14350/That thin gray line.

That thin gray line.
Date of Scene:	07 March 2023
Location:	Bushwick <Mutant Town>
Synopsis:	Jayna spots a team of Foot Ninjas cleaning up the streets of Mutant Town.
Cast of Characters:	Shredder, Jayna

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Shredder has posed:
    Bushwick is commonly known as Mutant Town. While it's not exclusively mutant, there is a high population in this poor neighborhood of people with the X-Gene, or with another mutation of some sort. Or alien. Or fill in the blank. If you are outside the norm for society, this is a place that's a bit more accepting.

    That doesn't mean there is no threat here. Far from it. The Friends of Humanity are commonly seen traveling in small packs to terrorize people who are obvious mutants. Let's face it, most mutants don't have some sort of power that gives them an advantage in combat. Like Perry Forcht. He isn't a young mutant, he's a middle-aged father. He married a normal human woman. He also has crystaline blue skin and not a hair on his entire body. That's it. Just blue skin and no hair.

    He is just getting done with his shift as a short order cook at a local greasy spoon, walking down the street after hours. He turns a corner when he comes in contact with six young men. They have different clothing, fairly ordinary really, but they all wear a yellow arm band that reads F.O.H.

Jayna has posed:
There is a lot to discover about the city, and Jayna has been ALL about that since her arrival with her brother a few weeks ago. She had heard some stories of a mutant town, a place where others had gathered, and had decided to see it for herself. She was not technically a mutant herself, at least, not an Earth mutant, although she was considered some at her home. And so she sympathized with the plight of those mutants from Earth who had to endure hard times. She had been abandoned as a child and sold into a circus, but she imagines that for some of these mutants, it was even worse here.

    She was just about getting ready to call it a night after a brief meal at a diner. She was sure that her brother was going to be worried about her, wandering off on her own, for more reasons than just over-protectiveness. But as she was heading towards the train back to her modest apartment, she spotted he cook from the diner finding himself face to face with a half dozen other men. She was not quite sure what the politics were here, but something set her ill at ease about it. She slowly headed over in the direction. She may not be able to do much, but perhaps if there is some conflict brewing she could de-escalate. She was rather good at that1

Shredder has posed:
    Perry stops, and takes one step back and to the side to let the others pass. They don't. "Look, it's one of the Blue Man Group," the young man who is the leader speaks up, He's broad shouldered and strong, wearing a red sweatshirt.

    Perry just nods, giving an acknowledging smile. "Just heading home guys, not lookin' for a fight," he says.

    "Oh, but fighting makes it a little more sporting. "Of course, you could just stand and take it," he suggests, stepping on the man's foot and pushing him back. He hits the wall before hitting the ground, causing him to end in a stumbling pose, and he braces himself to stay up agains the old brick wall.

Jayna has posed:
    Instinctively, Jayna starts to move forward towards the group to try to intervene. But then she remembers, without her brother she is just a normal person, more or less. Slightly trained in gymnastics and martial arts, sure, but not nearly well enough to take on a group of this size. And at a relatively average height for a girl, with a slender physique, and wearing a decidely /not/ intimating purple blouse in a pair of blue jeans, she was not about to scare these men away either.

    She starts looking around to see if she can find anyone around that might be able to help.

Shredder has posed:
    Perry is just trying to right himself when there is an elbow that slams down into his diaphram, sending him straight down to the dirty sidewalk. "Look, I don't need any of this," he pleads, knowing that he doesn't have much hope of fighting them off on his own.

    "Mutie, you think we care what you need?" the leader asks. "What we need is you filthy abominations to just get out of the gene pool."

    There's a thiwp through the air, and one of the others in the group lets out a yelp. The others look to him and see the cause, there's a throwing star buried in his shoulder. "Somebody just hit me in the back!" the guy complains. They all look in the direction of the throw, and there's a singular shorter figure in a black shozuko at the ready in a full plant. "You want a piece?" the leader asks. The figure doesn't answer, but as the group turns their full attention on the black clad character, they can't see what may be visible from Jayna's vantage point. Three more peer over the top of the one story shop they are near, all bearing kali sticks.

Jayna has posed:
    Jayna does not much know what is going on here, but knows enough. That man is hurt, and likely to get more hurt. There are some heroes that are coming to take out the bad guys, but she has seen how collateral damage works. She darts forward, knowing that the newcomers are about to engage once the group's attention has shifted to the one who threw the star.

    She is going to make sure that the blue man gets up and on his way as quickly as possible. The heroes will take out the gang, and she can at least get him going to safety. It is the least she can do!

Shredder has posed:
    The group ignores Jayna's preparations to take the blue man out of the equation, fully focused on what they believe to be a lone attacker. "You think you're some ninja or something?" the leader asks him. The group starts to advance, but they only get a few feet before all three of the black clad group leap off the roof. Each has a target, landing with a blow over the heads of the bullies. They go down without a fight, the three rear most dropping to the ground. Now it's four against three instead of four against six. The falling men trigger their allies to turn around, and a sudden fight breaks out. Limbs flailing, sticks swinging, it's gone from tense to an explosion of movement and aggression. It's not loud particularly, too much focus on the actual fighting rather than yelling out.

Jayna has posed:
    With that break Jayna breaks into a full run, darting in and around the group of fighters to pick up the man in blue. "Come on," she says quickly, urging him up to his feet. Her purple rests upon him, and for a moment she feels a certain kinship. Although he was born of Earth, he is clearly not like others, and he is being persecuted merely for his coloring.

    She turns and pulls him away and tries to steady him, her goal to push him off to run in the direction he was heading as she lingers for at least a moment to try to ensure that his escape path is clear.

    And hoping silently that this is not all a /big/ mistake.

Shredder has posed:
    The fight doesn't take long, the ninjas seem to be pretty quickly handling the bullies. It's only a matter of ten seconds or so before all of the bullies are unconcious on the sidewalk, bloodied from the fight. The rescuers fist bump each other, and the star is retrieved from the shoulder of the one. One of the four notice Jayna still there, and just looks in her direction, eyes under the hooded mask. A red footprint is on the left breast of the uniform, and shortly the other three follow the gaze of the first, and all of them just look at her, as if assessing her presence.

Jayna has posed:
    Jayna had not quite counted on what to happen next. As the victim scurries away, she looks to the rescuers, her gaze moving to each of them in turn, and then landing on the symbol. "Uh, thanks," she says a bit nervously, not quite sure what to do now. "That was a brave thing you did. He needed help."

    She glances down at the attackers, frowning deeply, and then turns her attention back to the ninjas. "Do you just hang around here, looking for bad guys to beat up.?"

Shredder has posed:
    The four look at each other for a moment, as if each are waiting for the other to speak first. One of them does. "We protect the neighborhood. Mutants need someone to stand up for them," she says. That one is female by the voice, though the garb would make it difficult to distinguish one sex from the other.

    "If they protect themselves, their enemies use it to claim they are dangerous. So we protect them." She stuffs her kali sticks back into her belt. "What about you? Most people just stay back and watch."

Jayna has posed:
    Jayna smiles broadly at the group. "That makes sense. I was wondering why he didn't do anything. That would just make them more hated." She crosses her arms under her chest and watches them, shifting her weight back and forth as she considers them.

    "Me? I just..." She thinks for a moment. Does she tell them who she is? What she is? "I- I was just walking by and saw he needed help, and didn't want to stand by and do nothing." She stands a bit straighter as she looks at them. "I was scared, and didn't know what to do, but once you had them distracted, I did what I could."

Shredder has posed:
    There's another glance exchanged by two of the shinobi behind the speaker, as if something Jayna said resonated.

    "You wanna to do more?" the girl asks, a distinct Bronx accent present to those who are familiar.

Jayna has posed:
    The girl's eyes dart and forth to meet the gaze of each of the four again. And she considers their words. She looks down at the attackers, and then back in the direction of where the mutant escaped. Lucky to have escaped with his life, when she herself had done almost nothing.

    She looks back to the speaker, and steps forward away from the wall, nodding her head. "Yes. Yes I do."

    Zan can complain later. Jayna found what she was looking for: a cause, and people to help her with that cause.