14629/A Canary Call

A Canary Call
Date of Scene:	04 December 2022
Location:	Vancouver, Canada
Synopsis:	Arana, without her powers, is in trouble. Good thing someone is in the area who can help!
Cast of Characters:	Arana, Black Canary

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Arana has posed:
Vancouver, Canada.

The streets are like any other city's. Overcrowded and poorly designed. There's a ton of good people, but they get lost in the bad. And frankly that's suited to Ana Corazon's mood right now.

"I don't," she says, ducking underneath someone's fist, "want to buy," gasping for breath, "your religion!" She slams her knee into the guy's gut, doubling him over, but there are so many more. She nearly gets her favourite shirt caught, the spider-emblem almost counting as a uniform.

Honestly a tee and cargo pants isn't really up to snuff, but neither is she lately. She jabs, her red puncher's gloves leaving her fingers open but letting her punch nice and hard.

Unfortunately she wasn't expecting to get cornered, not here. People in suits, she assumes that they're mormons. But they could be here trying to recruit her to a cult or something. "Back off, I have a taser!" She doesn't, but they don't know that. She's barely got boots. Boots are good, you can crunch toes with boots on.

She looks back, guessing if she can get over the fence blocking the alleyway before they grab her. Mm, possible. But her distraction costs her, her ponytail getting grabbed and yanked. "Son of a b.." She doesn't mind swearing, it's just that getting yanked hurts!

Black Canary has posed:
The recruiters are very focused on Ana, to the point they don't see the figure at the alley entrance stepping in, lit from behind revealing just the short, but curvy, form who then leans against one wall, kicking up a leg to rest against the opposite wall. Said figure watches a while before raising her fingers to her lips and letting out an ear-piercign whistle.

"Hey there!" a feminine voice calls out. "I'm counting ... well I suck at math, but a whole lot more than one against one. So, you know, I thought, if my help is wanted, I could come in and even the odds."

The attackers pause for a moment, trying to assess the changed situation. Somehow, despite the shadow the form is from the backlight, it's clear that she's looking at Ana.

"So, you, girlie, get one, I'll take the rest, and this will be a fair fight."

Beat.

"For you, I mean. The other guys will need to grab another dozen or so if they want to even the odds a bit."

Arana has posed:
"Madre dioso," the girl says as the asshole loosens his grip on her hair a second. She's got a definite accent, probably mexican, which goes with the tanned skin. And using slang mexican..definitely a history there. But that's for another moment.

She bites, hard enough to get the guy to let go entirely, and then cries out, "Yes!" Just before one of them kicks her. In the face.

A guy near to the front turns with a baton in his hand, his sunglasses looking ridiculous in the alleyway, but he upnods at the newcomer. "She owes us. We're collecting." He does seem the financial type.

To be fair, the mexican chick gets gamely back up to her feet, hands coming into a boxer's guard. Even if her face is bleeding now. And she swears a stream of spanish curses that would curdle her mother's hair to blonde.

Black Canary has posed:
"There's legal ways to collect debts," Dinah says, stepping into the alley, letting the goons now see who's talking to them.

It's the fishnets that give it away. And the shit-eating hungry grin as the Black Canary sees a workout in the offing.

"What you're doing isn't one of them. So now you've attracted my attention. This isn't going to go well for you."

She takes a deep breath and releases it as a sigh.

"Unfortunately I have to give you the chance to surrender before I turn you into piles of meat with broken bones. So this is your chance. If you surrender now, I just tie you up and call the cops. If you don't, I pound the everloving Hell out of you. Then tie you up and call the cops."

Arana has posed:
Ana ducks under one swing, the handcuffs the guy's using as improv brass knuckles a real threat. She gives him a solid counter-punch, but then she gets tackled by another one. She keeps up a running repartee when she can breathe, but there's a lot on her plate right now.

"Comadreja molestando bolsa con fugas de gelatina de colostomía!" comes out of her mouth when she hits the floor, but calling someone a 'weasel-molesting leaky bag of colostomy jelly' did NOT come from her time in church.

She's a fighter though, and those moves came from real training. But having a group this organized on her trail, with her abilities? Seems a little overkill.

Three more of the business-suits look at Dinah. They nod. "We're nearly done anyway, she's nothing like she once was. It seems there may be some discrepancy in the accounting."

Which doesn't sit well with the entire crew. One frowns, then says, "I know it's the right girl. Screw this." And he tries to put his well-polished right shoe through Dinah's face.

There seems to be some disagreement in the ranks, but it doesn't stop the girl from trying to hobble them for life. She's got good kicks, but her style is too simple.

Black Canary has posed:
Dinah corrects the style by example. The shoe heading for Dinah's face flies wide. Very wide. OVER her head. As Dinah's countering snap-kick impacts the leg's knee from beneath with stunning, brutal force, sending the leg far higher, the guy falling backward at faster than gravity-drawn speed.

The fact she's dislocated the knee in the most painful way possible doesn't register in time for him to scream in pain before the concrete of the building erases consciousness from him.

And Dinah doesn't stop there. She's not the kind to give people the initiative once she's decided to end their conscious life. While the body falls, even before it gets the sweet release of concussion, she's moving forward, too fast to seem natural (though she is), and stepping past the trio paying attention to her, and entering a spinning back kick to the side of the head of the one grappling Ana.

"Come on, girl! Fight!" she says merrily, using the impetus of the kick to face the trio she'd just stepped past, in a Wing Chun close-in defensive stance, ready to wipe out a kidney or two should they be foolish enough to step in. "This is just fun times right now!"

Arana has posed:
The guy who was voting for a peaceful exit says sharply, "Defense!" as Dinah enters the fray more officially. The two beside him shift backward, putting their backs to the wall, and the one guy drops low to check on the one Dinah kicked. He leaves his head exposed, not defending at all. Which is odd given his command to the crew cut crew.

He's calm and composed, but his team aren't as well put together. The ones facing off against Ana seem to take notice of the new threat, since the guy trying his wrestling moves out gets kicked RIGHT OFF of the girl. Stronger body strength or not, you move when kicked.

From the ground, the girl tries to kick at the legs of whoever's closest. She stays down, keeping her face from being hit, and snaps one guy's foot out from under him. He falls badly, and she scrambles to her feet. "Gracias, amiga," she says, wiping her eyes really quickly when she finds herself closer to Canary.

"I SAID DEFENSE!" the one guy yells, making some of the others back off. One's a little slow, taking a swipe at Canary's face with nightstick before they can really respond.

The mexican girl tries to front-kick him but misjudges the distance a bit. Whiffs and ends up ...

Odd. She ended up perfect. Something in her balance is weird.

Black Canary has posed:
"Oh good. I like it when people take the defencive option," Canary says, grinning, eyes now very dangerous. "See, thing is, I'm really a big fan of offence."

She reaches into her jacket in a cross-draw, pulling out two short metal sticks that, with a flick of the wrist, become two long metal fighting sticks with the tell-tale dull grey metal look of a titanium alloy.

"So, pick a weapon you think you know, boys. I'll teach you how to use it right. I'll start with sticks like you."

There's no more words, only action as Canary lets out a battle cry ... people fans of bygone days will recognize it as a *perfect* imitation of the Xena: Warrior Princess battle cry ... while rushing forward to engage in stick play, sticks moving in an obscene blur of ecrima moves.

Arana has posed:
"Stop fighting!" the guy says. But it's too late then, as both the blonde and the brunette step forward into their ranks. The mexican girl snaps a low kick into one guy's leg, now that she's not being overwhelmed by numbers, then uppercuts him as he starts to fall. She goes right under his guard, showing a good sense of timing, and comes out poised.

Unfortunately that's the last of it, before Canary's swings take down three more. Then there's just the boss left, who is trying to hold up his hands, palms open.

"We were after the spider-girl. This lady obviously has no powers! Jesus lady."

The girl bites her lip, glancing at the guy and Canary both. Looks guilty, but for once shuts her mouth.

Huh.

Black Canary has posed:
The sticks land on each side of the leader's neck: touching, not striking, in a mute threat. The dangerous eyes of the Black Canary in fighting form stare into his.

"I'm going to say this once. Only once. I know your face. If I see it again, anywhere, under any circumstances, it's going to bleed. A lot. I don't care if you're standing next to the Prime Minister. You're going to bleed. Have I made myself clear?"

She doesn't wait for the response before striking him with the flat of a hand in the middle of his chest, sending him reeling back.

"Run, now. Before I change my mind and you join your compatriots here."

Arana has posed:
The guy nods, one time. "I'll report that this is not ...you don't care, got it." Then he's gone, getting out his celphone before he's even out of sight. Which is all the time Canary has before she's faced with a mexican girl with a bleeding nose and eyebrow.

"Madre, my papi is going to murder me if I come home bleeding again." She grumbles, looking around as if she's expecting them to get up again. Then she looks at Dinah. She checked the enemy first.

"Thank you querida. I was in deep kimchee there." But there were a lot of things that didn't quite mesh in that little scuffle. Her balance is weird, and she clearly has some relation to the girl they were hunting. She's not that good a liar.

Black Canary has posed:
"Don't start," Dinah says, voice friendly, but with a hint of steel. "You're a scrapper. Experienced. And there's something off about how you move. You *are* what these fellows are after, aren't you?"

She says this while she uses a lot of zip-ties to bind the attackers. And arranges them in a variant of the 'human centipede' in a ring. There's some vindictiveness she's working through...

"Honesty is probably the best start to this relationship," she adds, looking up from the last trussed up suit.

Arana has posed:
From the side of her mouth, the girl says, "Not in front of the.." and she glances at the trussed nerdos. One or more of them might possibly hear something, so she head-gestures toward the front of the alley.

Though there is something frigging therapeutic about the way the blonde is tying them up. She can't quite suppress a giggle.

A moment later, after Canary's had her fill, the two are probably out of earshot. And then the girl nods.

But she also handwobbles. "I used to be. Had my ...thing...torn out of me. Like, literally. Apparently if you have magical spider-armor and super-strong guys pull hard enough, it breaks. I'm powerless now."

She pauses, having a slight caveat. Not the best liar, it's in her face. "I mean, mostly." She looks around, seeing if anyone is watching, then..

"I can do this." She bends over, picking up a beer bottle. Sets it on its end, and then steps up on it. Perfect. She closes her eyes, and spins a bit.

Perfect, utterly perfect balance.

Black Canary has posed:
Canary appreciates an appreciative audience. Ana's giggle at the human centipede earns a grin and a wink. "Humiliating tough guys is half the fun of this gig," she says.

She then heads out of the alley with the girl, pausing only to text something on a ...

... flip phone ...

... before watching the demonstration.

"Well ... shit." She rubs her hand in her hair. "I thought I had good balance, but that ... that's next-level." She pauses and thinks. "Are you like that NYC Spider-guy? Or were you, I guess I mean?"

Arana has posed:
Not bothering to get down, the girl says, "Eh. It was magical, I dunno how his powers work. Mine were ugly, I had this extranyo shell over my body. Good armor though. Totally bulletproof."

"You have a flip phone? I'm Anya by the way. How did you get a flip phone? That's like, ancient tech." Pause, then she adds hastily, "I mean, that's not important! You saved my damn life! I'm not rusty but damn, I didn't know how hard I sucked til I did!"

She pauses, then repeats. "I'm Anya. I said that already didn't I?" And finally she gets down off of the bottle. Which tips over almost like she's insulted it.

"Kinda wish I'd kept the super strength. It made life so much easier.

Black Canary has posed:
"Training trumps powers," Canary says flatly. "Overreliance on powers kills when they're taken away from you." She looks Anya over. "I'm ... well, OK, I'm the Black Canary in this outfit. And I've got quite a bit of experience with powers. Powers without training are easy to defeat."

She looks Anya up and down, assessingly.

"You've got the scrapper attitude. You've got some well-trained tricks. But you're too used to power. If you don't want to keep winding up bloodied like this on scrubs like those..." Her arm gestures vaguely in the direction of alley they'd exited. "...you're going to have to learn how to put those instincts to best use."

Beat.

"Here's my card." She uses. Business cards. BUSINESS CARDS! Totally last century! "Call me if you want some training."

Arana has posed:
Anya takes the card, actually not recognizing it for a moment. "What's this?" she mumbles, then looks at it. Oh! Duh, apparently. "Black Ca...you're JUSTICE LEAGUE?" She looks stunned, pausing to push her hand through her hair. Which is not easy, she's got some body going on there.

Her hair. It's thick.

She pauses, then blinks. "My phone's ...hang on.." Then she answers her phone, which is vibrating like crazy.

"Papa?"

She mouths 'I will so call you!' and then 'thank you so much!' as she talks to her dad. "I'm on my way now! Papa, no, I'm okay. The polizia aren't...I'm just late!"

She looks flatly embarrassed now, but she adds a sheepish grin and another 'thank you!'

Apparently she gotta go too.

Black Canary has posed:
"Was I ever that young?" Canary asks herself as she watches Anya head off.

She was.

And she was just as embarrassing the way she clung to the Justice Society types. Time to pass it forward.

"Make sure you do call, chica," she calls after the girl. "I'll have you kicking ass on whole gangs in no time!"

She walks over to her bike, mounting it and firing it up to head off back to whatever business the alley scuffle interrupted.