3867/Discussions and denunciations, mysteries and misunderstandings

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Discussions and denunciations, mysteries and misunderstandings
Date of Scene: 13 February 2018
Location: A grocery store near Mutant Town, NYC
Synopsis: Vicky catches up with the Shadow, looking for some answers...
Cast of Characters: Shadow, Redstar




Shadow has posed:
    Harry Dravis is not having a good day. He doesn't think of himself as a bad person; just a businessman who does what he has to to keep his store running. And when there's a sudden shortage in food, and you're sitting on a lot of it, well, raising prices is just good economics, right? Charge what the market will bear, and anyone who complains can try shopping somewhere else. Especially those Mutie freaks, who gave tem permission to live this close to proper people?

    Unfortunately, the shadowy figure lifting him one-handed by his lapels while lecturing him on the evils of his greed and bigotry doesn't seem to see it that way...

    "...So here is what you're going to do, Harry," the figure continues. "Starting tomorrow you're going to charge the same price for bread that you charged last week, and the week before - and you will sell to anyone who comes into your store. Because if you don't... I'll be /back/."

Redstar has posed:
Vicky was not privy to anything leading up to the man being held by the lapels. Nor of knowing the prices in the store were near triple others. If she knew about his mutant-hating feelings she might not have even bothered, but Vicky felt...something. It wasn't quite right and it resonated weirdly in that other-sense.

~What...is -that-?~ Starr asked sounding revolted if anything. Vicky frowned as she pulled up in her flight, circling in slowly on the store itself. ~There, if you insist on getting closer...It's vile.~ The demon is oh so helpful.

"What is it?" Vicky asks with a frown as she comes to land lightly outside the door of the store. Her eyes peer through and she sees the darkness hoisting the man. In an instant she is moving, a pale silvery-blue orb appearing over one hand. The door is kicked open, shattering as it flies at The Shadow, her new super strength still being adjusted too. A silent curse in her head and Vicky hurls the globe just past the darkness' head. "Put him down, creature!" She sounds fierce!

Shadow has posed:
    The figure's head whips around at the sound of the door shattering, and the hand not holding Harry is suddenly pointing a gun at Vicky's face. As her eyes adjust to the gloom she makes out more details -- familiar details. A tall figure, stronger than humanly possible, clad in black and cloaked in shadows, blurring making it all but impossible to tell which is which; A splash of crimson that might be a scarf covering the lower half of its face... And a very familiar pair of intensely bright blue eyes glaring at her.

Redstar has posed:
Vicky is totally taken aback by what she finds on the other side of the shattered door. The gun seems to not really worry her, eyes flicking to it only briefly before jumping to the blurring dark figure. The glare fades back to a puzzle frown. "I...know you," She says slowly. She takes a bold step towards Natasha. "You are..." Her head shakes and instead she turns her gaze on the terrified shop keeper.

"DEMON!" The man yells which earns a put-upon sigh from the teen.

"I get that a lot," She tells him before turning back to The Shadow. "Why are you hurting this man?" Might as well try to focus on her initial reason for busting down the door. Even if she didn't -mean- to bust it.

~Ahhh. That one. I recognize it now. It helped save the world from Father,~ Starr says softly.

Shadow has posed:
    "Do you? Then you have the advantage of me," the Shadow replies before briefly turning their attention back to the shopkeeper, and Vicky can almost feel the force of will rippling from the dark figure's next commands even though they're not aimed at her. "You will forget this discussion but not its contents. We were never here."

    The man's face goes slack as the Shadow's will slams into him, and the figure holds him a moment longer before letting go.

    Harry staggers as his feet hit the ground, his legs almost collapsing under the sudden resumption of weight, and he blinks and shakes his head as if snapping out of a daydream. "Huh?" he manages dumbly, then stares at the ruins of his front door. "... MY DOOR!" he yells, rushing out from behind the counter to surveil the damage. "What the hell happened to my door? Fuckin' vandals..." He sighs and starts cleaning up as best as he can, muttering to himself, apparently completely oblivious to the winged girl and shadowy figure still standing in his store even while he walks around Vicky while he sweeps the floor...

    "If you have something to discuss, we'll do it elsewhere," the Shadow suggests to Vicky as he starts walking out the doorway. "Keeping his mind clouded like this for longer than necessary can be harmful."

Redstar has posed:
"Huh. Nice trick," Vicky says with a bob of her head, eyeing the shopkeeper. While the shadows are a piercing blue hers are icy and they fall on the shop keep sweeping up. Out of curiosity she kicks his newly made pile to see what he does. "Huh." Then she looks up at The Shadow again. "I...mmmm...Roof?" She offers before stepping back out the door.

With a superhuman bound of strength she gets most of the way up to the roof. She does have to flare her wings for the last bit. She is still getting that precision leaping thing down obviously. So she lands a little ungracefully and smooths out her skirts. The action reminiscent of a cat that has just done the dump and is pretending nothing happened by grooming.

When the Shadow reappears her head snaps up and she frowns into the darkness. The spell Ares had cast upon her throbbed and blanketed her fear, her worry, her guilt, making it only a faint hum. So those dark things inside everyone are unable to be grasped even by The Shadow. After a moment she blinks and can see more clearly. "That...Starr says you helped against the demons. Thank you. But if you don't mind my asking...-what- are you?"

Shadow has posed:
    The Shadow's strength is more than an ordinary human, but not up to leaping tall buildings in a single bound. On the other hand, the storefront and drainpipe offer a multitude of handholds and support points that any halfway skilled traceur could clamber up quickly as a ladder, and the Shadow reaches the rooftop before Vicky quite finishes cleaning her skirts, releasing the masking effects to leave a solid black-clad figure with a carmine scarf covering their face.

    "You are welcome, miss Jones. But you will have to clarify that question," the figure replies with a curt nod of the head.

Redstar has posed:
Vicky reaches up and pulls a braid forward, a small one, to chew at the end. Her blue eyes begin to peer curiosly at The Shadow. "You...You set off something in side of me that I've only ever felt when creatures of darkness are near. I would say demons, but I've seen some shit recently and I don't want to be discrimanatory at this point. But now that I look at you, I see a person. It's a little confusing and puzzling."

The sound of the man sweeping the glass out into the street can be heard below and she turns to peer over the edge. "Why were you tormenting him? That...doesn't exactly seem like the thing someone who helped fight against demons would do...but then..." She remembers Selene. The Hellfire club until Starr blocked her out. It makes her snear in distaste.

Shadow has posed:
    "When the shortages started he tripled his prices -- and then doubled them again for any mutant customer. He also attempted to bribe the truck driver into handing over his entire load and leave his only competitor in five city blocks with empty shelves. Civilization teeters on the brink, and his only thought is to profit." The Shadow's eyes narrow, the only part of her face visible showing distaste.

Redstar has posed:
"Oh! Well...I am very sorry then. I'm a bit..." Vicky looks honestly chagrined as she speaks, "Jumpy. The blackout and my trainings and...things." Yes, things like spells meant to only last a few days burrowing deep into her being far more powerful than intended. Things like a strange and charismatic man named Magnus talking to her for hours about 'rights' and 'strength of purpose'. So many things changing the Victoria Jones that first came to New York into someone...something else.

Shadow has posed:
"This has not been a particularly good week for most people," The Shadow acknowledges with a nod. "I have been... Busy, lately." Emergency meetings and crisis measures and patching up a suddenly leaking ship with the equivalent of duct tape and sheer willpower, watching default penalties and late or missed delivery fees stack up because while everyone agrees that this isn't CMS' fault, those shipments they'd paid for are still late or not arriving... If Natasha were honest about herself, she'd have to admit that the news from one of her contacts about 'Harry' 's actions was a most welcome opportunity -- by comparison, this is a relaxing afternoon stroll...

Redstar has posed:
Vicky is quiet for a moment and then nods slowly, "Yeah, that is true. Well, thank you. If you and the others hadn't listened to a demon...I'd probably not exist anymore." As she finishes saying it she releases a breath. She hadn't actually faced that little facet of the whole thing yet.

~What are you doin- that is incredibly silly. I forbi-~ Starr's thoughts start in, sensing Vicky's impulses, but she doesn't really have a say as the girl turns. And Natasha can see, between the magic, the uncertain and scared teenager inside as she crosses the roof in two bounds intent on wrapping her arms around the other woman in a hug. Just a hug, nothing fancy. "Thank you," She says again in a small and tight voice.

Shadow has posed:
    Of all the possible outcomes and scenarios the Shadow had anticipated, this was very much not one of them; certainly no one ever hugged her Grandfather while he'd been out on 'business' -- well, except maybe her grandmother. A distant part of Natasha's mind makes a mental note to tease him about that sometime if the opportunity arises. For the moment, though, she simply returns the hug, responding not to the demoness or the possible mutant but simply to a scared young woman in need of a hug. "You are welcome," The Shadow replies, that sinister voice softer than usual - and this close, Vicky can almost make out the woman's voice underneath the scrambler, warm and melodious and full of compassion, at least for this stolen moment...

Redstar has posed:
Vicky doesn't even try to look up at her face, to break her mask, she just hugs her in a very tight hug. It seems she is at least a little better with her sense of strength in regards to other people. Vicky just stays there for perhaps a minute. Then she releases her and steps back, still staring at the ground, till she is about five steps away.

~That was so embarassing...~ Starr quips in annoyance. Vicky sniffs slightly and a smile flutters at her lips in amusement at the demoness.

"I...sorry," Vicky says and looks up to meet those piercing blue eyes again, wiping at her eyes with the back of a hand. There is some shyness there that wasn't before, strands of magic loosening just a bit. "I'll let you get back to doing your good. And try to be better about sticking my nose in."

Shadow has posed:
The Shadow lets Vicky hug her for as long as the girl appears to need it, clearly not /terribly/ hampered when the hug is a little tighter than human strength could have managed, then lets go just as she feels Vicky about to step out of it.

    "Don't worry about it," she replies with just a hint of amusement. "Sticking our noses in is what we do, after all..." She chuckles and turns, shadows rising up and blurring her outline in the growing gloom as she approaches the roof until even Starr's vision can't tell whether she jumped /off/ the roof to the ground below, or /across/ the alley to the next rooftop over.

    ... And it's only several minutes later that Vicky realizes she never actually answered the question she'd asked.

Redstar has posed:
Vicky realizes it after the strange...woman? has vanished. "Gods damn it!" And she huffs, kicking gravel, then launching into the sky. In her mind? Starr chuckles in amusement.

~I don't know if I hate it or like it...~

"Shut up."