| Ninjas in New York |
| Summary: | The Hand takes an interest in Peter Wisdom and something he's carrying. When they strike, they draw the attention of several heroines. |
| Date: | 2017-01-29 |
| Related: | None |
| NPCs: | Hand ninjas |
| Scene Runner: | Pete Wisdom |
| Social/Plot: | Plot |
| Players: |
 .. .. .. .. .. |
Location: Back Alley — Midtown East — NYC
A typical alleyway. Moderately high walls on either side, trash, refuse, the occasional dumpster, long shadows, sewer access, random vehicles, entrances into neighboring buildings, many times an exit into another alleyway or onto another street. Often times alleys are used for deliveries, sleeping areas for the homeless, nefarious encounters or unlawful exchanges. Also found in alleys are fire escape ladders to rooftops or upper floors of the surrounding structures.
The RP Begins
Ninjas. Why is it always ninjas?
Well, in this case, the ninjas were after something. Something very important. Something that Wisdom had on his person after a visit to Denmark to meet with Dolph Dongen about something-or-other. Seems there are spies even among spies.
Now Wisdom was fighting red-clothed ninjas in an alleyway nearby the Times Square theater district, and wouldn't you know it? It's actually pretty stealthy, apart from the fact that twenty ninjas against one spy does not an equal fight make.
"Give it to us!" hissed a ninja.
"Stuff it, you Hand toe-rag," Wisdom spat back before getting sai'd in the shoulder.
Kitty Pryde is out in the city, picking up some supplies for school. She walks along the main street, a head swivels as she passes the alley. Then her head turns over seeing ninjas. A crinkle of her cute nose. She phases and goes translucent, stepping into the alley steathily. She tries to quickly discern the bad guys from the good guys. Then she hears that voice, the hazel eyes widen as she looks down the alley.
The truth is that Princess Shuri of Wakanda does not honestly care about fighting ninjas, or helping agents of MI-13. Neither is high on her list of priorities. But Shuri has taken up residence in New York City, and her very nature - though some would boggle at this - places that city now under her protection. She is not home in Wakanda protecting her people. So now she is here, protecting the people of this land. It's a strange sort of noblesse oblige.
And that would be why a female Black Panther comes dropping down off a roof seven stories or so above the level of the alley's floor, vibranium-booted feet going through a Hand ninja's skull and shoulders with brutal efficiency and no warning whatsoever.
SQUISH!
"Surrender or be destroyed." comes a dark growl from the masked Panther figure.
Hope has been getting her feet under her here in this…slightly different version of the world she expected to go back to. She's always been independent, though. So she's kept to herself, learning what she can and trying to decide what she's going to do with her life. Times Square is always busy. Always something to find.
Like ninjas.
She walks past the alley the first time, then backtracks a step to see just what's going on before she grins. "You guys have made some bad choices," she notes to the ninjas.
The entire day has had some pretty miserable, cloudy weather. It's only now, however, that the clouds roll and darken, thunder booming some distance away. The lightning flashes preceeding it come closer and closer, until it feels as if the ground below is becoming illuminated as well as it would be during the daylight. Lightning flashes again, blindingly bright. Somewhere, thundr booms.
In that flash of light a hammer flies out, striking a Hand ninja in the temple before soaring further out and swooping back to be caught in one hand.
Thor, Godess of Thunder, steps out as the light dims. She says nothing, her expression grim, eyes narrowed.
With the advent of a foot going through a Hand ninja's head, splattering a mess all over the floor. Every single combatant to a man - including Pete, who wasn't expecting a feminine Black Panther - paused to look at her.
Then the ninjas seemed ready to split up, divvying nine to the Panther, and the remaining ten on Wisdom. Then lightning flashed and thunder crashed, and another ninja went down.
Now there was a female Thor, and Pete seemed a little less puzzled.
But Thor may notice or sense something. Pete was carrying something mystical, powerful, and it's very name meant evil. What was it that he had, and the Hand were after?
Not one to look gift horses in the mouth when surrounded by ninjas, Wisdom's hands splayed out, and orange shards of energy erupted from his fingertips. But those damned ninjas were well-trained, and able to dodge or deflect Wisdom's hot-knife barrage. Except one, who fell back with a glowing bit of solid heat sizzling in his chest.
Kitty freezes, just briefly. The she unphases her hand. She pulls a blaster from inside her coat. The boots walking further in. She aims and starts to fire. Blue pulses hurtling one then a second ninja. The body mostly phased, a ninja hurls a sai at her form and it clatters against the alley wall behind her.
Nine Hand ninjas dare to face off against the Black Panther, and Princess Shuri of Wakanda lifts her gloves, claws popping out as she engages, vibranium bracers blocking swords and sais aimed at her in close quarters combat, as she returns the favor with knees, elbows and claws. She may end up with bruises, but she's fighting hard and furiously, with great skill and power.
Hope pauses to get a closer look at both Thor and the Black Panther, blinking. "Huh. Okay, that's new." But she's good at adjusting - that's what she does. Fighting is also what she does, so she doesn't hesitate to wade into the fight, picking out one of the ninjas taking on Pete. A running start takes her up behind them, with an elbow to the back of the head followed by a sweep of her foot.
Thor can indeed sense something coming from Wisdom. But she can also tell it's something, and not the man himself. She can guess, then, why the Hand have shown themselves. Her expression shifts as she looks at Hope for a moment. Eyebrow raised, though it's hard to see behind her helmet. She does not, and cannot spend time considering the reaction. Instead, she turns to the ninjas who have turned onto the woman she considered an ally. She makes long, quick strides to end the distance between herself and the ninjas, clamping a hand onto one to stop him mid-attack, simply throwing him back into the wall with what looks like little effort. "Knaves, you fight without honour!" Dammit. Even she can help the pseudo-Shakespearean that occasionally rises. It's like a beast within that she has to constantly fight! "If you wish to outnumber a foe, then Thor accepts your challenge!"
When more appeared to join the fight, the Hand did what ninjas should do in this situation.
Those that were still standing produced and threw down smoke bombs, in an effort to escape into the night.
Those who were defeated enacted their fail-safes, dying and disintegrating to little more than red cloth. Those that died… well, did the same.
Amid smoke from bombs and the acrid residue of the rapidly disintegrating bodies, Wisdom stepped from the fog of war, and lifted something to his lips.
It was a vape stick. "Thanks, lovelies," he told the women. Then he winced as he moved his arm to set it down. "Wasn't expecting an ambush. Uh. Black Panthress. Thor." He nodded to Hope, unsure of how to address her. And when he saw Kitty, even translucent, his face softened, as did his stance. "Petal."
But there was still the fact that Wisdom was carrying something evil. Like, pure, concentrated evil.
As more and more folks wade into hand to hand, Kitty holsters the blaster. She squares up with a ninja, exchanging in martial arts hand to hand. But the foe seems to keep just swinging through her body. But all of her strikes and kicks land with thuds and thwaps. Then she's sputtering and couching, waving her hand to clear off smoke. She shifts, body going solid, feet settling back to the alley. She blinks and looks at Pete. "Pete" She says, and smiles, an awkward look and pink in her cheeks.
Unfair advantages abound. Filtration in the Panther mask means Shuri is not choking on ninja smoke. Her sensors and lenses mean she's not nearly so blinded as the Hand would wish. And a vibranium weave suit means she's not nearly so wounded as they might like, even when their blows do get through her skill. But when the Hand decides to bail, she does not give chase. She could. Maybe she should. But she does not.
Instead, Shuri nods to Lady Thor, and then acknowledges the others present, including Hope, Kitty and finally Peter. "I take it that you, and something you are carrying, drew their interest tonight?" she comments to Peter, waiting.
The ninjas run, and Hope's left standing in the smoke, covering her nose and mouth with a sleeve until it clears. "Well that was unexpectedly quick." She looks around the others, finally settling on Pete when Shuri asks her question. "Can really blame them, though. Looks like they came up on more than they were expecting."
"I am relieved I could provide some assistance. They are little better than a plague." Thor turns her gaze slowly to Pete, acknowledging everyone as she does so. "You have something on your person that they wanted," she tells the Brit simply. "I would very much like to know what it is you hold that convinced them to cease hiding for this night."
"What I carry is my business," Wisdom said to the Black Panther. But his gaze cast to Thor. "…And hers. I was coming here from Denmark to deliver this safely to a few places. Either the Nexus of All Realities, or to someone affiliated with you, and trustworthy. As you're holding that hammer…" Wisdom reached into an inside jacket pocket, wincing from the prior blow to his shoulder. He produced a very… very small stone vase? Was it like a tiny perfume jar? A phial?
The Nordic runes inscribed upon the stone were easy enough for the goddess to read, however.
Eitr.
"Take this and get it the hell off this world, if you'd be so kind. Er. Your greatness." Gotta adhere to some propriety when dealing with gods.
Catching Kitty's smile, he smiled in turn. "Good to see you again. Better circumstances. At least Dazzler isn't dead, this time. Never did quite figure out how she keeps getting better from that."
Kitty flicks her eyes around, nodding to folks. "Hey" Then her eyes flick to Thor and blink. Then she looks to Peter as he produces a vial. She peeks but doesn't interfere. She looks to Pete and nods "Yeah, better circumstances, but some things never change, like people wanting you dead" A quirk of her lips to a grin "I'll have to let Locky know he needs to steal a vape stick now" A chuckle.
"I should note, Sir, that I did not ask you what you were carrying. I merely noted that was what drew their attention." Black Panther offers, snidely, towards Peter in that cultured African accent of hers. She's not perturbed in the slightest. But she does watch attentively as all of this unfolds. She's curious. But she didn't push for the details. She's just keeping her sensors peeled for any returning Hand ninjas. Or anyone else. Bad stuff, apparently, is afoot.
"What is it, though?" Other people can be polite - Hope wants to know what the problem is. This is the most interesting thing she's run into in weeks. She steps forward, trying to get a look at the vial when Pete passes it over to Thor. "Also, who were the ninjas? There are, like, at least half a dozen groups with ninjas these days, right? Or was there some sort of ninja merger when I wasn't looking?"
Oh yes, Thor knows that word all too well. The word marks a complicated substance. "It is… complicated. A poison would be the best way to describe it." The kind that could fell even Thor herself. But they don't need to know that. She takes the vial when offered, dropping it into one of the pouches on her belt. "Rest assured it will be dealt with."
"You'll note - madam - that calling me Sir tends to bring funny feelings from me, and we've only just met, so call me that at your peril. And I don't rightly care if you asked or not; the business is between myself and the Aesir. Granted, your assistance is very much appreciated." Then he said - in an awful north London accent - a 'thank you' in Wakandan.
At least he tried. When the goddess took the vial and placed it in her pouch, Wisdom quite visibly relaxed. "Thank fuck," he sighed. "Er, sorry. Only you, I think would understand the stress one would be under carrying that thing around. She's right. Just call it a poison and leave it at that," he explained to the others, as Thor declassified it on her own.
"Kitty, I swear, if I see Lockheed trying to *stop* me from quitting cigarettes, I'm going to send him to a bloody psychiatrist. I gave them up years ago. The vape's only for seriously stressful situations. And…" He cleared his throat, straightening. "All right class. The ninjas are dressed in red and disintegrated upon death. They're the Hand. A mystic order of evil bastards who worship something evil and not for you to know about. But they're also assassins-for-hire, if it meets their mystical hoo-ha and whatnot."
"You quit? No way" Kitty shifts and flicks her eyes over Pete. "Poison" She smirks slightly "A spy getting chased by ninjas carrying poison, cliche much?" She nods her head "Yeah, Hand for sure. been a while since I got to make one of the disintegrate." She reaches to her thigh and flicks a switch on the blaster. "I'm guessing they wanted the poison, Ninja's love poison. It's like .. kitten and catnip"
Shuri just eyes Pete. Given the mask, there's no expression to go on, no way to realize a part of her is debating whether or not he was being deliberately enough obtuse and rude that she can be justified in pounding his face into putty. Right now, she's thinking probably not, more's the pity. So she waits. It doesn't seem there's more needing to be said right now.
"Huh." Hope pokes at a pile of empty robes with the toe of one boot, nodding to herself. "Right then. Red robes, going poof, makes for Hand. Sorry, I sort of skipped the crash course in which ninjas were which. Kind of a more focused curriculum on not dying or destroying the world."
She looks back up and around the group, like someone piecing disparate bits of information together. "Why did you have a Norse poison that ninjas were after, though?"
Thor glances to her side, looking at Shuri. There is little she could say or do without it being obvious, so she hopes that her measured tone helps. "Eitr will kill nearly anything." She says 'nearly' because there are a handful of things she can think of that it will not - or might not - affect. "It would be useful as a tool for assassination, especially if you suspect your target has some kind of aid against poison. There is no cure for eitr-poisoning. If you are exposed, you are dead within nine steps."
"Had a contact that found it. I deal in weird stuff. So I was tasked to move and get rid of it. Manipulating and destroying it is too dangerous. So I thought to give it to a proper authority." Why his friend in Euroforce wasn't able to contact an Aesir is unknown to Pete. But Euroforce is incompetent, even when led by Dane Whitman. "I quit a long time ago, petal," explained Pete to Kitty. "But yes. The Hand wanted what I had. I don't know how they found out that I was the courier. But thanks anyhow."
To be fair, he tried to say thank you to the Panther, in Wakandan. He just has a terrible accent. He can't be good at everything.
Listening to Thor give away more secrets, Wisdom successfully resisted lifting a hand to his face. "That's why it needs to be contained, preferably in hands off this world. And in a jar forged by dwarves and thrown into a star. Or something. I'm sure you'll come up with a plan, Thor." A bit of a rewind has Pete asking, "And… I beg your pardon, ladies. But I've been so bloody busy trying to vet alternate-universe folks since *something* big happened, that, uh. I'm not sure if you are recent developments here yourselves, or unfortunate refugees and not able to go home to your own dimensions." He was saying this, of course, to Hope, Thor, and Shuri.
But that begs the question: What the hell was Pete talking about?
Kitty flicks her eyes around "I'm ah, Kitty Pryde, Shadowcat..i'm a sorta teacher at Xavier's. Not sure i've met folks here" She looks to Thor "Though I've met you, just not this you." She nods and shifts. And then looks to Pete "You, i know" She smiles again then rolls her eyes
Shuri is from this world. But she was dead. She got better. It's a thing. "I presume, Lady Thor, that you do not need any further assistance getting that safely off-world?" After all, thinking with portals and magic hammers, right? "I am glad to have helped. I care not at all for the Hand, and am pleased to have disappointed them this night."
Hope pauses at Pete's words, brows rising. "Wait, hold up." She takes a step back, pointing to Shuri and Thor particularly before she looks back to Pete. "It's not just me." That realization brings a heavy sigh of relief, shoulders slumping in a way that shows just how young she really is. "I thought it was a time thing. Like, I went forward, and future me showed me some things, and I thought maybe she screwed up when she sent me back, because things were- But it's not just me?"
Arms cross. Thor's hammer hangs off her belt, still within contact with her body. "I know not if that question can be answered accurately," she answers. "As far as I know, this is my world. I am Thor." Which of course, is likely confusing for everyone but Shuri. Whether she knows of the school is another question entirely. It doesn't sound familiar… "I thank you, Black Panther, but I can get this phial disposed of without trouble."
Wisdom waved a hand in a kind of, 'eh,' or 'so-so-' gesture to Hope. "Weird shit happened. Impossible to find out. Even the greatest minds I've consulted don't quite know. But something *big* happened. And lots of folks that're here aren't from here. And lots of them can never go back to their native realities." Because, though Pete didn't know, they were erased. "I've kinda made it partially my life's work to help folks acclimate. And try to root out those who might seem nice at first but are wicked, evil bastards. But Mjolnir's Mjolnir, and if you're worthy, you're worthy. Otherwise I wouldn't have handed the Eitr to you so freely."
Pete had a point.
"Now then. Erm. Introductions. Pete Wisdom. MI-13. Normally I work primarily on my soil, doing things like ensuring Skrulls and vampires will never, ever set foot upon my country again. That country being the UK. But… like I said. Responsibilities are stretched. And… all right, Thor. I'm assuming new developments until I learn more. I hate to say it but I may hound you with a barrage of questions, sometime. No offense, it's just my job to know."
He sounded the jackass, but his intentions were pure.
Kitty shifts and nods her head. "People from the past, the future, and different realities. Sometimes so identical it's just a color difference in the eyes." She smiles at Hope "I've met you, or well, some reality of you before. If, you need, we can set you up at Xavier's, guest lodging, you are, or were X-men" She nods to Hope and smiles. "Jean's running the school now"
"Hope Summers." Hope nods to Pete, relief clear in her features. She didn't break anything! This is good news! She looks to Kitty. "You were running it when I-" A pause. "Jean, like- Jean Grey? Who is apparently not dead? Because it was also the Jean Grey School, and- Man. You know, it's weird, but it's a lot less stressful weird when you don't think it's your fault," she notes as an aside to Pete.
"Time travel must make for a confused state of mind in the best of times," Thor murmurs, more to Pete than to either of the other two. "You may ask your questions," she finally says to Pete, nodding once. "I am not bothered by them." Though, of course, she reserves the right to not answer if she chooses to not answer.
"It's incredibly rude of me to ask your alter ego without buying you a drink first. But I know the risk in offering an Aesir endless glog," he even used the proper pronunciation for the Scandinavian mulled wine. "But, erm. In my experience, Thor was a bloke. Did something happen, recently, so that, what, he was no longer worthy? Or did Loki or the Enchantress decide to let you see how the other half lives? Because it's happened to Loki." Wisdom nodded to Hope. "It always feels good when you *don't* have the burden of responsibility on your shoulders."
That sounded more than a little envious, as Pete lowered his head just a bit, his sunglasses reflecting light in a look that would be pensive, and sad.
She nods her head "Yup. Jean Grey, and.. Scott is.. back" She says it all awkwardly. Cause, goodness knows what is different. Kitty shifts and looks at Pete then the other two. "Yeah, Thor was a dude in my world." She exhales and kicks her feet around in the red wrappings and litter, using the cycle boots to ensure no weapons or pointy things get left behind.
"That's…super awkward." Hope rubs a hand at the back of her neck, grimacing. "I mean, that's got to be ugly for him, too, catching all the blowback from the Phoenix and…" She lets out a long breath, smiling ruefully over to Thor. "Time travel's not so bad. It's when everything's changed and you can't follow the line of causation that things get weird. Like this. This is definitely weird."
She pauses, then laughs. "Scott and Jean is extra weird, and if my dad is still my dad here, then I kind of really want to see his reaction to that one."
For a long moment the Goddess of Thunder says nothing, her head tilting slightly as though she is contemplating the answer to the statements. "Things happened without Loki's intervention," she assures. Which is true, of course, but not the whole truth. "It is perhaps a more entertaining thought for Thor to be a woman, because this way when Hercules comes looking to armwrestle again, it will be more embarrassing for him when he loses." Here Thor smirks just a little.
"Forgive me, Thor, but if Hercules came about and saw you as you are, he would want to do more than just *arm* wrestle. I seem to remember hearing about a time the two of you dressed as each other and mocked each others' habits. Hercules, of course, couldn't wield Mjolnir. But I remember hearing it was all good fun. Today? …I wouldn't want to see Hercules try to fit into your armor." When the others were talking of time travel, Wisdom thought back to old times. And he looked sad, again. "Well. Welcome, Hope. And Thor, whatever your situation… hello. I'm a font of information. I can't withstand a punch from you, but I know enough to help."
Kitty flicks her eyes over Pete and her eyes blink. "Well, I should um, really get going i guess" She exhales and shifts, reaching down to pulls the sides of her leather jacket closed. "It's cold out here. Nice to meet you. Hope, my number is ah, XXX-XXX-XXXX is you need a place, or any help connecting to people" She looks to Pete "Glad to see you, I ah, hope the Hand doesn't drop in on you again tonight"
"Thanks," Hope smiles faintly to Kitty, nodding as she repeats the number back. "I sort of left the school back where I came from because, well…A school's not really much of a place for me, honestly. I thought I wanted normal, but normal wasn't really for me, either. But as different as things are here, maybe I ought to come and at least check it out."
She looks between Pete and Thor, a smirk tugging at one corner of her mouth. "Seriously, dude? You're gonna tell Thor she looks hot and that Hercules would want to hit that? Are you trying to find out what it feels like to get hit with the hammer?"
Thor smirks. "I am afraid he has a point, Hope Summers." Because Hercules… is that kind of guy. She shrugs her shoulders; if Pete really was saying outright she was hot, she seems to have missed it. "A pleasure to meet you all, but I should tend to the Eitr before the Hand return for him." She unhooks Mjolnir, letting the hammer fall comfortably into her hand.
Wisdom swiveled on a shoe, pointing at Hope. "First off, I'm an excellent liar, but there's virtue in sincerely telling the truth. Secondarily, the *vast* majority of my feminine contemporaries are drop-dead gorgeous messes. But they aren't what I'm… after." A glance to Kitty, and Wisdom pushed his glasses up his nose, the dark lenses hiding some emotion. "Kitty. You, ah. You have my number, still, yeah? We should catch up." He nodded to Thor. "I know ways to contact your kind. I might hit you up, but I know the affairs of gods are higher than those of men." One might think Pete was teasing; that wasn't what he was saying.
A wry laugh "He is a good liar, but a good guy" Kitty pauses and looks at Pete "Yeah, I do. Mine's still the same" She shifts and looks at him "Catch up, sure. I'd like that actually" She nods and pauses, eyes flicking over him. One of those weird moments in life, awkward, like that dream where your feet are in wet cement but you can't seem to step out.
Hope snorts at Pete - the kind of snort that means she's trying really hard not to laugh at him, because at least he seems to know what sort of weirdness is going on here so alienating him would be bad. She doesn't quite manage to hold back a grin, though. "I dunno," she chuckles to Thor. "They ran awful fast. I could punch a few more ninjas."
Thor nods her acceptance of the statement. Wisdom will contact her, possibly, at some later date. Slowly she spins the hammer in her hand, taking care to make sure someone is not struck by accident. "Perhaps. But trouble comes with arousing the ire of the Hand. They will consider you a target." She nods again. "It was good to meet you all. Perhaps we shall see one another again." And then she launches upwards, hammer first, and flies into the air.