6233/Not Welcome Here

Not Welcome Here
Date of Scene:	20 January 2019
Location:	Gotham City
Synopsis:	A new mutant comes into being - and is in the wrong place. Spoiler to the rescue with help from Iceman!
Cast of Characters:	Iceman, Spoiler

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Iceman has posed:
It had started off as a good day for Marie Pollitt. She had woke up, a few days after her fourteenth birthday and had permission from her parents to go see a new exhibit at the Museum of Primitive Art. There was new artwork on display, prints on Buffalo, that she had thought was the neatest thing she had seen in a while.

However, about in the middle of the display, she started to feel funny. Ill, even. As she ran to the bathroom, she looked in the mirror and found that her skin had turned a dark grey color and was cracking. But she didn't feel pain. Instead, she looked down at her hands in horror as her hands started to do the same. Coming out of the bathroom, her skin had taken on a complete rock-like hewn. Which of course, in Gotham, draws the usual response. Screams, panic, and a couple of trigger happy security guards that scared her out into the streets.

Once there, it got worse - some of the local gangbangers had seen the girl with her new appearance and had started to give chase to the girl down a small alley. There was facetime videoes and other pictures of her online, and the police scanners are going off. As for Marie, she has taken refuge inside an abandoned store, where outside, a small gang has gathered, and are currently getting together any improvised weapons then can. "Freak! Mutie! Get out of Gotham!" they are yelling, throwing bricks through the window, and sending the young girl scurrying further back into the store.

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie Brown had been in the museum too. Not to look at that exhibit however. She was looking at the display of ancient American artifacts that have been uncovered in and around Gotham City over the centuries. The artifacts that tie the city back to early human habitation in the region. Admittedly it was mostly for a class assignment. But Steph also found the ancient tools, arrow and spear heads and crude but functional bowls or pottery to be fascinating.

Then there were screams and panic. With a frown and quiet sigh, she made her way toward the wing of the museum where the situation was unfolding. She missed seeing the 'thing' as some were calling it but had a good idea 'it' had fled. She ducked out, herself. Hearing the shouts of the gang members down the alleyway, the blonde followed. There wasn't time to change into her Spoiler armor even though she had it in her backpack. She just wanted to get closer to the gangers to make sure they weren't going to hurt someone. Or themselves. Even if she might end up hurting them. But that's how this game gets played.

Iceman has posed:
"Go away!" comes the cry from the girl from within the building.

Noone really expected that to work, right? With the small group - five of them total - focused on the girl in the building, none of them notice the blonde behind them.

Oustide, the group is making a decision, and finally, one of them grabs a crowbar. "I'll get her out. Chase her to you all!" he announces boldly as he grabs a bat and starts to move into the building. "Comon out, Rocky, we just want to plaaaay." he says with singsong tone as the others start to prepare for the scared girl to be chased out.

Above, in the skies near the building, there's a new figure; this one on a slide of ice as Bobby Drake, aka Iceman, as he moves closer to the small decimated area to try to find the new mutant that he's being directed towards by Cerebro.

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie Brown frowns. Yeah. This isn't good, and it won't get better. Ducking around a corner, she ran to the building next door. It was also abandoned and easy to slip inside. She found a small office and a back room where she quickly changed. It was still hard to believe that her new armor was just as easily compacted into her backpack as her old non-armored costume that was little more than a body suit and cloak. Tech is amazing.

Clicking her bandolier into place and tugging her cloak hood down, Spoiler emerged and slipped into the building where the poor girl was being chased. A floor above, she began to make her way down the fire stairs, mindful of walking right into anyone in the building with her.

Iceman has posed:
The store was one of those small two story department store types that was popular back in the late 50s and early 60s. A small open area in the middle of the store allowed for a small gazebo style area that was very popular at the time, for setting displays that went across both floors. It's still decorated from the last time it was in business, the 'Going out of Business Sale, Everything Must Go' banners floating lazily in the dusty and stale air.

With the first ganger in the building, others start to enter, fanning out to try to find the new mutant. The girl is cowering behind a counter that has 'Pharmacy' sign still hanging over it. One of the gangers jumps on the counter, yelling down. "FOUND YOU!" he cries out with glee.

The girl screams and tries to back away from the gang-banger as she trembles. "Just go away! HELP! Please!"

Hearing the scream on an accompanying building, Bobby turns his attention towards the noise. "Dammit." he hisses under his breath, using an ice slide to get down quickly from the building that he was on to get into the building that everyone else is in.

Spoiler has posed:
Spoiler slipped down the stairs and out into the main floor behind one ganger. She wastes no time in taking him down. It's one less to worry about she thinks as she wraps a sleeper hold around his neck and he slowly crumples to the floor. She eases his limp form back into the firestair well and lays him down before tie wrapping his hands behind his back. Someone will find him. Sooner or later.

Then she moves back out just as the screams come fast and panicked.

"Crap."

Running has never been so easy as in these new boots. <Wow. They weren't kidding. These soles make no more noise than a cat> Spoiler thinks to herself before rounding a corner to scan the section of the store the screams come from. Most is open and largely empty. It has to be the pharmacy space. hard to get there without being seen though. Figures.

Iceman has posed:
The first ginger gangbanger goes down in the embrace of the blonde, collapsing to the ground to be dragged away. One down, four to go.
The guy leaps down from the counter, bringing his bat down against the girl with a solid crack. While it doesn't hurt the girl, it's enough to illicit a scream from her as she balls herself up. "Stop! Please!" she yells between wails of panic. She may not know she can't be hurt at the moment, but the fear is plantive.

On the opposite side of the store, Bobby finds himself coming around the corner and face to face with a crowbar yielding ginger. "YARGH!" the ganger yells, swinging his crownbar at the man of ice.

Bobby is able to bring up a large block of ice on his arm to cause it to deflect away the crowbar. "How about you pick on someone your own size." he offers to the man.

Then he smashes the remains of the block against the side of the man's head, taking him out as he moves to wrap him up in a small set of ice binds behind his back.

They'll melt in time.

Two down. Three to go.

Spoiler has posed:
Spoiler uses that distraction - the ganger yelling at an unknown target - to sprint across the open floor space. A dark gray, purple, black blur with highlights of golden yellow. It's a color coordinated blur at least. She slides to a stop just under the counter the ganger recently vaulted. Hearing him attack the girl who screams, she wastes no more time. Rolling up and over the counter she extends her staff at the same time. "Sorry. Pharamcy's closed, sparky. Time for you to leave or be spitting out the few good teeth you have from your stretcher." The staff clicks as it locks open and she spins it easily in her right hand.

"Your move. Junior."

Iceman has posed:
The ganger makes his decision. "You ain't even a Robin, sweetheart, much less a Bat." he sneers as he turns from the girl and comes charging in, bringing his bat over his head to rush at Stephanie and try to bring it down on the blonde's head.

The new mutant uses this chance to try to run, a scrawling noise of rocks as she tries to pull herself up.

The remaining two gangers hear the noise, and one of them draws a gun. "We're going to get serious now."

Bobby moves from where he was and towards the open. "Hey boys, I think someone said the store's closed. Maybe come back during normal business hours." he offers before teh gun armed ganger takes a shot towards the ice covered mutant, sending up an ice wall that absorbs the bullet.

Spoiler has posed:
Spoiler figured he'd go for her. She counted on it. "You're right. I'm Not." As he gets close she drops down, left foot sliding forward, right knee bent as she dips her head under the clumsy yet powerful attack. Her left foot sweeps back, the heel catching behind his right while her left fist drives into that same knee from the side with enough force she expects him to tumble to the floor even while she's pushing off her right leg to bounce back up to her own feet. ".. but here's a Spoiler alert. I've trained with them. And I've dealt with real threats. You? You're just a bully trying to scare the smaller kids at a McDunkin's play space."

Stepping back, she resets and watches the ganger, "Feel like trying again?"

Iceman has posed:
Hitting the ground as the ganger is taken down for the first time, he hits the ground and his face hits the counter. He wipes at his bloody nose, his attention turns back to the girl. "Bitch." he says with a spit.

Of course he's going to try again. He tries to bum rush the girl, and hit her in the midsection in a body tackle to try to take her to the ground.

The gun toting ganger turns to where Stephanie is standing and levels his pistol at her. "Deflect this." He doesn't care about his buddy - he just wants to shoot someone.

However, before he's able to find, he suddenly finds his lower half encased in ice that rises off the ground to trap his arm. "The lady's already in a dance, it'd be rude to cut in." Bobby comments, glances towards Spoiler. "Don't mind if I do, though." he offers towards her, before glancing around, as it seems the last ganger is decided that fleeing is the better part of valor.

Spoiler has posed:
Spoiler didn't see the gun toting ganger as he was across the room. Her armor was bullet proof up to large caliber hand guns but she wasn't shopping around to try and prove it or anything.

The ganger attacking her does manage to tackle her around the waist so she falls backward with the momentum even as her mystery team-mate focuses on the gun using ganger.

Falling through the pharmacy door with a horrific noise, Spoiler rolls to get out from under her attacker before they hit the floor - while jerking her right knee upward toward a location certain to get the ganger's attention.

Iceman has posed:
And it's a direct hit to the crown jewels. The ganger gives a whoof of air and a panicked cry that turns into more of a squeak as he doubles over, releasing Spoiler to give the woman more room to move.

In the meantime, Bobby has found the mutant in question and leans down. "Hey. You alright?"

The girl looks up and finds herself looking at a man made of ice.

And she screams again.

Spoiler has posed:
Spoiler rolls away from her opponent and onto her feet again. She closes in on his doubled over form and, like last time, she goes for the effective take down of wrapping her arm around his neck and squeezing. "Time to go down for you nap. Guess what? You're gonna wake up behind bars. Sorry to spoil the ending for you" She says as The girl is faced with another threat from the sound of it as she screams.

Iceman has posed:
The man gasps for several breaths, struggling against Stephanie, before he finds himself drifting off to sleep. Apparently her hugs are just that dangerous.

Bobby frowns as he finds himself being screamed at, and he waves his hands. "Whoa, whoa, I'm here to help!" he says to her, as he drops the ice facade, and into his regular X-Men uniform. "I'm one of the good guys. And like you."

"You're.. I'm a.. but you're a mutant!" the girl says in a wail, locking her arms around her knees.

"I know I am." Bobby offers sympathetically. "And I'm here to help you."

"I'm one too." she says quietly. "I just found out today." Tears roll down her cheeks, leaving streaks on her granite features.

Spoiler has posed:
Spoiler zip ties this ganger's wrists too then moves quickly toward the girl but hearing relatively calm voices, she slows as she rounds the corner as the man of Ice turns into a human. "... huh. X-men in Gotham. Pretty sure Mr. Tall Dark and Cranky won't be happy about that..." it's a cheerful tone at least?

Looking to the girl, Spoiler shakes her head, "No. You're just You. We all have things we discover about ourselves. Easy or hard."

Iceman has posed:
"Cerebro sent out the alert. I happened to be across the river at the time." Bobby responds, glancing over his shoulder towards Spoiler. "But I'll send him a cake if it'll make him feel better." There's a slight smirk at that, as he turns his attention back to the girl.

"The police are on their way.." Already, one can hear the sirens of the GCPD in the distance. "..but after they're done talking to you and your friend here.." he gestures to Spoiler. "..if you want, there's a place for you. I know someone that will be in touch."

There's a small smile at Spoiler's words, but it's a bittersweet one. "We're just us. Until everyone else decides to label us." he says towards the purple clad girl. "Thanks for the assist. I take it you got it from here? I know not only the cowls ain't happy to see mutants around here."

Spoiler has posed:
Spoiler snickers at the cake. "I'd pay to see that. But no. Pretty sure it wouldn't make him any happier. No matter what your reasons were. me? I'm glad you were here." She looks to the girl then back to Bobby, "honestly? you're more legit than I am. the Boys in Blue don't care for vigilantes too much. You've got sanction at least. I hope?" she admittedly doesn't know how that all works but she sure hopes he has more influence than she would. "I'm more likely to end up in a cell with these clowns then I am to get them to listen to my statement of events here.."

Iceman has posed:
"Just stay with her til the police arrive. And then you can do your disappearing act." Bobby has no idea how the Gotham City Police are going to react to him. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a small card, and hands it to the child.

The cops are right outside, and Bobby glances towards Spoiler. "Go." he finally decides to Spoiler. "See you around?" he asks her. Sure, he can't see her face, but she sounds cute at least, even with the attempt at a growl.

Spoiler has posed:
Spoiler nods and stands near the girl curled up on the floor. "Don't worry. They'll look after you." Her voice is quiet and reassuring. As the police arrive she offers wave to the girl and a nod to the Xman. "I'm Spoiler by the way. And.. maybe!" she offers vaguely. And then she turns and ducks into the fire stair well again and disappears just as GCPD enters.