Alita vs. The Queenpin

The streets were alive with commerce in the bustling town Alita found herself in. Adventurers and coin both flowed freely, like blood through a person's veins. However, where there's money to be found, there's also thieves and other criminals wanting to take some for themselves. Alita was only passing through when she heard rumors of a Midara crime boss extorting money from local businesses. Those rumors brought her to a seedy part of town, where the shops were seemingly all replaced by sex shops or other uncouth and improper places for one to spend their coin. This avenue was supposedly the home turf of the Queenpin's gang.

Alita blushed at all the shops she walked past as she looked around the avenue for any clues not wanting to drag too much attention to herself in the situation she was in knowing her weapon wouldn't do much in someplace so crowded

Alita was a stranger in this town, and couldn't tell which of these establishments had ties to the gang. The only thing that stood out from the lewd sex shops that teased her imagination were a number of women walking around town wearing matching business suits. The crowds paid her no attention, for there was far too much else on this street to catch their attention. If Alita wanted information, she would have to dig a little for it.

alita groaned before moving to one of the shops and blushing deeply before looking for a worker "UM excuse me, would you be able to help me find someone?"

Alita caught the attention of the person running the front desk, a well kept man who seemed to have the place under control. "Hm? Oh yes, I can help with that. People get lost here often, especially since many are new in town. Who are you looking for?" He asked, caring not that Alita probably wasn't a customer

Alita rubbed her head before having a idea "Um a friend of mine owed money to this group, they didn't tell me much but they've not called back to me so i wanted to check if he aws helping them or something, could you tell me about the groups that might've been wanting the money?"

The man behind the desk took a breath before answering, worried for the lady's safety. He spoke in a lower voice than before, just enough for Alita to hear, and no one else. "There's only one group that comes to mind. The Queenpin and her thugs. They're nothing but trouble. They take whatever they please from whoever they come across. Most people just avoid them and I think you should too. I fear for your friend if they owe them money. The gang operates out of an old, run down, warehouse from before this place become a hotspot. Just keep heading east down this street and it's at the end on the right, can't miss it. If you're really going to go there, be careful."

Alita smiled and nodded "Thank you for the information and the warning, could you tell me anything else? i kinda am obligated to go there now"

"Well, they seduce and take advantage of anyone who defies them. Other than that, I've said all that I can. I'm terribly sorry, but I need to get back to work. Good luck, miss." The kind worker then returned to working behind his desk, he was still on duty and would rather not be caught slacking off.

Alita nodded nad thought to herself before she walked out and turned to the east beginning her journey there hoping she wouldn't be caught by someone on the way

Alita blended into the crowd well enough as she headed east. She spotted a few gang members amidst the hustle and bustle but none gave her any attention. The street just before the warehouse was empty, but when Alita finally found her destination, the front door was being guarded by 2 gang members. They hadn't noticed Alita yet.

Alita looked at the gang memeber with a thought of how far they are everywhere before she noticed the guarded door. "hmm oh I have this easy." she quickly hid behind a alleyway and threw her boomerang to make a distraction for the guards

Alita- Distract (70) Success

The guards heard a noise around the corner and went to investigate. Meanwhile, Alita's trusty boomerang returned to her, and she had an open path into the warehouse.

Alita smirked as she snuck into the warehouse and quickly found herself something to hide with so she could look around the place

Alita had found a worthy hiding spot inside an old box full of holes to peer out of. Through these holes she spied about 4 more gang members resembling the two she had outsmarted outside. 2 of them were counting bags of coin, which the room was chock full of. It must take hours for them to complete their task. The other delinquents were standing at a table with some kind of large document on it, and standing at the head of the table was a woman far more tall, attractive, and voluptuous than the others. The three gangsters at the table were discussing something, but Alita couldn't make out what.

Alita thought for a second before trying to sneak closer to the group so she could hear them while not instantly starting a fight

Alita- Sneak (24,30) Success

The gangsters were absorbed in their work, and it was simple for Alita to get a bit closer despite not having many more places to hide.

"Listen boss, I think if we wanna expand into the west part of town, which we know we wanna do, we start by buying up this lot here and giving our girls some room and board. Place is nice and cheap" one of the subordinates said, indicating that the document was a map of the city.

"The ground is cheap but we will have to BUILD something there for it to be worth anything, and that costs a lotta time and money. I say we just shakedown the owner of this tavern and have him provide for us." The other one responded.

"That'll make too much noise, especially since we don't already have a foothold in that parta town. We'll have to pay the guy anyway and I doubt he will make it cheap."

Their boss finally spoke up. "Quiet, the both of you, I need to think about this. You two go out and see if you can find anything else."

The two underlings stopped arguing and heeded their leader. "Yes, Ma'am." The both of them answered before leaving the warehouse, somehow not noticing Alita.

Alita looks to the woman and throws her boomerang behind her to see how she reacts to a sudden noise to get a idea of conflict to come for her

The Queenpin jumps at the noise, taken off guard as she was thinking quite hard about her work. "Hey! Who made that noise?" She looked around, the remaining two grunts both shrugged, professing their innocence. The place was on alert now, Alita would surely be spotted soon.

Alita nodded and quickly hid again aiming her boomerang to pull the last two grunts away thinking "If I'm gonna do this I need the best chance at this fight...gotta pull the others away even for a little time"

Alita's plan worked, as the two grunts went away and searched other parts of the warehouse. The Queenpin, on the other hand, spotted the interloper. "So you're the one making that racket. I hope you have a good reason to be here, girl." The Queenpin prepared herself for a fight, confident that she could take on this stray adventurer.

Alita: 30 Willpower
Queenpin: 30 Stamina

Alita squeaked being caught before she could finish her plan "Oh shit, I um came here to stop this whole mafia operation you have going on, you are scaring innocent people!" she readied her boomerang and took a quick throw at the woman in charge wanting to get her first hit off

Alita- Always comes back (93, 25) Crit Fail, Fail
Queenpin- Criminal Impression (90) Crit Success

Alita's gambit backfired spectacularly, as the Queenpin caught her boomerang, having seen it coming this time. She dropped it on the floor and strutted right to the intruder, swaying her hips and looking at her right in the eyes. When she got close, she leaned down and whispered in her ear "Oh, we're not scaring people, cutie. We're treating them to a lovely 'service', and they pay us in turn. And now that you're in our place, what kind of hospitality can we show you?"

Alita: 29 Willpower, Stunned, Disarmed, must reveal at least 1 weakness
Queenpin: 30 Stamina, 2 stacks of Pressure

Alita squeaked and blushed as she slightly looked to the side as she shivered "W...well I like h...hypnosis miss" She could feel her face turn bright red from admitting one of her big weaknesses

Alita- Stunned
Queenpin- Thigh Command (23) Fail

The Queenpin giggled to herself at Alita's answer. "Oh do you? You're in luck, I had some practice with that recently. Stay a while, and I'll show you what I can do."

Alita: 29 Willpower, Disarmed
Queenpin: 30 Stamina, 2 stacks of Pressure