Log:Retaliation 2

Wasp Venom 2013/09/03 	 Porter Ebon Star Hardcase 8

Lucky Finds

''The merry tinkle of an old-fashioned chime welcomes people this somewhat dark and cluttered shop. Antique furniture of different descriptions and styles crowds in on every side, and between, among and on top of this other antiques of all descriptions - and at times even pretty but modern goods - are displayed, with little pattern to it except the matter of where they fit.''

''At the back of the room is a glass counter, beneath which are displayed items of jewellery and the like, and behind which the owner typically sits, among boxes precariously balanced high. Here are also stairs leading up and a door to the back room.''

A Tuesday evening. Most are probably at home relaxing from a hard day at work or school. Lucky for Porter, he doesn't have to worry about either. This leaves him plenty of time for past times such as shopping. Doing it every day can get old, so he does try to vary his routine and look for the odd and unusual. Such things often find him as much as vice versa. Thus he winds up in the quaint little antique shop browsing to see what he might find.

The bell and the door jingles and a very thin, dark-skinned person walks on the shop. She is almost androgynous in her thinness, with straightened hair in two-tone blue. She is dressed in a loose fitting blue denim vest over a black tank top shirt, ragged denim cut-off shorts and black combat boots. As she steps into the store, she looks between Porter and the bored college student at the counter and flips a coin. Evidently, Porter won because she walks toward him.

Porter isn't the most alert or observant guy. This could be why one of Fox's favorite games is stalking him. It's not until a thin shadow cross over the bracelet he looks at that he straightens up and turns. Spotting the closing young... woman? he offers a casual smile. "Hi."

Hardcase shoves the coin in her pocket and says, "Yo, nerdboy. Care to step outside for a bit? Somebody out there wants to meet you." Now that she has his attention, she turns and heads back toward the door as if expecting Porter to follow.

"Uh..." Porter wasn't expecting that and blinks. "Ok..." She has his attention, and his curiosity. Of all the people who might want to meet him, Porter can't think of any who know of him as "nerdboy." Still, he turns to follow her out.

Artist Quarter

''This district is bisected by Pennyroyal Lane, which runs southwest to northeast, winding down from Colonial Heights then continuing on the level to Golden Sands. And "artistic" flare permeates the whole district, but its nature varies greatly, from the truly (or pretentiously) artistic in the housing, cafes and galleries east and south of the road, through the showy, even garish, commercialism around Pennyroyal Lane, to the more suspect pleasures of the red light district in the north and east. ''

Hardcase steps outside and holds the door for Porter. After he steps though, she closes it and says, "Just stand there for a bit and don't squirm too much. You won't be hurt, provided you don't do anything stupid." As soon as she says those words, Porter feels a presence probing his mind.

Porter blinks. He's not a mental expert, or anything close to a mental athlete. He is, however, a little familiar with mental contact, if just of the consensual sort. This ...isn't. "What's going on? And you're not seriously hoping I won't do something stupid, are you?" Even as his brain tries to swat at the peeping tom, he focuses on the ...girl? with the boots. Big butt-kicking boots. With long laces. Hmm. Looks like one might be untied. Maybe both? You know what they say about that...

A dim bulb is harder to see. Maybe the same concept applies to minds? Porter manages to swat away the mental gardener dropped eaves. Unfortunately, that takes away from staring at bootlaces, and they don't conveniently tangle themselves. "Who the hell are you?"

Hardcase like Porter, doesn't dance around, do backflips or throw ninja stars. She just smirks and says, "I had my hopes, but if you were bright, we wouldn't be worried, would we. Let me guess, In addition to being stupid you're kinda clumsy too, aren't you?"

The unseen attacker again tries to grab Porter's mind.

Porter shrugs and smirks. "Sometimes, but you still didn't answer my question. Since your friend isn't going to show up, maybe I should just go back inside. Looks like it might rain. Cats and dogs, even." Or even rats? Who knows what could skitter and leap off the old shop building.

Mostly hero-in is kind of just rolling about in a silly costume deciding whether or not to mind blast drunk teens for public indecency, and mostly refraining. But tonight while on patrol Rose happens across something actually happening. Hovering closer she surveys the scene, the darkened cowl of her robe swiveling slightly as she appraises the situation.

Hardcase glances over her shoulder as a rat goes sailing past. "Seriously? That's all you've got? A guy as clumsy as you has problems standing up sometimes, don't you?"

A nimbus of black motes swirl around the floating cloaked figure as she makes a measure sweep of her right hand, summoning her protective shield.

The unseen mind growls with frustration as the puny Porter *again* pawns his unpleasant probability altering powers ply his way free from her grasp.

Porter simply shakes his head. The other person is standing closer to the street. A street with cars driving on it. Cars with elderly that like to confuse accelerator and brake.

Ebon Star looks to the top of Lucky Finds then extends a hand toward the woman Porter is fighting. Within the woman's mind images unfold in a flurry, of Porter tripping as he tries to launch his attack and stumbling into oncoming traffic where he is hit full on by a bus and thrown down the street.

Hardcase gasps when Porter (to her eyes only) falls into traffic and gets hit by a truck. "That's not my fault!" she yells, just before an all too real car hops the curb and smacks her.

Hardcase spins as the car clips her and falls to the ground, a little bloody but lucky that she was not more seriously hurt.

Ebon Star points a finger at Hardcase where she has been knocked onto her rump. Dropping the mental illusion she let's forth a single command. "Be Still!" Though electronically distorted beyond recognition the power behind the command is enough the shake the strongest of wills.

The mentalist on the rooftop raises a black-gloved hand to her wrist, speaks a quiet command, but nothing appears to happen yet

The diminutive robed finger keeps a gloved finger trained on Hardcase where she lies. "The mentalist attacking you is on the roof across from of Lucky Finds." She announces to Porter, inclining her head in that direction. "Cringing like some coward."

Hardcase stays sitting, like she was told. She shoots the (now unharmed) Porter a dirty glare. "When are you just going to give up and fall down?" she says, but there doesn't appear to be any force behind her words.

Porter hears another voice. At least this one isn't in his head. He thinks. Porter looks towards it, then follows the way it was pointing, with his eyes. "Huh..." The sitting one gets a smirk. "You didn't ask nice..." Then back to the one across the way, who he calls out to. "Hey! If you want to talk, you could just talk, you know."

From Ebon Star's elevated position, she can see that the figure on the roof has a tight black Quinntex costume that reflects yellow when the light hits it right. Her waist is pinched in at the sides so that it is the same width side-to-side as it is front-to-back. Several seconds after speaking into her wrist, the wasp-like figure disappears with a crack of displaced air.

Hardcase's butt remains glued to the sidewalk, respite the attempts at assistance from the mortified little old lady that has absolutely no clue why her car swerved off the road.

The robed figure remains motionless for several seconds, examining herself for signs of illusion, control, or surveillance. Only after that is complete does she return her attention to the seated criminal. "So, is this the fallout from a disaffected menage a trois, or something more serious? Or to put the question another way should I return Miss attitude to freedom?"

"Guess not..." Porter turns to apologize to the little old lady. "I'm sorry about all that. Are you Ok? I can help ...her?" He still isn't entirely sure about the sitting one. Porter can, however, make a fairly educated guess on what's going on from the brief glimpse of the recently-disappeared figure with the weird figure. He waves to his friendly neighborhood... other unusual figure on a roof. "I think it's just a corporate thing. Thanks, though. If you let her go, she's probably just going to run away."

Hardcase says, "Well I sure as heck have no reason to hang around here when my paycheck bolted."

Ebon Star's darkened cowl returns to the seated figure. "I love your hair." She says simply. With that she relinquishes her control of the woman's mind. "You can walk, doesn't look like anyone is going to call the police, I don't think being hit by a car is a crime. Sorry about the paycheck thing but you know how it is."

Porter can't exactly claim there's a law against asking people outside, either. Still. "Who was signing that check? Since you didn't get it anyway." And, no, he still hasn't fallen down.

Hardcase shrugs and rises, "Life of a college student. I'm just lucky I insisted on a round trip transmat ticket." Turning to Porter, she says, "Lady called herself Queen Bee. I guess she's some kind of local superhero here? A bit dark for a superhero though."

"If she told you that she'd be violating overlord-minion confidentiality..." Her voice trails off as Hardcase answers. "Looked like all the pictures I've seen, black and yellow power suit, inhumanly thin abdomen, seriously, where do her internal organs go?" That train of though quickly trails off and the darkened cowl looks to Porter. "Did you like not call her after a date?"

"One more reason to stay in school..." Porter makes his best effort at a public service announcement, hypocritical or not. He looks up at the robed figure. "I think it's a little more complicated then that. Or less, I guess, depending on how you look at it. I think I know what's going on." Which is a scary thought. On the bright side, he doesn't even try to answer the anatomy question.

Hardcase says, "She said that some supers here were planning on attacking Stellenbosch University: kill some students in retaliation for some people the government killed here in the states. She's got several big name supers there like the Diamont clones guarding the university and then organized something called the Retaliation squad and brought them here with me. The Retaliation squad are supposed to lay low, but attack here only when you guys attack. ... she made a big deal of making sure you guys knew about the Retaliation squad if one of us got captured. I think it is supposed to be a deterrent thing."

The robed figure nods. "So you did date her and ditch her you're just certain it's something else has her mad?" She looks to Hardcase. "Stellenbosch? That's in South Africa isn't it, or is that Zu Nation now?" So you're part of a team that's designed to retaliate against Colonial Bay if we hit Stellen-thingie? So you're a good guy? Does that make me a bad guy?" The darkened cowl returns to Porter. "And you understand what's going on?"

Or maybe Porter has very little idea on what's going on. "What? Nobody's planning on killing anybody that I know of. No heroes, anyway." Porter would think anyone would know that heroes and killing are mostly mutually exclusive. He shakes his head. "I think you got fed a line," he tells Hardcase, "got set up..." Porter waves a hand dismissively at the robed figure. "No, it's not a date thing. And .../now/ I'm pretty sure I know what's going on."

Hardcase smirks at Porter. "If nobody attacks there, the standing orders are nobody attacks here. ... But either way, I'm not supposed to be attacking anybody. Can I go now?"

Porter hasn't made any move to stop Hardcase from leaving, and that doesn't look to change in the future. "Go ahead..." He starts heading down the sidewalk. Whatever his idea of what all that mess was about, he knows he needs to let some people know about it.

The robed figure looks to Hardcase. "Sure, good luck with your coursework. And even better luck with your next job, though I'm hoping it's not against other good guys, assuming for the moment we're good guys... which isn't clear because SOMEONE won't explain what's happening." After a moment she adds as an aside. "I think he doesn't really know what's happening, he's just pretending, either that or he really wants to be telepathised."

Hardcase brushes her ragged shorts off and turns to head the opposite direction of Porter. "Well, if you see Penetrator, Rewind or that crazy professor dude, let them know I'm okay, okay?"

"Ok, I will." Porter has no idea who they are, and his tone may betray that, but he jots down some quick mental notes while the ink is still wet.

"Seriously? You worked alongside someone called Penetrator?" She pauses for a moment. "And he's not the crazy one?" Her tone manages to sound even more outraged. She looks back and forth between the two departing figures. "I'll be sure to let them know." The robed figure rises smoothly into the evening sky.