speedy, pulls the distraction perfectly. She cuts off the police pursuit as they try to get to the bridge. They are forced to get out of the patrol cars to move the Mighty Arse out of the way only to encounter tbe debris that Q's "borrowed" car left behind. Green Arrow watches the cops get further behind them. "Bo Peep if you can find it in yourself, you can meet us at the Boar's Nest shortly."
"I'm going to join our ally in the car," Dinah announces before pulling yet another remarkable show of acrobatics, managing to land on the automobile Question's driving. She makes sure she's able to get inside with no troubles before climbing in, her head shaking. "This... is ridiculous." And fun. Not that she'll confess to having fun. Doing so will only encourage the archer into thinking this is something they should do regularly.
The Question continues to follow the truck as the Black Canary climbs in. "Fishnet hitchiker. Hot." It'd be a wisecrack if it had the right inflection. His entire demeanor is still nonchalant, like he does this all the time. Then again, it's hard to convey any emotion when you have no face.
"Any idea which of Green Arrow's enemies would want medical equipment, that you have to store or use in cold temperatures?" he asks. Even at breakneck speeds, he's being a detective. They call him The Question for a reason.
Hey, Kate is a bit too busy with important things to watch movies Ollie! Things like oh... Charity work for example. And of course kicking ass in her spare time.
Oh well, either way, Kate starts to move from the top of the trailer, finally undoing her line and letting go of her arrows so she can /try/ to climb into the passengers side of the cab.
"..."
And onwards the truck rolls, with Arsenal continuing to drive. "Hey, Hawkeye," greets Roy as he waits for Kate to seat herself into the cab. "What's up, bonny lass?" he asks, as he puts the trucker's hat on top of her head. "We're rollin', roll--- gimme that hat back if you're gonna throw it out the window!"
The truck arrives in front of the Thompkins Medical Clinic. "We're here, Arse," Green Arrow makes his way down from the roof and jumps onto the tarmac. "This where it can do some good without all the redtape. Lets's get this thing unloaded before the cops figure out where we went."
"It is not the police you should be concerned about", comes a cold voice that has a metalic quality to it. "You took what I needed for my own plan, Arrows." A large figure with a domed head steps forward out of the shadows of the building across the street. He rays his hand with a weapon. A lance of freezing energy is heading toward the truck's front end.
The Question pulls up behind the truck, kills the engine and gets out. Hands in pockets, he strolls toward the back to start helping unload when the newcomer makes his dramatic entrance. As the energy streaks toward the front end he hits the ground. The Question's hat falls off and rolls under the truck. He reaches under it and puts it back on.
"I asked the wrong question," he muses as the enemy turns out not to exactly be one of the Emerald Archer's rogues. "Obvious in hindsight."
And before that hat can fully sit on her head, Hawkeye yanks it off, sticks it on an arrow, and fires that arrow out the window.
"Goodbye Arsehat. Only one person will miss you."
Of course they just have to be pulling up on the clinic right around that time, so if Roy wants his hat back, it ends up striking the ground not too far from the truck.
Then of course the 'Big Bad Villain' just has to make his grand entrance.
"You know, it figures. Gotham and all that."
"You really suck, Katiebug..." mutters Roy as he pulls in...
... just in time to have the truck frosted by Mr. Freeze.
"Aw for chrissakes... OLD MAN! You got Mr. Freeze on our tail? Or front, as the case may be!" Roy hollers, already shoving Kate towards the other door. "Out! OUT!" And he's moving to get out his truck door before the front window freezes and shatter from extreme cold. "Speedy, goddamn it, get your ass here, and bring the habereno sauce, FAST!"
"Frosty! Good of you to stop by." Despite the tone of his words, Green Arrow is ducking behind the trailer as Mr. Freeze fires. He peeks back around the corner, takes aim, and fires.
The front of tbe trucks cracks from the cold and tbe sudden contraction of the metal. Mr. Freeze comes forward with a delibrate pace. He almost casually freezes Green Arrow's shot out of the air. "Leave the truck and perhaps I will allow you to live," he says with his voice not showing any signs of excitement.
The Canary steps out as well and just in time to see the icy villain make with his display of powers. "/This/ did not happen in Smokey and the Bandit," she calls out, all for Ollie's benefit. "Alright. You guys know the routine. Once you see me get into position, cover your ears." That's said quietly with only those with the comlinks can hear.
Advice given, she starts to try and sneak her way behind Mr. Freeze.
The sound of a very loud engine can be heard from behind the truck. Looks like Speedy found another bike to steal. This time, legitimately /stealing/ one. The big, bad Harley Davidson comes to a stop, and Speedy nocks several of her 'special' arrows, which everyone told her were a bad idea, but now she gets to prove them wrong! FWOOMF! Nondairy creamer powder errupts in mid-air to create some VERY impressive fireballs in and arround Mr. Freeze.
"I really should send those Mythbusters guys a thank you note or something."
The Question stands up and steps out in front of the the truck. He deliberately makes a show of straightening his tie, tightening his gloves, and squaring his coat, to be a distraction from Canary. The gestures are deliberately slow and graceful, like tai chi. The whole time while he appears to be looking at what he is doing, The Question's eyeless gaze is trained on Mister Freeze. He slows his breathing, and reaches inside himself. He knows he gets only one chance should the blue beam of be trained on him.
Adjusting his hat brim, The Question deliberately looks 'up' at Mister Freeze and takes a step forward, just as the non-dairy creamer explodes.
Roy, for once, was -not- gonna tell Speedy that taking advantage of dust explosions was a -bad- idea, considering how often he'd taken advantage of those in the past!
"Bless you, Speedy," Roy says as his namesake arrives. Removing his bow, Roy goes for the explosive arrows, drawing and rapidly shooting the arrows, not at Mr Freeze, but at the ground below his feet. Get him off-balance fast and quick.
The creamer explodes in heat and light. The roar of the explosion is just as immense. Mr. Freeze aims his ray gun towards the ground in front of him. As he fires, he works to protect himself from the fire with a massive wall of ice between him and Speedy's explosion. The ice is already melting but it did the job. "Impressive," he says without any sense of impressive in his voice. Despite his goggles, The flash of ligbt has dis orientated him as he loses track of the others. He fires off quick icy blasts in the direction Canary and Question had been.
Green Arrow cannot get a shot as his is blocked by the melting wall of ice. "Remind me to stick with black coffee, alright?" He has an arrow against his bow as he moves forward.
Arsenal's arrow flew below the explosion but the shock wave altered their projectary. Even as the arrows get towards Mr. Freeze, he had aimed low with his own ice ray to make the protective ice wall. The arrows are caught in the freezing blast. Still armed but sticking out of the base of the ice wall.
After Dinah is in position she makes with the 'cover your ears' gesture. People better hurry as she's not wasting any time. Hitching in a deep breath in, the 'songstress' lets loose the Cry hitting its apex at the same time the explosions happen. Might make one think of a heavy metal concert, complete with pyrotechnics and ear-shattering vocals.
Yes Hawkeye takes cover (she's still in the cab of the truck) and yes she covers her ears. But once the cry appears to fire down... If it dies down any time soon, Kate's door will more than likely fly open and she'll come out firing arrows of her own.
Unfortunately they're normal arrows, not trick arrows, thus odds are against the armor Freeze has they might not count for that much.
The Question steps through the dust explosion with his own Slow Walk of Epicness, tie and coat flapping in the backdraft. He was expecting a fatally aimed blast, not the rushed quick bursts. He uses his chi-boosted reflexes to run toward Mister Freeze, feinting a round house kick only to dodge to the side out of the way of the Canary Cry. As he brings his hands up to cover his hears, he falls out of bullet time and is winged in the elbow by the freeze ray. The Question lands in a crouch as his left arm goes numb.
Oh for... how was he supposed to do anything when he had to cover his ears? Wait...
Grabbing quickly for an explosive arrow, Roy dropped it, and then while moving to cover his ears, -kicks- the arrow towards the ice wall. You know, the ones with the still-frozen arrows. C'mon, detonate, baby, detonate for papa...
Mr. Freeze fires a full power blast towards Canary as she begins to scream. It isn't just the ice ray coming at her but the intense cold as well. The sharp drop in temperature deadens the impact of the Canary Cry. Rather than shatter his armor, he is knocked back but manages to maintain his footing when Question only feints the kicking attack.
The scream did, however, send cracks through the ice wall that was standing. It loosened Roy's arrows enough that his second attempt at explosion worked. The wall explodes with shards and chunks going everywhere. One chunk clips Speedy against her head. She drops to the ground. Mr. Freeze is knocked backwards and ofc bis already unstable footing by the explosion.
Green Arrow slides forward onto his knees As he covers bis ears from the scream. As the ice wall explodes, he ducks, still down on his knees, as he makes his way towards the fallen Speedy.
An arm comes up in mid-Cry, protecting her face and head from the frozen shards. Her timing is... timely as is hinted to when she gets a gouge cut out of her forearm by a particularly large chunk. It hurts and she falters, the attack sputtering and then going silent entirely.
The Question puts his right hand on the ground, and pulls his left arm in close to his body. Pushing off he extends his legs and sweep kicks at Freeze's ankle, his trousers and loafers making a distinct silhouette. As The Question spins through the move he gets to his feet and throws a knife hand chop at Freeze's weapon hand. He's still quick, but some of his sureal grace is gone between the chill running through him, and the strain of the focus he's been maintaining all night.
There's not much Kate can do, is there? Speedy is down. Green Arrow is moving to help. And the others... Kate tries not to think what must be up with them for the moment.
Thus as the ice explodes everywhere and the archer in purple has a giant chunk go flying right past her head, she ducks for cover behind what ever she can, before she searches her quiver for something. Anything that might help. In the end, she finally finds a flare arrow. Which while not much, may still be able to help. Especially as she tries to aim, and fire it at Freezes armored chest.
"Here goes everything."
Hell... friendly fire -wasn't- part of the plan. Uncovering his ears, quickly to shield himself from the ice shrapnel, Roy mutters low curses, sharp ice splinters lodging into his forearms. Starting to reach back for a freeze arrow... yeah, so he liked it cold, at least he wouldn't be moving... Roy hesitates as he notes Hawkeye from the corner of his eyes, and pauses on shooting, waiting for some visible effect. Oh wait, a -flare- arrow? Well hell, heat and cold together in rapid succession against metal..
Mr. Freeze is flat on his back like a turtle in his armor. He is trying to get up when his weapon arm is struck hard by Question. He snarls and grabs for Question with his other hand but then he is hit by the flare. He flails as he loses sight and can feel the heat building from the flare. His right hand taps around looking for the gun when the cold arrow hits the flare. It looks for a moment it seems the cold only extinguished the flare but then the crack of metal can be heard. "My armor!" comes the mechanical voice. The rapid temperature changes had been too much on the chest apparatus. Mr. Freeze clutches at his chest even as frigid cold air escapes like steam into the only chilly night air. "NO!" He is trying to regain his feet after getting a deadly blow.
Green Arrow checks Speedy's vital. She will be fine. Just a sharp blow. He stands slowly admiring the slick teamwork being pulled off.
Dinah pulls back the sleeve of her jacket to look at the cut, the sight of which gets her to shrug a bit. Nothing deep and definitely nowhere near as the worst she's gotten, it's left to scab over on its own. She'll wash it and bandage it later once they're home.
"Nice job," she calls out once she's doing inspecting the cut limb. "We totally kicked his ass!"
The Question begins to shrug Mister Freeze off, putting him in the unfortunate position of being a hair too close when the flare arrow and cold arrow go off. His arms come up to cover his non-face. Mister Freeze flings him away unceremoniously to clutch at the cracking armor. The Question flies past Canary and lands in a heap on his left arm that he can't brace himself with. His hat flies off _again_.
"He didn't go down quietly," The Question observes as he stands up, putting the fedora back on. He leans a mailbox tryingto look like he isn't.
As both the hot and the cold arrows do their things...
As Freeze falls...
Kate looks, almost for a second, like she's going to relax.
"No. He didn't." is said towards the Question, before she glances at Ollie. "Do you need help? Odds are after everything we've been through I don't think the clinic would be too put out if they checked her out." Pause. "Or at least I hope so."
Yeah. No comment about how they probably should get the stuff from the trailer into the clinic, or taking off before the cops arrive, or anything like that. At least not yet.
Rubbing his arms, Roy winces, before jerking his head towards Speedy. Zipping over to the fallen sidekick, the ginger archer kneels down. "How's she?" Roy asks, reaching over to check for himself. "Christ, Speedy... if I have to tie up the Wingster and leave him on your bed, I'm makin' it up to you, you kicked some serious ass today."
Something catches his eye, and he quickly gets up, pries loose the trucker hat from the arrow, and then walks back, putting it back on, before he kneels down to help Ollie get Mia into the clinic. But not after a quick whispered "Nice job. Now kiss my arsehat," to Kate.
As Freeze is trying to get away and Roy arrives to help with Speedy albeit not with fashionable headgear, Green Arrow takes a moment. The archer seems to hold the bowstring for an eternity ratber tban a couple beats. He fires. The bola explodes into a spinning snare for the bad guy. Being more concerned with the damage to his armor, Freeze falls again with a crash.
I needed that truck," he yells even as he is being hoisted into the standard bad guy hanging position for the cops.