12261/Milk Cartons: Enter The Devil.

Milk Cartons: Enter The Devil.
Date of Scene:	29 September 2020
Location:	Holy Ghost Church, Clinton
Synopsis:	The Devil of Hell's Kitchen visits Cloak and Dagger. A pact is made.
Cast of Characters:	Dagger, Claire Temple, Cloak, Daredevil
Tinyplot:	Milk Cartons

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Dagger has posed:
First it was The Chicken Hawks, then it was the Hell's Kitchen chapter of The Black Clouds. Now it's The Black Dragons. One by one, gangs that specialize in drug cartels and human trafficking has been under attack by a mysterious duo of Darkness and Light. The rumors have begun to spread that there is an angel and demon that strikes from the shadows, sending those who deal with dirty tactics of addiction and kidnapping into screaming fits of incoherent babbles, rambling about the cold, bleak darkness and the sting and bite of God's blinding light.

Only a few have been able to give any type of description of the new heroes of Hell's Kitchen. A beautiful angel with cold blue eyes, a horrific demon of shadows who's rage is unyielding. The police have no leads, though there has been a few whispers through the homeless that The Holy Ghost church, long abandoned, has become a sanctuary for monsters.

Tucked away in the church is Tandy Bowen, who is currently going through what food she has left. There is two gallons of garden hose water in old milk jugs, and a backpack full of crackers, chips and candy. Instead of her all white costume of a leotard with a sword cut out, she is wearing a pair of jeans and a simple t-shirt that is smudged with dirt. The church now has a solar panel attached to it on the roof, tucked away from most eyes and feeding in a line through the top to provide some electricity in a limited manner.

"Ty, I was speaking with Kurt last night. He wants to help us. He feels bad that we're still homeless and living in a church. I don't know .. what do you think?" She asks in a soft voice as her hands glow from time to time to see in the dark easier as she moves around the items on an old, rotted pew.

Claire Temple has posed:
Whether the rumors are true or not, Claire is going to take a risk. At worst, she finds some houseless people who need a bit more food and perhaps some help. At best, she finds the people who have landed more than one gang member in her ER. Claire's dressed to 'hide' right now -- which, for her, doesn't mean the blacks of a cat burgler, but clothes that mean she can absolutely blend in to anywhere in the city. Old, dark, fading jeans. A gray t-shirt, a dark hoodie. She's got an unremarkable duffle bag across her shoulder, but it's filled with important things. Food. Medical supplies. An introduction to 'The Night Nurse'. If she's doing this, really doing it, she might as well do it for everyone.

Silent as a human can be, she approaches the old church, looking for the easiest entrance. The front door probably isn't it, so she wraps around to the side, testing each door very, very gently before she finds the one that pushes open. Her head ducks in quietly first, studying the darkened, dusty building.

Cloak has posed:
"What does he plan to do? Put us up in a hotel, rent an apartment?" Comes the voice from the base of the alter. The creature known as Cloak sits there, a hunched shape of fabric, shadow, and a dour man's face. "I can... appreciate his generosity, but we're not his wards. Still." He pauses, eyes narrowing as he mulls over what he's about to say. There's a bitter note to the one word as if it sat poorly. "If he is willing to find you a place to stay, then do it. I don't need it. I don't need beds and food and hot water. He doesn't need to worry about me. You deserve a safer, healthier place to be. I can't give you that."

His head shifts slightly as Claire makes her way in through the side door with the faintest, growling sound like an idling engine. Some are jammed shut due to having shifted too much over the years, others threaten to open on unoiled and loud hinges.

Daredevil has posed:
Not much goes unnoticed in the blocks that make up Hell's Kitchen and the surrounding areas. Especially stories of criminals being assaulted by an angel and demon tag team. Sounds like Matt might have some competition in the area. It's been a slow night in the neighborhood, so Matt decided to put on his armor and go see what the rumors are about.

Navigating his way across the rooftops, he has made it to a small building just across the street from the church where they are rumored to be holed up. He's just about to leap across and make his way inside when he gets distracted by familiarity. Claire. Is it possible she's wrapped up in this?

He can hear the rustling around inside the church and the sound of voices that don't seem to have any maliciousness to them. But you can't be too safe. He curses under his breath when Claire starts to make her way inside.

Leaping down and sprinting across the street, Daredevil swings around to the same side of the church that Claire entered from and will follow from a distance. The last thing he wants to do is terrify the poor woman just as she enters an abandoned church. He can't call her to alert her that he's around either, in case she hasn't silenced her phone. Now he's getting an idea of how she feels knowing he's out getting into trouble.

Dagger has posed:
"It's not the point, Ty. We are a team. I can't just go stay in a huge fancy school mansion, or a hotel, while you are out here alone in the cold and surrounded by your hunger." Tandy says as she looks over her shoulder to him. "The X-Men want to help us, to return the favor. Maybe this 'Professor' they talk about can cure us, take away the pain. I'm scared, Ty."

When she notices Cloak start to rumble and his attention is dragged away from her, she turns around as well, feeling her hands glow a bit brighter before she holds them up to shine a light towards the door that is starting to open along the side. It's the only one that's not boarded up and the lock on it been long rusted and removed.

She gives a quick glance to her partner, then steps closer towards him and the floating ink that is his body, calling out in her young voice. "Who's there!?"

Claire Temple has posed:
The door wasn't exactly screaming loud, but it wasn't silent either. Claire winces to herself, fairly certain her position's been given away by that entrance alone. So much for stealth. So, instead, she offers some honestly, "...Hello? Is... anyone home? I have some... food. Medical supplies. Things that... That you might need." Claire's voice offers gently. She sounds like a local, with just the very faintest accent of someone who grew up speaking Spanish as much as she did English and not with native English speakers.

No guns on her or freaking out yet, she dares farther into the building. She's nervous, this being the first time she's actually ranged out to offer her services, instead of waiting for people to come to her. But they are doing good work and if it's true they're living here, they probably need more help than most. Dark eyes scan the shadows, looking for any hint of where the strange, rumored pair might be. Then there is abruptly that strange light, making her slightly wince against the darkness. The questions that come with it. "...they... They call me the Night Nurse. I help some of the other people around here. That... do what you do." Her hands both come up, palms forward, so they are noticably empty. She still has no clue of the Devil behind her.

Cloak has posed:
"Clearly here is no longer secure." Cloak says aside to Dagger as he stands with the low rustle of fabric. "We'll talk on this later."

Because there is yet another intruder and it needs tending to. As the light begins to shine, Cloak disappears in a whisper of sound and displaced air. He appears behind Claire and looks down at her from his height with impassive, cold eyes. If he's aware that Matt's not far behind, he makes no indication of it.

"We have heard the streets talk about you, Nurse, but we didn't ask for your help. How did you know that we're here?"

Daredevil has posed:
The sudden silencing of the voices inside after the creaking of the door Claire opened has Matt on full alert. He's crept up to just outside the entrance that Night Nurse used and is standing silently, his head cocked to the side so he can listen further inside to make sure she's safe. He steps into the darkness and creeps around to the side, keeping close to the wall.

When the interior lights up courtesy of Tandy's powers, Matt curses under his breath again. Then Cloak is looming over Claire. He can't stay hidden any longer. Standing up fully and stepping away from the wall to make himself visible, Daredevil holds up his hands, "Easy. She's just here to help." He looks from Cloak towards the source of the light. He's focusing on them intensely for any signs that they may turn hostile towards the nurse.

Dagger has posed:
The light in Tandy's hands become short blades as she curls her fingers around them, looking wound up like a spring when the woman enters their home. She can feel the rush of cold air behind her as Cloak teleports away, leaving behind a smoky trail in his wake. "We couldn't expect to hide forever, Cloak." Her voice comes out strained. Over her face, a half circle of light appears, like that of a cresent moon over one eye as her powers charge up.

By now, the church is filled with her light, casting flickers through the old cracked and dusty stained glass windows as she looks to make Claire appear easier for everyone. "I know of you. The homeless have talked about you on the streets."

When Daredevil's voice comes out of no where, she visibly jolts as she whips her attention towards the man clad in red. "Oh, shit. It's the Devil." She rasps out to Cloak with fear in her voice as the blades in her hands burn even brighter now in sparkling color.

Claire Temple has posed:
As one of them is suddenly just *behind* her, Claire jumps a bit, head jerking back to try and look at him. See what she can ascertain, since he's not automatically attacking her. She keeps her hands up, trying to look as unthreatening as possible. Then there's *another* voice. One she knows. She shoots a dark eyed look in the Devil's direction, not exactly surprised, but there's a moment of displeasure there. Had he been following her? She wasn't, exactly, in danger. The woman's blades burning brighter make her wince, the light eye-searing in the otherwise quite dark place. "He's... he's safe, too. I know him. Neither of us are here to hurt, I promise." Claire affirms, trying to calm the whole situation before it spirals out of control. Her body rhythms have now shifted into slightly nervous to adrenaline fueled crisis conntrol. It's a subtle difference, but important, and probably noticable to someone in the room.

"People... people have vaguely heard. Mainly the homeless. Some of those you helped. No one would have told me where you were if they didn't trust me... I get told a lot more on these streets than most. I swear, I'm not here to try and talk you out of this shit or even blow up your spot. I literally just brought food and supplies. If you let me open my duffle bag, I'll show you. Or he can..." She nods towards the shadow behind her. "If you're going to do this shit, you... You shouldn't do it alone."

Daredevil has posed:
When Tandy's attention turns towards him and her light intensifies, Matt looks back at her. He's glad he's got her attention away from Claire. Now to get the large figure of darkness to do the same. He's not heard of these two hurting innocent people and he doesn't want that to start now.

Stepping further out into the open so Cloak and Dagger can both get a better look at him, Matt keeps his hands raised out in front of his chest to indicate no clear danger coming from him. "She's right, neither of us are here to hurt either of you. I just wanted to check out the rumors about an angel and a demon taking down criminals. It led me here." He looks over at Claire for a moment, "If I found you then so will others. It's not safe for you here." He looks back at Dagger.

Dagger has posed:
"It's not safe for us anywhere. We can also protect ourselves." Tandy says as the daggers of light disappear from her hands, washing the church in darkness once more. The shadows of the church appear to be growing closer together, colder as her body begins to disappear from view, save for the stare of her bright blue eyes and the glow of the cresent moon over her face.

There is a shifting of the air as Cloak once more materializes behind the angel as the folds of his body wrap around her in a curtain of black and blue stripes. He stares at the pair with a dark hunger, though he lets Tandy speak to the pair of them. He's on edge, ready to blink them both out in an instant if need be.

With a loud breath, the angel of light says, "We are on a holy mission, one that we will not derail from. There are those out there, hunting children and stealing them away on boats. Mutant kids. They are using local gangs to lure the innocent with drugs and promises of safety, and instead they bind them in shackles and box them in crates, like merchandise."

The voice of the woman grows colder now, tight with anger. "We are not heroes. We are not role models. We are tools of God's will and we will rid the streets of this city of the cancer they spread, one way or another. We seek to rid the city's veins of her poison, to send a message to those who seek to harm children. We are Cloak and Dagger."

Claire Temple has posed:
The devil at her side gets a momentary sideways look from Claire. Clearly, the Night Nurse trusts him. Perhaps they are even close, because there is something familiar in that look which, for just a moment, communicates a whole lot of different emotions. Worry, incredulity, maybe just a bit of accusation about what kind of trend he started. Not that he can see it. But the other two probably can. Then Claire looks back to them and slowly begins to kneel, so she can set her duffle down and begin opening it.

"...What you're doing for those kids is good. It.... it needs cleaned up. I saw some of the bastards in the hospital, and I'm not sure how to treat them after what you did to them. I know it's not drugs. I want them to be... sane enough to stand trial for what they did. We're all on the same side here. I promise." Claire reassures gently, pulling her bag open and then sliding it forward to them. Sure enough, there's a whole bunch of high energy, high protein snacks inside, some QuikClot bandages, antiseptic. Expensive things that kids on the street probably, absolutely, cannot get. "If you insist on doing this. Take... some help. Daredevil here has been working these streets a long... Long time. He's a good ally to have. And if you need patched up... I am too."

Cloak has posed:
The appearance of the Devil and the reassurances of the Nurse don't seem to sway Cloak very much, but the guy only seems to have two modes: brick wall and rage. So considering he doesn't seem too agitates is probably best case scenario.

"We've seen to it that some have been saved and returned to their homes or other safe places. It isn't enough. The source is still out there." He looks from Claire to Matt with a narrowing of predatory eyes. "Your names precede you. If you want to help with our mission, fine. If you don't, fine, just don't get in our way. The men that end up in the hospital aren't my concern. You're lucky to see them at all. They suffer because of their sins, we are just the conduit for their punishments."

Daredevil has posed:
"The Black Dragons," Daredevil says as he slowly begins to lower his hands now that Dagger's light is starting to fade. Good. An uneasy peace for the moment. Standing near Claire, he takes a moment to look at her with his tilted glance. He catches all of those unspoken messages and knows he's going to have to explain his presence here.

"I've been looking into them myself," he goes on as he looks between the two others. "Once I started hearing about some of them ending up in hospitals or prison, I realized I wasn't the only one. It's why I'm here. Why I found you." He steps between a row of run-down benches, still moving somewhat slowly given the way the two speak. There's something... off about their vocabulary that makes him unsure whether or not they're going to mesh well.

Dagger has posed:
"The Dragons are being recruited to take mutant children and send them to Singapore. They are just paid thugs looking for an easy score. They are given technology that can turn off super powers. We don't know what they do with the children afterwards, but we do know they are being sent to a dummy company called Data Streams that is owned by a Genetics Research facility called Takeda. Chinese owned and operated. All we know is that there is someone who calls herself The Madame who is in charge of the operation."

Dagger steps backwards into Cloak's darkness as her body is swallowed up for a few moments, thoug when she reappears, she is wearing her costume now, that of her skin tight leotard with a sword cut through the front. Pulling her hair up behind her, she ties it up into a thick pony tail. "We partnered with the X-Men and we took down a large job on the docks. We saved several kids and fought against two.. cyborgs that call themselves The Bobs. They are the nullifiers. Very strong. They appear to be somewhat sentient. Since then, they've been quiet, up until they recruited The Dragons."

There is a shake of her head as she lets out a noise. "I would not worry about treating them from here out. We took away their hopes and dreams and sent them deep into the darkness of their own personal hell. Now, they live with the consequences of their greatest sins."

Claire Temple has posed:
As the pair describes what they did to the criminals, the expression on Claire's face goes a little less comfortable. Criminals, yes. Gang members. But she doesn't look like she's thrilled with that sort of torture, especially when she can't treat it under her own roof. The duffle bag, now opened but seemingly of no interest to the pair, remains on the floor. She looks between Matt, then back to the others.

"...He knows where to find me, if you are more hurt. Take the supplies. I... I'm just trying to keep you all safe. I won't intrude longer." And with that, she gives the blind Devil at her side a far longermoment of regard. They'll talk about this later. Then she's studying the other two for a handful of heartbeats and she slightly nods. "You *all*...stay safe." With that, she moves for the door and out. She's done her piece.

Cloak has posed:
"The last we knew, the X-Men had one woman who was helping organize the last operation that we broke up. Where she went from there, we don't know." Cloak says and doesn't sound particularly concerned as to her fate, but his made his opinions clear thus far on leftovers. "No doubt they are having to bring in more gangs as we weaken their hold on others. The Spider-Man has also crossed our paths, but I don't believe that he is aware of all that is going on."

He looks to the bag, and while he doesn't move to take it there is a faint grunt of understanding. "We can keep the supplies in the event that they are needed." But he doesn't move away from Dagger a single inch.

Daredevil has posed:
The X-Men are involved? Matt is surprised the Dragons are even still a problem if that's the case. From the sounds of it, though, this whole situation is a lot more complicated than he originally thought.

When Claire announces her intention to go, he pauses and glances towards her. If he said he wasn't relieved that she's leaving, he'd be lying. That little look of hers before she goes, though. That's one he's familiar with. One that says 'asshole.' When she turns to leave, Matt takes her place and stands between her departure and the two church-dwellers. "Right," he says after Dagger talks of killing hopes and dreams and greatest sins. "I just wanted to introduce myself..." he says and trails off. It only now occurs to him that while he can hear Cloak's heart beating, it sounds like it's far enough away to be in Central Park. There's a noticeable moment of silence from the Devil before he finally straightens, "I'm after the Dragons and would appreciate any information you could share." If they're still around after these two and the X-Men had their way with them.

Dagger has posed:
"The Black Dragons deal mostly in murder and human trafficking. They are 'expensive' and if The Madame has sought them out, it's because she was tired of the smaller gangs not being able to get the job done due to our efforts. They have a lot more armory at their disposal and they are known to be wildly chaotic in their upper leadership. They have no issue in culling those in the younger ranks if they feel they can't pull their weight. While we have taken down a few of their grunts, we have found it harder to climb their ladder and get what we want, which is information on when and where they plan on doing the drop offs."

Dagger watches Claire go, then gives a glance towards the bag for a moment with hope in her eyes. While Cloak does not have to eat, she does, and living off chips and street hot dogs isn't healthy, or even sustainable. She gives a lick of her lips for a moment, showing a moment of vulnerability before she straightens up again.

"We plan on going out tonight again. You can come up with us if you wish. We found one of the holes they are hiding in. It's a bar called The Rusty Bridge. They have a basement in which they do their dirty dealings. We were able to get the information out of one of them before Cloak swallowed him in the dark."

Daredevil has posed:
So the organization is much larger than he had previously thought. This is going to take some serious effort to take them down for good. It's nice to know that he isn't going to be going it alone this time. Especially considering the things he's heard about them and what they do to their captives. The thought almost makes the man shiver.

Seeing Dagger's reaction to the bag of food and supplies that Claire left for them, Matt walks over to it and picks it up. He takes it towards Dagger and slings it down onto the ground beside her, unzipping it. "She wanted you both to have it. Whatever you need from it is yours. And if you need anything else, let me know and we'll make sure you get it."

When the offer is made for him to tag along with the two of them as they go scope out a bar to find more of these Dragons, Matt looks at Dagger and nods. He's been itching to get a hold of one or more of these people. His hand subconsciously tightens into a fist and squeezes as he thinks about getting the chance. "I'm in."

Dagger has posed:
As the Devil approaches with the bag, Dagger takes a few steps back instinctively into Cloak's darkness. Her hand glows, just enough to shed some nearby light. "Lately, a lot of people want to help us, but for years we've been on our own. Our story did not start off happily. We were turned into this by men who wanted to hurt children, experiment on them. We were the only two survivors amongst dozens of children who died by being injected with synthetic drugs. We got our powers through the drugs, but in turn, those powers are killing us, slowly."

She lets out a low sigh in her throat. "So, we find it very hard to trust anyone who gives things away for free. It's hwy we're so focused on our mission to rid the city of evil and punish them without much in the way of mercy. None was shown to us when we begged for it."

Rubbing a hand along her brow, she lets out a low sigh. "But, I know that you aren't like most heroes. Your methods resemble ours. Like those of The Punisher who we've met as well. If you are serious in wanting to take them down, for good.. perhaps the four of us should band together."

Daredevil has posed:
As he approaches with the bag and Dagger shies away, Matt makes sure his movements are slow and deliberate. He doesn't want to startle the two of them any more than he already has. He doesn't want to find out what lurks in the darnkess of that cloak. Once the bag is down, he steps back a few steps to put plenty of distance between it and himself.

"I don't blame you. All I can say is that you've heard of me so you know I'm not in the business of hurting people who don't deserve to be hurt." So far he sees no reason that they deserve to be hurt. Although once The Punisher is mentioned, he raises a brow. Punisher is making all sorts of new friends, himself included. Maybe friend is a bit too optimistic. "I've recently had the pleasure of meeting The Punisher. We spoke about the Dragons. Between the four of us I think we can do some damage to their plans."

This whole train feels like it's starting to get away from him, though. Frank Castle is already a lot to handle. But these two on top of him? The Night Nurse is not going to be too happy with him about this one.

"I'll find you again soon. We'll hit the Dragons and see what we can do. In the meantime, please enjoy the gifts that the Night Nurse brought. She's good people." He stands in silence for a moment, feeling a bit out of his element, before he finally lifts a hand and waves awkwardly, then turns and heads out of the church.