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 06:04 pm UTC (link)
	Jon doesn't usually operate in Gotham, but no one else has been able to stop the cat burglaries, and someone figured he might be able to help. He hovers above the building line, sweeping the area with x-ray vision. He knows he's in the right area, he's just looking for movement on the rooftops or listening for a heartbeat. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-26 06:42 pm UTC (link)
	The electronic lock clicked open and Huntress slipped inside. The door shut quietly behind her and she tied a line to the top and repelled down the elevator shaft. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-26 06:47 pm UTC (link)
	Its faint. It could be nothing - in fact, its probably nothing. Even so, he heard something from high up on one of the nearby buildings - which should be shut down this time of night. Not finding anything in an initial sweep, he heads that way for a closer look. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

crossbow_bat
2011-06-26 06:50 pm UTC (link)

Huntress went down a few floors to where she knew the office was. She exited the shaft onto the floor and threw a harmless smoke bomb down the hallway. A crisscross of lasers glowed in the smoke.

She smiled and took off running toward them. Acrobatic flips, cartwheels and other moves got her past them to the office she was looking for. She knelt down to pick the lock.

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	first_son 2011-06-26 06:55 pm UTC (link)
	That hiss is definitely not normal. Invetigating closer, he finds the unlocked door, and heads inside, trying to keep quiet. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

crossbow_bat
2011-06-26 07:00 pm UTC (link)

Lock picking was one of the first lessons Huntress had as a kid. Uncle Bruce had made sure young Maria learned this lesson well. Too well. By the time she was six there wasn't a lock she couldn't pick.

She opened the office door and stepped in, closing the door softly behind her. She immediately went to a large garish abstract painted and removed it from the wall. Now the hard part. The safe.

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	first_son 2011-06-26 08:13 pm UTC (link)
	Were he better at stealth, that might have been it. But stealth is mostly a bats-fam thing. About the time she's nearly done with the safe, she'll hear footsteps in the hall. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-26 08:18 pm UTC (link)
	Footsteps were never a good thing. Huntress got the safe opened, grabbed the diamond and tucked it in a pouch. She shut the safe, put the picture back and went to the window. A small device was pulled out and a second later the window shattered into a million pieces from the ultra high sonic blast. She fired a grappling line and launched herself out the window. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-26 08:26 pm UTC (link)
	The ultra sonics really set him off. He was so focused on the soft noises that the high pitch sets him staggering, clutching at his head. After a few lost seconds recovering his equilibrium, he goes tearing out the window, trying to figure out which way the thief went. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-26 08:41 pm UTC (link)
	Huntress landed in an alley across the street. She dropped the gun and jumped on her bike. A second later she was speeding through the streets of Gotham. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	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)