13454/Rooftops are the safest place to be

Rooftops are the safest place to be
Date of Scene:	07 June 2021
Location:	Kingsbridge, The Bronx
Synopsis:	Do demonic hounds like pizza or chocolate?
Cast of Characters:	Venom, Xiang Zhao

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Venom has posed:
New York had its fair share of webslingers. There were the various Spider-Men, the Spider-Women, and there were the symbiotes, like Venom, the original. He had been out on patrol. It had seemed to be a quiet night thus far, so mostly at the symbiote's discretion, he had stopped for a pizza. There was no chocolate on it, but they did sell chocolate bars, so Venom, or more accurately, Eddie had bought half a dozen, and a meat lover's pizza.

He could of, and probably should have, eaten it in the pizza parlor, or on a bench somewhere, but no, Venom had decided to head on up to the night sky, taking a seat on the ledge of a building, where he sat his pizza down, and wolfed down three of the candy bars in quick succession. Although he was fairly heroic these days, the sight of Venom, even Venom eating candy and pizza, must have been quite a fright.

Xiang Zhao has posed:
A webslinger is not something Xiang Zhao happens to be. Nor is he familiar with webslingers in general, but that's another story. This? This is this story. And Xiang happens to be sitting atop a rooftop. Silent. Dressed in black robes with gentle ripples in dark blue, the Chinaman is all but invisible, lounged back on the slanted roof. He's propped himself up on one elbow, his left, and his face is cast upward. His eyes on the night sky. On what stars he can see against the general wash of city lights. His right hand lazily waves a fan, stirring a bit more of the breeze toward his face.

The first indication Xiang has that he's not alone is the scent of the pizza. The soft breeze carries the smell to him from the other side of the roof's peak. Lounged as he is, he can't be seen from the street. Nor can he be seen from the ledge on the other side of that peak. So it is that he doesn't actually see whoever has the pizza. And.. "Is that chocolate I smell?"

Zhao sits up a little bit more, bringing the top of his head into faintly visible outline against the night sky. Mostly for the fact that his dark hair blots out the stars on the other side of him. The pale hair stick tucked into the half tail at the upper back of his head can be seen faintly. He turns his head, and the pale skin of his face can then be seen. That fan doesn't stop moving, though the motion remains slow and gentle. Almost lazy.

Venom has posed:
The wind was against Venom. It was blowing the scent of his chocolate and his pizza to Xiang, but would not blow any scent from Xiang the other way. Wind only worked in one direction at a time. So Venom continued to munch, alternating between candy bars, they were a mixture of Snickers and Mars, and the pizza. Although as Zhao sat up, and the top of his head came faintly into sight, the symbiote's senses... it could see omnidirectionally, would let Eddie know. Inside his mind, he heard, 'Eddie, Eddie, I see something over there.' Venom had to communicate with the symbiote verbally, so he said in a soft whisper, not wanting his voice to carry, "just because you see something doesn't mean it's trouble." Though Venom would look in that direction too, receiving the sensory data that the symbiote had spotted. It seemed to be hair, some guy. Venom wasn't too fussed. But would continue to look in that direction while eating.

Xiang Zhao has posed:
The wind does seem to be that way, yes. Always blowing one way at a time. But wind, it's also a fickle beasty. And sometimes it changes direction. Often it changes direction. But it usually goes still first. And it does that now. Goes still. With no audible answer to his question, Xiang shakes his head and turns his eyes back to the stars. Then the wind shifts again, and blows in the opposite direction. From Xiang to Venom. Now he can be smelled. He smells of sandalwood. Real sandalwood, like the wood, rather than like the fake stuff that people sell as incense. The fan continues moving, wafting lazily. If he knows there's someone, or something there, he isn't bothered by whatever it is.

Down below, a sound. The scrape of claws on cement and concrete. Zhao sits up straighter and then rises to his feet. The fan is still now as he gazes at the street below. He blows out a breath as the scent reaches his nose. Smoke and flame. The scent travels further, to the one with the pizza. Smoke and flame and something sinister. Something dark and evil.

On feet that make no sound at all, Xiang Zhao steps closer to the edge of the rooftop.

And then shapes step into the light below a streetlamp some twenty or so feet up the street. They look like dogs. If they were twice the size of a great dane and had fur made of shadows with eyes that glow orange, like a living flame. "Zuihou," he murmurs, the word very soft. The hounds don't ever look up, don't seem to be aware of his presence or the one on the other side of the roof. One passes through the light. Then two, three, four. Zhao watches for a moment, and then? Then he steps off the roof.

Venom has posed:
Venom had been enjoying his food. The symbiote liked his chocolate. Eddie liked the pizza. The symbiote also liked the pizza. It was quite hungry. But he could smell something on the wind. It took him off guard. He paused, setting the slice of pizza down, or intending too. That tongue of his extending and scooped up the pizza, bringing it back to his mouth and swallowing. Whether Eddie wanted it or not, the symbiote was going to have its food.

But as he noticed the commotion down on the city streets, there were dogs, or something like them. He recoiled a little at the living flame like eyes. Venom was hesitant about fire. Lifting off the ledge, Venom would jump down, shooting out a line with a thwip, trying to get a better view. Not yet ready to attack, were they evil? Looks could be deceiving.

Xiang Zhao has posed:
Xiang Zhao moves his left hand in a motion as he stepped off the roof.. and he floated down, still in the shadows. And still out of scent range of those otherworldly hounds. He lands lightly on his feet and considers them, then steps forward and into the light of another street lamp, coming into full view. The robes have that shimmer that only silk has. His hair hangs down to his waist, dark as obsidian. The sides and top are pulled back into that half tail, and a white hair stick that is curved on the end into two curls.

"Ni bu shuyu zheli <you do not belong here>," he says in Mandarin. His voice holds a soft quality to it, as though that's simply the nature of how he talks. Soft, but it carries to the hounds.

The hounds come to a stop, heads swiveling to look at the Chinaman. Lips pull back to reveal teeth that appear almost metallic for how sharp they are. Growls trickle from their throats, and as one, the pack of four lunges at Xiang Zhao. He stands there, calm and unmoved. That fan had started waving again at some point, and it moves lazily, unconcerned.

Venom has posed:
The symbiote seeing the hounds, and those teeth as they growl at Xiang, asks Eddie in his mind, 'Eddie, Eddie, can we eat the hounds?' Eddie for his part was used to odd questions like that, "No," Venom said, "well, I don't know, maybe." They didn't understand the words Xiang was saying, and when they lung at him, Venom decides to get involved, shooting a webline at the necks of the ones attempting to maul Xiang, which should either break the webbing, yank them back, or pull Venom tumbling forward. Just how strong were these hounds?

Xiang Zhao has posed:
The hounds lunge, Zhao stands still, but for the fan. He's relaxed, muscles loose, and ready, though he doesn't look it. Just as they're about to hit Xiang, the Chinaman neatly steps aside, and the fan moves, slicing into the shadowy fur of one of the hounds at the back.

Just as Venom's webbing latches onto the necks of the two leading ones. The webbing doesn't break. But the hounds are apparently strong, and they don't stop, not even with the webbing. Well. They do stop, but not because of the webbing. They put on the brakes and pivot to come at Xiang from the other side.

Xiang notes the webbing and follows it to the one who's using it even as he pivots to face the hounds. The one he'd scored trails black smoke from its side. The same orange as their eyes can be seen within the wound. Living flame. "Go for the nose," he calls out. Did he translate that right? His English is accented, like it's very much not his first language. Was the the right word? Nose? Did he mean eyes? Or throat?

Venom has posed:
Venom goes tumbling forward, his arms attached to the forward hounds, as the webbing holds, but they are strong enough to force him to follow them down to the ground. He hits the pavement, skidding until he manages to stop. Once Venom rights himself, he would sever the webbing links, "we shouldn't try that again," they said to themselves. Hoping that comment about the nose was a direction for him to use, Venom would crack its knuckles, going hand to hand with the hounds. Either way, he would barge into the middle of the pack, trying to hit the dog-like creatures on the nose, testing to see what that might do, but being ready to jump up and shoot some webbing to get himself out of there if it didn't work. "Here little doggies, here..."

Xiang Zhao has posed:
It had seemed to be advice! But.. the nose? Really? Xiang couldn't have said that right! Could he? Maybe he was screwing with the other person. But there hadn't been so much as a trace of amusement to the words. Nor the slightest hint of any smile or smirk to go along with them. As Venom jumps into the middle of the pack, and lands a blow to a nose. That hound stops. Dead stop. Its flamey eyes are wide. It's body starts to balloon out. Expanding, expanding, until it starts to float up from the ground. It's paws scrabble madly, but it can't get any purchase. It floats like a dandelion seed, light and fluffy and moving in the direction of the breeze, back toward the building the two had jumped off of.

And then it pops! Black shadow and smoke seems to blow everywhere, engulfing both Xiang Zhao and the one who'd bopped the nose. The other hounds shriek a bellow of rage and grief. Then the shadow and smoke has cleared, leaving no trace of the hound. There are three left.

The hounds all aim for Venom now, ignoring Zhao. This works in the Chinaman's favor as he steps up to one, flowing smoothly, and strikes it across the nose with his now suddenly closed fan. Another hound goes pop. The remaining two pause now, eyeing the two bipeds warily. They take steps backward. Away.

Venom has posed:
"That's a new one," Venom said gleefully, and tried to land a few more blows to the noses of the remaining hounds, but then that smoke filled the air, and the two more are dealt with, leaving only two when the smoke clears, and Xiang has bopped one on the nose with the closed fan.

Even they back away, Venom isn't about to let these things, whatever they are, get loose. Knowing that they're strong enough to pull him, but not strong enough to break his weblines, he would shoot out two ones, each wrapping around the snouts, and he would try and close them. Except, to do this, he had to cross his arms... and did they extend? It was as if they grew longer to increase the distance they could close, putting all of that muscular strength into trying to bring their noses clashing together.

Xiang Zhao has posed:
Xiang Zhao doesn't have much time to react before the webbing has shot out and ensnared the remaining two hounds. As the arms cross, and the web crosses, the noses smack together with a resounding thud! The hounds freeze, eyes wide, and puff out like balloons, like the first two had. Within seconds, they go poof! And shadow and smoke shoots everywhere. When the smoke and shadow clears, Xiang Zhao and the black clad person stand alone on the street, no traces left of the hounds.

That fan starts to waving in the air again, slow and lazily, as Xiang turns to look to the.. man? He looks perfectly calm. And if the lazy way the fan is waved is any indication, he really is as calm as he looks. "You are not a demon," he states. Most people would be at least a little wary. But Xiang is not. He walks forward, toward Venom, perfectly calm and at ease, motions elegant and full of the grace that speaks of one well versed in the martial arts.

Venom has posed:
"No, not a demon. We are Venom." Venom probably confuses him by referring to itself as 'we', especially as English was not Xiang's first language. And saying their name is Venom, showing those teeth, fangs really, as they spoke, and their whole visage. It would be easy to mistake Venom as a demon. They're scary as hell. Venom thought about asking who the other man was, or what they were, but Venom had food up on the ledge that was getting cold, and instead said, "thanks for the help." And would leap up into the air, doing a contortion effort as it shot weblings up, one to each side, then another. It was slowly climbing by using the elastics of the webbing, swinging between sides, until it could push off against a wall and leap the rest of the way, where it landed with a roll, picking up the pizza box, and in fluid motion, never actually stopping, they would run off the roof, another webline, as they returned to their patrol, only this time, with a pizza box in one arm.

Xiang Zhao has posed:
Xiang Zhao nods, slow, curiousity in his expression, but still no fear or wariness or anything but calm, his left hand slipping to rest at the small of his back. The 'we' does seem to cause a bit of confusion, but before he can really ask, the creature, Vemon, is gone. "You are welcome," he calls after. He shakes his head and turns to walk up the street. Going in the direction the shadow hounds had been coming from initially.