ic Hong Kong Hair (IC)

[Supercape]

GM

 

Hong Kong, Night time

 

The moon was on form, tonight, shining over a cloudless city, surrounded by twinkling stars. It was a beautiful city. 

 

Madame Raven knew that on the ground, ugliness was afoot. 

 

A trial of gossip and rumour had pointed the way, and her spirit of adventure had driven her. 

 

Here, at Superior Silk Industries. At first glance, it looked ramshakle, a production factory for textiles, a rather high end product. Then why did it look so broken? Because it was not. This was a facade. Well hidden camera's, superior locks, and subtle reinforcements all made this more of a fortress than a factory. And the remarkable Raven could see it all. 

 

Something bad was happening at Superior Silk Industries, something tonight. 

 

the company had a crooked reputation (although it did produce fine garments). Criminal activity under the disguise of legitimate (even successful) business. Exports to Europe, America. Conflict with Dr Sin and his leutinenats. Bribery and corruption with the Chinese goverment. 

 

And a deeper layer of rumour - hard to believe. Sorcery, Kung Fu, Masters of Ki, Ninja's. The usual hotch potch of Martial Art baloney, for sure, and yet the Raven detected some grain of truth within the soup of gossip. 

 

 

 

Edited February 27 by Supercape

[Tiffany Korta]

Madame Raven

Callie had only recently arrived in Hong Kong, the city of her birth, which was so different to the one she’d remembered in the 80s but also so much the same. She was used to the glitz and glamour of the city, not the dark underside, but she’d spent the last couple of years learning to find glittering gems in the dirty streets.

 

It didn’t take long to get a few rumours about Superior Silk Industries, the kind that suggested they were up to no good. The kind of no good that deserved investigation, stashing her few possession in a safe place she made her way to the warehouse. She wore a hoodie, black of course, and a pair of combat the many pockets stuffed with the general tools of the trade. Underneath it all was her Raven costume, just in case things got messy.

 

One of the things she learned was that you never used the doors, or windows when there were much subtler ways to get into a building. So she made her way to the warehouse's roof, keeping to the shadows as she looked for a skylight, or at worse a doorway into the building.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The Factory was surrounded by a fence - easy to cut through, but the astute eyes of the Raven could see the whole thing was rigged with an electric current. Not a painful one, a barely perceptible one. But a current that, if it fluctuated, would raise an alarm. 

 

Eight feet of alarmed fence. 

 

But, on a positive note, the Raven could see an angle of entry. Some of the buildings nearby had ceilings just as high, or higher, than the factory. Madam Ravan would have no problem climbing to the roof of one of them. 

 

The jump? A little more tricky... the gliding wings of the Raven could do the job, but it might be a fine cut; the tallest adjecent building was only ten feet taller. And twenty feet away from the factory. 

 

[Tiffany Korta]

Madame Raven

Callie looked around and made a few quick calculations. This wasn't even the hardest urban environment she'd ever had to travel through, those gagoyles were nice and all but a lot of European cities were pretty low lying. Another quick check and she made her move, relying on her plan rather than worrying about anything going wrong.

 

Quickly she clambered up the shortest of the nearby, using her builtup speed to launch into the air. Then she'd used her grapple to catch the tallest of the building catapulting herself into the air using the grapple to build up even more speed. A twist and a spin in the air she used her cape to glide down over the fence. She only just made the fence, and was thankful that her boots had insulated soles, as she rolled and tumbled to the ground mostly unharmed. And roll and she was up in a crounch scanning for anyone that might have seen her, adequent, acrobatic manoeuvres.

 

 

When she got back to Freedom CIty she was going to get one of those fancy Raven planes, so this wouldn't be a prouble anymore. It was that or learn how to fly!

 

Sure that she was undetected she made her way stealthly to the warehouse before making, a much more leisurely, climb up to the roof of the building.

[Supercape]

GM

 

There were guards, of course. A couple of Hong Kong thugs, smoking, carrying baseball bats for regular intimidation, but also clearly carrying concealed firearms in case of a more serious attack. They didn't look high calibre, but the would be enough to scare of the random thief, and didnt break the illusion of a second rate operation. 

 

They kept on smoking, chatting. They didn't notice the Raven climb up the building. 

 

On top, the Raven was virtually silent. A couple of skylights, open a fraction to let out the hot air - possible the Raven could squeeze through, or maybe pick open. Or even smash. 

 

Below, the factor was running on a skeleton crew. Maybe a dozen workers, putting together and packaging textiles. the clothing varied from expensive to luxurious. And, as might be guessed, mainly silks. Silk suits, silk dressed, silk nightwear. Some of it was even of the saucy variety one might see at a Burlesque show. 

 

Two more guards. These guards were professional, alert, in pristine black suits. No smoking, no drinking. Trained killers, most likely. These guys were the polar opposite to the cheap thugs outside. 

 

And amidst the looms and machines, a bolted and locked trapdoor to... what?

[Tiffany Korta]

Madame Raven

Callie spent a few moments watching how things unfolded below, trying to work out if there were any patrol patterns to give her a slot to sneak in unnoticed. The trapdoor was obviously something important, or made to look important it could be some kind of trap after for the curious like herse

 

She shifted her attention to the skylight, quickly checking for any alarm before slipping through the open skyline into the warehouse. Onto the superstructure she rapidly made her way to the wall, dropping down into a darker part of the warehouse. Then back to the area where the trapdoor was positioned, pausing she looked from the shadows to see where the guards were before making any kind of move towards the trapdoor. She'd prefer to do this without a fight if possible, but if ti had to happen she wanted to be the one in control of the situation.

[Supercape]

GM

 

It took a little bit of fiddling with the Raven lockpicks, but the lock came open. It would have been easier if she had time. 

 

But she didn't. The guards here were alert, and wandered the factory ever so often. Twice, the Raven had to put down her picks and scuttle into the shadows; each time done perfectly silently, perfectly unseen. Not a problem for the invisible Raven - but it did make picking a lock more irritating. 

 

The lock came open. No alarm, but a horrible creak. Madame Raven had to use quite the sleight of hand to oil the hinges to silence. 

 

Down some stairs. Harsh lights. The sound of... a loom? And scissors?

 

A voice. A deep, rumbling voice, slowly pronouncing every word. Cantonese. A voice that sounded like it had all the compassion and softness of a rusty chainsaw. 

 

The Cantonese was not a language Madame Raven could speak. She crept further. 

 

A huge man, obese, but over six foot tall, bald, with close set eyes, dressed in an elegant black silk suit. He stood over a woman in chains, bent over, barefoot, dirty, with black raven hair. To the side was one of the well dressed guards, brandishing some... scissors?

 

He was cutting the womans hair! And every snip of the scissors sent a shudder of pain down the woman in chains. 

[Tiffany Korta]

Madame Raven

Black as a Raven's wing might be a misnomer but she was merged with the shadows as dark as the metaphorical wing, as black as the woman's (and her) hair. She could have probably kept to the shadow for longer, but she couldn't sit by and let the poor woman suffer any longer.

 

<"Stop!"> Luckily the word was similar in both tongues.

 

Not waiting for an answer she flicked open one of her raven-shaped raven claws and sent it spinning through space, aiming to knock the scissors from his hand. Callie didn't wait shifting position as it went flying, she'd have to face them directly at some point but for now, she'd stick to the raven-black shadows.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The Raven claw collided with the scissors...

 

CLANG!

 

And sent the follicular cutting device across the room, clinking against stone walls until it lay at rest on the cold stone floor. 

 

The scissor man reached into his jacket, bringing out a throwing knife, readying it for a throw, until Mr. Silk (for it was the obese crime lord himself) raised a finger and clucked his tongue. "Wait."

 

The scissor man stopped instantly, frozen, completely obedient to his master. 

 

Slowly, Mr. Silk scanned the floor, reached down, and picked up the Raven Claw. 

 

In English, he said; "Raven. The Raven. Madam Raven. Various names. Belong in Freedom City. I commend you on your tenacity, but you are not welcome here."

 

His eyes scanned the darkness. There werent many places to hide, but the bald lights were dim, and Mr Silk could not yet see where his adversary was. 

[Tiffany Korta]

Madame Raven

"Ravens, like bad pennies, often turn up when not wanted..." she kept moving, kept things random so they couldn't predict her pattern

 

"There's a whole family of us now, I'm not The Raven, but a Raven, Madame Raven at your disservice!" she didn't bow, continuously moving as she spoke, but it was implied by her tone

 

"You're obviously a gentleman, and as you say I'm a long way from home, so I will offer you and your... friends... one chance to leave before things get messy! I won't ask so nicely again!" it hardly ever worked, but you never knew maybe this one time the enemy would surrender themselves and save her the trouble.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Mr Silk dropped the raven claw with a clatter to the floor. 

 

"A whole family. Formidable. They say that the Ravens are masters of the martial arts. And yet..."
 

He looked disdainfully at the claw. 

 

"You fight with weapons. This is not the way of a true master. I allow my minions to use knives. This is fitting for their station, but you? You would lower yourself to such impurity?"

 

"You have already made things messy. That you are here at all means I must attend to my security of all manners. And then you debase yourself with crude weapons. At least do yourself the honour of being beaten barehanded, rather than resorting to such... plebian tools!"

Edited March 3 by Supercape

[Tiffany Korta]

Madame Raven

"The greatest ability of a martial artist is their mind, and my mind tells me I have the range and the darkness on my side!" she gave a little chuckle

 

"And you are not a stupid man Mr Silk, I know that you're a kingpin here and despite your tastes, I'm sure you're more than capable of looking after yourself!" she hadn't seen him move yet but it was a good a guess as any. He seemed confident for someone facing a Raven with just two guards.

 

Still, she shouldn't get too confident and continued to move as she stuck to the shadows. She was looking for a good opportunity as much as they were looking for her to make one mistake.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Mr Silk sniffed. "No, I am not stupid, and neither are you."

 

He pressed his fingers together, closing his eyes and listening carefully. 

 

"My words were double edged. As you suspected, I was trying to even the playing field. I failed, tis no matter. But the best deception is the truth, Madam Raven, I suspect you know that as well as I do. I would not fight you armed. It would be a wasted opportunity."

 

His eyes snapped open. 

 

"Why are you in Hong Kong? Why interfere here? I would have though you would be happy to see a war between myself and Dr Sin, you would let it fester and clean up the mess once it is over, hmmm? Well you have no juridstiction here, and i have plenty of bribed officials in the Chinese and Hong Kong government and law department. Why risk breaking your legs over a matter that does not concern you?"

 

His eyes narrowed. 

 

"What could I give you to go away?"

 

 

[Tiffany Korta]

Madame Raven

In fact, she wouldn't be upset if the two went to war, there was no love lost between her and "grandpa" and Silk wasn't exactly putting his best foot forward.

 

"Maybe I was in town for some excellent Dim Sum and I got curious about all this?" she couldn't exactly explain to the villain how she was here on a journey to find herself, and maybe find Dr Sin himself

 

"And I've decided to make it my business, remember I did give you one opportunity to walk away!" she paused a beat before adding "I'm going to stop you because someone has to, and no amount of money is going to stop me putting you and your men down!"

[Supercape]

GM

 

Mr Silk licked his lips at the mention of Dim Sum. Madame Raven could even hear the obese mans stomach rumbling. 

 

"Go get me some food!" he snapped at his solitary aide, the man with the scissors. 

 

The aide gulped and started to make his way - cautiously, to the trapdoor. His path would take him past Madame Raven, however...

 

"I wasn't offering money," explained Mr Silk. "Information. Power. You want to Dr Sin? I want you to have him. I can help..."

 

Could he?

 

Madame Raven knew Mr Silk had acquired considerable power, and was no fool. But Dr Sin was the mastermind of the masterminds... could he ever really be caught?

 

Meanwhile, the aide was nervously shuffling to the trapdoor, right past Madame Raven, on his way to acquire food. 

 

The mention of Dim Sum had made Mr Silk ravenous. 

[Tiffany Korta]

Madam Raven

Callie wasn't sure if this was a deliberate play, or if he was really that focused on food, but she couldn't allow the man to leave the basement. Along with the food order he was bound to call the two guards upstairs along with whoever else was in the building or nearby. She'd have to play things close to her chest so as not to give herself away straight away.

 

Crouching down she got herself in the best position she could so that as he passed by she struck out with her cape, hoping to knock the assistant down. The cape was designed to have extra length and could stiffen to provide a harder hit than expected from a simple cloth cloak.

 

She didn't have time to see if the hit landed or how well. rolling away from the site as they'd obviously use that to try and score a hit on her. 

[Supercape]

GM

 

Madame Raven's cape was super - quite the super cape. It felled the aide in one swoop, knocking his feet from the concrete floor, and letting his head smack into that same floor with a resounding thud. The aide was completely knocked out. 

 

Mr Silk shuffled his feet slightly. Madame Ravan could tell it was the preparation for an attack; a martial art stance. Kung Fu - but what style. Mr Silk raised his fists in a classic pose. What was this? He had the classic training, for sure, but also those hands were not limited to ancient dance like kata, but they were hands that were used to dirty street fighting, too. 

 

And he was about to pounce...

[Tiffany Korta]

Madame Raven

A tuck a roll and as she came up she threw one of her Raven's Claw towards Mr Silk, a street fighter wasn't someone she wanted to face hand to hand until all other options had been exhausted.  And she wasn't yet a 100% sure that he wasn't a meta, which would add an extra level of complication.

 

"I hope you won't mind if this tiny dance avoids the street fighting man!"

 

Keep to the shadow, keep moving and keep him off balance, that was probably the best way to fight the massive gang leader.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Mr Silk leaned away, his reflexes sharp as a snake. His head movement was minimal; precisely enough to let the Raven's claw pass his cheek by an inch - no more, no less. His movement was almost contempuous. 

 

"I was dodging blowpipe darts and shuriken every day by the time I was ten,"  he scoffed. "It will take more than your little toys to scratch me."

 

He shuffled forward. 

 

"I was beating street thugs twice your size by the time I was half your size. Their skulls popping like watermelons under my fists. I could gouge out eyes and break spines with ease. The streets were littered with the dead and those that merely wished they were dead. Hospitals were filled with the maimed. Kung Fu masters, proud of their skill, no longer dared to train me."

 

He spun round and unleased a fast, powerful, and precisely accurate kick at Madame Raven. 

 

"I dream of the day someone provides me with any challenge..."

Edited March 6 by Supercape

[Tiffany Korta]

Madame Raven

She'd been expecting him to be quick, but even then she'd been caught out by just how fast. She tried to roll with the blow but as she did she was aware that it would leave on a heck of a bruise in the morning.

 

But as her dad had always told her, don't focus in your failures, instead think of how to turn them into success. So she turned her roll into an exaggerated fall as if he'd hit her harder than he actually had. But at the last moment, she pivoted acrobatically to catch him on the chin with her boot. Using the momentum to flip back onto her feet and take a fighting stance.

 

"Every battle is won before it is ever fought, blah, blah, blah... I've read my Sun Tzu. Words are cheap Mr Silk let's see what you've got!"

 

He had power behind him, but she had speed and dexterity, hopefully it would be enough!

[Supercape]

GM

 

The kick hit, despite the frightening speed and skill of Mr Silk. It connected with the very tip of his chin, but his head barely moved; a neck loaded with powerful muscles prevented the skull from shifting. 

 

His eyes narrowed slightly - newfound respect? newfound determination. 

 

He bent his knees, going into a crazy buddha pose...

 

"Your Kung Fu really is pathetic. No match for my Drunken Buddha pose!" he declared, before spinning in an opposite direction, and punching Raven right in the gut!

[Thevshi]

Tsunami

 

Giang watched as a slim female wearing a costume that clearly marked her as part of the extensive Raven related heroes. Giang knew the second Raven fairly well, having been found on the streets of Singapore by Callie Summers after Giang had fled her father's house once she had learned of his involvement in Dr. Sin's criminal empire. They had stayed in touch since Giang had graduated Claremont, and after taking over from her father as Headmistress, Callie had asked Giang to help mentor a few students in the past.

 

The large figure must be Mr. Silk, who was surprisingly quick and agile for someone so large. She watched as Silk took a hit from the other young woman and then quickly responded with a strike of his own.

Seeing how fast Silk was and how he moved, Giang was unsure she could accurately target him with any ranged attack while he was still in melee. So, the Asian young woman surrounded herself with a shimmering layer of water that seemed to continuously flow over her. She then dropped down through the trap door toward the melee.

"And someone talks too much." She simply commented as she landed near Silk, driving a knee towards his midsection, but even as he braced for that, Giang launched her actual intended attack, a technique of Voivnam, a backfist that she swung reversely into the side of Silk's temple.

The backfist struck solidly, catching Silk off guard and sending him down to the floor, seemingly out cold.

 

Giang took a step backward, still in a ready stance just in case it was some ruse. Glancing over at the other young woman, she asked in Cantonese, "are you alright?"

[Tiffany Korta]

Madame Raven

"I'm fine, please check on her..." she gestured to the bound woman, with her attention on sounding fine her voice more like her older duplicate than she normally liked.

 

Callie stood, managing to mostly hide the wince at the pain.

 

"Madame Raven, and cheers for the assist I'm sure I would have taken him eventually but I'd regret it in the morning!" she managed to give a weak grin "Let's see what Mr Silk was up to down here!"

 

A win was a win in her book, no need to be upset that someone gave the winning blow!

[Supercape]

GM

 

The bound woman in chains gave the two women a look that blended spite and hope. Her long jet black hair lay tousled over her face. 

 

Away from the heat of Mr Silk and the scissors, she straightened, but it was obvious that her back was hunched. Kyphoscoliosis; twisting and curvature of her spine. The rest of her body looked rather broken, too. Genetics had not been kind to her bone structure. 

 

"Who are you?" she spat. "Let me out of here and untold treasures will be yours, I promise!"

 

"Come, you can surely break these bonds, can't you?"

 

Despite het broken body, her voice was like chocolate - pure, smooth, seductive. 

Edited March 7 by Supercape

[Thevshi]

Tsunami

 

"I am Tsunami." Giang responded to Madame Raven as the other indicated she was alright and introduced herself, confirming her connection to the Raven.

 

Moving over to the bound woman, the Asian young woman looked down at her. "Wrack I assume? Murk sent me to try to assist you." Giang examined her and her bonds, looking back over to Madame Raven. "I don't suppose you will be able to deal with these bonds. I saw your earlier handiwork at the skylight and trapdoor locks."