14871/Damsels and Distresses

Damsels and Distresses
Date of Scene:	08 May 2023
Location:	Hell's Kitchen
Synopsis:	Luke comes to the rescue when June is in trouble, only to find out that she actually WAS the trouble.
Cast of Characters:	June Connor, Luke Cage

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June Connor has posed:
    Hell's Kitchen isn't known for being a nice place to be. If you aren't tough, you probably want to steer clear. If you are tough but are smart, most people still steer clear if they don't live there or need to be there. Warmer weather means people are more active, and of course, that means crime is even more common than it already is in the winter months.

    The partly cloudy evening sky is fading in the sunlight, the twilight making a disadvantage for most vision. The street lights that aren't burned out are starting to flicker on lazily, producing at least some lighting for the darkening area.

    The sound of struggle can be heard. Cussing and fighting can be heard beyond Knuckleheads Brewhouse, one of the local dive bars which...well, it lives up to its name.

Luke Cage has posed:
"I'm serious, in today's game Lou Brock would take MVP. Every year," Brian says emphatically, as he and Luke walk out of Knuckleheads.

"I don't know what's worse, your taste in bars or read on the game," Luke retorts with a half-smile. "There's no way, the game's too fast today."

"You sayin' Lou wasn't fast?"

"No, I'm..." The commotion catches Luke's attention. He looks in the direction of the noise then back at Brian.

"Yeah, yeah, get on Mr. Cage," Brian chuckles. They shake hands and Brian heads off. In the opposite direction.

Luke puts up the hood of his steel grey hoodie and heads in the direction of trouble.

June Connor has posed:
    "Little bitch, you think we won't just make an example out of you?" It's five against one. And that one is a petite young girl who can't weigh more than a hundred pounds soaking wet. Not that she looks like an all american. Purple eye shadow, a short fire-engine red undercut, black cutoff shorts and a home-made belly shirt that once was a regular Strokes' T-shirt. Tattoos can be seen at several intersections of her exposed skin. The kind that has probably been in her share of scraps.

    It's clear that she doesn't have an advantage here, though. She's backed up against a rather smelly dumpster, her hands up. "Look, I dunno what youse'r talkin about," she gives a half laugh of nervousness." The five bikers around her seem unimpressed by her declaration. "Let's see if we can help you know what we're talkin' about," the one in the lead, a heavy set guy with a duck dynasty salt and pepper beard says. He throws a punch at her, which she tucks to the side to dodge. She's fast at least, good reflexes. She returns with a snap punch at his armpit, causing him to flinch from the precise strike. It's still hardly enough to call her the winner though as he takes severa swings back at her. She ducks and dodges until she finds herself suddenly caught from behind by another. The next fist goes straight across her face, dazing her. She kicks again, using the fact she is held to deliver a monkey kick at the first attacker, knocking him clear for the moment, though still restrained.

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke stalks down the alley. The first attacker reels backwards holding his face from the young woman's kick. Luke catches the biker by the back of the jacket.

"Sweet Christmas. I can't tell if it's more embarrassing you're going after her 5 on 1, or that she's winning even with those odds," Luke says to the man.

Luke gives him a shove towards the wall before the biker is very aware of what is going on. The biker hits the bricks with his hands still cradling his likely broken nose and falls to the ground writing in pain.

"How about we even the odds?"

Luke tilts his head side to side to crack his neck.

June Connor has posed:
    June is as surprised as the bikers when someone comes to help her, and doesn't quite take advantage of the situation immediately. The biker that is shoved against the wall is dazed, but his buddies aren't. "Man you picked the wrong fight," one of them says, taking a swing that is practiced, but not any better than your average street scuffler. He's backed up by a second, making it a two on one. They seem to think this is enough to have an advantage.

    June turns to bite the hand of the guy holding her back, and he lets out a yelp, which is silenced by a headbut behind her into his nose. She can clearly handle herself, though she is soon tackled by another, landing in a pothole puddle with her attacker.

Luke Cage has posed:
The biker swings at Luke and connects squarely with the side of Luke's face.

"Fuck," he curses and shakes his bruised fist. "The hell?"

The second squints as he closes in. There is a glint as he flicks out a switch blade. The man swipes at Luke, who blocks with the outside of one of his forearms. The blade cuts through his hoodie... And stops. There is a hole, but no blood. Realization dawns slowly as the two bikers start to appreciate their mistake.

"I liked this hoodie," Luke says. "It lasted a whole a week!"

Luke closes on the biker with the knife who tries another slash. Luke bats the swipe aside, sending the knife skittering across the pavement. He grabs the guy by the front of his shirt, hauls him sideways into the wall and then tosses him backwards into the dumpster the young woman had been backed up against before.

"Shit, it's Cage... Look, you don't understand what she did, this isn't what you think..."

"Please," Luke scoffs and cuts him off. The first biker backpedals as Luke stalks towards him next. "Don't even /try/ to make excuses for beating up on her."

The biker does not even notice the heap of people behind him, trips backwards and falls over the biker and the young woman in the puddle. He lands on the far side of them from Luke. Without taking his eyes of the biker who fell, Luke reaches over and slaps the man still cursing over the bite mark in his hand. The man spins around around dazed and bounches off the dumpster.

June Connor has posed:
    June finds herself just staring a bit at the rescue antics, as the final hit knocks the last biker off her. She delivers a kick to his face to put him down, and then climbs up to her feet, wiping the gross water off her leg.

    "Holy shit," she mutters, looking at the pile of attackers. "Uh, thanks," she says with a rather sheepish smile, "That was pretty badass," she confesses.

Luke Cage has posed:
"Don't mention it," Luke says and lowers his hoodie. "You weren't so bad yourself, almost didn't need me. Something tells me this isn't the first tough spot you've been in, and gotten yourself out of".

"I'm Luke," he introduces himself. He looks a bit concerned. "You okay? What happened here?"

June Connor has posed:
    "June," the girl answers, giving one of those shy, slightly flirty smiles. "Thanks." She tenderly touches her left eye socket, shes' going to have a good bruise on that cheekbone. "So, yeah, so that guy said he'd buy me a beer," she indicates the one with the large beard that had initially talked. "And he did, right? Only then he thought that I'd pay him back with a little..." she pantomimes a bit of a lewd gesture. "I said whoa, I wasn't looking for that much action tonight, right? I mean, he was the one who offered the drink. He didn't take it well, and so he and his buddies thought they'd-"

    "June!" The commotion was enough apparently that it drew Stan's attention, the manager. "I told you to stay clear of here! Mike tells me you were liftin' wallets, I'm likely to let them beat your flat little-" Stan stops, looking over the pile of the defeated.

    June's green eyes go wide. So much for her damsel in distress story.

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke purses his lips and shakes his head at the start of the story. He looks over in the direction of one of the bikers that was starting to come around. He looks over at Stan when he comes out, ready for yet another fight and then his words catch up with Luke.

Luke tilts his head and raises an admonishing eyebrow at June. You can almost here the 'you little...' from the expression alone.

"They deserve what they got for hitting for you," he says, then holds out his hand. "But. The wallets."

June Connor has posed:
    June curses under her breath. "C'mon," she whines slightly. "I mean, you're like, half guilty now yourself, right?" she points out. She takes a step backward. "So I'll give you half?" She gives a wincing smile, already pretty confident that Cage is one of those goody-two shoes that follows laws. She reaches in her shorts, pulling out the thin brown wallet, not necessarily extending it to him yet nor tossing it to her dazed attackers...victims?

Luke Cage has posed:
"Nice try. I stepped in to keep you from getting hurt, not help you pickpocket," Luke says dryly. "I'd say /you/ owe /me/. Give me the wallet and we'll call it even."

June Connor has posed:
    June shrugs, tilting her head back and forth. "I mean, that's fair," she admits. "I guess when you put it that way, I'm gonna have to owe ya."

    And with that, she bolts. She sprints straight away, sliding over the rear of a car in her way as she makes a break for the alley at full speed.

Luke Cage has posed:
"That's not what I..."

Luke makes a swipe for June when she turns and runs but misses. He leans forward to run after her and almost steps on the biker in the puddle and has to hop to one side. By the time he looks up, June is way down the alley. Luke shakes his head.

"Stan, right? You know that kid? Any idea where I can find her? Not a big fan of these guys hitting her, don't know how much I care about their wallet," Luke says and gives the biker he almost stepped on a nudge with his boot. The man groans. "But, that was just cheeky. I'd like to talk with her."

June Connor has posed:
    Stan shakes his head. "Kid is trouble. June Connor. She's likely to get herself killed one of these days over somethin' just this stupid," he says, puttin' his hands on his hips.

    "Honestly, hoped they would beat the fire out of her, a'fore someone else just put a bullet in'er. Rumor is she picks up work at the HFC sometimes, has protected her a little, but you and I know there's plenny 'a people who don't care about any a'dat."

Luke Cage has posed:
"HFC?" Luke says with a grimace and shakes his head. "You're right, she's going nowhere good. I'll talk to some people, see if we can get through to her before she gets ground out by the streets."

Luke holds a hand out to Stan. "Luke," he introduces himself. "Sorry about the mess. Can I leave them with you?"

June Connor has posed:
    "Good luck," Stan huffs. "Yeah I'll get the first aid kit for'm," he says, looking over the group. "If you see her, tell'r I'm callin 'the cops next tim I even see her. She's bad for business, and I'm pretty sure her ID is fake anyway."