10148/The Unseen Underbelly of the City

The Unseen Underbelly of the City
Date of Scene:	22 November 2019
Location:	Manhattan Subway Station
Synopsis:	Strange things are afoot on the yellow line
Cast of Characters:	Phantasm (Drago), Connor Macleod, April O'Neil, Doctor Strange

---

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
New York City in late November can be summed up quite well with three words: It's Friggen Cold.
Yes. It's Friggen Cold. Temperature-wise it is Fifty degrees (F) outside. With the wind tunnel effect of the buildings it feels EVEN colder if you are stuck waiting for a cab. Which is perhaps why more persons opt for the subway to get around. Just the sheer blanket of heat as you descend down the steps is reward enough for dealing with public transportation.

Having just finished up a meeting at an undisclosed location regarding a gig that he is legally obligated not to discuss with those not already in the know, Nick shuffles down the steps, hands shoved into his low cost Goodwill attire with his trademark locks stuffed under his hat. There is a slight purplish mark peeking from under the collar but he does not appear to be in pain.

Following Nick at a distance, a newly re-attired BPRD agent follows as well. His pace marked but making sure not to move alongside Nick. Gone is the suit and instead he is wearing jeans, tennis shoes, and a sweatshirt... Also apparently from Goodwill.

Connor Macleod has posed:
Today was another day. The city was dark, cold, loud, and wet. November indeed. The time of year was not his favorite, but he still walks where he needs to go, via the Subway. No taking "Uber" or his own car, at least, not tonight. His eyes scan the area, but for now, there was nothing interesting that came to Connor Macleod's eyes.

Rubbing his hands to produce some heat, Connor continues his walk, taking a quick moment to look towards Nick, his eyes not staying there /too/ long.

April O'Neil has posed:
April O'Neil is pedaling her bike along the side of the road toward the subway station where she hops up onto the curb with both bike tires then comes to a stop, planing her booted feet onto the pavement on either sides and skidding to a halt. "Sorry, sorry!" She apologizes to some of the other pedestrians on the street side.

The young reporter is wearing a yellow leather jacket over a hoodie that is zipped up. Black jeans and black knee-high boots, a bike helmet and some gloves with a red scarf around her throat. She dismounts her bike and starts to wheel it for the subway stairs, waiting for her turn to descend into the subway station with her bike, trying to hold onto it and keep it from bumping into other people.

She smiles at some of them, apologizing softly continuously.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "You will halt immediately!" Echoes over the normal din of the deep subway as the hurried footsteps of a man in trouble and a man chasing him are heard while people wait among themselves at the platform for the next train.

    The man being chased is suddenly thrust into view, loping in irregular strides as his front arms are long, and not rigid like most humans, no, they seem to be ... legs, or shapped like legs from his shoulders and yet there's suckers where the pads of the feed would be and so it quickly makes more sense for the ... man to be able to be running on the ceiling as he is doing.

    Moments later and a man in a blue tunic with a red cloak flapping behind him as he runs with a normal stride appears from the shadows of the tunnel with his hands held forward and one is clenched into a tight fist held out before himself with a green mandala attached to both his feet. With grey at his temples and nothing outwardly unusual about the man, there's no logical reason for him to be running upside down as well and yet...

    "Will you stop running!!!" Cries Doctor Strange.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
The sight is odd enough to cause a bit of a panic for those who initally see it but not for those who are not close enough to take in the sight. As a portion of people make their way back up the steps in haste, a smaller group are still moving down.
Nick, having just gotten to the subway is part of the group moving down. He blinks a little as the amount of persons going up is higher than normal but being that his side is very much going down, he's committed to the descent. His head tilts as he hears a voice that seems familiar. Now where has he- Reaching the base of the steps he stops as Strange appears. "Mold guy?"
Bob the agent is not as confused. Nor does he seem to wish to linger to watch. As he processes what's going on, he pushes through the crowd a bit more intently to move towards his charge. "Get out!"

Connor Macleod has posed:
Connor Macleod pulls himself up short, as April O'Neil scoots into his vision. A smile follows, as he checks her over, first the bike, then the rest. "Well." Only one word, following nearby as April moves to the stairs. That was the same direction he was heading after all. A yellow jacketed guide.

The sound of a command echoes through the subway, which makes Connor reach under his over coat, and look directly at where the words were coming from. His right hand wraps around the handle of his sword, as he tenses, ready. Then the rest comes into view. Now, Connor Macleod doesn't shirk away in fear as many of the pedestrians are doing. Actually, he raises an eyebrow at the way the "man" looks.

Next, well, that was Doctor Strange. A man that Connor has learned it is better to avoid, then get involved in any sorcery. Connor hears "Get out" but just moves sideways, away from the crowd, and watches for what happens next.

April O'Neil has posed:
For April the shouting starts around the time she reaches the bottom of the stairs, naturally it draws quite a lot of attention but with her, she's gotten more and more used to this and ready to respond. She rolls her bike into a place to see whats going on, pulls her bike helmet off of her head to let it dangle down on the handlebars of the bike itself, then yanks her camera out of her jacket to start to film whats happening, live upload it right to her database back home in her apartment in Brooklyn in fact.

Her blue eyes look over her camera to watch, though she does spare a glance over to the others around her, Nick and Connor are both seen, Connor gets a lingering stare for about a second or so as she seems to think he might be someone she's seen before... but it passes and she looks back to see whats going on.

"Doctor Strange?" He's kind of famous, you know, seen publicly here and there... now and then... She's always wanted to visit the Sanctum Santorum but any time she's been in that part of Greenwich Village she's had an overwhelming urge to not bother, or find anything interesting about his house, almost like some kind of magical ward was fighting off her desire to be a nosey reporter. Imagine that.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    The man continues to lope along the ceiling hunched over so that his feet 'hands' can grip onto the ceiling and he keeps running in his odd gait breathing heavily and looking back towards Stephen as he keeps chasing the 'deviant' across the platform and there's a gleam of hope in the man's eyes and he gets a 'smile' though his tongues droop out of his mouth and flop like a dog's would with its head out the car window. He's almost to his goal.

    "Don't you-" Stephen stops his request when lights appear at the end of the tunnel he's running towards... The train is nearly here. "STOP!" Stephen calls and with a snap of his one hand that isn't clenched, a wavey band of glowing hot metal stetches out from undenearth the cuffs of his sleeve where the gloves he wears don't seem to interfere in any way. "I just want to help!" Stephen tries to explain in the heat of the moment, unaware of any eyes, real or electronic, leveled upon him.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
The platform area starts thinning out as more people realize what is going on and start running back up the steps.

Nick starts to take a step forward towards the scene before Bob's command reaches his ears. Huh, so that guy actually CAN speak! However, the show coming from the tunnel does pull his attention away. Eyes widening, Nick's body turns as he starts moving towards the tunnel.

Bob mutters a curse as he soon takes off after the rocker.

Connor Macleod has posed:
With a sideways glance at April, and watching her as she considers him for a few seconds, Connor takes a moment to wink at her before she looks away. "Now that one might just be dangerous..." Connor says to himself, probably not hear-able over the cacophony of the people fleeing in panic and the commotion going on. Moving again to get out of the way, Connor doesn't release his hold over his sword...just in case.

"Now you don't see that every day..." as the man continues along the ceiling. Making sure his back is against one of the "pillars" in the subway, Connor simply watches the scene play out as the creature gets close to his goal. "STOP!" rings out, and Connor frowns, a deep, dark frown. To get involved...to not get involved.

This was Strange. Better to stay in the crowd and not get involved. His eyes flick towards Nick for a second, and then back to the action. "I would have thought Strange would have magik-ed up a fix by now." Connor grins.

April O'Neil has posed:
For April, she has no super powers, no wild abilities or skills with a sweet bo-staff. Nope. She's just a girl. With a camera. And a website that she posts these kinds of action packed super heroic moments on to share with her community of followers and fans that live for this kind of thing. Somehow she ends up in these kinds of situations quite a lot, these or... being kidnapped, thats fairly common for her too. She's a trouble magnet, to be sure.

In this moment though, April holds her camera with one hand and aims it at the action on the ceiling or just anywhere she can get a shot of Doctor Strange and what he's doing... he'll make for great internet video footage, as he's one of the flashiest of 'super powered heroes' out there.

Her bike is wheeled past Connor and to the pillar just ahead of his, she keeps it to her side rather than her back and leans her bike against her right hip. "What the heck is that thing." She asks as she tries to get the best shot of the action as she can, while most common folk in the station are smart enough to flee for exits.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    The train continues to close in, the brakes thrown by the auto-conductor as the cameras and sensors spot Strange and his target that lopes a single more time before his back legs seem to fuse into a singular long limb, like that of a snake or something and his 'feet' pull him up and through a hole that couldn't possibly have been there or at least wasn't planned by the city.

    The metal ribbon spell wraps around the now tail of the man and he slips through it as he disappears just in time to dodge the train. The wizard however fares much much less well and he opens both his palms to put out before his face and body and as his fist unclenches the wizard begins to fall and then...

    Train. The train comes to a stop at the platform as though nothing had happened and the doors chime as they slide open and people get off to the left and make their way up stairs and carry on their merry way.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
With the crowd and cameras distracted by the flashier show going on with Strange and whatever the hell that other guy was, it seemed as safe as any to pr- Nick stops.

Nothing. No screams, no sounds of impact. Just nothing.

The agent skids to a stop besides the , scowling, "What do you think you're doing?" The man hisses.

Connor Macleod has posed:
"I have no idea." Connor Macleod replies, with a smirk. "I would suspect it isn't human...and with Strange chasing, I would suggest that it may be supernatural or mystical in origin." Noting her camera, Connor moves, ever so slightly, to have the pillar hide most of him from a possible side shot. "I'd be careful though. Who knows what it may do next."

Connor winces. "Ouch." As Strange does his...well...splat? "That was. Painful I suspect. Hopefully he is ok." His eyes scan the ceiling, and where the "man" might have gone, but it looks like whoever Strange was chasing may be gone.

Moving into the crowd once more, Connor maneuvers through the people to walk past Nick, nodding to him, and into shadows. Then for a brief moment, Connor walks by April, and with a whisper says, "A reporter then?" Then. Gone, the waves of the crowd, sweeping him away.

April O'Neil has posed:
April watches Connor as he comments on her, but she's trying to stay focused on the fight... or whatever was going on. Her wince couldn't be bigger as she watches the Doctor face a grisly demise. "That... that was just a scratch. I'm sure of it." She idly comments while continuing to record. Her stare shoots over to the side to see Connor was no longer where she thought he was... then she does a quick look around, but he'd vanished on her.

April starts to push her bike onward to get a little closer, dangerously close once might say, but she lives for danger! In her head she's an action hero too... some part of her thinks that anyway. She's kind of reckless after all.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick ignores his shadow but ends up noting Connor acknowledging his presence. Guess he wasn't obscured as much as he thought. Hmm. Perhaps it is a good thing he didn't shift. He lingers, the train leaving the station without him. The bright yellow of a certain outfit soon draws his attention, causing for him to look towards April.

Bob "You do know that was the train we were supposed to get on, right?"

April O'Neil has posed:
When the train that plowed Strange over starts to pull away. April records a little longer before she turns the camera around to look into it. She smiles right into. "New York. Right?" She says then to the watchers of the video (now and and in the future to come!). "Gotta love it." She adds before she deactivates the recording and then puts the camera back into her pocket.

"I think I'll just ride home..." She mutters then as she looks down at her bike and moves to take the helmet back off of the handlebars, she lifts it up and places it back atop her head over her dark hair, then adjusts the red scarf around her neck as she wheels her bike around and starts to walk toward a set of exit stairs back up to street level.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    The next train pulls in rather quickly, having been sent to catch up and run things on time for the last two were quite off schedule at this point and as the doors open up, a man in a blue tunic with a red cloak with collars up to here steps out, he looks around a few times before dusting his pants off and turning to walk up towards the turnstiles as if nothing out of place had just happened and that he isn't dressed like some bizarre cheap superman.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"Well, then looks like we're waiting for the next o-." Nick pauses as the next train is already coming in. He steps forward about to board before noticing a flash of blue and red out of the corner of the eye. He shifts to the side, getting off the train just before the door shuts close, leaving the tail on the train. Curiousity isn't apparently just April's thing.

There is a pounding on the glass from the agent as the muffled curse fades into the tunnel.