Gotham: Harbor Gotham Harbor is bustling with activity. A major city, it has a lot of sea-faring traffic coming in and out through the Harbor. The harbor is poorly lit, and is among one of the more slum areas of town. Even during the daylight, the decay of the warehouse and shipping district can be seen. Still, a good deal of business -- both legitimate and illegitimate -- is done here at all hours of the day and night. Contents: Ventriloquist Obvious exits: Waterfront Ocean The harbor is quite deserted at this time of day, except for a few seedy-looking dockworkers. There are about five on the left side of the harbor, with another five on the right. They stand silently, and suddenly a few hints of conversation begins between the men. One man, with a small little bowler hat on, steps forward from the left side, behind the five workers. A much bigger man follows him, dressed in a fancy black suit. Looking the dockworkers up and down, he cracks his knuckles in boredom. The smaller man seems to be carrying something, and it would appear he might be yelling. He thrusts the object he carries forward and a voice is heard. "Okay, come on out, let's talk business, guddy!" Another man emerges from the right side, followed by a thug of his own. The dockworkers scatter, looking out for signs of other people. The two men in the center talk constantly. Huddled in the shadows of one of the dock building, between some shipping crates, a figure sits trying to stay warm. To all appearances, he is another dock worker who sat down to take a break. True, his hooded green sweatshirt looks a bit out of place but there is a certain roughness to him that lends itself to letting him blend in anywhere where rough men work. Still, he isn't a dock worker... he's a vigilante and right now he is trying to watch and listen to the meeting some hundred yards away, all while watching the water around the docks. The other dock workers don't really notice the disguised vigilante. Instead, their eyes are glued to the meeting. Finally, audible words come from the man without the object. "Alright, I'll sell them to you... just, who are you, mister?" Silence. The other man remains completely still, until... "Rhino! Flashlight." The man addressed as Rhino reaches into his pocket and pushes a little button, shining on the other man... revealing him to be the Ventriloquist, along with Scarface! The man selling stumbles backwards. "No- Ventriloquist, Scarface! Stay back!" The dummy seems to chuckle, but the man holding him remains completely silent and motionless, except to thrust the dummy forward. "Gack in da flesh! What's a matter, Rico? Doncha rememger yer old pal Scarface?" The man now addressed as Rico tries to make as much space as he can away from the Ventriloquist. "Sorry, Rico, gut ya just shouldden of tried ta double cross me! Imagine- my guddy selling away my -own- weapons! Whatta joik! Too bad- he was a young joik, too!" As Rico tries to escape, two 'dockworkers' run up and grab him by the arms. Ventriloquist thrusts the dummy forward, who points his miniature tommy gun at Rico's head. "So long, ya rat gastard!" *b-blamblamblamblam* The sounds of the gun firing, the man's scream... and maniacal laughter. "Okay, goys, wipe his grains up an' take him away. You see any witnesses, gust dem in da face!" Oliver Queen mutters silently. He figured that one of the infamous Gotham nuts would be in on this deal... try doing business without one. But he didn't think that the only crime going down here would he a gangster testing his own thugs loyalty and cutting out the dead wood... no pun intended. Muttering softly, he continues to watch, his hands silently moving to the black duffel bag where he holds his arrows. Rambunctious yelling is heard and a rather nice sports car zooms through the streets and onto the dock, heading straight for Ventriloquist. Gasping, he nearly drops Scarface, barely catching him before he hit the ground. The Ventriloquist's reward? A slap in the face from the one he sought to save. "Ya dummy! Whaddaya think yer doin'? Gawd, yer one of the stoopidest mugs I ever saw. Dammit, dummy anything else like this an' I'll glast ya like I did Rico, hear?" Sighing, Ventriloquist looks at the ground. "Yes, Mr. Scarface, it won't ever happen again. The dummy points his tommy gun upwards menacingly. "Yeah, well it getter not... now light me, dummy." Reaching into his pocket, Ventriloquist pulls out a miniature Cuban cigar. "Yes, Mr Scarface." Sticking the cigar in the dummy's mouth, he fumbles for his lighter as people vacate the car, howling. The pick up the body of Rico and calmly toss him in the trunk. Scarface, a newly-lighted cigar in his mouth, shakes his head. "Them damn chop-up goys... if dey didn't do such a good jog hidin' godies, Ida had 'em fired a long time ago." Oliver Queen stands up from his shadow and squints a bit. He's half tempted to try and light the arrow on fire... see that little dummy burn, but that would make him all too visible from this point. Reaching into his bag he pulls out one arrow and then seals the bag, throwing it over his shoulder. With that, he notches the arrow and pulls back on the bow string, taking careful aim for the neck of the dummy. Once all is in readiness, he squints... lines up again.... and lets the arrow fly. *TWAAAANGG* The arrow finds it's mark on Scarface's neck, but nothing is immediately done. Instead, nearly all there stand, mortified at the scene. Ventriloquist thrusts his hand out to keep as far away from Scarface he can without dropping him. And then... quiet. Almost calm, cool quiet. The only sound is perhaps the waves of the ocean and the occasional car going by. Suddenly, with out warning, it comes. A tantrum. Ventriloquist doesn't even move his lips, a remarkable feat considering the intensity of the fit. "GaaaaaaAAAAAAAH! My friggin' tummy, what da hell? Aw, geeze, don't just stand there, pull it out, dummy! Come on, come on! Aw jeeze, hurry up, you friggin' moron! Just do it!" Finally, it is the big man, Rhino, who plucks the arrow from Scarface's stomach. It even leaves a mark- a little hole in the dummy's middle. "What the- aw no! I just gought dis gody! Who did it? Is dis some sorta gag? Whoever you are- Scarface don't take kindly to -no- gag! Ya signed yer death wish, guddy! Rhino, Angelo, Genny- find da prankster and spread his grains all over da ground! C'mon, go!" The three men whip out their own machine guns and search for the perpetrator. One even fires a warning shot in the air- a spray of bullets, rather. Damn... he'd been hoping for enough force to at least loosen the little demon's noggin, if not behead him outright. He grabs another arrow as he ducks into the shadows and starts to move deeper into the maze of shipping crates outside the building. He ducks down low as he sprints, hearing the hail of gunfire as he readies himself for another shot. Ventriloquist's jaw drops as the warning shot is fired into the air. "Okay, okay... unless this guy is friggin' Superman," the 'hurt' Scarface moans, "He ain't gonna be flyin' around like a darned fairy! Spray the freakin' gullets towards da ground, idiot!" One gunman takes Scarface's words seriously, sending out a firing of bullets in random directions. A few of Scarface's thugs have to duck to avoid the bullets. Oliver Queen sighs with relief. He knows that most of Scarface's mob are pretty much worthless even with their boss giving them orders... and without... well... maybe a little Kevin Costner action WOULD be appropriate here. Hopping atop one of the shipping crates, he tries to pull himself onto the roof of one of the shipping offices without being seen or shot. Scarface exchanges a few words with the Ventriloquist. Sighing and nodding, the man slowly creeps up on a trigger-happy thug. Scarface brings back his wooden hand back slowly, suddenly brining it forward to give the thug a slap on the head. The thug jerks upward, unintentionally firing upward. Unbeknownst to him, he fires almost directly at Oliver Queen. Oliver Queen manages not to mutter an obscenity as he actually feels the wind of the slug pass him. Quickly pulling himself over the roof ledge, he pants for a minute as he reaches around in his quiver for that oily rag and a lighter he prepared JUST in case he needed to make a fire arrow. Scarface seems too busy chewing out his thugs to notice Oliver creeping up the building. However, Ventriloquist does. "Uh, um... Mr. Scarface, I think, I think..." He only receives another slap for his discovery. Sighing, he looks towards the roof and frowns. The other thugs follow Ventriloquist's gaze. Rhino tries to point it out to Scarface, realizing Ventriloquist's discovery. "Um, d'uh, boss? I-I...' *SLAP!* Another thug: "But boss..." *SLAP* The final thug: "Yeah, you teach 'em... ow!" *SLAP* Scarface is obviously upset. Finally all four of the men speak, "But -boss...-" *SLAP* *SLAP* *SLAP* *SLAP*. "Shadup!" Someone up there must like him, Ollie thinks as he lights the rag on the end of the arrow. Hoping that this will distract the thugs long enough for him to make a very swift get away, he notches the now flaming arrow, peeks up over the roof ledge... aims... and once Scarface has moved back from slapping his men... he lets the fire arrow fly. The dummy is thrust forward, moving him directly into the path of the arrow. Scarface is struck with the flaming arrow, and his wooden head slowly turns to gaze down on it. "Oh, yeah... da little prankster, still tryin' ta wreck Scarface. Well, get it out! Cripes, I think it's gurnin'... it -is- gurnin', get it offa me! Gawd, c'mon! C'mon dummy!" *FWOOSH!* The dummy is in flames. Instinctively trying to get it away from him, Ventriloquist flings it to the ground. Still, the dummy continues to scream and cry. Rhino tries to stomp out the fire, but only succeeds in setting his pant leg on fire. Eyes widening, Rhino rolls on the ground while the other thugs shoot in the direction of he arrow's source. Ventriloquist gasps, running up to an old box and prying loose an old board. With the stick, he rolls the dummy back and forth quickly, but very slowly putting the fire out. Oliver Queen ducks low as soon as he lets the arrow fly and starts trying to crawl to the opposite side of the roof, bullets flying over his head. Once he's at the ledge, he glances at the next building over, steps back a bit and runs, jumping as his feet reach the ledge. Arms reach out and hit the ground first as he tucks and rolls in his landing. He grunts loudly, gets up and then starts running again... Slowly, after vigorous rolling and a smoldering with a bullet-proof vest, the fire on Scarface is put out. However, there are some permanent results. most of his suit has been burned off and his wooden body is charred. Gasping, Scarface is lifted into Ventriloquist's arms. The dummy weakly motions for Ventriloquist to come closer, leaning towards the muttering dummy, the bald man nods several times. "Yes, okay, I'll do that." He stands up straight again and meekly calling out to the gang, "He said: 'Find the gastard who did this to me... rip his grains out and toss 'em in a gox and kill his family and his pets and gurn his house down... um, and it just goes on like that. I... I guess he means kill the man who did this to Mr. Scarface." Oliver Queen jumps another roof and slows down as he ducks into a shadow. Fleeing, while being the smart move is not an option. After all, all he's got is foot power.... they've got cars or something somewhere and it would only be a matter of time before they could run him down. All he can do is expand the area they have to search, wait for them to scatter, and then deal with them... Besides, Oliver Queen is not one to run from a fight. And it's only a dozen men with guns... he can handle that easily... assuming they don't all find him at once. With that rather optimistic thought, he reaches for an arrow and waits... The thugs nod eagerly and about half of them hop into cars, brandishing their tommy guns. Two thugs stick out of the window, pointing their guns upward. The other half stays around Scarface, comforting the burned-up dummy. Ventriloquist cradles him like a baby, but instead of a mother's love in his eyes, there is little emotion that can be found save for hate and anger hidden behind thin-rimmed glasses. Oliver Queen watches as one of the cars moves past his little sniper next. The two thugs with the guns fire into the air, indiscriminately. Ollie doesn't even wait for them to pass... he lets one arrow... one of the hard tips fly, aiming for where the glass of the windshield will be. The shot rings true and the glass cracks into a spider-web design. While this would be rather pretty to look at if it were part of a stained glass window, it's not exactly the best thing to try and view the world through when you're trying to drive. The car swishes out of control and hits the side of a brick building, one of the thugs falling out the window he was leaning out of. The other two are caught and saved from the impact by the airbags that kick in as they hit the wall. The force knocks them out, but they shouldn't suffer much. The results of the hunt is heard quite far, and Scarface musters up 'the strength' to yell out obscenities. Suddenly, sirens are heard and all the thugs whip out their guns however, it is a waste as the cops turn suddenly off to some other crime. Sighing in relief, the thugs put away their guns but it can't remove a feeling of tension that still have. "Nice shot," a voice says from over Oliver's shoulder - a dour, cold voice that is all too familiar. "We're going to talk, Green Arrow. Shortly." The voice fades and there's the faint sound of a running pair of boots. A shadow separates itself from the blackness of the rooftop and flares out as it launches off of the ledge. Cape fanned out around him, the Batman catches a lamppost on the way down and swings off of it to drop onto the roof of the gangster-laden sedans. Oliver Queen hears the sirens too and actually stands up to see if the calvary has arrived. Ears trained by years of hunting experience then bring disappointment... the sirens are moving away from where he left Scarface and his men. He spins around as he hears a hail of gunfire and drops flat against the roof, catching the brief glimpse of a caped figure seemingly flying down onto the rooftop of the other sedan. None of Scarface's gang members seem to notice the caped hero. Instead, they mutter softly to each other. Finally, Rhino, by far the biggest man there, is sent off to Scarface's own sedan (with a license plate reading 'SCARFACE') to pick out another one of Scarface's tiny, personalized suits. Another thug calls out, "The Armani one, Rhino." As the gunmen in the racing sedan scan the rooftops for the Emerald Archer's perch, the driver's side window suddenly shatters inwards. A black fist clutching a black canister punches inwards, socking the driver on the jaw and rendering him senseless. The canister's pin pops out and it begins hissing, emitting a dense cloud of smoke that swirls around the canopy and out of the windows in a thick trail behind the car. The slumping driver's foot off of the accelerator, the Batman reaches in to clutch the steering wheel and drift the slowing car off to the curb. Oliver Queen glances down at the black figure swooping down on the car. Watching Batman in action is a lot like seeing Casablanca. You can see it a million times and it's still damned impressive every time you see it. It's the same deal here as Batman easily deals with the three thugs and manages to keep their car from crashing. Satisfied that there's no danger from that direction, the Urban Avenger's attention turns back to the dock where he watches Scarface, the Ventroloquist and the remaining six men. Still charred, but dressed in... fresher clothing, an irate Scarface watches the car stop at the curb. "What the- why'd they stop, the dirty rats! If they're chickenin' out on Scarface, I'll kill the Genedict Arnold's." Suddenly, his own miniature tommy gun is at his waist again and Ventriloquist jogs closer to the car, but suddenly stops. A hail of bullets sprays towards the car containing Batman, shattering glass quite loudly. "Dat'll teach dem mugs not ta fool around with Scarface..." Batman slips off of to drop down on the side of the car opposite Scarface's party as the gun punches holes and spatters shards of windshield around him. The clouds of now thinning smoke from his grenade wafting away on the harbor breeze, he rises up like a phantom in the mist. "Wesker. You're coming with me." A Batarang cuts through the air, pinwheeling towards the offending gun. Regardless of whether it finds its mark, the Dark Knight darts to the left in a crouch, moving towards the cover of a nearby pile of crates. Still shrouded by darkness and having the somewhat dubious advantage of higher ground, Oliver Queen takes two arrows. This time however, he waits. He saw Batman throw something, presumable at Scarface. With the puppet disarmed, someone is bound to draw their weapons and when they are, Ollie will be ready with an arrow to knock the gun out of their hand. Ventriloquist's eyes widen, even visible under his glasses as the batarang sends the tiny tommy gun far from his reach. "No... no! I'm not going back... you can't take me back, Batman!" Scarface nods in agreement, "Yeah, Gatman... ya ain't takin' me gack ta the gig house! Not alive, anyway! C'mon, dummy, let's get out of-" Before Scarface can even finish his sentence, Arnold Wesker finds himself sprinting towards Scarface's own sedan. Tucking the dummy under his armpit like a football, he increases his speed. "Stop the Batman! Stop him... please- Rhino- Brute!" It looks like Oliver Queen won't need an arrow for the thugs as they scatter and run off in separate directions, leaving Ventriloquist fumbling with the car door. Batman keeps moving, circling around to try and get to the Ventriloquist, hands out and at his sides in a defensive posture. He glares pointedly at Rhino and Brute as the move off, saying "Your men are abandoning you and your puppet. Let it go, Wesker." He waits to see just if Rhino and Brute are in fact doing as he's suggested before making another move. And if, in fact, they aren't, the friendly neighborhood archer is still up there watching the men scatter like spooked cattle... Ventriloquist frowns. "My puppet? My puppet? Come -on-, Batman... we all know I'm the puppet here. I'm... I'm scared of what Scarface might do next, but... I won't go back to Arkham. Not now, not -EVER-!" The door suddenly swings open and he hops in, tossing Scarface into the back seat. He doesn't even bother to close the door. He picks the keys out of his jacket pocket and starts the car. Suddenly driving in reverse, he stops immediately after pulling out of the parking space, rocketing into the street and making a crazy turn away from the harbor, door slamming shut as he drives. Batman moves as if to run after the fleeing Ventriloquist, but realizes that too late he has acted too cautious and too hesitantly. Taking a moment to stare at the rapidly disappearing red lights and personalized license plates, he turns on his heel to eye the two stopped cars and to make a subvocal communication to the GCPD in his cowl's throat mike radio. Sweeping off into an alleyway, he makes his way up to Ollie's rooftop to have that conversation he mentioned. Oliver Queen had an arrow ready as the Ventroloquist took off and let it fly toward the car's back tire. Sadly, he miscalculates how fast he'd try to pull away from Batman and the arrow bounces off the hubcap as the Ventriloquist escapes. Muttering a soft curse, he's about to turn around and go when he Batman suddenly steps into view. Ollie stops dead in his track and just stares at the other vigilante.