Maria Helena Grayson (crossbow_bat) wrote in dc_nextgen,
@ 2011-06-26 10:29:00

Entry tags:

What If - Cat and Mouse
It had started innocently enough. Maria Helena Grayson Wayne had taken a job with a small security firm and had quickly learned the ropes. She had to have something to pay the bills in this strange new world. Once she was settled in, she had what it took to get onto the team that tested firm's security systems by breaking in. At first Maria loved it. It was challenging and fun, but then it became way too easy. Uncle Bruce had trained her since the age of five and it showed.

Maria wanted more of a challenge and she found one.

She broke into higher security places and took small mementos for herself. Those small mementos turned into bigger things, but she didn't keep them for herself. There were so many people living on the streets of Gotham that needed help. Maria fenced the little trinkets she stole and used the money to give to the shelters and soup kitchens of Gotham.

Steal from the rich and give to the poor. She became a female Robin Hood clad in purple and black.

Tonight she was breaking into the offices of one of the richest men, after Bruce Wayne, in Gotham. There was a diamond the size of a fist he was keeping in the safe in there.

She was on the roof and working on disabling the security systems.

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	first_son 2011-06-26 08:43 pm UTC (link)
	He gets just close enough to hear the bike. He makes sure he can pick out the particular whine of the engine, then takes off after it, flying a little above normal sight line. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-26 09:08 pm UTC (link)
	Huntress raced through the city weaving in and out of traffic. She loved high speeds and dangerous driving. She had a fence waiting for her in one of the rougher areas, if Gotham had a rougher area. The whole damn city was rough. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-26 09:21 pm UTC (link)
	He finally catches sight of the bike, homing in and coming in lower, pursuing the bike - possibly in her rear view mirror should she look back. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-26 09:52 pm UTC (link)
	Huntress does indeed check her rear view mirror quite often and spotted red and blue. Totally not good. She gunned the engine and increased her speed. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-26 10:01 pm UTC (link)
	Damn, whoever that was spotted him. Jon picks up the pace, having to give way that he's definitely after her. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-26 10:21 pm UTC (link)
	Huntress pushed the engine as much as it would go and allow her to drive in the traffic. She spotted a subway entrance and steered her bike toward it. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-26 10:37 pm UTC (link)
	He almost catches her... almost... before she reaches the subway. He curses - strictly 'pg rated' cursing, then head down after her, trying to pick her back up amidst the noise of the tunnels. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-26 10:39 pm UTC (link)
	Huntress raced ahead down to the platform and then off the platform onto the tracks. She just hoped there weren't any trains coming. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-26 10:45 pm UTC (link)
	He races after her, once he finds the whine of the bike again... and then hears.... oh, that's not good. At first it looks like he's closing in on her - then hits the jets and tears past her in a blue blur to slow the train he heard further up the track... this could hurt, but he's not about to let her get squished just for cat burglary. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-26 11:38 pm UTC (link)
	Huntress saw the blur of red and blue go by. She slammed on the brakes. The front brakes and the back end of the bike went up in the air. Using every last ounce of strength she tried to spin the bike around. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

first_son
2011-06-26 11:41 pm UTC (link)

He makes sure the conductor sees him, setting them to slamming on the brakes. Jon assists, pressed against the front of the train and trying to match speeds, then slow down.

Its still close, the Gotham high speed closing in on the bike... but finally, aided by the First Son of Metropolis, it begins to slow, just as Maria is getting to a point she can jump the tracks and head back up to the streets... with a renewed head start.

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	crossbow_bat 2011-06-26 11:42 pm UTC (link)
	The bike turned and the back end came down hard. She gunned the engine and took off again. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-26 11:47 pm UTC (link)
	Jon takes a moment to catch his breath after fighting with the train's momentum. Success, though... and now its a chase again. Shaking his head, but grinning despite himself, he takes off after her again. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-26 11:49 pm UTC (link)
	Huntress rode onto the platform and then back out onto the street. She opened the throttle and made her way through traffic. At an intersection she skidded into a turn and went through the open doors of a department store. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-26 11:51 pm UTC (link)
	He rises out of the tunnels and tries to find her again. The screams of the late-night crew at the store help. He goes tearing off towards the sound. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

crossbow_bat
2011-06-26 11:59 pm UTC (link)

Given who was following her, most people would have given up by now. Not Huntress. It was that Sicilian stubbornness she inherited from her mother.

Maria reached out and grabbed a few items as she went through the department store. It was no mistake she was where she was.

She tore off her mask and wrapped it around the throttle and then jumped off the bike into a rack of clothes.

As soon as she hit floor she slipped into the dress under the cover of the rack.

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	first_son 2011-06-27 12:06 am UTC (link)
	Jon glances around, finding the bike... but not its rider. He tries to sort out the voices of the staff, and any other signs of breathing, slowly homing in... but not having picked her out amidst her quick change. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-27 12:18 am UTC (link)
	Maria put her hair up in a bun and stood up. She went to a nearby rack and casually picked up a blouse to look at. Keeping an eye out for /him/. She slowed her breathing and tried to calm herself. She was just another shopper. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

first_son
2011-06-27 12:21 am UTC (link)

Fast heartbeats... quickened breathing... closer... closer... then whoever it is calms herself. He has it narrowed down, a couple women in the store, a couple stock girls... he moves closer.

"Did anyone see a woman run in here?" he asks those around, hovering a couple feet off the ground, trying to figure out if anyone matches the build of the motorcycle rider, by habit, trying to do so without too much x-ray vision... cause looking through dresses just isn't done.

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	crossbow_bat 2011-06-27 12:29 am UTC (link)
	"The only thing I've seen is a woman ride through on a motorcyle," Maria said. "Crazy people running loose in the city." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-27 12:31 am UTC (link)
	He nods. "Which way?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-27 12:42 am UTC (link)
	"That way," she said as she pointed in the direction the bike went. "She jumped off and I didn't see where she went after that." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

first_son
2011-06-27 12:50 am UTC (link)

Jon nods, playing every bit the naive farm boy - he's good at it, and takes off in the indicated direction. When well out of human sight and hearing range he stops and turns the x-ray vision back on the store.

Panicked people might think they saw all sorts of things... but he never heard the bike leave the store, so he's sure one of them was his quarry. He can be smarter than he looks, sometimes.

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	crossbow_bat 2011-06-27 12:57 am UTC (link)
	Maria went to the counter and paid for the dress in her hands and the one she was wearing. She pretended nothing was wrong, but the diamond had shifted and was uncomfortably poking her. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-27 01:00 am UTC (link)
	Hmm, nothing... nothing... that's... weird. He scans a little closer on the woman, trying to figure out the source of her discomfort. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)