19429/Shopping around at that Night Market

Shopping around at that Night Market
Date of Scene:	04 November 2024
Location:	Brighton Night Market
Synopsis:	A group of gangsters shaking down the Night Market takes a turn when Doll, Doll, Doll, Sally, Pathfinder and Pathfinder all turn up to ruin their day.
Cast of Characters:	Stirling Winchester, Doll, Sally Houki

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Stirling Winchester has posed:
The Night Market is one hell of a place to see. People abound, doing their shopping and eating and hanging out. There's a good energy to the atmosphere this particular evening.

Music plays and people laugh. The smells mingling in the air are mostly pleasant fragrances. Folks seems to be getting along great. One almost can't ask for more.

Into this pleasing atmosphere comes a new party. A group of gang members, all wearing khakis and windbreakers. They're moving quickly and furtively, watchful of their surroundings. They stay close to one another, eyes open. The biggest one says, "Keep alert, guys. If the cops or anybody show up don't be afraid to get creative. Just try to stay together and use your communication skills to keep the rest of us appraised. Now lets go collect some protection money."

From the roof above the vigilante calling himself Pathfinder watches the gangsters as they move into the crowded market. Pathfinder's clad in camouflage and high end tactical gear like some manner of ninja commando. A short, suppressed rifle is slung across his back. He looks suspicious as hell as he works to avoid notice.

Doll has posed:
A night out, seemingly in a strange place picking up a little culture...Doll was here. Her hair down around her shoulders and her form wrapped in a dark long-sleeved sweater, a skirt and a pair of leggings, the young woman was clearly dressed for the weather as she made her way through the space.

Perfectly harmless, after all there was no way that the brunette beauty was dangerous to the big tough gang members...

Sally Houki has posed:
A colorfully dressed woman, Sally Houki's presence stands out like a sore thumb pretty much everywhere she goes. With the large, colorful bows adorning her hair and the multi-patterned dress she's wearing, she's just someone that's hard to not notice eventually. She seems utterly cluess to what others mighte notice at the moment, hardly paying attention to anything but the beat of the music and the thrift clothing she's already sorting through. Her eclectic fashion sense takes work to maintain, and this is one example of it surely.

She's humming a little tune on repeat under her breath, a mildly out of tune pattern that has just a hint of discord.

Stirling Winchester has posed:
"Time to earn our paychecks," says the lead gangster as he take the front of the little formation and drives towards one of the stalls. "Vic, Vic, Vic," he calls out to a nearby shopkeeper just doing his thing in his stall. He's about to talk but the bad man interrupts him, "You need to give us money or your stall here is going to have an accident. You're going to accidentally start an electrical fire with all the kerosene you keep back there if I don't get the money I told you to have for me by today." He holds out his hand out with his palm up, "Now put my money in my hand and I will leave you alone for two whole weeks, unless you need extra protection of course."

The other gangsters are looking around. One kind of stares at Sally for a while before seeming to realize it might be weird. He gives her a thumbs up and a grin, "If I wasn't workin' I'd love to talk to you. Your style is just..."

Dude can't get another word out before his coworker swats him and says, "Stop it. We're here to protect people, not to flirt. Or whatever." He seems quite grumpy, this opponent of love. That doesn't stop him from getting an eyeful of Doll. He doesn't attempt a conversation, either.

Up above, Pathfinder continues monitoring the goings on down below. Quietly, he moves around try to get closer to the unfolding situation. He's looking for an excuse to drop down from above and likely would have already if not for all the civilians around.

Doll has posed:
The eye her way has Doll offering a little quirk of her lips, perhaps almost taken for a little flirtation or some notion of mischief...alright, so it was almost certainly the second one.

As Doll spots Sally, there's a little lift of her fingertips to greet the familiar face...but then, those who might be paying attention might notice a 'newcomer' stepping out from behind one of the stalls, Doll's apparently identical twin happily skipping between the stalls towards the parking area when the gangsters had come from.

The problem with a protection racket? It was really easy to undermine if you couldn't protect yourself.

Sally Houki has posed:
Sally is in her own little world, and it definitely looks like she intended to stay there until she first notices someone talking to her and then Doll waving at her. The latter gets an excited, cheerful wave that would incline one to think that she's very happy to see her before her gaze turns back to the gangster who started chatting her up.

"Wait, what? What's going on?" She blinks her eyes slowly in the direction of the stall.

Her eyes cross and she briefly looks dizzy.

"I... don't think you guys wanna do that?" She offers to them, mildly confused. "Like, it's a bad idea, I mean. Also, very unoriginal dialogue!" A pause.

"...you're shooting a movie, right?" She glances back and forth.

Stirling Winchester has posed:
Vic, the shopkeeper, immediately goes for his register and opens the cash drawer to gather up what's in there. The leader of the gangsters watches closely to make sure everything stays above board.

"Don't wanna do what, good lookin'?" asks the thumbs up guy to Sally. "No, we're just out protecting people. Like superheroes, but less masks."

So long as nobody's getting hurt Pathfinder just watches from his new perch above the action. That is until Vic stops handing over money. The gang leader says, "Vic, my boy, you need to put the rest of my money in my hand right now or Yogi over here is going put you on the ground and stomp your head until it cracks pavement." The grumpy guy eyeing Doll looks over when the name 'Yogi' is spoken. The leader looks at Sally, then Doll, then asks, "What are you dames doing here? No offense, or nothing, but men are talking serious business."

Doll has posed:
"Me?" Doll mock-gasps as she's addressed, a little fold of her hand to touch to her own chest. "I'm just shopping around to see if I can find this tea I tried in Madripoor once!" That look of innocence slips a little however as she tilts her head, cocking it to the side almost eerily with a giggle.

"Her on the other hand..."

Her wasn't Sally...instead elsewhere across the space the 2nd Doll dressed in what appeared to be a leather jacket and jeans was currently smiling brightly as she reached into her neckline, withdrawing a small box of matches and striking one.

Right before she reached down to ignite the rag sticking out of the gas tank of one of the 'gangster's' vehicles they'd arrived in.

"She might be up to something."

Sally Houki has posed:
"... shopping? Do you think maintaining my style is easy? I'm not loaded, you know," she lies. She's totally loaded. She's going to say more, but then Doll is pointing to her other Doll and Sally gets a sense of what migth be impending before she playfully chides her friend.

"Oh, /you/. What are you doing now? Why are you getting us into so much trouble?" She wags a finger at her before turning back to the others. "What can I say? Some people don't like having their shopping interrupted, you know?" She holds up a floral patterened piece of fabric up to her eyes, and then lowers it to peek over it at them.

"Anyway, extortion! It's one of my favorite old timey rackets but can't you get a new gimmick? All the cool kids are doing it on the internet now with people's data." She's happy to go on even as they're no doubt more immediately reacting to the problem Doll has presented.

Stirling Winchester has posed:
"Oh hell no," says Yogi when his eyes settle on the flame rapidly heading towards his car's gas tank. He starts to run in that direction, "No!" He yells again, "NO!"

Thumbs up guy looks at his coworker and yells, "No! Yogi! It's gonna explode!" Then he dives through the air and tackles Yogi into a wall. The pair end up holding their heads and rolling around in pain. The leader guy shakes his head at minions, then looks at Sally and Doll and says to the rest of his goons, "Guys, grab these two and we'll throw them off of a building, okay? Steb, go grab the one that's blowing up Yogi's ride."

As the threats are spoken Pathfinder decides that he's heard enough from these thieves. He makes his way swiftly to the same level as the rest of the crowd by hopping off of his elevated position to land on Steb, driving them into the ground before doing a backflip to return to his feet to address the gang, "I promise I'm working on the quips, but for now I'm going to just beat the tar out of you jokers."

Doll has posed:
The 'FWOOSH' of ignition is startlingly effective, low-tech as it wash. Not so much a boom as a wash of rapidly growing flame torching the thing from the inside out.

As 'Steb' starts to walk her way, Pyro-Doll actually folds her hands like she were mock-pleading for mercy, grinning ear to ear. Of course, he'd never quite manage to find out what might happen when he attempted to grab her, as Pathfinder's arrival knocks him into the ground.

Unexpected!

"Oooh!" Doll offers before looking back towards Sally with a little wink. The first guy to reach for her? Well, there was a sudden scream of pain as a three-inch needle was plunged into his muscle just near his elbow, another into his shoulder with startling speed and the rapid motion seemingly having lifted her skirt enough for one to glimpse the band around her upper thigh that holstered these evil versions of the accupuncture instruments.

He wouldn't have to endure it for long, given the sharp meeting of the side of his face and her foot, leaving the 1st Doll offering a look of false innocence to the remaining thugs.

"Oh please 'big scary men', don't hurt me!"

Sally Houki has posed:
"Wait, throw me off a building? What did I do, that seems like it'd hurt and I'm not wearing any red anyway and besides, that never works in this town, there's always some --" And before she can actually finish her sentence, Pathfidner's arrival goes and finishes her sentence for her. Her eyes are so on him that she almost misses whatever Doll's up to -- but she does get a big old wink back, exagerated to the point of comedy, and then...

"... I don't know why anyone bothers to try criming in this. This is the result, every time," She points at Pathfinder, "You're so COOL," she tells him excitedly, despite having no idea who he is, and she seems genuine in her enthusiasm.

What? She loves superheroes. She's fangirling.

Stirling Winchester has posed:
"Oh hell! Forget the broads, worry about the..." The leader starts to issue orders when he looks over and sees Doll kicking his guy in the side of the head, "Actually, everybody who doesn't run has something to lose! Get them all, gang!"

Well, the thugs go after the four. The lions share go after the costume clad vigilante. Their attempt to reach him is only made easier because he leaps towards them to nail a goateed villain with a Superman punch that sends him sprawling. Another baddy tries to kick Pathfinder, who is currently looking away, in the back. Somehow, the would be hero detects it coming and checks the kick with his own foot before turning things into a jump kick that takes the attacker in the face. The poor criminal staggers a couple of times before falling down.

Even as he's trying to fight the crooks, the vigilante spares a look towards Sally, "Thanks! I'm Pathfinder." Then he's moving to keep himself between the gang and everybody else as well as he can.

Thumbs up is still in the fight. He looks at Sally and says, "I hate my job sometimes, but I guess I gotta do something terrible." He approaches her menacingly.

Doll has posed:
Compliments about, Doll herself seems to weave and twist, deceptively delicate hands seizing a wrist and instead making to judo-throw one of the men past her...only for another 'Doll' to seemingly land on him from her own elevated position, clearly in imitation of Pathfinder's own arrival.

Pyro-Doll? She was seemingly missing, having vanished to 'who knows where' while the first Doll grins at Sally. "Don't go snapping selfies with him while I'm still here."

With most of the thugs focused on the hero, Doll and her 'from the sky' duplicate step up side by side, a little high-five of greeting to each other while they settle in to watch the show.

Sally Houki has posed:
"Ha, no. No selfies," she trills, her east Asian accent coming into the fore more strongly as she gets more excited, her eyes all wide as the gangster approaches her in such a threatening manner. "Please, mister, I'm just a normal Japanese girl, I don't want to get mixed up in any of this, let alone thrown off a building. Hey," she scurries a step closer to Pathfinder, trying to put a little distance between herself and her gangster friend.

"Hey, you want an extra pair of hands? Can do! It's gonna feel weird, but I can totally do that for you." Assuming his affirmative consent, Doll will no longer be the only duplicated person on the go. She reaches up, taps him on the back, and makes with a yank, seemingly pulling another him from his own person, like an after-image that's suddenly resolved into being.

"Aw, man. I love this. Welcome to the fight, Pathfinder... Second Edition? Pathfinder Remastered?" She's still backing up, making space but given that she's really bad at paying attention she just stumbles and drops onto her bottom.

Stirling Winchester has posed:
Pathfinder gets asked about an extra pair of hands and barely has time to say "Sure" before suddenly there's another of him on the playing field. This is strange, but there's time to worry about that after flattening the rest of these goons. Which is what he gets to work on next, having a sort of teamup with himself. Pathfinder One moves to take on the larger group of enemies, delivering a jumping knee strike to leader's face. Pathfinder Second Edition walks up to Thumbs Up, who starts to take on a fighting stance. The clone delivers a blisteringly fast combination of punches that overwhelms the gangster, who ends up curled up on the floor when the attack is through.

Doll has posed:
Truth be told, this was...well, a little strange for Doll. Of course it was perfectly normal for her to have multiple 'her' in the one place, it had been since she was very young...but seeing someone else becoming two was new. Of course she -did- know Sally's power, but it was weird to see it used on another.

With the two of them seemingly forgotten, Doll 'two' disappears, leaving the first Doll crossing her arms under her bust and continuing to fight. It was only -after- the leader had been knocked down that she'd move forwards, gently kneeling down above the man (with her leggings preventing her from giving the gangster some unintended, undeserved eyefull).

"Your days of managing the market are done, consider it under new management..." she offers lightly, message intended to be delivered happily done so.

Of course, she'd have to hope Pathfinder didn't hear it...or didn't take it as some illegal declaration.

Sally Houki has posed:
Of course, none of this is strange for Sally. She does this all the time.

"I wish I had some popcorn," she offers, skittering over to the Doll doing the talking at the moment.

Out of the chaos, as far as she's concerned. Her eyes have gotten awfully big.

Stirling Winchester has posed:
The Pathfinders are very efficient and capable fighters. Enough so that the gangsters are soon all on the ground in various states of defeat. Pathfinder One looks at Second Edition, nods and then the pair proceed to high five. One of them, hard to tell behind the masks, says, "Hell yeah."

One looks over at Sally and Doll, then looks around, "Are you okay? Where did the other lady go?"

Doll has posed:
"What other lady?" Doll offers with a blink. Hands folding behind her rear as she stepped back away from the goon she'd just given the message and a smile on her glossed lips. "No idea what you're talking about."

Clearly amused by her own antics, especially with the car her duplicate had set ablaze still actively burnng, she does smile sweetly up at Pathfinder(s).

"Someone should probably call the police...and the fire department."

Sally Houki has posed:
"I didn't see anything," agrees Sally, "Oh, hey. We don't need the duplicate anymore, eh?" She stares at the second Pathfinder, and yes, he ploops out of existence like he never was. In a sense, he wasn't.

She leans over against Doll, briefly, shoulder bumping her playfully.

"Thanks for the timely heroing, hero. You're pretty cool! Big fan already, I can tell." She wiggles her fingers at him, smiling widely.

Stirling Winchester has posed:
"I'm pretty sure somebody's already alerted the authorities," says the superhero to Doll with a nod, way off in the distance sirens might be heard approaching. Then his clone disappears and he looks over at Sally, "I'm a fan of your work, too. That extra me was pretty damn handy. It was really weird, but not in a bad way, you know? Very interesting experience, to say the least." He looks around, glancing over the goons, none of whom look inclined towards moving. Then he masked man says, "I have to split very shortly, but before I do is there anything I can do for either of you until the authorities arrive?"

Doll has posed:
"No kidding," Doll speaks up...though it's not the Doll he was looking at who was smiling brightly, instead it was spoken up from behind Pathfinder from a Doll that looked suspiciously identical to the first Doll, rather than 'Pyro-Doll'.

Of course, the moment he'd look back to look where the first Doll was? She seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving Sally standing on her own...and then the last remaining Doll would lift a hand to her lips to blow a kiss at the pair. "Nope, think we're done here."

With that, she too simply vanished from existance, as if she'd never been there....although burning cars and injured goons might suggest otherwise.

Sally Houki has posed:
Sally Houki nearly topples over at that disappearance even though she was expecting it.

"Yeah, I should go too. I'll catch you later!" She yells to the remaining Doll before she goes. She waves at Pathfinder and then ...

... she also vanishes.