9055/Clown is Around

From United Heroes MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Clown is Around
Date of Scene: 03 September 2019
Location: Drew Residence - Greenwich
Synopsis: Spider-Woman and Captain Quaid talk about Duela, vigilantes and Spider-Woman's past.
Cast of Characters: Frank Quaid, Spider-Woman (Drew)




Frank Quaid has posed:
A very late dinner lies in ruins. Sushi from a place not far from Jessica's home was sacrificed on the altar of dinner in. And for now hungers were sated.

Frank is standing at the sink. His suit jacket is draped over a kitchen chair. His sleeves are rolled up. Frank is washing dishes by hand, standing beside the dishwasher.

"Won't believe who I talked to today," Frank says. He glances at Jessica and then back to the plate in his hand. He rinses it carefully.

"I ran into the clown from the subway by the East River."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"No...seriously??" Jessica is gathering anything worth keeping, sealing it up in containers, and sticking it in the refrigerator. But she pauses, one container in hand, to look at Frank. She looks him over briefly. "It doesn't look like she did much damage. Was she a handful? Could she help with what happened that night?"

Frank Quaid has posed:
"She did help, believe it or not," Frank says with a shake of his head. "See if IA uses it. You should hear here, she's completely insane. Multiple personalities kind of crazy. But might be enough to tip the scales since nobody's screaming for El's badge."

"So this call comes in. Mutant playing with lights or something by the river. I was right there, so I stopped. And there she was, these lights in the air, going up, dropping into the river and going around," Frank recalls. "Wasn't until I got up around 30 feet I realized who it was. Not a mutant at all, it was the clown woman with a bunch of drones."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"The hell did she want with a bunch of drones?" Jessica's brow creases. "You don't think she's gonna use them for some sort of attack, do you? She looks like Quinzel, from all indications. That sounds like something /SHE/ would do."

Jessica puts away the leftovers and wipes down the table and counters. "So she say why that guy charged? Why he was attacking?"

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank shrugs unknowingly about the drones. He pulls the plug to drain the sinks then dries his hands with the dish towel.

"She said he was on Hook and was trying to stab her. She had some kind of gash on her side all sewed up. Said it was from him. And said El saved her," Frank explains. "She's downright crazy though, I didn't press for any more. Knew if I pushed at her delusions she'd turn into a pain in my ass. Hits the points I needed though. The clown was being attacked with a weapon, El stopped the attack."

Frank hangs up the dish towel and crosses his arms. He leans back against the counter. "We'll never know what the real story was that night. And that clown is unreliable as hell, but I'll take what I can get to put El back in the office. Can sort the drone thing and the rest out later. Just hope to hell she doesn't kill anyone before we do. Know what she calls herself? Nobody. The Joker's daughter. Duela. And says God tells her what to do."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Oh God..." Jessica rubs her face. "That's just what we need. A delusional religious zealot-slash-supervillain. Just wait till she will only deal with you, out of the whole force. I can feel that comin', Frank. The whole world's gone crazy. Joker's Daughter my ass. There couldn't be a woman crazy enough anywhere to let that Joker creep get within throwing distance of her hoo-ha."

Frank Quaid has posed:
"Guys like him take, they don't ask or take no," Frank observes dryly.

"Doesn't matter anyway, she's a nut. We all deal with them, she won't be the first dangerous nut that decided I was the only cop they were going to deal with," Frank says with a shrug. "Just part of the job. We get a lot of people obsessed with us for different reasons. They're crazy, they think we're their personal hero," Frank snorts.

"Won't change anything for her, we don't give out personal police officers. She starts something she'll get taken down hard. Just hoping she's one of us humans and not a mutant or meta or something. Then she's not my problem!"

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica caught that. The slight sting of "us humans" versus the rest of it. She flinches slightly and turns back to rewipe the table. "Maybe she'll just be a harmless nutter and nobody will have to worry about her. Long as she can function on her own and doesn't cause problems..." She trails off at that.

Frank Quaid has posed:
"I'm not betting on it, she's all made up like the Joker or Harley Quinn, wires up a bunch of drones to work with a pair of gloves or something," Frank says with a shake of his head.

"She's too smart, too crazy and was too happy about El showing the 'dead boy' he was already dead by putting rounds in him. We'll see that woman again. I just hope she sucks and ends up in the Tombs and then a max instead of Arkham when the time comes."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"So...why not Arkham? Isn't that where they put the worst of the worst? Wouldn't that mean she would be gone forever, instead of going through your system?"

Jessica is leaning back slightly against the back of a chair, with her hands resting atop the back of it, behind her rump. "I guess none of it matters, as long as Elaina can get back to work"

Frank Quaid has posed:
"Yep. Arkham's not my problem, even if they're setting records for escapes," Frank agrees with a snort. "Be a lot easier to do my job when El gets back. Her team is good, but they need her."

"Things'll roll on," Frank says with a shrug. "What're you working on? You're not in the news as much, 'cept when you're making out with guys in the street."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Just laying low a bit at the moment, really," Jessica replies. She is noticeably dressed down, in black running shorts with white trim, and a black sweatshirt bearing the Avengers logo at the upper left of her chest. "I guess Tony is making good on his word to keep my Avengers workload light. It has been quiet on that front, of late. I have scarcely seen the rest of them around, so I really don't have any clue if they're currently working on anything. So...going a little stir crazy, to be honest."

Frank Quaid has posed:
"I believe it," Frank says. "You're not made for sitting around watching cooking shows. Gonna go back and tell Tony to start handing you stuff? Or go out and be classic roughing up random criminals?"

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Seems like I'm kinda on my own," Jessica says, straightening up to stand again. "So wherever I can be used, I'll go. I don't know what else to do. It's what I did before Tony approached me. It's what I'll do again. But I hope ya know it goes without saying that I'd like to help you and the NYPD whenever I can. Wherever I can."

Frank Quaid has posed:
"Thanks Jess," Frank says and smiles a bit. "Means a lot to all of us. Feels good for rest of us knowing you're out there. Some of these guys we try to take down these days... We're gonna need a full mutant/meta tactical team one day. Could already use one. Some of this stuff we just can't do anything about."

"If I hear of anything you could get on I'll let you know," Frank promises. "Fact, there might be something coming down the pipe. Not sure yet."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica tilts her head, listening to Frank. "So what if one gets built? A mutant/meta tactical team, I mean. Even if they're not ready to employ a team like that, what does it matter? It could be a liaison group. Not like we get paid to do what we do, anyway. Unless we're Avengers." She pauses for a moment. "Active Avengers. With assignments. Not those being peeled off the team a layer at a time..."

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank shakes his head. "No disrespect to everything you do, but the last thing we need is another vigilante team. It's great we've got all these heroes helping out, a lot more people would be dead if we didn't," Frank says and crosses his arms.

"But it's also bad. Superheroes are breaking laws just the same as supervillains, but helping people. It's eating at our institutions," Frank asserts.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica nods, lowering her gaze to inspect her sneakers as she leans back again, this time against the countertop. "Right, right. Well of course, we don't need that. Broken rules, laws..." She trails off thoughtfully. "That wouldn't be helping at all."

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank shifts his hands to his pockets. "Know what I hope I see? 5% mutant or meta in NYPD before I retire. That's how things chnaged for my people. We worked our asses off to take positions that should've been open to us all along. We became people the young bloods can look up to. Only way it's gonna change for mutants and metas. Like for women, Jews, gays, transgender... All the same."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Nodding again, Jessica finishes considering her sneakers, and crosses her arms. "Well, if you get a big enough bite of the metas and supers out there, then vigilantes can be forced out. The police can take control again. People like us won't be needed anymore, and we can be retired on a farm in Wisconsin. I can web cows instead of rope 'em."

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank snorts.

"Well they gotta figure out something. Like El. She uses her legal authority to shoot someone to save a life. But we've seen cops go bad and know we gotta investigate every shooting. Make sure the cops stay clean. Because we're responsible to the people of New York. We screw up, we're fired," Frank says heatedly. "Heck, before we screw up, we're screened, tested and trained to make sure we don't turn into just another gang. Who's doing that for random vigilantes? Do we want some kid with PTSD and telekinesis hunting people down he /thinks/ are criminals? No court, nothing? I sure as hell don't. Avengers work with the government and screen their people sure, others? Who do they answer to? How do the people make sure they're supporting our democracy insted of rotting it?"

Frank exhales noisily. "Damn," Frank says quietly. "This stuff gets me going. Love you guys, but wish things were different."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"I get it. I do. Any number of us could have gone any number of ways. Hell, /I/ could have." Jessica looks back up at Frank, finally. "I was trained to be an assassin. I was a weapon of destruction. Until I figured it out. Got outside my head and realized where I was versus where I needed to be." She shrugs. "If I hadn't figured it out when I did, I could be a whole different person right now, and we could have been on opposites sides."

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank blinks. "You were what?" he asks. The effect is immediate. The cop in him comes to the fore. Alert, impassive. Wary.

"Did you just say you were an assassin?"

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica looks up at Frank, and blinks dolefully before taking a slow breath. "Hydra killed my parents and took me. Locked me in stasis for...years. Raised me. Weaponized me. When I was old enough to know better, I /did/ better. I found out what they'd done to me. Done to my family. I escaped them. Made a new life. But I live in fear of them trying to take me back every minute of every day."

Frank Quaid has posed:
"Holy shit, Jess," Frank breathes. "That's horrible. Did you escape before they made you.. Kill people? Who the hell are these people?"

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Everybody's worst nightmare," Jessica replies. "And I don't know. I don't remember anything before I came to my senses. It was like a fog that I finally fought my way free of. Sometimes I wish I could remember. Sometimes I'm glad I can't."

Frank Quaid has posed:
"Christ... That's insane... Do you know anything? Where this all was? Who they are?" Frank asks. He looks stunned and at pains to believe what he is hearing.

"When'd you..." Frank blinks. "That's why there's no family anything here... You never talk about growing up, high school, old friends... There aren't any."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Several years ago," she replies, beginning to sense her tragic mistake. "I know it was HYDRA. I don't know who, specifically. I don't remember - anything - before I became what I am now. I don't remember growing up. I don't remember being trained. Being held in stasis. I don't remember whether I killed. Or whether I had a happy childhood before they killed the parents that I don't remember. Everything I know about myself before that moment, I learned by reading it." She senses defeat long before it's spoken.

"But hey, no need in dredging all that up now, huh?" She offers Frank a faint smile. "Lemme get your coat. And the stuff upstairs. You'll have work early tomorrow. And I wouldn't want you to forget anything when you leave."

Frank Quaid has posed:
The veteran cop is speechless. He just looks at Jessica for a moment. But when she turns from him, Frank reaches out and pulls her to him. Frank holds her close to him, cupping the back of her head with one hand and pressing his cheek to hers.

"I don't need my coat," he says quietly. "Sorry, I just... Didn't know. But it makes sense now. It all makes sense."

Frank leans back a little to look Jessica in the eyes. One hand touches her cheek. "I got you, okay? I got you."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"I..." Jessica can only blink for a moment. She tenses, caught completely offguard. Slowly, and by degrees, she begins to relax. And everything that's been caught up with the breath she could not exhale begins to settle. "I guess I thought you knew. I thought the NYPD knew everything." Jessica's eyes search Frank's for a moment, and she takes the hand that touches her cheek, holding it in both of hers. "I felt you leaving." And finally, she can wrap her arms around him gratefully.

And finally, she remembers to exhale.