9184/Nowhere Safe

Nowhere Safe
Date of Scene:	13 September 2019
Location:	East Harlem, Manhattan
Synopsis:	Two clones meet trouble in Harlem. Scene incomplete.
Cast of Characters:	Superboy, X-23

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Superboy has posed:
Even after all these years, Harlem is still one of the worst neighborhoods of New York. High crime means Conner does some patrolling here at night. Harlem has their own heroes, which understand better than him how the streets work, but look, he has 'super' eye shight and can see in the dark. So he has managed to stop a few muggings and assaults in the past few months.

No big deal. Not much effort. But it all changed about a week ago. He came down to help someone that was running as if the devil chased her, and heard about a kidnapping. That is a serious crime, and he asked for more details while calling for the cops. It took a while, too long, but he got the story. And what he heard chilled his blood. It has been over three years since he heard about N.O.W.H.E.R.E. but the description of the armor of the kidnapper was too familiar.

In fact, there have been a few kidnappings in the area lately, and the targets have been young metahumans, mutants and at least one tech-based vigilante. And Conner should have told Caitlin, and Robin, but instead he is here alone, on the ground, looking for trouble.

X-23 has posed:
Laura's not here for any of the specific crimes; she was over in Mutant Town, and after that, she just started to wander. It's been months since she was down in New York for any serious time, aside from doing some community service.

At the moment, she's just looking like any other teenage girl in New York city might, aside from a propensity for wearing black.

Superboy has posed:
Yet looking like a teenage girl is not enough to fool some people. Laura likely noticed the dark grey SUV following her a while ago. And she might have also noticed the armored men running over the rooftops since maybe two city blocks ago.

They seem good at moving fast and quietly, but Weapon-X agents would have been even stealthier with her. She has nevertheless become a target. Although if she sticks to main streets they would have to be insane to attack her. Way too many witnesses.

X-23 has posed:
With her senses, noticing men on the rooftop is...almost effortless. Honestly, she's almost happy to see that there's going to be people trying to accost her. It will give her a chance to work her skills, and that's something she's been lacking in since the moon visit. So she /intentionally/ turns down one of the smaller streets, letting them have a window.

Please, by all means. Give her a target.

Superboy has posed:
By all means, yes.

In truth the men are a bit suspicious when a short teenage girl goes and enters a dark alley willingly. Those things don't happen. But after a brief conversation they decide maybe she is looking for a drug pusher. Those do lurk in dark alleys. In fact they make a brief IR scan. There is no one else there.

So the SUV moves forward and blocks the alleyway entrance.

And two armored figures jump all the way down from a four floor building into the alley. They land with loud thuds. There is no sound of broken bones, that armor seems good. Sleek, dark blue with some white highlights. No faces, just metal plates, with numbers. 19. 23.

Number 41 remains on the roof. He is the one aiming a beam of pale light at Laura. A low power laser. And there is a 'zark' sound as the ionized air is followed by a powerful electric discharge.

That sound makes Conner almost jump out of his shoes. Three blocks away. He runs.

X-23 has posed:
Laura looks over at the two who jump down. That gets a smile, and not at all a pleasant one, that curls her lips up. She starts to sprint at the two armored people.

As far as the laser? Laura's fast, but not so fast as to dodge lasers. So as she moves, the beam can easily strike her in the back, and the electrical discharge gets her muscles seizing up. Her charge towards the armored combatants turns into an undignified tumble forward as she goes spilling across the ground.

Superboy has posed:
The pair of armored men don't hesitate either. One of them (19) moves to intercept the small girl, producing a couple luminous batons from his belt. They are also electrified. And when he sees the electrolaser discharge does not immediately drop Laura, he raises the power to 'stun elephant' intensity. Number 23 opens fire with a second electrolaser, but misses the mutant when she falls down. Then moves to a side to try to flank her.

Meanwhile a young man has stepped off the sub. He doesn't seem much older than Laura, and jogs towards her without fear.

Then the SUV gets hit. Hard. It flips over and rolls a couple times, ending on a side. And Conner jumps on it. And freezes at seeing the armored figures.

Number 41 takes advantage of this to shoot him a maximum intensity blast. Conner falls back, with an 'owcrap'. Invulnerability and all, that was like getting hit by lightning.

X-23 has posed:
The trick with Laura isn't hurting her. She's easy to hurt. The problem is that she regenerates even faster than her "father". Meaning it's no more than a moment after she hits the ground that her muscles are already starting to obey her commands.

*SNIKT*

Her hand-claws pop out, and she moves at the armored figures. She'll slash at them, aiming for hands and arms to disarm them. Possibly literally.

Superboy has posed:
Number 19 is the closest, and he expected Laura to stay down for a minute or three, so the quick recovery is a nasty surprise. The armor, able to stand even light anti-tank impacts, is just not enough to slow down adamantium.

But the man is fast, he manages to retreat leaving behind the ruined batons and a couple fingers only. No screams or curses, however. He just reaches for his side arm with his good hand. Number 23 tries to cover him with more blasts while backpedaling, he is too close to Laura.

The teenage? He is charging, and shifting. From short and scrawny to eight feet tall of orange monster, metal implants in arms and back. He is also moving faster than any human could.

Number 41 is trying to shoot again, but Conner shoots first, and the laser rifle explodes.

X-23 has posed:
Laura's not going to give 23 any chances. Where he backpedals, she advances. And hurting her can be a dangerous thing. You get one of two things with her; the cold emotionless assassin, or the feral killer. Hurting her risks the second, and that's even worse. Laura takes another blast, and it almost drops her, but her regeneration is running full steam now. It's little more than a hesitation, followed by a snarl, and she launches herself at 23, jumping at him as she slashes for his chest.

Mid-jump, the foot claws come out too, and she kicks out at both his thighs. Someone is about to have a bad day.

Superboy has posed:
23 is good. Even SHIELD agents don't usually react that quick and well. He manages to grab one of Laura's wrists and black the other hand. Strong, too. But then... there are foot claws. And they cut the armor and slash his legs pretty badly. There is blood, too. They are not robots, but they smell strange. Sterile.

That even draws a soft grunt. And the man falls down, releasing her. Number 19 fires two rounds of a silence, high caliber gun aiming to her back, but the main problem is the orange giant. He punches Laura, and if he hits she is going to go flying to the other side of the alley with a few broken bones. Ridge is about as strong as Rogue.

"Handle her," growls the giant. "I'll take Experiment Thirteen."

A name Conner does not like at all. "The. Name. Is. Superboy!" And he punches Ridge hard enough to break a few nearby windows with the impact. Loud - it will draw attention. The orange-skinned superhuman's jaw also visibly breaks.

And Ridge shakes his head. The jaw regenerates almost instantly. "Not for long," he grunts, tackling Conner down.