Dottie just holds her finger to her lips and winks at the boy as she heads toward where the guard said Davius would be.
Dottie crosses the hall with the arcade machines. The walls are cinderblock, and the only door is a corrugated metal roll door.
The door is counterweighted with a large coiled spring, making it easy to open, but very loud.
Dottie stands by the wall, draws her pistol, and triggers the mechanism to open the door, ducking out of sight as the door pulls open.
If someone runs out, Dottie and Nite Owl can hopefully flank him as he tries to escape.
Nite Owl slips onto the other side of the doors. He obscures himself too ready for whatever comes out
The door rolls up loudly, metal clanging on metal. Dottie and Nite Owl await their prey, but nothing is flushed out by your intrusion. Beyond the door is what appears to be an old shipping room with another garage style door opposite that likely leads to a loading dock. Several wooden folding tables have been set up here and are covered with a variety of old electronic bits and bobs, soldering irons, even vacuum tubes.
A set of metal stairs leads up to a small office or observation room nearly two stories above. The room is dark, but there is a window in the office that is glowing with a cool white light.
None of this adds up.
Dottie gestures toward the observation room. "I'll meet you up there," she says to Nite Owl, and heads for the stairs. She figures Doc Icarus isn't far behind and can try to make sense of the tech salvage.
"Sure thing" Nite Owl says letting his powers kick in he runs in and then leaps up to the top of the stairs, Ricocheting off the walls if necessary.
Qi'n watches the others go running off, choosing rather to stay behind and guard the prisoners. He moves to the next and the next, healing their damaged auras as best he can, and comforting them when they awaken.
Batman will head up to ceiling level, move across and attempt to peek downward through the window.
The observation room is small, maybe 8 feet square. It has a broad window that looks out over the room, a door at the top of the stairs with a small square window. The door is locked, and the window doesn't open, but it is easy enough to see inside. The room is lit only by the glow of a medium sized screen, maybe 24 inches. The screen displays a one on one fighting game with a large green character bouncing up and down, waiting to be directed to fight some sort of white clad ninja.
There is a folding cot covered neatly in a blanket with ornate elephants printed on it, a pile of books sit under it. There is an open hatch in the roof that suggests someone may have departed hastily.
Dottie shoots the lock with her pistol and kicks the door open. Presuming nothing untoward happens, she enters.
"He ran." Her face grows dark.
She turns to Batman. "Can you fly out and sweep the area to see if you can spot him?"
She moves over to look at the books.
Nite Owl looked about and shook his head."Why do they have to run I hate to see them run"
Xaiver looks at Dottie and the others and shrugs."Remember the police are on there way, so speed is of the essence!"
"Then you'd best get on that computer quick and see what's on it!
The stack of books includes A Tale of Two Cities, some Thor graphic novels, The Ultimate History of Video Games, and a coverless book about the physics of the Microverse, whatever that is.
Dottie lets Xavier decide what to do with the computer. She grabs the first and the last book, and goes back to the stairs. "Doc! If you're done freeing them, we need to get out of here."
Given Qi'n is the reason they now need to hurry, she is not of a mind to invite him. Besides he's the one who called the cops. And given what her childhood was like, it doesn't even occur to her that leaving a child alone in a place like this could be a poor idea.
With a nod, he swoops up and out, to spiral around the building and see what he can see - or more importantly, hear.
Overhearing that the one the others are seeking has fled, Qi'n will move up into the space to look around. He stands in the middle of the room, not really looking at anything, while simultaneously looking at everything. He finds the pattern of the room's qi, looking for the disruptions, and the memories and actions that disrupted and moved those flows. Certain actions disrupt the flows more than others; things that damage and disrupt the energy of others chief among them.
Grabs the CPU and smiles."We'll hook this up at another location it would be better"
Batman hears the sound of sirens not far away, at least 5 cars. The streets below are mostly empty. People have headed indoors at the sounds of warning. There is one kid, grey hoodie, 125 pounds, 5'10", walking south, away from the building. Maybe that is suspicious, maybe not.
Dottie shoves the two books in a nearby plastic grocery bag and heads back into the room, hopping up to grab the hatch and pulls herself up onto the roof.
"Where should we all meet?" she asks.
Batman will text, Following suspension. Will meet. Followed by Suspect
He'll keep watch on Grey hoodie and see where he goes.
"Lead the way Doc" Nite Owl says cradling the CPU.
Dottie acknowledges Doc's directions.
Once on the roof, tries to see if she can spot the same suspect Batman is following.
If she thinks she spots him, she runs along the roofs and leaps across the gaps between them, trying to follow along.
If she's at risk of being spotted by the police, she stops and hides.
If she can't keep up with the suspect or risks police exposure, she meanders toward Jane street to reconnoiter with the party.
Dottie doesn't have a good angle to see the kid, but she can see Batman gliding over the streets below. She takes off after him, quickly overtaking the kid as he walks super-casually down the street.
As Batman is doing, Dottie will follow a bit to see where he is going.
Holding his hand aloft in the room, eyes closed, Qi'n addresses Night Owl as he climbs up out of the hatch after Dottie, "The man that uses this room; he is young, barely an adult. His skin is black like coal and he wears his hair in tangled strands. He was building something here. Something the others feared to disturb. Tell you friends; this knowledge might help you find him."
"Thanks, It could help narrow down what exactly we are looking for on the CPU" He stares at the kid and smiles.
"Say you want to come along and aid in finding these villains? I mean if you have any other information we can narrow it down and find them faster!"
Hoodie Kid walks 4 blocks before ducking into a deli. He glances up and down the street, but not into the air.
Dottie looks up at Batman and makes sure he can see her. She finds a convenient nearby alley and hops down, grabbing onto the bars of a nearby fire escape to help safely flip herself downward several flights. She emerges, checking for whomever might be watching, then enters the deli, with the vaguely interested gaze of a potential customer. She looks for the kid, wondering if he matches Qi'n's description.
Qi'n drops back down to the warehouse floor level to check on the kids. He calls a cab from his phone, and locates the ring of keys from the henchman. He continues helping all the prisoners up when possible, using the keys to unlock any remaining handcuffs.
As soon as they are all freed, he takes Li Jiao across the street to hide and wait for the cab. A victim she may be, but she is still an illegal alien. No use getting her rescued just to get caught up in legal red tape.
Batman nods as Dottie goes it and settles down to watch and wait.
Q'in slides Li Jiao into a cab. Dottie enters the deli just after the hoodie has ordered. She hears the man behind the counter yell, "Pastrami, gornish, with a one and done, and CHECK THE ICE." She finds that little has changed in the special language of a Jewish deli. Or the weakness of men.
The hoodie waits patiently for his order as it is assembled from behind. A quick check of the long narrow shop reveals little of interest. No hidden doors, no strangely placed cameras, nothing weird about the pickles that come out of the crock. The kid seems relaxed, not even looking around.
Dottie looks around, then bounds up to the counter, eying the pickle barrel with a massive smile and the enthusiasm of a Midwestern tourist. "Oh my gosh, those are the real thing aren't they? It's been ages since I've been to New York, and I know it's crazy, but all I could think about was they had the best pickles here..." She pauses, just barely glancing over at the interaction. "I am so sorry for interrupting, I'll wait my turn..."
Dottie does not have to bluff about her enthusiasm for pickles, but they still are the cover for her getting a glance at hoodie kid.
Dottie might actually really be too excited about pickles to get a good look.
Dottie sizes the kid up. While he does seem wary and cautious, he doesn't have the sense of someone dangerous. She gets no sense that he can handle himself in a fight.
He isn't wearing any signature goggles, but otherwise he fits the description Q'in gave. The young man is dark skinned in a way that is generally seen in someone from Central Africa and rarely in African Americans.
He doesn't have a bag or anything. His pullover and pants are pretty oversized on his thin frame. He could have any number of things hidden there, though Dottie could probably see if he is armed or carrying something larger than a portable hard drive.
Dottie makes a show of exploring the deli while waiting to order, and while distracted, bumps into the kid. "Oh, I'm so sorry. This place is great, you come here often?"
Meanwhile she reaches for one of his larger pockets, one that looks like it might be weighed down by something like a device. If not a portable hard drive, a phone or tablet.
Dottie's fingers slip around a flat rectangular device. She slips it out, expecting to find some sort of computer hardware or tool, perhaps, but she comes away with a stun gun self defense device and a cell phone.
The kid doesn't seem to notice.