Vigilantes On Patrol... Coming to a Theatre Near You ((Open to street-level types))

[vesper_verde]

Vesper was out on his nightly patrol. This time he actually had an area to look into as opposed to most nights. His enhanced hearing had caught him a tip the night before. One of the more careful and low key local gangs was looking into quietly bringing some drugs in from South America since a couple of other distributors had backed away from the trade. While Vesper was glad to stop some of the gangs, he always found more were willing to step up and take their place. Profit outweighed the stories about the man dressed like a bat.

The Brazilian vigilante was flying across the city toward a part of toward not known for gangs or the drug trade. There would likely be more innocent civilians there, so he was going to have to be a bit more careful. He looped carefully around to land on an apartment building's roof.

His wings folded in as he cast out his sense of hearing along the neighborhood. He tuned out couples arguing or having sex. He had overheard enough of that for ten lifetimes since he got these powers. He was looking for calm discussions. Especially ones with an undertone of bravado.

Comments

[dazzle_daybreak]

There was never any reassuring Jeremiah that she'd be fine, not to his satisfaction anyway, so Josephine had slipped out without telling him. Just a midnight craving for pop-tarts to satisfy, and restock a few essentials while she was out. She strolled down the sidewalk humming one of her mother's tunes.

[ngm_villains]

There were a couple tough looking men trying to look like they were casually sitting on a small front stoop. Their relaxed posture wasn't quite so even if their coats covered up the firearms on their bodies. They were keeping a watch on the street as their bosses discussed business inside.

[vesper_verde]

Vesper caught the conversation and listened for a moment. He noted the details before moving along the rooftop toward where he heard the conversation. A glance over the edge of the roof told him there were guards posted and at least one humming innocent on the street.

Posted guards most likely had guns. Sprays of gunfire would be horrible at this point. The vigilante launched himself off the roof and made sure he stayed high enough over the street lights to not cast a shadow. A little visual surveillance could do.

He kept his eye on the young woman walking right toward the men hanging out on the front porch.

[dazzle_daybreak]

Josephine is peacefully oblivious at the moment. "Pop-tarts... pop-tarts... going home to make pop-tarts.." She sings to herself, to the tune of 'Tainted Love'.

[ngm_villains]

The guards had looked over the girl coming down the street and noted she was fine but no trouble to their bosses. Neither noticed the man-bat flying high over the street. Their attention was held by an Escalade rolling down the street.

They started reaching for their guns as the passenger side windows started to roll down.

[vesper_verde]

Vesper scrunched his face up when he heard the Pop-Tarts song. He would never understand these Americans. He looped back around and saw the dark-colored SUV coming down the street.

He had been so intent on the apartment building where the deal was going down that he had not been as attentive to his surroundings as he should have. He squinted at the street below and saw the windows starting to go down.

He looked from the SUV to the young woman walking back from the store. "Fudeu a tabaca de chola!"

Vesper folded in his wings and dove toward the Pop-Tart girl. He hoped to knock her to the ground or at least get himself between her and bullets coming soon.

[dazzle_daybreak]

Josephine was already reacting as soon as she saw guns coming into play. The fact that something is now swooping at her and screaming in a language she doesn't recognize doesn't help much either. She extends her hands in opposite directions, one creating a shield against where she hopes the bullets are coming from, and another for the potential flying attacker to slam into.

[ngm_villains]

The crew in the Escalade laid down a hail of bullets. They weren't very discriminate in where they were shooting. The guards on the steps went down. Windows were shot out. Bullets hit Josephine's shields.

The Escalade laid rubber when the shooting stopped, speeding out of the neighborhood.

[vesper_verde]

Vesper smacked right into a shield that wasn't supposed to be there. It was not a pleasant sensation. and he disliked it less when he bounced off them to the side.

Bullets were flying around him as he tried to get the world to stop spinning around him. "Filha da puta."

So all blondes were ghosts and brunettes were mutants. Vesper was starting to hate New York.

[dazzle_daybreak]

As the ricochets die down, Josephine jumps to her feet and runs over to the steps, trying to triage and getting out her phone to call 911.

"You!" She yells at Flying Man. "If you're just gonna make things worse, you're gonna be sorry, but do you know any first aid?" She tears off one of her attended's sleeves to make a compress for one who is still conscious. "Here, press this down as hard as you can." She goes on to check the next one.

[vesper_verde]

"Worse? I'm not the one making it worse," Vesper growled at her as he got to his feet. He cast his hearing out farther and could here the guards' fellow gang members picking themselves off the floor and scrambling this way.

"Get out of here before their heavily armed friends shoot you for just standing over the bodies. Leave them." He himself was not about to help them. Men like these are what took his mother away from him.

[dazzle_daybreak]

Josephine bites her lip, tearing more cloth to tie around an arm. "Not... yet..." Ambulance sirens are heard, getting closer, and she can hear feet pounding towards the front door, along with angry voices.

Yeah, that'll do.

She jumps up and heads down the block as fast as she can.

[ngm_villains]

The gang members burst out the door with their guns drawn. They're looking for whoever shot their men, even if the Escalade is long gone.

There is a girl running away, but she is secondary to the costumed hero they see standing nearby.

"Hey! It's Vesper!" All guns are turned toward the vigilante.

[vesper_verde]

In this quiet neighborhood, the police would be here sooner than the normal areas Vesper patrolled. The urgency to get out of there was held back by the need to make sure the innocent bystander got away. While the young lady ran away, Vesper stood where he was. Too close to the door the gang members came out of for comfort.

Vesper reached into a pocket and pulled out his smoke bomb. He activated it and threw it down in front of him as gun barrels swung in his direction. He gave the gang members a cheery wave before turning and running like hell as a jet of smoke started to cover up his exit.

He hoped they followed him instead of going after whoever that lady was. He was the more valuable target after all.

[dazzle_daybreak]

And of course it's at a moment like this when a cat runs in front of her and Josephine has to vault over it to keep from colliding with the poor creature. She doesn't quite stick the landing, and she's tumbling forward along the sidewalk, looking like she's going to fall.

[ngm_villains]

One of the gang members spotted the girl running, jumping, and starting to fall. He raised his gun to shoot then lowered it with a shrug. She didn't look like someone who shot his buddy. Mostly because she wasn't wearing the colors or carrying a piece.

The rest were doing their best to try to shoot holes through Vesper. They had heard about his meddling in other gangs' affairs and wanted him to stop thinking about them here and now. Spent shells were flying everywhere despite the oncoming sirens as a couple guys checked on the downed two. Though the smoke jetting up was making it hard for them to aim.

Once they emptied their clips, they scrambled to get out of there before the cops got there.

[vesper_verde]

Vesper used a bit of ginga to have his movements throw off the thugs' aim more. Even with his movement and the smoke, a couple bullets hit his armor. They did not penetrate, but the shots made him stumbled. He ducked down an alley and wheezed.

Damn. Those hurt.

He stumbled down the alley a bit before partially extending his wings to get the wing pack's jets started. Vesper wrapped himself in a bubble of silence and rose from the ground. When he was in enough space to extend his wings and get out of there, he did that.