2533/A Day in the Life

A Day in the Life
Date of Scene:	21 September 2017
Location:	Midvale, New Troy
Synopsis:	Clark Kent accompanies Molly Millions for a ride-along as part of a story he's working on. As they navigate war-torn Metropolis, parademons attack! Molly deals with the invader while Clark ducks for cover.
Cast of Characters:	Superman, Molly Millions

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Superman has posed:
"I'm so grateful you were willing to meet with me for my story, Miss ... ah ... Molly?" Clark Kent asks, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I hope you don't mind me tagging along for a bit during your day."

He sits, buckled-up, in the passenger seat of Molly's car--or, at least, what Molly had claimed was her car--as the two weave through debris-filled streets. Parademons flit about in the skies, firing off blasts at various targets.

Clark jots a few notes down in shorthand on a pad of paper held in one hand. "The Planet's always looking for better branding these days. I was thinking of something like 'These 7 Citizens Helped Stop the Alien Invasion; What #4 Did Will SHOCK You!'" He clears his throat. "What do you think?"

Molly Millions has posed:
A job's a job. Though if she'd fully comprehended that she was taking a reporter for a ride-along she might have asked for more money... or at least managed to avoid the 'haha you're kidding, right?' laughter that had accompanied the introduction. But in her world, you sign a contract, you stick it through to the end.

The sedan... well, maybe it's invasion damage, maybe not. Black and grey and looks like it's taken a few knocks in it's time. It's not glamorous, it's got no hidden functions, but it also means she's less concerned about driving it down roads full of debris and parademons. Even if her reflexes are good enough and familiar enough with the vehicle to avoid the worst of it.

"Just Molly." she grunts,"I think that'd be a gross misrepresentation of the situation."is her blunt opinion,"There's a lot of people here, costumed sorts, doing their... thing, but there's plenty of perfectly normal people out there too. Was there a particular place you wanted to see? Downtown Metrpolis is mostly crater. The Hall's still standing, if you want to go with the whole... resilience of humanity angle... but I would say calling it stopped might be a bit premature. Clark, wasn't it?"

Superman has posed:
Shaking his head, Clark offers a polite smile. "No, ma'am. But, ah, it /is/ Clark, yes. I'm just here to soak in as much of the experience as I can--so I can help our readers understand what it's like to work on the front lines here. As best as many different kinds of people, and the roles they play, can."

He looks at his note pad. "What have you found to be most helpful in keeping yourself and others safe? Or fighting these invaders with available tools?"

There's a large obstruction a block or so up ahead. Clark leans his head out the window for a better view. As the car passes through some dust, he sneezes.

Completely coincidentally, the obstruction up ahead collapses, providing a driveable path.

Molly Millions has posed:
"Just, Molly." Molly repeats tersely,"Not ma'am, or Miss, thank you." at least she remembered to tag thank you on there. A long, false nail is tapped on the steering well as she considers his words with a purse of her lips,"This isn't the front lines." she's got half an eye for the parademons, distracted momentarily as he conveniently sneezes and the obstruction she was already beginning to worry about coincidentally collapses on itself. Huh.

"Get your head in." tourists! Not that her accent sounds quite right for the area. Boston... ish. Sort of. In a round-about way.

"I shoot things, Clark. I can't fly or affect gravity or anything like that. But there's still people here that hope if they keep their head down they'll be okay. I've seen people fight with whatever they can get their hands on, because they don't feel like they have a choice. You go to the hospitals you've got doctors working until they're curled up in the corner to catch a few hours and at the end of the day they're just hoping it's enough. You know?"

She nudges the car carefully through the debris and turns left into another street, angling. She can see a cluster of the demons up ahead, and is mentally debating whether to avoid in order to make sure the guy in the back seat is safe, or find out what's caught their interest. So help her, she figures it's at least worth a look.

Superman has posed:
Nodding as he pulls his head back in the car, Clark offers an embarrassed look. "Yes, ma'am. Miss. Molly," he continues, correcting himself.

Even as he does so, there's a sharp ZZZONKKKK sound of a parademon weapon that slices through the space that Clark's head had just occupied.

"Whew!" he whispers. "Good call, there. I take it that marksman's eye comes in handy in a wide range of circumstances, then?"

Down a side street, the car's occupants can see a parked city bus explode as a pair of parademons flies away from it.

The parademons up ahead, meanwhile, seem to have surrounded a group of children on a school field trip, hands held per the 'buddy' system.

"That doesn't look good..." Clark says, eyes narrowing slightly.

Molly Millions has posed:
Oh bloody... war gods. Molly purses her lips and counts to five as she glances in the mirror from behind her lenses and grips the steering wheel. She can only struggle to be relieved and distracted by the fact that it missed. She's half talked herself in to turning the car around when there's an explosion and... kids.

"No, it's not." she reaches for the bag on the front seat with her and murmurs,"Look... your people said to make sure you're safe. But.." but kids. She pauses and expels a breath,"The building there. It's still.. structurally sound." she suggests as she pulls out a metallic object about the size of a backpack and sets it on top, fishing a cell phone from her pocket only to open it up like some kind of handheld gaming system as she issues to it,"Shadow, initiate start-up sequence."

"This here... is Shadow, okay? Shadow here... will defend you to the best of its abilities, but I want you to go in there and be safe, okay? Because I'm not going to let those things take those kids back to wherever they came from." not kids. She draws the line there, pay or no pay.

Superman has posed:
"Of course," Clark says nervously. "Completely understood. Good luck," he adds, before bolting out of the car toward the identified building. He stumbles a few times--and dives for cover from potential parademon observation at least once--and then is hidden inside the structure.

The children, meanwhile, cry and sob and shake in terror.

The parademons talk with one another in an indecipherable language. It doesn't sound good, though. One of them procures several pairs of high-tech-looking shackles.

None of the aliens seems to notice Molly--or at least pay her any mind--yet.

Molly Millions has posed:
"Shadow, protect asset Clark Kent, at all costs." she lets the little backpack drone toddle after him on its spindly legs as she folds the device closed again and sticks it in her pocket. It's a simple drone, with the approximate intelligence of a dog. Likely to be little more than an annoyance to him, but well, for Molly at least it's the best she can do to try and fulfill her contract right now. The car gets turned off before she slides carefully out.

For her it's not a good situation, and the way she looks at the building he's in she's contemplating whether or not she should have given him a gun, too. But finally she decides to leave the bag on the front seat, taking the fletchette pistol from under her jacket to check it and wind up the dispersion before slinking up the street.

This, at least, she's good at. She doesn't try to look for Clark, presuming him safe as she creeps up the street until she's at an angle from the children... she doesn't trust those things to not try and hurt them and at the same time doesn't want them caught in the crossfire. First, it will be a rock. Because, well, why not? Lobbed overhead from a hiding spot to try and distract them from looking her way at least.

Superman has posed:
The parademons turn their attention to the sound--not because it's a noise but because it's so close to their own location. Two of them slowly approach the point of impact, while another begins looking for a potential origin.

In the building, Clark creeps through the shadows, Shadow behind him. Around one corner, Clark falls into an empty stairwell.

For a moment, he's hidden in darkness.

For that moment, there's a quick, silent blur that collects the children while the parademons' attention is occupied elsewhere.

The children find themselves inside the building, behind a protective corner.

A moment later, Clark lands at the bottom of the stairwell with a loud 'THUD' and a slightly quieter "Oof!"

As the dust settles from his impact, he sits up and groans--and then sees the children nearby. "Oh ... hello there," he says quietly. "I'm Clark. This is my friend, Shadow," he adds, as the drone catches up.

Outside, one of the parademons notices the children have gone missing, and it shouts out /something/. The other parademons begin powering up their inexplicable alien technology.

Molly Millions has posed:
What in the hell just... happened? Granted, she could try and do a replay but there's a slightly more immediate problem. Were the children a trick? Or was that...? For a pico second all she can do is gape at the spot where the children were. And then it sinks in, the only person on the street for her to have to worry about now is her own ass.

The curious one has the next second to try and alert its friends as the fletchette pistol comes up and she lets it fly with the electric *whiiinnee* *FWOOMF* of twenty darts per second into it's insectile face while already moving. These ones... well, after the Furies they're not as scary, at least. She doesn't pause as she comes up towards the group of them over the corpse of the first.

It's not pretty, at all, the second gets jumped on and her free hand buried with its hidden blades in it. There's no playing nice with them as far as she's concerned, just the quick and efficient decimation of the small group so she can go smush a foot over where the kids were and then trot towards the building to check on Clark.

Superman has posed:
The parademons' attempts to catch up to the rapid action of their opponent are, to an individual, too slow.

They drop, one after another, as Molly figuratively plows through them. A wayward blast from one weapon, as it hits the ground, soars up to strike a gargoyle atop a nearby building.

Inside, Clark sits with the children, who are still scared but, now, equally dazed and disoriented. "Ah, Shadow," Clark says to the drone, "can you let Molly know that we've got some company in here? And that they're probably going to need some help getting back to school or home?"

The reporter offers a warm smile to his young companions. "And maybe we can get you all a snack, too. Anyone hungry?" he asks.

A number of hands are raised, their owners suddenly focused on a familiar sensation.

"Oh!" Clark says as Molly approaches. "It sounds like my other friend is here. She's a great driver. Everyone still have their buddy? Snacks are on me."

He slowly gets to his feet and brushes the dust off his pants.

Molly Millions has posed:
Children. Children? It brings Molly to a halt as she follows her device to the drone and comes around the final corner to the oddest scene she had not expected. As evinced by being discombobulated enough that she actually turns back the direction she came from with her mouth open as she tries to work it out and then snaps it closed with the shake of her head, muttering under her breath in pidgin Japanese as she slides the device away,"Shadow, return to vehicle and enter stand-by mode."

Oh god. There's... they're... small, and sticky. And this is just... at least it's an excuse to get the reporter back to something resembling safety,"Uh. Yes. Snacks. I... let's... uh. You can bring them." parademons are one thing... kids? Terrifying. She slinks back in the direction of the car, only pausing to make sure none of them wander off in the interim and trying, very hard, to at least look like she knows what she's doing when it comes to a bunch of small children,"I'll... ah... call my daughter. They're not all going to fit... in the car, y'know."

And no doubt, eventually, a pink and purple portaling mutant is going to show up to help ferry them to safety. Snacks are on Clark, after all.