2676/Cape, Please!

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Cape, Please!
Date of Scene: 03 October 2017
Location: NYC random rooftop
Synopsis: Laura happens by a pair of LGBTQs+ etc', misunderstandings ensue, as Laura learns of a new Weapon-X ally in the hunt against her.
Cast of Characters: Hoodlum, Breath, X-23




Hoodlum has posed:
It's a roof. Not a very big one. Third story of an empty apartment building. Too busy an area for homeless people to really squat during the day and covered by gravel, the young woman in her hoody has her sword settled on the lip of the building next to her in relatively easy reach. At night, its occupants slumber quietly to avoid rousing police patrols. Today, the Hoodlum has added a black scarf to wrap around the lower half of her face in addition to her domino mask. Still in a hoodie. Black, tight pvc pants as well. She's hale and hearty after exsanguinating the day before, so today she's got a sketchpad resting on her lap.

Feet dangling over the edge, she kicks them, working with pieces of charcoal and colored pencils alternately. She waits for a pre-determined signal, as an old face begins take shape on her pad of paper. Lined with age and care. Southeast asian. Akimitsu. An immortal who was elderly before he ever had his first death. A warm hearted artist. A man who had no inclination or talent with the sword. One of the pleasant memories in her head. He'd lived barely a hundred years before Marquez took him. She never could draw before killing Marquez. An odd feeling.

Breath has posed:
Breath circles, roaring like a jet, and comes descending in, blowing back and stirring up a lot of dust and debris along the unoccupied side of the roof as they brake and come in for a landing. Breath stumbles down, taking a few stumbling steps to right themself and avoid falling from the still a bit rough landing. Not that this is unexpected from "Next-level MacGyver stuff" wings. They pull their hands out of the grips, deflate the wings by sucking the air out through a tube, then waves, "Hiya!"

X-23 has posed:
There's another who happens to be frequenting roof-tops about the city, who happens to be at this very same location, not because she was tracking a suspicious winged person. But because she just happened to be there, currently peeking from around a huge fan, peering at Breath as she approaches Clarine. Don't just everybody spy on people like that?

Hoodlum has posed:
If she knows Laura's curiosity and presence, Clarine doesn't let on right away. Instead, her sword is snatched up, and slid up into the back of her hoodie. How it fits is anyone's guess. It's too big. But there's not even a bulge. She holds her arms out wide as if beckoning the woman over for a hug. "How's the lgbt center handling things? Your patch job saved me a whole day of healing, hun. What's up with your..." She eyeballs the wings,"... your rough landing?"

Breath has posed:
Breath grins, "So far? Everything is going really well! Um, well, I just have some cheap tools and stuff to work with, and I'm not an engineer, so.. they're kind've rough. really rough. And not even or well made. I'm hoping I can get some design help soon, though.." She idly pushes some plastic back into the side of the backpack, since they don't fold up very well really, and they seem like they get more awkward every hour they are used. "What are you up to? Any thoughts on stuff? Uhm.. I don't know what all you do, or need or whatever yet."

X-23 has posed:
Laura has heard enough of the conversation to surmise neither of these two are Facility or Weapon X affiliated, so she steps out from her cover and approaches them, pointing at Breath's wings and without so much as a 'hello' directly asks, "military grade or self made?"

Hoodlum has posed:
"I might be able to help clear up a few things, but I'm not a Stark or a Richards by any means. I could ask my mentor." A pause,"What I do? I can't really... die permanently and I'm... pretty old, depending on who you ask. Some minor tricks here and there. Mostly just really good in a fight." Which is an understatement. Countless life-times of fighting and killing piled into her head. Fighting she does VERY well. Not the time for it now though. Instead, the girl eyeballs the backpack,"I was thinking of keeping the black theme. Maybe get a cape. Keep a hood. Some leather. I like edgy, and at my height, I'm going to look intimidating anywa-" Then Laura just marches up,"... Okay. Well. This is happening."

Breath has posed:
Breath blinks. "Self-made, totally. I mean, half of the stuff I used was from a dollar store. It shows.." They bite their lip a bit and glance at Clarine for what she's doing, sort've mincing one foot behind the other femininely for a second while just generally sinking a bit. "Uh, So.. I'm the Breath, who are you?" Hands sort've vaccilate between being on guard and a meek wave, settling for 40/60 in favor of the meek wave.

X-23 has posed:
"Your wing fabrication is impressive, are you a skillful engineer?" Laura takes some interest, who knows, if the girl managed to devise the wings, maybe Laura could rely on her for some useful gadgets when a need arises. "Do you also do custom work?" But then comes the dollar store remark, leading Laura to frown, "won't pass milspec." She sounds disappointed, and then builds on that unpleasantness with a bluntly remarked, "Breath is not a very intimidating codename."

Hoodlum has posed:
The woman wrinkles her nose at Laura, and begins to circle her. Marquez leaps to the forefront behind her eyes. Centuries, perhaps millenia of predatory grace and skill suddenly finding its way behind her steps and posture as she looks Laura up and down,"There's a strength in it being dollar store make. Easy to replace, and cheap too, if you get it destroyed. Plus noone asks when you buy the parts. Ideal for clandestine shenangians." Not that she asked, but Clarine decides to introduce herself,"I'm the Hoodlum. You haven't introduced yourself, though, Miss Sneaky. You looking to hire our little engineer, here?"

Breath has posed:
Breath uhhs.. "No..." She blows into a tube by her collar and inflates her wings in a single puff.. they're a bit ragged and leaky. "It's better than 'Suck', 'Puff', 'Blow', or anything else like that.." She shrugs a bit. "I'm not much of an engineer, not like.. um.. just about anybody with gadgets. I just sort of trial and error it a lot."

X-23 has posed:
"You have skills," Laura comments as she notes Clarine's body language, the movement and grace belie the level of training and Clarine's handling of herself. But she shakes her head at the question, "with what I'm facing, less than milspec is folly." She isn't even going to argue something she finds no point in arguing, she has her share of training, experience and ridiculous field work. She knows what she's comfortable relying on and what not. After all, there's a reason milspec is milspec.

She doesn't prolong what she considers a needless exchange, and instead nods at Breath with appreciation, "your skill is impressive. Especially with such flimsy material. Trial and error is a solid method of learning."

Finally, with Hoodlum points out she hasn't introduced herself, Laura simply notes, "correct."

Hoodlum has posed:
"You don't give yourself enough credit. It's impressive work. Especially considering the stuff you pieced it together from." As for Breath's name,"Also, you failed to consider that she might not want to be intimidating. Not everyone does. Frankly, a lot of people, like me, are really grateful for her support. She's kind of been protecting our community for... a while." Clarine lifts an eyebrow at Laura,"So do you. Have skills I mean. Different reason, though. The question is, what are you facing that needs milspec materials. Maybe we can help if it endangers the public good." A pause. And then a heaved sigh,"Please introduce yourself. Using your nome de guerre, I'd assume."

Breath has posed:
Breath uhms.. "Yeah, I don't want to have to just use 'Hey you'. I mean, I might start getting creative or something, and then you'd get all hissy because I would come up with something that sounds dumb, and then everybody would get mad and it would just be a total waste of a good mood, right? And yeah, I'm not really 'intimidating' material. I'm just some girl, you know? And mostly I deal with punks and bullies, anyways. Except for, you know, pepperspraying Darkseid with a giant spitwad that one time, stuff like that."

Breath has posed:
Breath coughs and scrapes the ground with her foot embarrassedly at that. because that's obviously something that doesn't seem like it belongs in that explanation.

X-23 has posed:
"Having an intimidating moniker is very useful, I fail to see a reason to forego such an edge," Laura notes as Clarine notes not all codenames are made to instill fear. As Clarine hypes up Breath, Laura listens quietly and shrugs, she's not about to refute something she doesn't know. Looking directly at Clarine, Laura seems to consider the request, before simply stating, "it is irrelevant to the public. It is outside your sphere of community support." Which is what she assumes these two are up to, she knows about vigilanties, and just takes them as such. "Why is it important to introduce myself?" She wonders aloud, before turning fully to face Breath.

She seems to sympathize far more with Breath's very simple way of putting it, and eventually states faintly, as if she didn't really care to be heard. "Laura."

Hoodlum has posed:
She tries another tactic,"Your estimation of the usefulness is a generalized statement. You're making assumptions that the end goals and motivations are the same. That's a flaw in planning. We simply value other things more. In her case, she values community trust which is often countered by fear and intimidation." A pause. "Anyway, I mean our community as in me and her. The LGBT+ crowd." She makes a face. "Actually, I suspect you don't really care about all that." Another pause,"Did you just tell us your real-" Wait, back up,"You did WHAT to Darkseid? HOLY CRAP. Way to bury the lead!"

Breath has posed:
Breath blushes and shrinks mousily a bit. "K...ind've? With a twenty foot long straw? I don't know how much it did with all the crazy stuff going on. But like.. I helped. With a hot sauce spitball." She nods some and waves again, "Okay, hi Laura! She pronouns, right? Um.. Anyway, yeah. I'm, like, support. I leave the scary names to people like Ms. In your Face Swordy Swordness here."

X-23 has posed:
Laura AKA X-23 is one of the foremost assassins in the world, has been since she was 11 years old. She's an expert in all sorts of subterfuge, warfare and security skill sets. Mastered a shocking number of martial arts, killing technique and languages. Normal, everyday stuff like that term Clarine just tossed her way? Utterly alien to that. It just didn't matter, having zero affect on her ability to kill better. "Who are the LGBT+ crowd? Are they affiliated with A.I.M.? Hydra? SHIELD? Hand?" She spews a few possible affiliations, she finds it unnerving there's a shadowy group she is unfamiliar with. Always a risk, after all, they might be working for the Facility or Weapon X after all. The best laid trap is the least expected one. She already takes a few steps back from Clarine and Breath, looking at the two very suspiciously.

There's barely a hint of motion as Laura considers the two in a different light altogther, Clarine with her experience might not Laura is in a flight or fight mode. She eyes Breath weirdly when she speaks of pronouns, and then snaps, "tell the LGBT+ they'll be making a grave mistake coming after me!" And just like that she bolts light lightning, rushing all the way to the edge and leaping straight down from the building. That ought to be quite suicidal, but should any bother to look, it seems she oddly slows down her fall by pressing her hand to the side of the building where sparks fly like crazy. Claw-like traces left at the side of the building, before she lands nimbly on her feet and shortly disappears. Talk about a strange little girl.

Hoodlum has posed:
Her hand rises up as if to ask Laura to hold. She crouches, as if to run after her... then just lets it go. She seems to deflate almost before their very eyes. "I've had men and women run off when I tell them I'm trans, but THAT has gotta be, like... the most unique trans-panic I've ever been treated to. I only recognized a handful of those monikers." She plops her face into her hand and more fully turns to Breath,"I'm a dick, aren't I. I scared her off. She seemed like she kind of needs some help..." A sigh,"I hope she'll be okay. But seriously... how did you not crap your pants and WHERE did you get a 20-foot straw?"

Breath has posed:
Breath drops her jaw. "....What. The heck. O...kay. That was weird. WEIRD. Double-you, E, eye, arr, fricking D, WEIRD. Aaa-nyways! Uhhh... RIGHT! Uhm.." She looks over at Clar. uhs, "It was a length of pipe, and he was, you know, kind of distracted what with getting punched by a bunch of gods and goddesses and stuff? And getting kicked in the boy bits by Stardust. He squeaked. Uhm.... I hope she's okay...?"

Hoodlum has posed:
"Darkseid? Okay? Who cares? If it's okay to punch nazi's, well Darkseid is Like Mega-Space-Nazi 2000-X, plus 20. So, I think we're good not worrying about his welfare." Clarine has miss the point, by now. The girl begins tugging down her scarf though, as if suddenly having made a decision, followed by her hood, and her mask,"You wanna get something to eat Miss Fancyboots? You can tell me more about the fight and help me rebrand something proper, because right now, I find I'm mostly copying others at this point."

Breath has posed:
Breath nods, "Sure! Um, what were you thinking? You have a favorite around here or something? And, uhm.. I never really got what your thing is yet.. or what you want people to think your thing is. I don't know if it's the same."

Hoodlum has posed:
"Oh. Um. Yeah. I can't really, you know... Die for the most part. And I'm pretty old. Sort of. Plus... a few other tricks." She shrugs, hands spread outward, and then she sticks her hands in her pockets,"I keep the swords because I'm good with them, but I guess I sort of want people to think I'm just some crazy sword-wearing vigilante running around like crazy." The girl thinks, and then asks gently,"You like restaraunt-quality ramen?"

Breath has posed:
Breath tilts her head andlifts her shoulder to meet it. "You know.. if I hadn't been eating way too much garbage quality ramen lately, I would jump on that? But right now I think I need some protein and fiber. Vegetables. I mean, I TRY to keep eating healthy like I did when I was on the team, but I have to pay for it first, too.. and they closed the gas station for a few days when the city was getting blown up. What kind of sword is that?"

Hoodlum has posed:
The girl waves her hand like she were making a magic trick and comes out with a large, wavey-bladed sword, and a hatchet in her other hand. A very strange magic trick. She seems to almost pull them from beneath her hoodie, in fact,"It's cool. I know a pretty good North Indian food place if you prefer. I'll even spring for Laasi. Anyway, it's called a flamberge, technically. I just call it a broadsword, though." She actually flips it in her hand, grabbing it by the blade and offering it to Breath to hold,"Go ahead. It's a pretty good sword, but farm from irreplaceable. The guy who taught first taught me to fight was a former viking. I've had... hundreds of teachers, lets say. The truth is... complicated." Yeah. She's hiding SOMETHING. You were on a team? That sounds fun."

Breath has posed:
Breath nods and examines the sword, obviously lacking any knowledge of swords, before handing it back not having gleaned very much. "A viking? This doesn't look like a very viking sword..? yeah, I don't know too much about any of that.." She blinks and looks up at the food talk, and pauses a moment to think. "Oh yeah, Indian is awesome! I mean, the teeny bit I had was good, so, y'know. The GOOD stuff has to be good. Not like it would be BAD and turn GOOD because somebody cooked it WRONG, right? And oh, not really THEN, things kind of went crazy, so I don't.. really feel like that was very team-y. Well, not for ME anyhow. The god types had something going on. Then, ah.. I ended up banged up really bad because they WON. Suuucked."

Hoodlum has posed:
"It's NOT a very viking sword. My people live for a long time. We pick up a lot of... bladed weapons. This blade IS extremely well-made, even if it's not very replaceable. It's kind of a coming-of-age-rite to provide a blade to your pupil. This was from one of HIS enemies. And while he favors a more standard sword and axe configuration, he had untold lifetimes of experience with many weapons. So he made me pick out a hatched and kludged the whole 'sword and axe' thing together to fit me. I think he picked a flamberge because it HURTS when someone holding one parries you." She takes the sword back and disappears her weapons. "Let me know if you ever want to pick up some fighting skills. Swords. Knives. Unarmed combat. Though your flying ability is like a crazy awesome advantage. You make good use of it, huh?" A pause. She starts walking to the roof exit. Yes. She uses the stairs when she doesn't have to. "I don't imagine those god-types are very...good at playing well with us... low folk. I have less than flattering memories of them." A pause,"You going in in costume? Or you need a moment to dress out?"

Breath has posed:
Breath mmmhs.. "I can do either way. I mean, I can change if you want, I just don't want people connecting too many dots if there's any TERFs or anything around. but, you know, if you're just being you, out shopping style, I guess..?" She gestures indecisively, looking to you for an opinion. "I'm pretty decent with boxing and wrestling. And some judo. I got jumped a lot when I was little. Then I started winning and they wanted me on the wrestling team, and then, well.. turns out the team didn't really mind me being the team's token chick. Do you know anything about blowguns?"

Hoodlum has posed:
"I would suggest you go ahead and wears something... day to day. We'll just be a couple of ladies heading out to food. Do whatever you feel comfortable with, though. I've resigned to being a spectacle most of the rest of my life anyway." She strips her hoodie off and goes looking for a backpack hiddennext to the roof exit to stuff it in. She's got a black band shirt there, Tool. She makes for a very... muscular lady and she appears all too awkward without her 'costume' on. "Judo. Not bad. Boxing, wrestling. Call me Clair out of costume, okay?" As for blowguns? The girl rolls her eyes up, thinking about it, then raises them in surprise,"Apparently I do. There was this lady, Maricella... Actually, doesn't matter. She was awful, but I learned a lot from her. Why do you ask?"

Breath has posed:
Lyssa nods and starts stripping down and changing since.. both trans girls, right? "Uhm, because I have enough lung power to get a 747 up to take off speed, duh? I mean, that spitball made windows rattle." She digs out clothes out of the backpack and starts stuffing things into it, then crams it into a duffle bag. "Got it, Claire. I'm Lyssa."

Hoodlum has posed:
Well. She wasn't expecting THAT. She 'aaaaawe's. Literally. "You. Are. Adorable. Lyssa." She holds out her own hand with a bit of a smile. Clarine combs her hair back with her fingers and examines the girl's face, a smile on her own,"Aaaah, red. I can usually get away with a purple, but I need all sots of concealer and powder to make read work. Gotta admit I envy your figure." Self-conscious of her size in the extreme,"That makes sense, but... you'll need a non-standard blowgun to make use of your breath. So not-so-duh. Most blow-guns are made of lightweight materials. They work by putting a tight-fitting dart, usually, in a small-bore pipe and building up pressure until the pressure exceeds what is needed to drive the dart at speed. Normally about forty feet, max, but... You could probably snipe with them. The problem is, those lightweight materials would normally shatter with the kind of force you're talking about." She leans over to the roof exit to pull open the door for the woman.

Breath has posed:
Lyssa grins and twirls, then takes your hand and follows. "Yeah, so something more like a.. a shotgun barrel or something. I dunno, something useful. Getting it long enough might be the hard part.." She grins and looks up at you, "Why thank you! So sweet." She drifts through and looks around, before stepping lightly down the steps. "Yeah, I know.. Just, I have a hard time dealing with armored stormtroopers and stuff so far.."

Hoodlum has posed:
She'd probably skip along if she didn't have so much differential in height. It's still an interesting tableau, though. The pair, oddly made in size and shape, traipse through the three story building, careful not to bother the sleeping or anxious homeless they pass on the way towards the exit. "Adorable. Yeah. The longer the pipe, the better the... I'm so stupid. Forget blowguns. We fight crime, right..." She's murmuring, pitching her voice to keep the thing private,"It's only a matter of time before we run across a high-powered rifle. We snap the barrel off, empty some slugs from its rounds. The barell's going to have rifling already built in, which will make it more accurate. You can just put the slugs in, and blow them at various speeds depending on whether you need to stun, or crack a nut. Why try to innovate when someone's already solved the problem for you. You can probably blow harder than any standard gun can fire anyway, I'm willing to bet. All that power packed into a precision engineered barrel... There you go." She offers a smile,"So... There's a man... if something happens to me someday... His name is Jason... I'll leave instructions for him to let you know. My... people live pretty dangerous lives. I wouldn't want someone as nice as you wondering why I disappeared. It's just... there's a pretty high chance that... My people either lead very long, or very short lives, and not a whole lot in between."

Breath has posed:
Lyssa uhms.. "That sounds really bad. Are people hunting for you? What are they looking for? Maybe if you look like a red herring, they'll miss you? Uhh.."

Hoodlum has posed:
The girl actually bumps her hip against the other girl, hedging her answer,"Yes, they're hunting me, but... Given time, every one of us will find one another. It's... how it works. On the upside... it's nearly impossible for us to sneak up on one another, but..." She shakes her head a little bit. Clair makes a face. "My people rarely get along with one another. When one of your tribe is the only thing that can kill you, it means your tribe is not a comforting refuge. And I'm YOUNG. Plus our genes are just PACKED full of homicidal instincts. It's not a formula for a stable population."

Breath has posed:
Lyssa smiles. Okay, so we're presenting as token lesbians? Okay, she can do that. She snuggles in a bit more. "Oh, that sounds horrible. Okay." She looks down and stops, chewing her lip a bit, uncomfortable. "Okay. Wow. Uhm.. okay, I don't know how to come back from this topic. A-nything else?"

Hoodlum has posed:
Apparently she's decided 'butch' is better than 'clocked' in this case. Clarine's expression is distant as she leads the way towards the restaraunt and out the door of the building,"Well... The good news is, even though some of us are RAGING jerks, that instinct doesn't apply to normal humans. We ever fight together, and you see me go down, dump my body back at holy ground." She doesn't explain why. "People like you are why I got into being a vigilante. I'm kind of a weirdo for opting out of the fighting the others except where necessary." The fishes out a coin and dances it over the back of her knuckles,"I guess what I wanted to say is, I want people to remember I existed, if the worst ever happens. There. Done with depressing topics." She smiles in her suddenly awkward way, and looks at the other woman where she's stopped,"I promise you ALL the naan. And maybe a shopping trip for clothes, next week when things are settled. I can't shop off the rack and I would LOVE to decimate my mentor's credit cards for once."

Breath has posed:
Lyssa nods. Still gets clocked a LOT, so your plan might be less than perfect in that regard. "Right. Does, like, ULC stuff count? because that takes, like, five minutes to get. I don't know how I would make a place holy though. Maybe I should look that up? Hmmmh.." She blinks and ooOooOooohs, eyes getting big. "Clothes? Oh, em, gee, I need more of those, I don't even go in Salvation Army much because.. hey, do those count? Because they're jerkfaces and all."

Hoodlum has posed:
The girl suddenly laughs delightedly,"It literally just has to be any land that was ever held holy by anyone almost ever. But it has to actually be considered sacred. It's kind of like... not even the most evil douche I know among my peope would break that taboo. The kind you don't come back from." Clarine bows and gestures down the road,"We'll go to a REAL clothes place, pick out something you actually like. I have to order all my stuff online for the most part." Apparently when you sympathize with someone, is hard to really see them the way the rest of the world does.