7680/The Night Of The Quake

The Night Of The Quake
Date of Scene:	30 May 2019
Location:	New York City streets
Synopsis:	Zhao Lin saves Vanessa from attackers. Jean-Claude Van Damme was not harmed in the making of this scene.
Cast of Characters:	Copycat, Zhao Lin

---

Copycat has posed:
The earthquake was centered over in New Jersey, and while felt in New York, the damage in the city was nowhere near what Empire City took. The geologists interviewed on TV would go on about the differences between building on sediments versus bedrock, and the frequency of the P and S waves compared to the natural resonance of the bridges and buildings that were most heavily damaged.

But to people in New York? It was just a big shake, with plenty of accidents, broken windows, and disorder. Police were dealing all sorts of things that left them unable to respond to more normal matters. Like muggings and breaking and entering. Soon it turned to looting in a few areas of the city.

Vanessas Carlysle hadn't wanted to be out tonight. Her next door neighbor, an older Latina woman, couldn't get ahold of her niece though, and so Vanessa had volunteered to brave the streets to go check on her. After successfully finding her, Vanessa had gotten her to call her sweet old Abuela, and then began making her way back home.

The subways were offline, leaving Vanessa on foot as she didn't want to spare the money for a cab. Or, she didn't have the money to spare for a cab, to be more accurate. Not with rent being due in three days. Vanessa's short heels clicked softly on the sidewalk as she made her way down the street. Turning a corner, she passed nearer to an appliance store. The windows were smashed in, and even as she stood there, someone came running out carrying a television.

Vanessa hurried on past, turning down an alley to take a shortcut that would save her several minutes. Not noticing the small group of silhouettes that slipped into the alley behind her.

Zhao Lin has posed:
    There wasn't much in the alley aside from the usual trash bins and cardboard boxes, and felinoid man laying passed out on a pile of black garbage bags, clutching a canteen made from a gourd against his chest, and a hat covering his face. His ear twitches, almost in time with the footsteps of the woman walking past him. The group of four that had been shadowing her for a couple blocks passes by shortly after, paying no heed to the unconscious beggar sleeping in the alley.

    "What have we got here," one of them says, "Some pretty lady goin' out for a walk? Ain't you heard? There's all kinds of dangerous people in the city tonight." "Yeah," says another, "Cops are all backed up, they ain't got no idea which way to go. You could run into some real bad people in this neighborhood." The four of them grin and laugh, as they move quickly to get around Vanessa, surrounding her. "Where you goin', chica," one of them asks, "What's your hurry?" "Yeah, why don't you stick around a minute, maybe we can... escort you home, if you make it worth our while."

    Behind them, obscured by the shadows, Zhao Lin's hand lifts to pull the hat from over his face, enough that he can lift his head and peek towards the commotion. He shifts to sit up, slips, and tumbles out of the pile of trash bags with a clatter of glass bottles. The sound draws the attention from the group of hoodlums, but they don't pay the drunk any mind as he staggers to his feet, one hand supporting himself against the wall. Zhao Lin leans down to pick up his hat, putting it on top of his head, and then he grabs one of the empty glass bottles that rolled out of the trash with him. He peers into it, makes a sound of disappointment, and then tosses it over his shoulder casually. The shatter of glass causes the four men to look his way again, just as Zhao Lin is straightening up again.

    "Hey," he calls to them, as he uncorks the canteen, "Why not leave that nice lady alone? People are having enough trouble lately." He takes a few stumbling, uneasy steps forward, then pauses to take a deep drink from the gourd. It lasts several long moments, where the leopardine man is just gulping down liquid, enough that it dribbles from the corners of his mouth as well. The four men are ignoring him, but he doesn't notice until he lowers the glass again. They've turned their attention back to Vanessa, continuing to harass her, trying to grab at her, keep her trapped between the four of them.

    Suddenly, a glass bottle comes whipping from the drunk's direction, and smashes into the side of a hoodlum's head, shattering on impact! "HEY!" Zhao Lin's voice booms down the alleyway. He staggers a little, lifting his free hand to point sharply with two fingers at the hoodlums. "I said leave her alone-" He turns his fingers and points at himself. "-Or you deal with -me-."

Copycat has posed:
The pretty young woman doesn't pay any more attention to the drunk beggar than those behind her do. Too late, Vanessa notices the men behind her only when they dart forward to surround her. She takes a few hurried steps before she's overtaken and Vanessa realizes she is cut off. As the men began taunting her trying to intimidate her.... well, it works. But not enough to make Vanessa freeze.

She quickly digs into her small purse she had over her shoulder, and comes out with a small pistol. She waves it at the man who was sidling closest to her. He has a short hair cut and is extremely muscular and with a bit of a tan. "Ok, listen up, Jean-Claude van Day-um," she says to the man who kind of does resemble the old action star. "Cops are all backed up, but I'm as regular as a bran muffin, so don't make me use this," she says. That she's quipping doesn't mean she isn't scared though, and the hoodlums likely notice the way adrenaline is making her gun hand shake.

As Zhao suddenly gets involved, only the fact Vanessa didn't have her finger on the trigger saves Jean-Claude from getting shot. She jumps at the sound of the breaking glass, turning to see what happened.

Two of the men turn to face Zhao, expressions angry, while Jean-Claude points his hand at Vanessa. "Best put that away, bitch, or we're not going to play nice with you anymore." Meanwhile, those other two men advance on Zhao, chests thrusts out and arms drawn away from their bodies as they puff up to appear more intimidating. One of then picks up a length of two by four that is lying on a dumpster he passes, smacking it into a hand. "You messed with the wrong people, asshole!" he says as he advances on Zhao.

Zhao Lin has posed:
    Zhao Lin doesn't seem intimadated as the two men advance on him. Instead, he's taking another drink from his canteen, though his eyes never leave the pair. When he lowers it again he snorts derisively. "No," he says, "You're messing... with the wrong, uh... Fuck, nevermind." He pulls his hat off at whips it at the face of the unarmed man, and while he's distracted catching it, Zhao Lin dashes for the one with the two-by-four! The hoodlum takes a swing at him, no doubt, but it meets nothing but air as the martial artist drops down to his knees and bends over backwards, sliding right between his foe's legs! Behind him now, Zhao Lin twists around onto his hands, leaning back to give the hoodlum a hard double-kick right in the ass, shoving him forward!

    Zhao Lin rolls backwards as the unarmed man recovers and turns to fight him, but the leopard-man is back on his feet in an instant, and he snaps up into a fighting pose, back straight, feet together, both hands raised as though he were holding a pair of sake cups. The man throws some punches at him, but Zhao Lin is quick to stumble and duck and weave right out of the way of them. He still seems completely drunk, and every movement appears to be nothing more than a coincidence that his opponent is missing him completely. At one point, Zhao Lin even just bends down to pick up his hat when the guy swings at him! Zhao Lin siezes the opportunity of his enemy being off-balance, though, and grabs hold of him suddenly, hauling him across his shoulders! Straightening up, Zhao Lin gleefully exclaims, "WATERFALL!" Both hands shove the man up off Zhao Lin's shoulders, and he tumbles sideways down Lin's back in a rapid spin before hitting the concrete with a hard -smack-, breaking his nose.

    Zhao Lin giggles a little as he sets his hat back on his head, grinning drunkenly at the man who still carries the two-by-four. His buddy is groaning and clutching his bleeding face, and Zhao Lin takes a couple of stumbling steps towards the armed man. "Come on now," he says, "You can hit a drunk man, can't you?" There's another taunting grin, and the leopard-man tilts his head back to down another gulp of liquid from the canteen he still carries.

Copycat has posed:
As the fight ensues between the apparent drunk and the two younger hoodlums in the prime of their life, Vanessa is wincing for the man who is trying to come to her assistance, but also having to look away back to Jean-Claude to keep the gun on him and keep him at bay. Vanessa cringes as it looks like Zhao is going to get clobbered, only to coincidentally bend down to pick up his hat. "Look out!" she calls out to him at one part.

Jean-Claude meanwhile is just biding his time. His name really isn't Jean-Claude. It's Fenster. He always hated his name and convinced everyone to call him 'Chuck' instead. But none of that name stuff really matters, as he sees Vanessa distracted for long enough he makes a move. Rushing at her and dodging sideways in case she fires, he grabs at the gun.

The two of them fight over it, struggling for control of it. Vanessa throws a wicked elbow into his chest causing Jean-Claude - or Chuck - to wheeze. But he manages to wrench the gun from her hand now she only has one hand on it. The gun goes off once, the shot ricocheting off pavement before he gets it out of her hands completely. He backhands her and sends Vanessa tumbling to the ground. While his buddy occupies Zhao, Chuck moves forward to haul Vanessa to her feet by a handful of her hair.

Zhao Lin has posed:
    The sound of the gunshot alarms Zhao Lin, and he twists around to look in that direction. It doesn't look like anyone was -shot-, but Vanessa is in trouble, and Zhao Lin needs to help her -quick-! There's no more time for more elaborate maneuvers, and when the man swings the two-by-four at him again, Zhao Lin plants himself into horse stance, with a sharply exclaimed "Yah!" Every muscle in his body solidifies like rock, the fighter rooting himself in place like a mountain, and he takes the blow right to the side of the head with a sharp -crack- that breaks the wooden board in half. It doesn't seem to phase the drunken martial artist, the liquor coursing through his body heightening his pain resistance to superhuman levels. Without hesitation, Zhao Lin takes a step forward into the other man's reach, his swing having left him wide open. Zhao Lin delivers a powerful, rib-shattering punch right to the man's sternum. "HI-YAH!" An immediate burst of blood erupts from the man's mouth as he's hurtled backwards several meters, tumbling once before ending on his stomach.

    Zhao Lin turns, and a low growl comes from his throat. It isn't quite a natural thing for him - he's a mutant, not actually a cat - but he learned to do it for the sheer intimidation value. It certainly helps because it draws Chuck's attention. "Last chance," he warns, staggering his way closer to him and Vanessa. "Or you are gonna end up like your friends." There's a sharp glint in Zhao Lin's eyes even as he stumbles closer, uncorking his canteen again for another drink. Whatever's in there, it's definitely doing something more than just getting him drunk!

Copycat has posed:
Chuck pulls Vanessa up by her hair, the young woman a bit stunned from the blow which took her right on the cheek. He pulls her body in front of him like a shield, one arm wrapped about her, while the gun is held to her head. "Back. The. Fuck. Off." he tells Zhao as he staggers closer. "Or bitch is going to get another^^^ hole, one that even my friends won't want to make use of tonight," he says.

He takes a step backwards, pulling Vanessa with him. "Get up. Damn it boys, get up!" he says to his friends, but they are in various states of unconsciousness or writhing on the ground in pain. Vanessa's eyes are starting to clear finally. As the two of them back up, and Zhao shambles forward, he finally passes into a beam of light cast by a bulb above a back door in the alley.

Chuck sees his face and his eyes widen. "What the FUCK are you!?" he exclaims. The gun wavers away from Vanessa's head for a moment, and she ducks and stamps down on his insole, making Chuck cry out in pain and go off balance. She grabs his gun hand by the wrist and propels him forward over her shoulder in a jujitsu move, but one that is amateurish at best.

Zhao Lin has posed:
    It's enough of a toss that Zhao Lin can take advantage of it, though, and as soon as Chuck hits the ground on his back, Zhao Lin is right there to slam a fist down into his face. There's another -crunch- when the fist meets his nose, and it's clear that if the martial artist punched him any harder he might have crushed his whole face in. Hands still up and ready for a fight, Zhao Lin looks around him, but two of the men are unconscious, and the other two are writhing on the ground and bleeding something awful, all of them from their faces. Realizing the fight is over, Zhao Lin straightens his hat, and takes another drink. His attention shifts to Vanessa, and he smiles to her. "Nice throw," he says, his tail giving a lazy flick behind him as he nonchalantly steps over the unconscious Jean-Claude. "Did they hurt you?" he asks, "I heard the gun go off, you are not shot?" He arches his brow slightly, and he offers the canteen to her as well. It's full of a sweet-tasting, smooth-but-strong wine made from rice. "Baijiu. It will help calm your nerves," he tells her.

Copycat has posed:
The pretty brunette sways just a bit on her feet, still whoosy after the blow to her head. "It hit the street," she says of the shot as Zhao checks on her. Vanessa leans down to pick up the gun, flipping the safety off first thing and then straightening. She's wearing a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a blouse with a light jacket overtop of it, and she recovers her purse where it was dislodged during the struggle.

"Thanks, I haven't tried to do that to someone in... a few years," she says of his compliment to her jujitsu move. "Guess the guy who taught me wasn't /entirely/ good for nothing," she says. She pauses beside Chuck and looks down at the Jean-Claude look alike. She gives him a hard kick in the stomach. "Never did like your movies," she tells him. Vanessa turns back and gives him a second kick. "Except for Bloodsport. That one... was pretty good actually," she admits.

Vanessa takes a few steps away from him before she turns to look at Zhao more closely. The fur and his appearance stand out to her now, even with her head ringing. But she just says, "Thank you. Most people wouldn't have helped." Vanessa puts her hand up to her head, wincing a bit and shaking her head as if to try to clear it. "I'm Vanessa," she says.

Zhao Lin has posed:
    The reference, alas, goes right over Zhao Lin's head, as he grew up on the streets of a small Chinese city and is not a connoisseur of fine 80s action films. He doesn't say anything while Vanessa goes about kicking the guy a couple more times. He probably deserves it, for whatever else he's done or is going to do. Lin just takes another drink while he waits. When she turns to him he smiles again. "You are welcome," he says. His accent is very clearly Chinese, quite thick but his English is... passable, at least. "My name is Zhao Lin," he tells her, then pauses and adds, "Call me Lin." The snow leopard's tail sways slowly behind him, and he looks over his shoulder, in the direction that Vanessa had been walking before she was so rudely interrupted. "Do you live far from here?" he asks, turning back to her again. Once more he holds out the canteen to her, though it's only an offer - he's certainly not going to force her to drink or anything. As he does, he glances down to the men laying on the ground. He considers them for a moment. They don't seem like they're going to die, just have a bad couple of weeks due to their injuries. He nods once, then his eyes lift to Vanessa again. "We should probably go, they may have friends who will come looking for them. I can walk with you the rest of the way, if you would like," he offers.

Copycat has posed:
Vanessa Carlysle takes the canteen from Zhao Lin when it is offered. "Thank you, Lin," she tells him. She brings the canteen up to her nose, getting a sniff of the contents. "Baiju?" she says, repeating the word and looking to Lin to make sure that she has the pronunciation right. She takes a small sip of it at first. Then after, a few much bigger drinks. "Oh. Alright then, Lin. After an attempted... I'm going to just call it a mugging and not think about... anyway, after an attempted mugging, baiju is now my official go-to drink," she tells him.

Vanessa takes another sip and then passes the canteen back to him. "It's just about two blocks," she says, turning and motioning the way she was heading. Vanessa turns back and looks down for a moment, her tongue touching her lips, tasting the baiju. She looks back up and gives him a soft smile, one that the start of the bruise on her upper cheek can only slightly diminsh. "Thank you. I'd feel a lot safer if you would," she tells him. She motions towards the alley the direction she was walking, and will start moving again if he joins her. "So, I don't run into many people with your particular... hair style. From Mutant Town?" she asks. They aren't all that far away from Mutant Town, at that.

Zhao Lin has posed:
    Zhao Lin grins at Vanessa, and it's clear to see he doesn't have just the fur and the ears, but the fangs as well. "Baijiu," he corrects her, just once, and nods. "It is made from rice, I brew it myself. This is a special blend, you are not likely to find it anywhere else in the city." Unless she found one of his stashes of liquor he's hidden about his local haunts. When she hands the canteen back, he takes another drink himself, and then caps the gourd and hooks it onto his belt again. Walking alongside her, he still stumbles a bit, staggering now and then but remaining upright without assistance. He just looks... very tipsy, and an easy target. But she had seen him fight, and he came away without a scratch - thought he's going to have a hell of a headache when he wakes up in the morning. Alcohol-induced pain tolerance is always a "Yeah, for now" kind of thing.

    He shakes his head in response to her inquiry. "No, I am from China," he tells her, "A small city in one of the southern provinces. I go where I want, though, and I found myself here in New York City. It is... much bigger. Much more dangerous than my home, but it is where I am needed." He grins a little. "People do not often notice me," he tells her, "It is an advantage I tend to keep. People do not like looking down the alleys and at the homeless. They look away, they ignore you. I am all but invisible to them." He glances sidelong at her, a lopsided grin on his muzzle. "You did not even notice me laying there when you walked past, and neither did your attackers. It was the first thing my Master taught me. Hide in plain sight, and no one will ever see you."

Copycat has posed:
"Baijiu," Vanessa repeats, getting the name right this time. She walks alongside of him, glancing over once or twice at the Chinese mutant's unsteady gait, but not saying anything about it. At his mention of the rarity of the brew, and its source, Vanessa gives a soft, "Oh. Well. Then I guess you'll have to be the one to save me from any future muggings. That, or... I'll have to go sober after them?" Vanessa turns to look over to Zhao Lin, her eyes widening with feigned horror at the prospect of such sobriety before she breaks into a soft smile.

Vanessa's own steps are unsteady once or twice, as if still feeling lingering effects from the hit to her head. That, or perhaps it's the baijiu. Or both. Whichever, they make their way forward, Vanessa saying, "I try to stay out of the alleys. For exactly that reason." She sighs, shaking her head as if at her stupidity. "But there's a kind of rough crew I was going to have to pass through their turf. One of them is upset at me, so I figured it might be better to risk the alley."

They arrive at a building. It's an apartment building. Very rundown looking though. This is the kind of place most people have in mind when they think of the word 'slum'. It has bars on the lower windows and on the door. Vanessa digs in her purse, pulling out her keys after a little more effort than it normally takes. She turns and looks back to Zhao Lin. "Um, listen, would you like to come up? If you need to clean up, or... if you don't have somewhere to stay tonight...?" she offers slowly.

Zhao Lin has posed:
    Slum or not, it's a building with a roof. Zhao Lin considers it for a few moments, and looks up at the sky. Might rain. And the city isn't... quite in a good mood, with the recent events causing so much trouble. "That may be for the best," he says, "It does not seem like a good night to sleep on the street." He neglects to mention that he's not actually homeless and is, in fact, staying with a billionaire roommate. He still looks like he hasn't got a pair of pennies to rub together, and he gestures for her to lead the way up to her apartment. "And besides, the city is restless tonight. Someone might try something... stupid, it may be best that I stick around. Just in case." He offers her another smile, then pauses and turns his head to sniff himself a little. "...I think I could stand a shower as well," he agrees.