Log:All Eyes On Us

2022/07/07 Carpenter Grimm 

While there's been plenty of local incidents in need of heroes, and some heroes have embarked to Keftuan space, Gabrielle Grimm has been absent from the public hero scene while focused on the threat of the Destroyers.

This has also caused her to be partly absent from her private life while traveling the globe and dimensions, consulting with mystics and experts for clues, and then occasionally returning for time with Jack. Most of that time is spent catching up on sleep, though even that seems to become increasingly restless as time has gone by with her delving in the dark.

Due to some of the way time passes in other dimensions or just being generally busy, Gabrielle's presence has been unpredictable. It leaves Jack plenty of time--perhaps too much time--to moonlight as Night Marshal. And there's plenty of work to be done if rumors of some rising gangs prove to be true.

It's the end of another busy night of vigilante work while a portion of heroes are away in space. Time to head home.

Night Marshal makes his way back home. He changes on a rooftop, and climbs down in his civilian clothing before heading back toward his apartment. He's been mostly keeping busy with his work, as the PURGE case ended up in his lap. But he has managed to get some moonlighting in to deal with local gangs. No real meta threats lately. Which is good, all things considered.

The hallway interior is lit well. As he approaches the door and reaches for his key, from the corner of his eye, Jack notices the far ends of both hallways seem to dim faintly and gradually. Unobservant people would probably miss it. Or maybe he's just very tired from all the late nights and early mornings.

Carpenter narrows his eyes....and puts his hand on his pistol. He has his costume in a backpack as well, but he'd rather not use any gear from it. He just waits a moment to see if things change. Or if something comes out of the shadows.

The hallways continue to darken. And the dimming of the light starts to spread out gradually, growing closer, but slowly. But there's still light in the darkened ends, rather than pitch black. And then, there's another sudden change that gets Jack's attention. The darkened keyhole to his apartment is now illuminated. The lights in his apartment just turned on.

Carpenter furrows his brow. Maybe Grimm is here? He goes ahead and unlocks the door to step inside carefullly.

A female figure is standing in the living room with her back to the door, looking about at the decor and any pictures about the room. There's tension in her body. Her dark wavy hair is cut to just above shoulder length. She wears a dark tattered short cloak and lowered hood. There are slits along the sides of the cloak. Beneath is more form fitting black leather with some reinforced padding and armor. There's a gun that looks very similar to Night Marshal's strapped into a high holster, a sword scabbard on her back, and her left hand is pitch black like it's made of shadow. The person is very distracted and focused on a photo of Jack and Gabrielle that was taken a while back. She hesitantly reaches for it.

Carpenter furrows his brow..and raises his weapon, aiming at her. "Freeze. Don't move. You picked the wrong apartment to break into."

The figure freezes at the command, fingers almost about to brush the photo before she slowly raises her open hands in the air. There's a number of quiet tense seconds of consideration before the figure slowly looks over her shoulder in trepidation. She definitely looks like Gabrielle, but without the makeup or piercings, and a bit older. "Jack," she says his name softly. There's a hint of grief in her voice. A few more moments before she composes herself. "I'm fairly sure I'm in the exact right apartment."

Carpenter thinks about it, "Gabrielle?" There's another moment as he considers. It's been a long night. "But not my Gabrielle, right? From another dimension?" He holsters his pistol, and closes the door. "You can move, I won't shoot you."

A slow singular mod. "No. Not yours. But I know her. It's why I'm here. To make things simpler, you can call me Vagabond. Avoids confusion," Vagabond answers, lowering her hands as he grants her permission. She looks a little lost for a moment, then averts her gaze from him.

Carpenter tosses his bag in the bedroom, "So, what did you need to speak to me about, then?"

Vagabond has some difficulty making eye contact. A painful memory even now. "My partner and I have been helping her research into the Destroyers. Since it may eventually involve us sometime in the future. While we're not a part of your reality, I'm bound to help protect it and others. I came to warn her. Our investigations--all of ours--has gained notice." She pauses and says ominously, "We have...many Eyes on us," she says and looks about the room at several points specifically, though there's nothing there that can be seen by Jack. Something about how she says Eyes implies it may be capitalized.