14181/Some Shop In Stores, Others in Junk Piles

Some Shop In Stores, Others in Junk Piles
Date of Scene:	18 February 2023
Location:	New Lots
Synopsis:	Donatello's hunt for electronics scrap encounters Maria King. The pair find a motorcycle buried in the junk pile, which turns out to belong to Daniel Ketch when he comes to reclaim it.
Cast of Characters:	Donatello, Maria King, Daniel Ketch

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Donatello has posed:
Donatello probably surfaces the least of any of the four Turtles. He likes his lab and his private space, he likes his comfort. He does dream of someday being able to have a nice, clean lab facility and workshop on the surface, but he knows that isn't terribly realistic. Humans might become tolerant enough of mutants for that to happen, but he's not holding his breath.

He looks like a strange bundle, wearing an oversized jumpsuit and helmet with goggles on it. He has his bo-staff slung across his back along with a large duffel bag he can fill with what he finds. He's maneuvering his way through the junk pile, looking for electronics he can salvage or mechanical parts he can clean and repurpose. He's humming to himself, some sort of 80s song - he's into retro, what can he say? He got really excited when he got that old Atari working - those old joysticks are one of the few controllers that are easy to use with turtle fingers.

"Whip it. Whip it good," he mutters to himself.

Maria King has posed:
The weather has only warmed slightly as New York is heading nearer and nearer to spring. Enough storms coming down from Canada to keep burning through the wood that a certain homeless girl in New Lots uses to keep herself warm at night.

Maria King is bundled up. The jacket that someone had left her was a boon. Even today which wasn't as cold as it had been lately, it went a long way to keeping her warm. Though it did not do as good of a job of disguising her feminine build as her layers of too-big clothing had which she'd used before.

Which made her always a bit more cautious as she navigated the back alleys looking for wood she could take back to her hidden squat within the old condemned insurance office. The petite teen is carrying a length of cloth which she's sewn two wooden poles into each end for carrying handles, without a cutout so her hand can go around the wood. So far she's just got a couple of short two by fours and an old book whose paper will help start up the fire if it's burned out.

Up ahead there's a bit of an open square where alleys converge. The surrounding businesses tend to build up their trash there before it gets hauled away. A good place to find something she can burn. Maria gets to the corner and peeks around. The piles of discarded things make it difficult to tell if anyone else is about, but not seeing anyone, the teen steps out and begins carefully picking her way through.

Donatello has posed:
Donatello is fairly lost in what he's doing. He finds a few bundles of cable he can re-use, only lightly frayed, easily repaired with duct tape. He would always be grateful for the day that carton of duct tape fell off of a truck and ended up in Donnie's possession - saved him so much trouble.

When he does hear someone else rustling in the pile, he knows he should probably hide, but instead he gets a little curious. He climbs up the mound a little bit and peeks over, his goggled eyes taking in the figure of the young woman on the other side. He appreciated the coat, cold-blooded amphibian that he was, New York in the winter could be quite a task. Luckily all those steam pipes in the sewers kept them warmer than most.

"If you tell me what you're looking for, I'll let you know if I find any of it," he says gently, trying not to startle her.

Maria King has posed:
Maria King spots some wood. She's not entirely sure what it is, maybe a part of a headboard of a bed. Or maybe some kind of big plaque that used to hang on a wall? It's hard to tell, just an edge of it showing from beneath a stack of other refuse.

The small girl sets down the wood carrier and grabs the exposed edge. She tugs without much success. Another tug and this time it shifts, though just a few inches.

The voice comes from behind her, and slightly above, just as Maria is giving another tug. She jumps and her hands slip off, the girl falling back into the discard pile, some of which caves over on top of her. Not burying her, but a few items landing atop her at least!

Donatello has posed:
Donatello leaps when he sees the girl in trouble, tucking and rolling down the hill with surprising aplomb, his shell providing him with the structure to roll with surprising ease. He comes out of it to help quickly move some of the objects that fell on her.

"Oh gosh, I didn't mean to scare you! I'm not scary, I promise! I might look a little...different, but I won't hurt you!" he says. He's painfully aware of how easily humans can get spooked by giant turtles, of course.

"Are you okay? You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

Maria King has posed:
The petite girl is easy enough to dig out, and help to her feet. Her eyes widen just a little bit once she starts to see past the disguising outfit that Donatello is wearing. "No it's ok. Not... not scared. Just surprised. Startled," she tells him.

The girl dusts herself off. "No, I'm not hurt. I mean, other than my pride maybe," she says. She peers at Donatello, seeing the green of his face. "I didn't think you'd hurt me, it's ok. I mean, you sounded... you offered all nice and... so, thank you," she says, stammering a little bit.

"Um, wood. You asked what I was looking for. Stuff that I can burn. There was something there but it's kind of buried," she says, motioning to the broken bed headboard.

Donatello has posed:
Donatello smiles, "See, that's why I try not to have too much pride. Just too easy to get hurt," he says. It's also a whole Zen thing about destroying your ego, but Leo was better at the philosophy part than Donnie was.

"Wood! Cool. Well, the only piece of wood I have right now is my staff," he says, gesturing to the bo strapped to his back, "but I need that to kick bad guy tailpipe. But I bet there's some stuff here. You're having heating problems? I could probably make you a mechanical heater so you wouldn't have to rely on that," he says.

Maria King has posed:
Maria King peers over to see the staff on his back. "Oh, yes, wouldn't want to burn that," she agrees. "Um, you could make one? Like from scratch? I don't even know how one would do that," she says, sounding impressed. The girl is also still looking Donatello over. Trying to do so without being too obvious about it.

She really can't quite make out the details of him with that disguise. The fact he doesn't have the normal number of fingers does stand out with him having helped her with a hand up. "Um, I don't suppose you could help me pull this out?" she asks, motioning to the headboard.

Donatello has posed:
Donatello nods, "Absolutely. I'm kind of good with gadgets and stuff. Okay, I'm more than good, I'm kind of a genius, but it sounds bad when I'm the one who says it, y'know?" he grins.

He notices the looking and shrugs, "Yeah, I'm a turtle. And a ninja. But I'm also an inventor. Guess I'm big on multi-tasking. But I'm not a monster, just a guy. If we can find some proper coiling and a heating filament in here, I can probably rig something up for you. Oooh, there's an old lamp there, I bet it's got some guts I could use for it..." he says, eyes lighting up behind his goggles as the idea of a new project is sparked.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
The back alleys of Brooklyn are not exactly the best place to leave a motorcycle, but someone decided to abandon one, it lies under a ragged piece of hemp cloth that was perhaps once part of a tent. The wind has uncovered one of the wheels.

Or is it abandoned? The machine feels warm to the touch, even the wheels. And it is large, armored motorcycle, heavily customized and possibly expensive. Further inspection shows bullet impacts on one side, but it is hard to say if they have damaged anything important.

Maria King has posed:
Maria's mouth hangs open just a little bit at the genius part, drops further at the heavily swaddled figure in front of her saying he's a turtle. And pretty much hits full extension and ninja inventor, before Maria realizes she's gaping and closes it.

In a voice as if she's struggling to process it all, she repeats, "A... a turtle? Like, with a shell?" she asks. She leans to the side just a little to look around Donatello's front, towards where the jacket is trying to cover up his bulk that does seem a bit more than human shape.

Maria clears her throat. "I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that. I'm sure you're a very fine turtle. Turtle ninja inventor," she tells him. "I'm not. Any of those things I mean. Especially not a genius."

She's still processing mentally as he's looking about for things to make a heater. "I don't have electricity so, I don't know if that would be an issue," she says, her eyes going back to the wooden headboard she was trying to get out from under the junk. "Hey, is that a wheel? That could be worth a few dollars," she says, spotting a part of the motorcycle.

Donatello has posed:
Donatello unzips the front of his jumpsuit a little bit and taps on his shell, letting it make that unique noise it does when rapped with knuckles, "Shell and all. And that's okay. My brothers and I are pretty unusual, although there's more mutant animal types than you might think. Human, turtle, whatever, a heater in winter is an essential. I'm glad I can help," he says.

"I kind of figured you didn't. I have so many batteries I could be a radio shack, no problem. People throw away so many rechargeables. I might use a car battery for this, though, just for long use and wear. Might have to get that from home, though, batteries in the junk have a habit of leaking acid. No fun."

He sees the bike and cocks his head slightly, "Uh, yeah. I don't know what parts might be good, but, uh...I think that's a motorcycle."

Daniel Ketch has posed:
It is indeed a motorcycle. And it seems to be a custom built one. It is painted dark blue and black, with a large metal windshield protecting two front lights on bulletproof glass. Same metal protects the sides, making the thing weight over five hundred pounds.

It looks old and scarred, but still very much serviceable. Hard to say without checking the engine. Very possibly worth more than a few dollars.

Who left that thing there? Well, it was actually a flaming skeleton chasing after a gang of Maggia thugs last night. But the main fight took place a few blocks west of here. Not that the Ghost Rider activities are hot news nowadays, he has been haunting the streets of Brooklyn for a few years. And there is no local newspaper constantly reminding the population he is a menace. Although he actually is far more menacing that certain spider-themed people.

Maria King has posed:
Maria King's eyes are pulled back to the Ninja Turtle as he exposes the sight of his shell. The teen's eyes are wide, and she starts to reach a hand out, but then stops herself. "Is it ok if... do you mind..." she asks, obviously wanting to touch it. Assuming he gives her an affirmative answer she reaches out, fingers brushing over the shell, then giving it a tiny little knock like he did.

"I actually came across someone else, another mutant animal. Or, well I'm not sure exactly. Alien or mutant or just... different anyway," she says, shrugging off the distinction in a way that would probably lead one to believe she doesn't have any kind of prejudice on any of those topics.

Though she doesn't go into it deeper, not sure if the particular mutant wants much said about them. Her eyes go back to the wheel and she moves over to get a better look. "It's a whole bike!" she says in agreement. She pulls a box out of the way to get a better look, and then some hemp cloth.

There are briefly dollar signs in the girl's eyes. Picturing what it might be worth. The dollar amount translated into how many days food it would amount for to the girl who eats more than double what anyone would expect from looking at her.

"Um..." she stammers after a moment. "Probably belongs to someone. Or do you think they just threw it away?" If it belongs to someone and she sells it, that could be grand theft auto. And not the cool video game kind.

Donatello has posed:
Donatello allows the touching of his shell, the material of it smooth with just a hint of grain to it. He almost blushes a bit under his green ski then clears his throat when they put their attention back on the motorcycle.

"Seems pretty strange to find it here. You'd be shocked at the things people leave behind, but it's not usually something like this. This thing could actually be worth something," he says.

He's going to work to clear off any of the debris obscuring the motorcycle. He understands the excitement, but he can't help but be cautious. No sign of boobytraps he can see, though - he's encountered such things before, bad people just leaving things to hurt homeless or struggling people out of pure spite. Disgusting.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
On plain sight there are no bobbytraps. The machine lies on a side, there are some indents on the concrete that hint it might have crashed, and skid marks that seem to be burned coming from one of the alleys.

And coming from that very alley there is a young man wearing an old coat. Although still some distance away he is obviously heading to the square where Don and Maria have been scavenging.

Maria King has posed:
The homeless girl is still weighing how things might go with the bike. Some petty theft like lifting a piece of fruit from a stand is one thing. But if it went wrong with the bike, that could lead to some hard time.

"Hrm," she murmurs, looking up to nod towards Donatello, then looking back down. She drags a bag of trash to the side which lets her see the skid marks better. "Those look kind of weird," she says. "More like a scorch mark than a skid mark."

Her eyes trace their path, until her gaze is falling on a pair of feet walking her way. The petite teen straightens quickly. "Someone else is coming," she says, a hand motioning subtly towards the direction that the young man is coming from. She looks back to Donatello, and helps him pull the jump suit back over to hide his shell.

Donatello has posed:
Donatello examines the scorch marks carefully, looking over the ride with his head cocked, the allure of machinery distracting him even from cute girl and approaching stranger until Maria calls his attention to it.

"Maybe no abandoned after all, then," he says, turning to put himself between Maria and whoever's coming. If this person turns out to be trouble, he's not going to let her get hurt on his account. "This your bike, man?" he says, the turtle clad in a mechanic's jumpsuit with a stocking cap and a pair of oversized goggles.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
Daniel was heading for the bike in question when Donatello shoots his question. Sure, he is green and turtle-ish, but really, this is New York, so he didn't look at him twice until the mutant speaks.

"Hmm," he now gives him a longer glance. "That one? Oh... yeah, mine. I knew it was close." He walks to the fallen machine and pulls it upright with a grunt. "It was just..." Danny begins to make up some lame excuse about the presence of the bike in the middle of the dump. But it seems a pointless effort. They have not asked anyway. "I will be going," he decides.

Maria King has posed:
Maria King is happy to do a little step or two back, an attempt to fade into the woodwork as best as she can. Though it's not really woodwork. If it was she'd have filled up her firewood carrier by now!

She eyes Daniel Ketch and the bike, the teen not putting up any argument to him taking it. Though, living on the streets as she does, she figures it's probably 2/3 odds he's lying and just going to take the bike. Because, free bike. And 1/3 that it's actually his. She doesn't voice those thoughts though. She doesn't get by on the streets offering challenging comments to people who outweigh her two to one.

Donatello has posed:
Donatello steps slightly aside to let Dan get at the bike. Maybe the guy was lying, but it didn't seem like it and it's not like the bike belonged to him or Maria either.

"All yours, man. Be careful leaving it places like this, though, I'd have had it stripped for parts in another twenty minutes," he says, still putting a hand back on Maria's shoulder to make sure she's okay.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
Daniel spots Maria briefly, staring for a moment because she is a usually pretty face. But Don draws his attention again. It is probably best to keep an eye on the green guy. Possibly he a mutant, possibly one with crazy super-powers. "Ah, yeah... sure. I was very lucky I got here on time." He nods sagely, because, really, an unmarked motorcycle like this...

Truth is most people tend to overlook the motorcycle when the Ghost Rider is not around. But not everyone, which sometimes causes problems. But it is not his fault the Rider doesn't follow the rules of common sense.

He turns on the bike. Hard to say how, maybe it has a hidden lever, he didn't use keys. Also, those bullet holes at the side? No longer there. "You two gonna be okay? This is not a good place to leave a bike, but it is not a good place to loiter either. Rats the size of dogs, you know. Also, gangs."

Maria King has posed:
The girl has a tendency to not meet people's eyes for long. Just peeking up at them frequently, rather than meeting gaze and drawing attention to herself. That's what she does with Daniel now.

She gives a tiny nod at his question. "Should be ok," she agrees, reaching down to pick up her firewood carrier. Just a strip of sturdy cloth, doubled up, and with some wooden rods sewn into each end with a hole cut so it can be gripped easily. Obviously a homemade thing, though only with a couple of pieces of wood in it.

"Can you help me pull that piece out?" she asks Donatello, referring back to the wood she was trying to pull out when he first spoke and startled her.

Donatello has posed:
Donatello snorts a bit, "Big rats and I get along very well, usually. Unless I forget to clean my room," he says.

"As for the rest, I, uh, can take care of myself. And nobody's going to hurt her while I'm around. Heck, I just met you, maybe you could protect yourself, too. Shoot fire or pop swords out of her hands."

He nods at Maria's request, going to get some fo the wood and pull it free.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
Daniel gives a shrug that might mean 'not me, totally normal guy here' or just that he is from New York, so he knows about it all. Better not to think too much about the rat comment.

"Right, nice tomeetyou," he grunts, driving the motorcycle carefully around the piles of junk and garbage. The machine is eerily silent. Then he speeds off, unless they stop him he is out of sight in half a minute.

Maria King has posed:
Maria King watches the motorcycle speed off. Her eyes go back to the odd marks left presumably when the bike arrived there, then back off to the treating form of Daniel Ketch on the bike.

Not the oddest thing she's seen lately by far. Or even in the last twenty minutes, as she turns back to Donatello as he hauls the big piece of wood out. "Thank you, that'll burn for a good long time," she tells him. Her eyes slide across the concealed mutant turtle again, still a bit amazed that that is what he is.

"I'm Maria, by the way," she offers.

Donatello has posed:
Donatello smiles, "Donatello, but you can call me Donnie," he says, starting to find more wood in the pile and carefully sliding it out. Don't want a splinter, after all. Well. Not that kind.