Log:Two Girls, A Guy, and a Parking Place

2014/09/04 Annie Lily Hunter 1  Harrisburg

This once middle-class section of town has fallen into disrepair: the rows of two-storey homes are mere ghosts of the past. Some of the vinyl siding is cracked and faded from decades of neglect. Children play unsupervised in now weed-strewn vacant lots. Graffiti along brick walls mark the territory of various gangs trying to claim the neighborhood as their own. Harrisburg Elementary needs its tall security fence and guarded gate.

If southern Harrisburg is bad, the north is appalling. Many of the homes are boarded up, perhaps occupied by homeless squatters, and the gang graffiti is ubiquitous. Drug dealers and worse have brought their crime to the district. Few trees or shrubs remain, and lawns are weeds and broken bottles. Here dwell the destitute, the desperate and the homeless.

It's the late hours of the evening in Harrisburg. Outside a boarded up business, Enforcer is finishing tying up four unconscious Harrisburg Hellions together in a nice tidy bundle for the police. They're unconscious and unharmed. With a final test tug of the knot he tied, he crouches on the ground and riffles through the pockets of one of the men, withdrawing a ziplock back filled with small vials glowing a faint electric blue color. His eyes narrow slightly; looks like they're pushing the concentrated stuff from Helix in liquid form. That's...new.

Lily lives in Harrisburg, and is out for her evening stroll/patrol.

Annie doesn't live in the Burg, but does like to visit. Why? Because she's hunting, rather than enforcing. What, exactly, she's out hunting in sandals, shorts, and a halter top is anyone's guess. Maybe just some fun. There's alot of that to be found in the Burg.

Enforcer pops open the bag and draws out one of the vials to get a closer look. Of course, he can't really discern anything just by a look, but maybe he can find someone who can analyze it. His hand slips under his cape to slide the vial into one of his utility belt pouches, then seals up the ziplock bag and places it back in the gang member's pocket for the police to deal with.

Lily continues her stroll, waving to Annie when she sees here. "Hi~!"

A drug bust? That's just another night in the Burg. Not that Annie notices it yet. Someone is waving her way and calling out. She turns at the voice and wave."Hi! Oh, I love your dress! Where did you-"

Screeching tires are fairly common here, also. As are black panel vans. A combination of the two is seen and heard as it careens out of an alleyway and directly into Annie. She rebounds off of the grill, into the brick wall of the adjacent building, and then onto the broken sidewalk. The van screeches to a halt just before hitting the building (and her again).

Enforcer rises up to his feet as he hears the screech of tires, looking in that direction in time to see what happens next. o O (Annie? Well...lucky it was her than anyone else. At least she can take it.) His hand reaches under his cape and unholsters his collapsible staff. As he withdraws it, it extends to full length with a click of a button. Then he vanishes in a puff of dark smoke.

Lily bounds over to Annie, pulling out her phone as she does and speed dialing 911. "Are you alive!?"

Annie seems to be alive as she gets back to her feet. What cuts, scrapes, contusions, or broken ribs she might have had instantly mend. Most are gone before she even has time to really bleed. Annie isn't fine, though. "Hey! Shick for brains! The road is totes there for a reason!"

The van quickly proves that it's there for a reason, as well. The side door immediately opens and three figures in black uniform overalls, goggles, and combat harnesses emerge. One holds a baton of some sort. The other two wield hanguns, that briskly open fire at Annie.

There is no muzzle flash or sharp report as they pepper her with ... paintballs?

Enforcer watches the oddly equipped men bail out and shoot Annie. With paintballs? That's hardly going to scratch her. But something's definitely up. Still unseen by most eyes, he swiftly fires off a line gun far past the van and takes off in mid sprint. Once he's over the van, he lets go and drops down stealthily on top of it.

Lily turns on the men, smiling sweetly, "Hi! I'm Lilith Moss, but most people call me Lily. And I really, really think that you should reconsider what you're doing. Because I'm getting a little bit angry."

"Containment and retrieval, now." One of the shooters orders; adamant but calm. Both rapidly holster their weapons and the speaker draws a baton while the other moves towards Annie. The one already armed with the baton hears boots on the van top and takes a jab at... whatever is up there with his weapon.

And Annie? Her angry face of ire suddenly turns wide-eyed. "..What... what ... what?!" The what could be the fact that her form and clothes are rippling and ...melting?" Maybe there is lead in the paint?

The not-so-pointy end of the baton manages to catch part of Enforcer's leg and delivers a not-so-nice high voltage discharge.

Enforcer grits his teeth and braces himself by setting the edge of his staff on the rooftop and bracing against it to remain standing against the pain. That...HURT. And they've managed to do something that actually perturbed Annie. Whatever they want with her, they can't have her. He shakes off the pain and leaps out and over the guy who just struck him, and with a twisting flip he lands in the midsts of men. He holds his staff horizontally in front of him with two hands, then lets go with his left and starts winding it back in preparation to attack.

After he winds back his staff, Enforcer lunges forward and swings it out in an arc, striking the baton wielding man across the face. With continued momentum, he steps back and turns towards the other gun wielding man and brings his staff to impact across his sternum. Quick. Efficient. A little ruthless. But if he doesn't take them down fast, they'll take him down.

Annie is, well, melting in a sense. She shrinks and compacts some and her blonde hair goes black. She's also screaming and curling up on the ground. The one that approached her pulls out an unfurls what is essentially a body back. Zip-cuffs probably wouldn't work on her at the moment.

Of the two Enforcer knocked back, only the one that didn't zap him gets back up. He draws another weapon and fires an expanding wire net at Enforcer's general direction.

Lily walks over to the one trying to bag and tag Annie. "Excuse, but, I. Said. Stop." She punches at him.

The one bagging and tagging looks up just in time to get clocked by Lily. Nothing sounds like it's broken, but he's knocked for a loop and barely standing.

"This does not concern you..." comes a voice from wall not far from the reeling bagger. A silhouette portion of the wall alters in coloration to a man in similar garb as the others, just without the weaponry. His chest ripples and a tendril extends from it to lash at Lily.

Lily slows, "It... is... myyyy busssni....."

Enforcer eyes the rippling man with the tendril, somewhat recognizing the ability. Seems similar to what Annie does. Now this is interesting. But that also makes him dangerous. "I'm afraid it does," comes his grim, disembodied voice from near the van as he breaks his silence. There's a flicker of movement, then nothing. Suddenly, to the side and three meters above the tentacled man, Enforcer appears in a dark, noiseless cloud of smoke. And he begins to drop as he spins around to unleash a side kick to the man.

Enforcer's snapkick gets avoided with a simple lean back as he misjudges distance, landing near his opponent. "Get away from her," he warns in almost a growl.

"No, but you will," the man(?) informs Enforcer as another fleshy appendage sprouts from him to grab at the kicker.

Meanwhile, what the melting doesn't accomplish, Annie seems to help along by curling into the fetal position. The screaming has died down to a whimper.

The men who were reeling start to come to their senses. One not reeling and just on his butt, gets up and moves towards Annie while trying to avoid others.

Lily strains, channeling her demonic power into her metabolism, trying to fight off the pernicious effects of the toxin!

Lily's eyes glow faintly as she starts moving again, "...ness! OK. Now, I'm actually angry." Unfortunately, she's still too cute to really look threatening, more like an angry chimpmunk.

Enforcer ducks down beneath the tendril shooting out to grab him, then steps forward and swings his staff up towards the man's jaw.

The man catches the staff in the jaw. His head is knocked back and his neck stretches, but his feet remain on the ground. He then clears his throat and extends his tongue at Enforcer, since they're getting fresh.

The man moving towards Annie attempts to jab Lily on the way with his baton, while the one she socked does the same. The one who zapped Enforcer has yet to get up.

Lily ignores the flea-bite.

Lily pulls back her fist to slug the leader. "Bye~bye~!"

That ...was felt. Chunks of broken sidewalk tear loose at the man's feet as his chest partially collapses and he's flung backwards. Down the street.

And lands on his face.

Lily smiles cheerfully at the other agents, "Like I said, I'd appreciate it if you stopped. Now."

Enforcer shakes off the pain from the baton and grits his teeth. He can't afford to take another hit like that.

The man stands, removing the imprint of the street from his face and the deep impression of Lily from his chest. He then ripples, turning gray and dark to blend in with the street and lighting (or lack thereof).

At the pre-arranged signal of watching the man be punched down the block, the two conscious men in uniform stop whatever they were planning and turn to make a rapid egress. Just in time for the third to finally clear his head and stand up. Peer pressure makes him decide that turning tail and running would be a good idea, too.

Enforcer frowns as the people start to flee. But he's somewhat relieved. Maybe one can be captured for questioning. His hand reaches for something at his belt, and then his hand whips out to throw a knockout pellet towards the nearest lagging attacker.

The late runner coughs, chokes, and falls down.

Meanwhile, on the sidewalk, Annie is still there. Shivering, whimpering, and curled into a ball, but there. That her clothing somehow vanished could explain why she doesn't look herself. In fact, she doesn't even look herself even if she were dressed. She was blonde, tallish, and slender when she walked in. Now she's not really any of those.

Lily takes off her dress and drapes it over Annie, "There, there." Her underwear is black, lacy, and rather minimalistic.

Enforcer throws another pellet of knockout gas at the sleeping agent for good measure to make sure he naps for a long time, then turns to walk over towards the others. He stops once he's standing over Annie. "How is she...?" he asks quietly of Lily, concern slipping into his voice.

Lily shakes her head, "I don't know."

Annie sniffs as she pulls the dress over her to cover as much as possible, including her head. "Go 'way. Don't look at me..." In addition to upset, she's also modest.

Now that's something Enforcer thought he'd never see; a modest Annie. Instead of his usual grim voice and indifferent attitude, the persona drops away a little as he asks sincerely and directly to Annie, "Not until we know you're okay, Annie. Are you hurt? Can you get up?" A small bit of Hunter's voice comes through.

Lily nods, "I can't leave a naked girl who's been attack shivering and alone on the street. I live close to here. Would you like to come in to rest and recover?" She gets up and casually picks the abandoned van up and sets it back down on its roof so one can steal it.

"No. Just leave me here." More sniffling from the Annie under the dress. "I'll be fine... I..." She's quiet for a couple moments. "Stay with me?" The last part is quiet and uncertain.

"Sure..." Enforcer says the word in a soft, reassuring tone. With a click, his staff collapses down and he holsters it to his belt. He keeps a wary eye on the running he caught to check for any signs of stirring.

Lily sits back down next to Annie, not concerned about sitting on the pavement on her underwear. "We'll stay as long as you need us to."

Annie is quiet for a minute or three. "Bastards. Whatever they did better get undone..." From meek back to ticked. That could be a good sign? "Thanks." So she's not ticked off at everyone.

That seems more like the Annie he knows. Enforcer looks over to the unconscious agent and comments, "Maybe we'd better find out." He starts to walk towards the fallen man, pulling some spare rope from his many utility belt pockets.

Lily smiles, "Do you know who they were? Also, would you be more comfortable wearing my dress, instead of lying on the bare pavement?"

"Next Gen." Annie spits the words out like expletives and there's movement under the dress. "They killed my- YES!" Her growl turns into one of triumph and she sits up. She's more herself again, at least by appearances, and her outfit is back, too. "Oh no you don't! If anybody's going to make him talk, it's me..."

Annie stands up and starts walking after Enforcer. Along the way, a tentacle sprouts from either shoulder, tipped with a sharp, pointed, and barbed chitinous tip. Conversation aids, presumably.

Lily somewhat nonplussed, puts her dress back on.

Enforcer catches some of Annie's words and stops on his way to the fallen man, half turning as he looks towards Annie. "He's yours," he responds simply. He hooks the loop of rope on his belt and steps aside.

"Hey! Wakey-wakey!" Annie extends the appendages to pick the guy up who's still dozing. Shaking might help that. While waiting a moment to see of that works, she looks back to Lily. "Hope the dress is Ok. Totes scenic. Be putrid..." she turns back to glare sharp pointy things at the rousing man, "if we got blood on it."

Lily smiles,"Oh, it's OK, I designed it to be easy to clean, and I have plenty of spares." She walks over to Annie and places her hand on the young woman's shoulder, "I know you're angry, and deservedly so, but don't do anything that you'll regret, please."

Enforcer stands aside and watches quietly, folding his arms over his chest.

"Where are the rest of them?!" Annie demands from the man after he signals his return to consciousness with a yelp.

"I don't know!" is the unsurprising answer.

Annie turns her head to Lily and smiles, almost sweetly. Almost. "Oh, don't worry. Only going to strife him a little. After I melt all three of his legs off a few times, I'm sure he'll remember..."

Annie turns her smile to the man, who, strangely, doesn't return the smile. Then again, there'll be blood and dissolving flesh everywhere, and Lily might really get some on her dress. Not everything washes out so easily. She sighs as she reconsiders, or waits to see if the agent's memory improved.

Enforcer's head tips forward a little so his hood covers his eyes as he conceals a cringe in sympathy. But it's momentary. He doesn't act to prevent anything just yet.

Lily waits to see what Annie does. . o O (I think she's just trying to scare him, but if she's serious, I'll have to stop her.)

Whatever Annie had planned, even if it was simply to ensure the man was fully conscious, it seems to have worked. They can see his eyes bulge behind the goggles, and smell that he will want to get a new uniform.

"I don't know! I swear! We're a retrieval team! They tell us where to show up! ...We get the call, we haul?" he adds meekly.

Annie eyes him a moment longer, and finally sighs. "He's not worth the spit to melt him..." She unceremoniously drops him on the ground.

Enforcer watches Annie drop the man to the ground, then steps up alongside her. "Haul to where?" he asks the man in a dark, displeased voice.

Lily pulls out her phone again, ready to call the police for a pick-up.

It would be convenient for the police to do a pickup, given that Enforcer gift-wrapped some Hellions not long ago. Vils carpooling saves trees.

"I don't know the drop site! I wasn't driving!" The man looks from Annie and Enforcer to Lily. She is the cute one, and not threatening him at the moment. She also has a phone out. "Call the cops! Please!"

Annie is quiet, now, and just watching him. She could reconsider her melting idea, or think of another way.

Lily calls the police, "Thanks for your cooperation!"

"You don't know a lot of things," Enforcer comments disapprovingly, hinting at disbelief in the man's story.

Now that the cops are notified, and the man knows it, he suddenly doesn't know how to speak anymore, either. He knows his rights... and that even not-quite-heroes are less likely to attack him with police en route.

"He's impaired, even for a lame..." Annie turns her back on him and steps away, having written him off. She's now more interest in her arm, as it changes texture, detail, and color.

Enforcer steps towards the man as he unhitches his rope and gets him ready for the police, unless he resists having his wrists tied up. Gang members and someone working for Next Gen. It's a busy evening.

He seems to think that a holding cell is an improvement to his current situation. He is probably correct.

"So," Annie seems satisfied that her flesh is listening to her again. "You were in the Burg and just thought you'd stop by? Out wrangling vils?"

Enforcer pulls the rope tight and knots it, the ties the man to a lightpole for him to wait it out for the police. When he's done, he slashes his hand along the spare rope as a knife is suddenly produced in his hand, cutting away the extra slack. Rope is always useful, and he's not going to waste the rest on this guy. He palms the knife and it just seems to vanish. Winding up the rope and putting it away in a belt pouch, he replies simply, "Always crime happening in Harrisburg. I'm surprised more metas don't crack down here just because they're afraid of Nicky Winters."

"I'm surprised more vils aren't cracking themselves down because they're afraid of her." Annie adds to that before she's distracted by the rope and knife trick. "Arid. You crash at chopping veggies, too?" Maybe chefs do that?

"I'm good at chopping up a great many things." Enforcer doesn't see much like the conversational type, but he makes the barest of efforts. "Interesting, that Next Generation is after you. Why, I wonder." His hood slowly turns to study her.

Annie makes a sour face. For his barest effort, he gets a strong reaction. "Because they made me their lab rat... or they want to. No fraggin way I'm going back to living in a little cage."

That alone seems to explain a few things about Annie to him. He studies her for a moment. Eventually, Enforcer says calmly, "You won't." Is it a statement, or the closest thing to a promise that the aloof avenger can make? His head turns to the Harrisburg Hellions. "But if you want to ensure that, Harrisburg may not be the place for you. Helix has a foothold in the drug trade here, and their affiliation with Next Generation ensures your presence would be noted. Maybe it already has?"

"Good. They can totes notice me," Annie's sour face turns to angry, but also adds a bit of grin. "They can come strife me. That makes it mega easy to stomp the shick out of them. I'm not going to run off and hide like some scared midge."

"Yes. I saw you were handling them very well on your own." While there is no sarcasm in Enforcer's voice, the dryness of the statement and the cheeky wording can't be missed. And then he remembers her curled up and whimpering on the ground. His voice lightens a little. "Are you sure you're fully recovered?" he asks more sincerely now.

That ... does not improve her mood, really. Dry or otherwise. Annie turns and steps towards him, finger raised for pointing. Possibly poking. "I don't know what you think you saw, but just forget you saw it. I'm dozy. Nothing keeps me down."

Enforcer nods once. "I saw nothing, then. And I'm sure you'll be fine, then." He looks back to the Next Generation agent and considers some sort of insulation for his suit, because damn, did that hurt. "Police will be here soon. I'll leave you to it, then," he says as he looks back at her and does a tip of his hood.

Well, that was awfully agreeable of him. Also, he did kick the shick out of some of the vils. Before that was the Tall Guy fight, where he took one for the preacher man. No to mention he likes the shick-kicking of vils.

When his hood tips back up, she's stepped right up to it. No accusing pointing or dangerous poking finger in sight. Simply her grabbing hold of his hood and or cape to stick her face into the hood. The hero gets a kiss from the maiden he rescued, of course. It's a rather chaste gesture, especially considering the source. Quick, with a "Thanks" after.

Enforcer receives the kiss with equal chastity. He is receptive, but doesn't aggressively return the gesture; he only accepts what is given. After she thanks him, Enforcer says with a slight smile, "Anytime."

Annie shows him a smile that quickly turns into a smirk. "Well, go and get before the cops show up." With a shooing wave of her hand, she turns and makes to relocate, herself. The quickest and easiest path at hand is right up the side of the building.

"Consider me gone." And after that, without a sound, Enforcer is already gone as soon as she turns away.