View source for 16035/We Always Do This

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2024/02/06
|Location=Southside (Suicide Slum), New Troy
|Synopsis=Lois pursues a lead into human trafficking in Metropolis, going into danger. She gets more than she bargained for, meeting a strange... rescuer?
|Cast of Characters=256, 15
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:256|Lois Lane (256)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The day starts early for Lois. No sooner does she reach the planet than a text messages reaches her drawing her away. She's gone before Perry can even finish saying good morning!<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Gotta run! Lead! See you later, Smallville!" <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;What is different is that she stops on her way out to kiss Clark on the cheek. Also while she's in a cab racing over to the Southside, she sends a text to him explaining where she is going, who she is meeting, and why. It's all very terse, but she's never done things like this before, has she? And she even adds at the end, "Hopefully I don't pull Superman away from something big, but this one could get a bit tricky." <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She's meeting a source in an alley in the Southside. Tricky indeed. The reason she's here at all? A different investigation led her to evidence of a human trafficking ring, supplying the wealthiest with the kind of distractions that legal money cannot buy. Lois was immediately fired up and has not let up on it since. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;When she arrives, it is still early morning. The sky is a bit dreary, overcast, threatening rain. Other than her jacket, she is wearing the nice clothes she usually wears to work. She could have changed, but this guy has been extra skittish. 

:'''{{#var:15|Clark Kent (15)}} has posed:'''<br> One contact becomes two, two becomes three, and so on until there's five. Where they should feel strength in numbers, they don't. While not as jumpy as the first, there is a palpable sense of unrest. Just four random guys in a bad part of Mettropolis. <br><br> There's a sense of uneasiness. <br><br> "So, when are we going to get her?" one asks and the others start to turn looking toward Lois. Obviously a setup. <br><br> The group starts to move toward the reporter, but before she could scream something familiar yet completely aline happens. <br><br> Someone jumps from the shadows. They land down upon one person. The figure wears white cape. It drapes over his form in a familiar fashion. Their shoulders, and forearms, covered in a gold or bronze colored armor. Their body suit black. Their helmet looks like a knight, kind of it. It has the facial guard over the top part of the face in purple. Sides extend upward a little ibt. If they were loking it would look less knightly and more dark knightly. <br><br> From behind the cape the figure brings out two tonfa sticks. <br><br> "Whose next?" he asks the group and waits for them. The group turn their attention away from Lois.

:'''{{#var:256|Lois Lane (256)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Lois knew she was in trouble once the third guy showeed up. When it becomes five, she's already reaching for her pepper spray. Oh sure, it won't work, but it's not like she has a crowbar in there. But she is working on it. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That they suggesting 'getting' her is rather shocking. They do know who she is, after all. Bothering her is a surefire way to get Superman's attention. In the history of crime in Metropolis, that has never been a winning strategy. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"You really don't want to do that," she says, backing away. Or trying to. She's quickly surrounded. And then suddenly the lead, or contact number 3, is suddenly set upon by. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Huh, must be a new guy," she murmurs. She pulls her phone out and she's already snapping pictures. Run for cover? Hardly! Oh sure, the guys probably will pull guns soon. Oh, and one does! Lois gets a really good shot of that. The camera click isn't loud, but it gets the attention of the gunman. Who then turns his aim on her, instead of the hero. He's aiming at /her/. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Nononono!" she blurts out quickly, diving for cover behind a particularly filthy cluster of barrels. Hm. Why are there barrels here anyway? <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;His other pals, though, they are focused on the new cape in town. "Get him! Unload on him!" shouts the biggest of the remaining rogues. "We'll teach you to bring sticks to a gun fight, whack job!" 

:'''{{#var:15|Clark Kent (15)}} has posed:'''<br> The man in the white cape chucks one of the tonfa's toward the person taking aim at Lois. The Tonfa connects and hits them under the chin. PErfectly aimed and thrown. The guy hit makes a noise and then is out. Three left. <br><br> The man in the white cape moves and he tosses a bunch of small palm shaped discs. "BOOM!" "BOOM!" BOOM!" they start to go off and smoke comes up. However, one seems to be a dud. It still explodes, even makes a weird noise. Probably green. <br><br> With the rising smoke the man in the white cape takes down another. The person's scream could be heard. <br><br> When Lois tries to take a shot with the camera, it's stopped working. No nothing. Just dead. Like something drained the juices from it. <br><br> As the smoke clears she can see White Cape leap down upon the fourth, then bring up the stumpy end of the tonfa against the man's body, repatedly. Using it as almost a pair of bruce knuckles. <br><br> That leaves one left he just starts to run. <br><br> She can see him think about taking him down, but nothing happens yet.

:'''{{#var:256|Lois Lane (256)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Hey! Stop running!" Lois shouts out. That guy is the last shot she has to figure out who is behind all this! Granted, shouting 'stop' has never really worked well anyway. And shockingly, it doesn't work here, either. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In sheer frustration, Lois digs into her bag, pulls out canned sparkling water, and hurls it at the fleeing criminal. She misses him by a country mile. She sighs as the drink hits the ground and breaks uselessly open. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Dang. I was really looking forward to that." It's the normal Lois whining. Still, she has something she must do. Look at the hero and say, "Hey umm, thank you! Not exactly the caped rescuer I'm accustomed to, but I sure appreciate the save. What's your name?" 

:'''{{#var:15|Clark Kent (15)}} has posed:'''<br> "Your camera stopped working didn't it, Miss Lane?" the person asks Lois. "Same goes for your phone," and then their attention turns toward her. "Short range EMPs will do that," he says with assuredy to his voice. <br><br> "Maybe I should laugh. Give you fear. But instead I'll give you a clue. This is what I bring you," the person's voice rolls forward, measured. "With a spirited jig, I dance bright, banshing all, but darkest night. Give me food, and I will live. Give me water, and I will die. What am I?" he asks and waits for her to think. <br><br> A black gloved hand raises toward her and she can see him mouth the word, "BANG!" even makes a finger gun motion. <br><br> A loud "BOOM!" goes off above her. Part of a structural wall comes down and he runs. A simple well timed explosive obviously placed long before she got here. <br><br> Whether she's still or runs back, the wall will land with a "BOOM!" However, Lois is completely safe. It's only in the aftermath maybe she realizes something. It was never meant to land UPON her. Just land close to her. Scarily close, but why?

:'''{{#var:256|Lois Lane (256)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Lois isn't sure what to make of this guy. He is not coming across very heroic, though! And his weird little riddle catches her as off-guard as her ruined equipment. She goes through so many phones! She's never going to hear the end of it. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Fire," is her immediate response. And then all hell breaks loose and she rushes away from the collapsing wall. This leaves her, well, watching him run away. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The reporter is wary. More than just suspicious. She fidgets in her bag, looking for her pepper spray. Better than nothing, at least. "What was that all about?" she mutters, trying to find her way back to the street. She's going to need help. She's got no phone to use.
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