Birds of Passage
-Interlude-
Swell the Ranks
It was mid-day, and
Chun-Li Xiang was in her home looking over files and records of evidence. She preferred working away from the distraction of her office at the police department, and now the woman was getting somewhere.
Chun-Li rolls an Investigate check, getting 23.
Nightwing rolls Stealth at 28 vs. Chun-Li’s notice of 27. Close, but he gets the drop on her.
Traces of various substances where found at most of the crime scenes. Though generic individually, when added together, Chun-Li was able to narrow down likely buildings where the Birds of Passage could be hiding. A total of 14 throughout the entire city. Cross-referencing this with the locations of the group’s activities, Chun-Li trimmed the number down to 6 likely places and marked them down on a map. “This doesn’t make any sense,” she said, looking the area over, “wouldn’t having such a huge range of activity be hard?”
“That’s why I hate mystery shows,” a voice said from behind, “They make detective work look a lot easier then it is.”
Chun-Li gave a yelp as she jumped back. “Darn it, stop that!” Fuming, she added, “I thought your kind liked the dark? Do you even have a day job?”
“Weekend,”
Nightwing said, “You have the case files I need?”
“Here.” She handed them over, and then turned to her map. “I’ve done some researching and found the likely spots the Birds are hiding, but there are some problems.”
“Explain.”
“The vicinity of the group’s thefts is huge. It’d be difficult for anyone new to the city to arrange everything. Even a native crime boss would have trouble.”
Nightwing rolls Investigate, getting 29.
After looking the map over, Nightwing thought about what he’d learned from the information provide by Daredevil. Suddenly, the answer came to him. “Their area isn’t nearly as big as it seems. Remember, their specialty’s movement. All the buildings you’ve marked have been their home base. After completing a number of heists, they move to their next base and start over.”
Chun-Li frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. Large criminal organization’s have trouble with movement. It makes it impossible to stay hidden.”
“Not quite,” Nightwing corrected her. “Crime lords gain power by keeping out of police sight and having a strong presence in the underworld. If they move around, they can’t keep up this presence without going into the open. So, they have to expand their territory slowly. The Birds of Passage, however, aren’t interested in territory or presence. As such, their methods will be wildly different from a normal crime ring, confusing police.”
The phone rang in the kitchen. “One second,” Chun-Li said, going to answer it. Picking it up, she walked back in, saying, “So, if the Bird’s aren’t interested in power, what are they-?” The room was empty. “You creep,” she hissed, then remembered she was on the phone. “No, no, not you, I was talking to…someone else. Anyway, what need?” As she listened to the other side of the phone, her face changed to a slight scowl. “What do you mean, I’ve been assigned a partner? I’m an Interpol Agent! You don’t have the authority to-! SHIELD’s requested it? What’s going on? Of course you don’t know; it’s probably some big complex bureaucracy load that requires them to help out or something. I’ll be down there to meet him. What’s his name, by the way?” Her eyes went wide. “Steve Rogers? You mean
Captain America!?”
A Few Hours Later…A police van drove down the road, an escort car in front and behind it. “Can’t believe we actually caught him,” the driver said, referring to the
lone prisonerdetained in the back.
“Captain America’s the one that’s responsible,” the guard in the passenger seat pointed out. “If it weren’t for him, this yeti here would be out killing tonight.”
The driver snorted. “Jezz, I can’t believe you’re on the bandwagon too.”
“What you mean by that?”
“Everyone thinks the costumed freaks actually do some good. Hell, all they did is help make psychos like this one,” he growled, jerking his thumb back to the direction of the prisoner.
“Hey, man,” the guard said, “No dissing the Cap; my son loves him. Don’t see what your problem is. He and all the rest of the super heroes do so much good for people.”
“So much good that cops like you and me look bad,” the driver sighed. “Way I see it, they wanna help, put on a badge and uniform. That would help make my life easier.” The patrol car in front came to a stop. “Now what?” He pulled out his radio. “Mick, what gives?”
“A woman’s lying in the middle of the road,” Officer Mick explained. “Probably a hooker, by the looks of things.”
“What makes you say that?”
“She’s in some red satin outfit, real skimpy,” Mick said, “Don’t worry, my partner’s checking it out now. She’s probably just high or drunk, nothing to – OH MY GOD!”
“Mick?!” the driver screamed into his radio, “What happened?”
“Call for backup!” the guard shouted. However, before anything else could be done, something crashed onto the van and a metal claw drove through roof, quickly killing the driver before dealing with the other man.
Meanwhile…Nightwing and
Starfire where waiting for Daredevil on top of the building that had been there meeting place. In the light of the setting sun, Nightwing saw a
red figure swinging over, followed by a
red and blue one.
“Heard you had an eventful night yesterday,” Nightwing said to the man without fear as he and the Spider-Man landed. “And aren’t you the guy that’s on every other cover of the Daily Bugle? I don’t remember you being part of our club.”
“Don’t trust what the papers say,” Spider-Man said, “Believe me, the only thing that’s worthwhile are the pictures.”
“I asked him for help,” DD explained, “After last night, I thought it be a good idea to increase or numbers. Seems you had the same idea,” he added, nodding at Starfire.
“Nightwing and I have a long, close history,” she said in defense. “Anyway, what’s the plan?”
Nightwing rolls Investigate, getting 28. He’s really on fire.
“From the pattern of movement and types of buildings used, I’ve been able to locate the dock Vega plans to meet Croc at. We’ll wait for them to arrive and then attack.”
“I like it,” Spider-man commented, “Simple and direct. Let’s go.”
