[center][b][u]8:24 PM, December 1st
Spring Grove, The Wedge; Hub City[/u][/b]

Samantha [i]hated[/i] it when she went out this late. Said it risked her father finding out if he happened to wake up. That was, of course, ridiculous. Her dad [i]never[/i] woke up once he passed out for the night, and even if he did, the last thing he'd do was ever check up on her. Not unless he was inexplicably hungry after supper.

Besides, night was when the best crime fighting happened. Everybody knew that. The worst of the worst would stick their heads out, conducting their rotten business with impunity...and that's precisely what she aimed to put an end to tonight.

Sam had made a good point when she said that she couldn't just aimlessly beat up thugs. She had to catch them in the act of [i]committing[/i] a crime, and the way to do that would be to raid one of their crack houses. Not only was she pretty much [i]guaranteed[/i] to find drugs in there, but there was at least a chance of one of the gang leaders being present. That seemed like quite the worthwhile opportunity!

She had scared the location of one out of one of the Spring Grove Boys she'd caught trying to break into a home earlier today, and he didn't seem like a terribly good liar.

By this point, they knew well what the [url=https://i.imgur.com/FKcunA7.jpg]Lady in Red[/url] looked like, and would react swiftly upon seeing her approach. They might even try to burn their product if she dicked around for too long. Therefore, tonight, there would be no taunting. No introductions.

She could see the crack house from the street, her presence still masked by the darkness of the night. There were around six men standing outside, all of them likely armed. It didn't matter though, because she wouldn't be fighting them. Not at first, anyway.

Lowering herself into a slight crouch, Karen immediately surged forth at just below the speed of sound. Leaping into the air at the precipice of the front yard, she soared over the heads of the guards. Staring up at her in horrified astonishment, they were unable to even utter a word of warning to those inside before she came crashing through the wall of the crack house. Amidst a hail of splinters she met the eyes of more than half a dozen men seated around a table, and there was nary a pause before the first one drew his weapon.

Dashing forward, she drove her palm into his chest to launch him back into the far wall, the impact splintering the wood and sending the thug crumpling to the ground. The others had risen to their feet by this point, opening fire on her with semi-automatic and machine pistols alike.

She bobbed and weaved around the firing arcs in a way that would probably seem hilariously amateurish if they could track her movements, taking down each one with a simple palm strike or throw. It didn't take long for the guards outside to join the fray, but now that she was inside they wouldn't be able to destroy her evidence. Maintaining her cool and lightly inclining her head to allow a series of bullets to sweep past her ear, she dispatched yet another with a measured blow to the sternum that resulted in him crashing through the table.

Bullets continued to miss her by the slimmest of margins as she defeated two thugs simultaneously by wielding one as a momentary flail. She didn't [i]have[/i] to dodge, of course. Sam had made it quite apparent that nothing in their arsenal could harm her, but the longcoat she wore over her "uniform" was another story. If [i]that[/i] became riddled with bullets, then the ever surly feline would make her patch up every single one of them.

Issuing a precisely controlled headbutt to one of the last remaining thugs, she watched him crumple to the ground at her feet. There were now only three left, and they proceeded to throw their weapons to the floor the moment she turned to face them. It looked like her one-woman raid had been successful.

"You," she pointed to the nearest member of SGB, "give me your phone."

[hr]

[b]8:52[/b]

It was satisfying - to say the least - to see the flashing of police sirens in Spring Grove. It had been far too long since any patrol cars came through any part of [i]The Wedge[/i], after all. Normally, the cops would never bother coming down here for a crime report, but the promise of whole house full of contraband was a bit too enticing for even them to pass up, especially since all the dirty work had been done for them.

For the past week or so, in fact, the cops had seemed quite happy to let her do all the heavy lifting. They hadn't even bothered to condemn her blatant vigilantism, as it apparently distracted from the articles being published by her new reporter "friend" on just how messed up this place was.

It was pretty funny.

But maybe...maybe if she could clean up these streets enough, the police would finally be willing to step up and do their part. If she broke the gangs enough to where they could bring some actual law back to [i]The Wedge[/i], then everything will have been worth it.

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