15038/Flashback: Unmasking the Hellcat
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| Flashback: Unmasking the Hellcat | |
|---|---|
| Date of Scene: | 30 May 2023 |
| Location: | New York City |
| Synopsis: | The one where She-Hulk figures out who Hellcat really is. Always remember: the burgers don't lie. |
| Cast of Characters: | Patsy Walker, Jennifer Walters
|
- Patsy Walker has posed:
Some time after the first encounter between Patsy Walker and Jennifer Walters, the two have decided to work together on a few more cases. Jen has clients, and Patsy has a knack for finding things out. While she's no Batman (who is, really?), her penchant for getting to the bottom of things has made her a go-to person for those needing answers they don't trust others to get.
A few times, Hellcat's also showed up to assist She-Hulk with some trouble of a more active, physical variety. Very coincidental, and it doesn't take a genius to put a few pieces of that puzzle together to suspect there's more going on than it seems. Same red hair, same build, voices that aren't that far off. Really, now.
So it is that the two are wrapping up another capture of some wannabe thieves, saving the day once again. This time, Hellcat even sticks around to give a statement to the police who arrive on the scene to put the cuffs on the offenders and take them down to the local precinct for processing.
"We don't make a bad team, you and I," the costumed cat grins, the brows of her feline-inspired cowl having a way of conveying a few different moods depending on the way the solid white eyes appear along with her body language.
- Jennifer Walters has posed:
"Indeed!" replies Jen happily, dusting her hands off once the police have taken their statements. "We need to have a superhero duo name. 'She-Hulk and Hellcat' is kind of a mouthful." She taps her chin thoughtfully as she thinks. "Well, if we can get three other ladies on the team with use we'd be the Femme Force Five. we could get matching suits!" Clearly Jen is missing her time with the Fantastic Four.
"Hey," she says, turning to face Hellcat fully. "Fighting ne'er do wells always gives me an appetite. Want to go grab a burger? What kind of burger do you like?" Jen had gotten Patsy's burger preference just a few weeks prior. Careful, this could be a trap! (It is.)
- Patsy Walker has posed:
Hellcat gives a high-five, though when Jen is being She-Hulk, the height difference is considerable. "Who says we need five? Just the two of us and we could be the Dynamic Duo. Wait, that's already taken. Can't do the Fantastic Four or the Fab Four. What if we had one more? Is there anything for a trio that's already taken?" She counts off the numbers on her clawed fingers, waving it off in the end. "Ah, we've got time to figure it out. But I'm not exactly giving this suit up."
Sometimes, the simplest traps are the ones that are easiest to fall into. Without a second thought, she rattles off the particulars of her burger of choice, and with her hands at her hips she wonders, "What's the best place around here? I'm still getting used to some of them."
- Jennifer Walters has posed:
"We've got the terrible twos. But that's for toddlers," Jen muses. "The terrific two? No, that's kind of lame." Still tapping her chin with a finger she starts mumbling to herself. "What are good synonyms for 'terrific'? Superb? No, not that. Fabulous? Well, I mean I //am// pretty fabulous, but it would be 'fabulous two?' Maybe something with 'duo.' Hmmmm." Tap, tap, tap. "Dynamite duo? Maybe," she says uncertainly. "We'll workshop it."
When Patsy starts naming the kinds of burgers she likes, Jen just nods along. "Unh hunh, unh hunh. Well, There's a pub just within walking distance that has good beer, too." She cants her head curiously. "So I take it you're not from around here? Where'd you come from?" Another leading question. Another trap!
- Patsy Walker has posed:
"There's definitely time to come up with something good." Oh, how close Hellcat came to just coming out with 'Walker and Walters,' too. Almost on the tip of her tongue.
This trap, she doesn't fall for. Patsy is known to be from Centerville, California, but she gives a careful answer. "Oh, here, there, everywhere. You could say I've been to hell and back, even." And it would be true. "I could do with a drink. A little wine, maybe. Have you ever had wine with a good burger? You just have to imagine it like a steak with a lot of other stuff on it."
- Jennifer Walters has posed:
Dang. She didn't bite. Though the thought of wine with a burger intrigues her. "That seems a little bougie to me," she says thoughtfully. "But what kind of wine pairs well with a cheeseburger? Maybe something dry, like a cabernet? I'll have to try that, but not in a pub. In a pub you get beer of some kind. Anything else is sacrilege."
"Oh, do you have any ID on you? These guys card." Smooth, Jen. Just give the game away why don't you.
- Patsy Walker has posed:
Hellcat spreads her palms out wide. "I don't know! Maybe we'll have to try some different ones soon and hope we figure it out before we stagger out drunk!" Or maybe that would be worth doing, too! She strides along, full of confidence, until Jen mentions needing identification.
"What do you mean, ID? A lot of us have secret identities to protect. I'm not telling them who I am just so I can get a watered-down beer with my food. I'll just go somewhere else if I have to. Usually they don't mind if they can get a photo for the wall. That gives them more cred with some people, you know." Chances are good she doesn't have actual 'superhero' ID on her.
- Jennifer Walters has posed:
Jennifer pauses in her walking, and looks surreptitiously up and down the street. She grabs Hellcat and drags her into an alley so nobody can hear her when she says, "Okay. This has been bugging me for weeks now. You're Patsy, right? You've got to be Patsy. The hair, the build, the voice, the burgers... //The burgers,// Patsy. The burgers don't lie!"
- Patsy Walker has posed:
"Wha-hey!" Hellcat's got some pretty fast reflexes and quickness to her, but being unprepared for She-Hulk to claim her arm and hustle the two of them into the alley is definitely a thing. The all-white eyes of the cowl widen at the bigger, larger woman, her own attention darting side to side as a precursor to whatever's about to happen.
Jen's got her pretty much dead to rights with the examples, and she puts both hands up in front of her. "Wait, wait, wait. Some things are just coincidental, like the woman on the Titanic who survived two other shipwrecks, or the same guy surviving both atomic bombs in Japan, or the couple that found wedding vows in a bottle written on the same day they got married, or the couple who found themselves in the same childhood photo, the 'Jim Twins' leading nearly identical lives after being separated at birth. I could go on."
Now she crosses her arms. "But burgers can't lie. They're /burgers!/"
Nowhere in here is a pure pure denial. Don't even bother wondering how she knew all that off the top of her head.
- Jennifer Walters has posed:
Jennifer waves a hand dismissively, "Yeah but if there's one thing I know, it's superheroes!" A beat. "And law. Okay. I know two things. If there are //two// things I know it's superheroes and law. You've got to be Patsy. I'd stake my life on it."
When Patsy says the burger's can't lie, she just nods her head enthusiastically. "Ex/act/ly."
- Patsy Walker has posed:
Hellcat's expression, what can be seen of it, turns..pouty? Keeping her arms crossed helps give that image.
"This is why I knew it was a mistake to mix my work with someone else 'in the biz,'" she glowers. Now with her scowling, the yellowed brows of the cowl help present an irritated demeanor. After one more check of the area, she holds up one hand, a single claw-tipped finger extended toward the sky. "This stays between us. Not a word to anybody else."
'This' is the suit magically disappearing, to be replaced by clothing of a similar color scheme. Yellow top, dark blue or black gloves, same color pants. "Yeah, so I do a lot of my work under disguise. Now you know." Patsy's actual eyes and eyebrows give off a similar look as before, waiting for Jen's reaction.
- Jennifer Walters has posed:
"I //knew// it!" Jennifer says giddily. "Of course I won't say anything. Do you know how many secret identities I know? Lots. Most of them fall under client/attorney privileges, so I know how to keep things to myself."
"But think. Now you have a friend you can confide in about all of..." she waves a hand at Patsy's "This. You need to have a couple of those if you're going to be in the superhero business. Keeping it all to yourself is bad for your mental health."
"So..." she says with a wide grin, "Still want that burger? I'll pay."
- Patsy Walker has posed:
Patsy Walker doesn't immediately share Jen's enthusiasm over this revelation. Rather dejectedly, she says, "You probably know a few, yeah. Look, the whole point of this was to find a way to do something legit that lets me use this other side to help make it work. Now you've already figured it out. I /knew/ I should have tucked my hair inside." But would Hellcat look as awesome without that red hair flowing while she's in action? Surely not!
Eyes shift skyward as she's forced to admit, "It /would/ help to have someone else who knows what it's like that I could call a friend, and even work together with on some things." Having backup is a good thing, though the comment about things being bad for one's mental health /really/ makes her frown. "Oh, yeah. I never would have guessed." Being ready to discuss spending time in Hell is not yet on the menu.
Only after the offer is made does she allow a hint of a smile to creep back in. "If you're covering it, it'd be rude of me to say no. Maybe it's easier if I stay like this for the food." And drink.
- Jennifer Walters has posed:
"Probably, though I think most eyes would be on me," Jen says referring to her seven feet of green muscle woman. "They usually are. I haven't always liked the attention, but once I embraced being She-Hulk, well..." She shrugs. "I kinda got used to it."
"Look. If you're worried about other people finding out, I wouldn't be. At least any more than you normally should," Jen says as she starts walking towards the pub. "I've worked with you professionally with both of your identities for a while now, and I'm //really// good at finding the truth. Comes with being a lawyer."
"I'm not going to dissuade you from flexing your muscles, either." She snorts before giving Patsy a grin. "It'd be pretty hypocritical of me if I did. You've got sweet moves and it'd be a shame to waste them. So here's to us as a team! The Dynamite Duo!" She deflates a little. "We need to work on that name."
