| Gwen Steps Up |
| Summary: | Spider-Gwen faces down Blackout and helps him redirect his path. |
| Date: | IC Date (2016-07-15) |
| Related: | None |
| NPCs: | None |
| Scene Runner: | NA |
| Social/Plot: | Social |
| Players: |
 .. .. |
It's late. A quarter till 1 am on a very cloudy, even drizzly evening. The summer months have made New York City nearly unbearable in the daylight hours with the very high humidity. Stiffling. And the nights really do not get much better until after 10pm. Even then, it's still damp and sticky.
Tonight, we find the Lower East Side waining with activity as people are heading home for the evenings. While the back alleyways are even less populated. However, that's where one person is found doing something untoward. Or suspected thereof. A man stands wearing all black (trying to blend in) and standing within the shadows. His hand is on the brick wall of the First National Bank and he seems to be waiting for something to happen. Or waiting for something to occur by his own volition.
SUPER hot. It's nights like this that really make Gwen wish she hadn't incorporated a hoodie in her costume. Buuuut…one must suffer for fashion sometimes. She's up on the rooftops, listening. Listening to the sounds of the city, listening for screams, listening for alarms, but also listening to the police scanner app on her phone as she runs, taking a diving leap off an edge of a building and swinging down one of the large avenues, every now and then posing mid-swing for the inevitable pictures being taken of her.
A bum calls out, "What the hell is that?"
Another bum answers, "It's.. it's a dude, I think."
A third speaks up, "Go away, get outta here, don't want you around. Don't like mutant skum."
The dark figure initially ignores them. But when the mutant word comes to light, he intones in a shadowy and raspy voice, "I'm no mutant.". Then shifting his hand from the wall to be directed toward the cluster of bums, black tendrils leap out and entangle one of the three. Mummifying him in an inky blackness. The other two yell out, mortified and then take off running.
Gwen Stacy blinks when she hears the yelling, the girl swinging up from the apex of her swing and turning around almost on a dime with another blast of webbing against a building. She takes the headphones out of her ear as she drops to the roofs near where she heard it. She slinks carefully along the rooftop, moving to the edge…looking around until she realizes what building she's near. She jumps across a few gaps and starts running along the edges of the bank, looking down into the alleys.
The bums have fled the scene by the time Gwen is able to get a good look at that particular alleyway. However, she will see the black figure kneeling over another mummified black figure. He's speaking to the fallen entangled bum and says, "Now you and your friends have really gone and screwed up my evening."
The black garbed figure is in the shape of a man, has his back to where Gwen will arrive, but his facial features are completely obscured by the dark material that surrounds him. His right hand is placed on the chest of the fallen mummified man (who is wrapped in the same material that the dark man wears).
Gwen Stacy crouches on the edge of the building, just the balls of her feet on the very edge, watching you. She shakes her head a little, rolling her eyes gently. She leaps off, landing on the lowest level of a fire escape. "Well…you've gone and ruined his…so does that like…make you two even?" She asks, crouched down low, probably shrouded in shadows…but not totally hidden by any means.
"Son of a bitch." is muttered in his shadowy, raspy voice. He sighs and looks over his shoulder. The featureless mask doesn't permit sight into his facial features or even his eyes. They're obscured. But he does seem to look upon Gwen and he states clearly, "Girl, you should probably mind your own business."
Gwen Stacy smirks a little when she hears you curse under your breath. She tilts her head a little at the sight of your mask, hrrrm'ing gently. She can't really speak…hers is mostly the same, just two circles for her eyes. "Heyyy! Another mask!" She says happily, leaping off the fire escape, turning and hitting a web to it, allowing her to hang upside down, her face level with yours. "Yours is nice!" She says, smiling under the mask. "Fix him." She says, the smile fading.
Having stood erect, Blackout doesn't try to defend himself from her approach. He stands there, somewhat disappointed in the evening and even audibly sighs after a long inhale through the strange and seamless fabric that stretches across his face and body. He looks her over, so close for a moment longer and realizes that fighting isn't really what he wants to do, not tonight. He's tired, hungry, and was just hoping for something easy. His left hand shifts toward the mummified bum and the black material leaps from the bum back into Blackout's left hand.
The bum jumps to his feet, stumbles, looks at the encounter between the girl and the man, and runs out of the alleyway.
Gwen Stacy watches you carefully, unfliching as you look back at her. She smiles again when the black material leaves him, the bum running away from us. "Thank you! That so rarely works, yah know? Usually I have to like…hurt people in order to get them to do that. So. Now that that's taken care of…what's up? A little late for a deposit…" She says, looking behind you at the wall of the bank. "You weren't…uh…trying to make an after-hours withdrawl…were you? Oh I really hope not."
There's a slight smirk in regards to her dialogue. There's even the hint of a smile forming beneath the mask. He inhales through his mouth and starts to speak, then his brain kicks in and he decides not to say what he was initially going to. Instead, he redirects and says, "I'm Blackout. What's your name?" in a low tone, still with the rasp, but not as much darkness or resonance within.
Gwen Stacy tilts her head a little when you seem to be starting to speak, then grins as you stop and think for a moment. "Mmmmmn. Well see that's not a good sign for me." She says, then chuckles as you ask her her name. "Spider-Woman. Nice to meet you Blackout. So. Why're you here…at night, behind a very closed bank? And pleeaassseee realize that there's a good chance I already know." She says, getting quiet and almost whispering that last sentance.
His head tilts to the side as if looking her over a bit more clearly, "Spider-Woman? You're definitely not Jess." But he's not trying to discuss the name, just speculating or making an observation. Instead he follows upon her line of questioning. "Actually yes. I was about to go through that wall when those bums got involved.", is his answer, quite truthful in fact. He even turns to look at the wall in question.
Gwen Stacy blinks under the mask. "There's another? DAMNIT. Uhh…Spider-Girl? Is that taken?" She asks, then looks at the wall as you do, a little surprised by your honesty. "Oh! Well. So I KINDA knew…huh. You can do that? Wow. That's so cool…" She says, then looks up at you again. "So…you know that's not gonna happen now…right?"
He steps to the side and starts walking toward the wall while he talks. His voice remains fluid. "Spider-Girl would probably work. I've never heard that name before. But I'm sure it depends on the age thing. When does /girl/ become /woman/. Or you could totally go with /-lass/ or /-chick/. Then again, /-chick/ is often seen as degrading. Which is totally not meant in that way."
He reaches the wall and places his left hand upon it. Then in a tone of demonstration, he states, "Check it out… "
Gwen Stacy watches you carefully as you say that and head back to the wall. "Hrm. I may need to go with that." She says, then scrunches her face. "Ewww. Why don't I just call you Blackout-dude or Blackout-boy? Spider-Girl is fine." She says, tensing up a little. "I'll take your word for it. Step away from the wall please."
"You asked how." he intones as a darkness spreads from his hand and forms a 7' diameter circle which turns out to be a portal (which looks very much like a portable hole from Acme which the Coyote tried to capture the Road Runner with). Through it can be seen the inner aspects of the bank vault. Illuminated, ready or pilfering. He steps back a foot or two and says, "That's how."
Gwen Stacy watches you, ready to act. "No I didn't." She says cooly, though is very impressed when she actually sees what happens, looking through to the vault. "Hrm. It is impressive though. But stop it." She say, spinning on the web so she's not upside down anymore, but still hanging a few feet above the ground.
There's another sigh as Blackout gives a nod. He reaches again with his left hand, fingers wide, then they come together (fingertips to fingertips). Which causes the portal to close. He then turns on his heel looking back to the girl. "Yeah, it's cool. Impressive. Very useful when getting into places and then back out. I used to work for a group called UNTIL. United Nations Tribunal on International Law. Until I got displaced into this reality… now I'm a guy with someone elses past. Apparently there was a guy in this reality who was a super criminal and I can't show my face for fear of being arrested on the spot. I have to live with his identity. Which makes me stick to the shadows and to stuff like that." He thumbs over his shoulder back toward the wall.
Gwen Stacy watches you, nodding her head a little as you close the portal. SHe knows you can do it anytime…but at least not while /she's/ there. She hrms a little when you say that. "Really? Shame…Tell yah what though…robbin' banks doesn't help with your position. But…" She thinks, nodding her head. "I can /understand/ your predicament." She says, looking up a little at the lights. "I mean…I'm wanted for murder where I'm from…so…I kinda know what yah mean. Doesn't mean I won't stop you. But…" She says, trailing off and shrugging. "Ehh…that kinda went nowhere."
He smiles again, and offers a low chuckle. "You're right. On all counts." He then begins walking a semi circle around her and continues to speak, "It's reasonable to think that I'll do this again, when you're not looking. Because a guy needs to eat. But I should also endeavor to get a job. I've got skills. Surely someone out there would want to hire someone like me to do legal work. Right?"
Gwen Stacy grins a little, staying still as you move around her, watching you carefully, even chuckling a little. "I'm sure you will. I'll be sure to let the police know they'll need a special cell for you." She says with a grin through the mask. "You should try to seek out some of the super scientists around here…maybe they could help you fix your situation. That way I won't have to keep my eye on you."
As he walks, a portal opens in front of him. As he steps into it, he states, "You have a nice laugh. Hopefully we will run into one another again. On better terms." then through the portal into the darkness that is beyond it. Something of pitch black, no bank vault, no street, just darkness.