13815/Cat and Mouse

Cat and Mouse
Date of Scene:	12 January 2023
Location:	Central Park
Synopsis:	Sara finds Grail terrorizing gangers in the park. Once she gets Grail to stop, a short discussion ensues. Sara may need to start drinking more.
Cast of Characters:	Grail, Sara Pezzini

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Grail has posed:
    It's what you could call a bad night for a gang of muggers in Central Park. Grail has observed their behavior from the tree she's currently sitting on a limb of. (Don't ask). She's decided that she doesn't like them. Although subjugating those weaker than you is almost the central commandment on Apokolips, these aren't trying to gain followers or power, they're just scavenging for scraps from the people they attack.

    She's decided to show them the proper way to go about dominating the weak.

    She jumps the thirty feet down to the ground and runs past them so fast she's only a blur, slapping one of them as she passes. Of course, her speed and strength mean the slap sends the guy head over heels through the air to land in a crumpled heap about ten feet away.

    The next pass sends another of them in the opposite direction. At this point, the remaining gangers have pulled out knives and guns and are straining to see through the darkness to make out what is attacking them. On thenext pass, she streaks up to the group, basically appearing out of nowhere in front of one of them. He stabs her, which results in a slightly bent knife tip. She then takes it from him and rams it through his bicep, then blurs into the darkness again.

    This is the point where the gangers scatter and run. Not that they can get away, but since safety in numbers was the wrong answer, maybe panicked flight is the right one.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Common knowledge... no one likes to be mugged. The terror and trauma of having control taken away, for some it leaves scars that never heal, while others can move on with the lives as if it never happened. No two humans were alike in how they handled this sort of thing.

The night was almost over for Sara. She had finished up the last of the paperwork, gotten herself a hot dog and decided to take a walk in Central Park to relax... not that relaxing was something that really happened for the woman. There were merely degrees of not tense.

Zipping her coat the rest of the way up, then adjusting the stocking cap on her head, she was just about to head back along the lighted path when a man covered in blood runs by her at speeds she really didn't think humans could produce. Instead of following the guy, she looks instead in the direction he came from to see if she can spot the cause. Even as she is looking in the new direction, she pulls her cell phone out to call for NYPD and EMTs.

Grail has posed:
    Given the winding nature of Central Park's paths, it can be hard to spot anything very far away. Hearing, on the other hand, is not blocked in the least. Which is why Sara can hear the screaming as another ganger flies overhead, slams into a tree, and drops limply to the ground.

    From the other screaming, it would seem that the cause of all this is moving generally away from her, but in several different directions. She can also make out a whooshing noise, which she may have heard before is she's ever worked with any speedsters - The sound of someone cutting though the air very, very quickly. It seems to loop around the screams, which are occasionally punctuated with prayers in various languages.

    It kind of sounds like someone is toying with them. Which is, in fact, the case.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Even as the ganger is flying overhead and slamming into the tree, seconds before Sara can hear the wooshing noises, the tendrils of metal are expanding from the bracelet to form the gauntlet and from there into the armor. Ripping through her clothing, including the heavier winter coat, and even shredding the stocking cap, the threat that causing the screaming and flinging gang bangers around rouses the protection.

Normally when the threat is humans, the armor can be seen as rather revealing, which is exactly what Sara was expecting. The threat, although unseen by human eyes, was sensed by the Witchblade and armor that covered the weilders body was complete, leaving no skin revealed.

As the wings spring out from her back, Sara leaps upwards to make an attempt to see further along the path toward the screaming and wooshing. Whatever this was... it was serious.

Grail has posed:
    Witchblade was not wrong about the level of threat Grail represents. However it's not a threat to Sara, at least not yet. From above the trees, Sara can get a better picture of the situation. There are at least 3 people out there screaming and apparently running for their lives. Whatever is chasing them is not really visible except as a blur as it passes through the pools of light thrown by the lampposts along the trails.

    At this point, it appears the gangers are not even being hit. Whatever that blur is, it's just sweeping past them and turning them, almost like a dog herds sheep. They're trying to split and escape, but instead, they're being driven back at each other.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Possible mutant speedster? Perhaps something magical? Whatever it was that was moving so quickly, once Sara realized what it was doing her course of action became clear.

Choosing the ganger closest to where she was, Sara angled herself into a dive to scoop the man up before the blur came back his way. It was all about timing, watching the way the herding was occurring and deciding the exact moment to take one of the men away from it. Options were limited beyond taking that one for the time being, but held tightly to the ganger and tried to calm him by assuring him she wouldn't drop him, or give him back to whatever that was. He might be a gang member, he may have even been breaking the law, but what this blur of wooshing was doing was wrong.

Grail has posed:
    When said blur comes to where she expected to find the ganger Sara picked up, he was not quite there. Of course since he had no idea if Sara was in league with the thing attacking them, and the shock of suddenly being grabbed and raised into the sky, he's screaming his head off. This leads Grail to come to a stop, the trailing blur almost seeming to catch up to her and suddenly make a full person.

    Hands on her hips, she looks up to Sara and the ganger and says "He's mine, go find your own toys. I was teaching these cowards a lesson."

    She's close enough to a lamppost that Sara can clearly see Grey skin, gleaming crimson eyes that seem to glow in the surrounding darkness, and somewhat revealing black leather armor. Sheathed on her hip is a weapon that seems to be some kind of crossbreed between axe and scythe.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
The flailing and screaming ganger is mostly ignored by Sara, there's nothing he can do to hurt her and Witchblade has wrapped extra tendrils around him to ensure he can't fall. She repeats numerous times to the man that she's with the Avengers and NYPD, until either he calms down or she gets bored of it... which likely is the second choice

When the blur catches up to become a grey skinned, crimson eyed female, Sara drops slightly closer to get a really good look at the person. Not human, possible mutant, demon, alternate reality, or alien. Too many choices.

"Human beings are not toys," she calls out, her tone firm and filled with authority. "It is not your place to teach these men anything."

Although the armor covers Sara's body completely, her face is not hidden behind metal, at least not yet. "You are breaking the laws of this city with your actions, which puts us at odds."

Grail has posed:
    Grail raises an eyebow and says, "It is always the place of the strong to instruct the weak how to stay in their proper place. How else would they learn their limits if they are not corrected when they rise above their station?"

    She looks over to where one scream is fading into the distance, then adds, "Should I perhaps have left this offal to prey on the foolishly unarmed people making their way around this Central Park? Not that it wouldn't be their own fault since they chose not to arm themselves and are not strong enough to resist attackers, but at least they were not trying to scavenge off each other as these were." She gestures at the ganger that the armor is now holding mostly on it's own.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Pieces of the puzzle. The gangers were mugging people, not exactly out of their realm and the calls had started to come in about it from those who has already been mugged and got away. In the distant the sound of sirens could be heard, indicated of the impending arrival of police and EMTs.

Keeping herself and the ganger in her care at a distance, and high enough not to be grabbed, she was grateful the man had finally calmed down.

"The laws and rules of this world appear to be different than the ones you know," Sara finally states after a moment of consideration. "We have a force known as the police, you can likely hear the sirens now as they make their way here. It is customary in this world to call the police and make them aware of the crime being committed, and allowing them to deal with it."

She glances to the man the armor is holding, one brow lifting as she says for just him to hear, "You really are a lucky bastard tonight, that her crime outweighs yours." Then her eyes return to the grey skinned woman.

Once again lifting her voice so she can be heard she says, "I would strongly urge you to consider learning the laws of this world, and how things are done before you involve yourself in the matters of the humans again."

Grail has posed:
    Grail shrugs, "Your laws and police seem to be less than effective, since these had already attacked several other people tonight. Had I not stopped them, doubtless they would have attacked even more before your police arrived. And by announcing their approach with such noise, it's almost like these police want them to run away rather than actually having to deal with them."

    "Granted, it may stop the immediate crime, but they will just do it again elsewhere, knowing that whenever the police come after them, they will have plenty of warning to run again."

    "Are these police perhaps afraid of the criminals that they make sure to give warning before arriving? My method is much more effective."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara really wanted a wall to slam her head against repeatedly while asking the question, "Why do I always find these 'out of town' aliens, Asgardians, and Amazons?" over and over again. First was Artemis, then Balder, and now this grey one... yes, it was the reason her department was formed in the NYPD, but damn it... someone else needed a turn.

"Those are all good, valid points, followed by good questions," she stated calmly, showing no indication of the frazzle that was her thinking. "And the answer to those points and questions come with understanding how humans deal with one another, their cultures and laws."

Reaching up she taps the comm in her ear to give instructions for where the gangers that had been being herded were headed when the grey woman stopped herding them and she explained to avoid her location due to an 'unknown element of great speed'. With the others, there had been no where to send them, Artemis she had taken in herself, and Balder just needed to go to the Asgardian Embassy... but this one, Sara really had no idea.

"How long have you been here in the city?" she finally asks of the grey woman. "Do you have any contacts here that can assist you in learning about humanity and its culture?"

Grail has posed:
    "In this city? About a day this time. I come and go as I please to find out more of this world. I have spent some small time here. On my arrival, I was dropped into the middle of a fight between people in costumes who wanted something out of a truck, and other people in costume who wanted to stop them. I do not believe they were your 'police' as they had no sirens, but people seemed to approve of their action anyway."

    "Is the difference because they were already known in the city while I am a stranger doing the same sort of thing they did?"

Sara Pezzini has posed:
As Sara continues to speak with the grey skinned woman, Witchblade extends out tendrils like arms to deposit the ganger with the police who are located on the other side of the trees from where Sara is. That conversation in Sara's head was a quick one, to free up her ability to move. Once the ganger is presented to a uniformed officer and thus no longer in the way, she drifts down to land a couple of arms lengths away from the woman.

"There are numerous 'costumed' villains in the city, just as there are quite a few who are considered heroes," she begins as the metal wings fold up on her back. "The primary difference is that the heroes know human culture and laws. The heroes attempt to maintain the law when they can, not doing more harm then is required to detain and arrest those breaking the laws."

A small smile appears on her face, along with a soft sigh. "I get it, it's very confusing what is acceptable and what isn't." She tilts her head slightly as a report comes over the comm, but she makes no comment regarding it.

"Since you come and go as you please, I believe it wise to suggest that you look for members of the hero organization known as The Avengers, or the Justice League. Either would be able to help you better understand the fine line between hero, vigilante and criminal."

Grail has posed:
    Grail considers that for a moment, then says "Perhaps I will go talk to Diana again. Our first meeting did not go well at all. I was in a very strange place in my head at the time. She looks around the darkened park, then nods. "That might be best. I will give my mother's people a second chance. After all, I have to find strength here somewhere before father figures out where I escaped to."

    With just a slight nod to Sara, she blurs into motion, vanishing into the darkness of the park.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Reading body language, watching the way the grey woman held herself, it was all part of the way Sara got a feel for someone. Reading this woman was a little more difficult that reading a human, but the general opinion she got was the woman wasn't bad. She lacked an understanding of this world.

She had been around to ask the woman's name when the topic of Diana came up, whom ever that was. Then her mother's people, her father figuring out she escaped and in the end the grey woman was just gone.

"Well... at least she has someone to talk to," she muttered even though no one was there.