15745/Skatetown Showdown

Skatetown Showdown
Date of Scene:	29 August 2023
Location:	Bushwick <Mutant Town>
Synopsis:	Bunny saves a mutant from a pair of mutant hating thugs and realizes that she nearly went too far. Shredder is there to talk to her about it!
Cast of Characters:	Mark Grayson, Bunny Macleod, Shredder

---

Mark Grayson has posed:
Though school is in for most students, there are those delinquents and drop-outs that don't want to go to school as well as those that figured that they are too cool or graduated and are listless and just looking to cause trouble.

Fiore Cass is one of the former. He was on his way to school and running late after he had missed the bus in the morning. "Don't worry mom, I've got my skateboard!" he had called out before getting on said board, one that was bought second-hand, but he has lovingly repaired it and got it rolling.

He was well on his way to school when he had drawn the attention of the latter, a pair of thugs that were standing outside one of the arcades, having spent most of their morning harassing people that were walking by, using terms such as 'freak' and 'mutie'. One of them spots Fiore's hair... which was in fact, long flowing tendrils of pinkish flesh that poked out from under his helmet.

The first thug nudges the second and they both run to get on bicycles, chasing after Fiore -- a now desperate chase down the streets and towards the alleys of Bushwick.

"Leave me alone!" Fiore yells at the pair, his foot pushing on the concrete as fast as he can as the bikes barrel down on him.

"Come'ere mutie!" one of them yells, "We just wanna talk!"

"And give you a hair cut, so you'd look more normal, freak!" the other one yells, a switchblade in one of his hands.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny was passingly familiar with Cass. Her siblings had gone to school with him, and of course, skaters stick together. It just so happens that she was on a nearby fire escape looking for opportunity to deal with the two thugs that think they own this street corner.

    And well, there's opportunity knocking if you ever saw it.

    A prismatic shield rises up as Fiore Cass passes the alleyway by, separating him from the two toughs on bicycles, and out from the shadows skates a... very short teenager. HEr pink hair was tethered up under her helmet. She wore a bright pink bolero jacket over a black unitard, matte black helmet, and she has a pair of batons on her as she taps her thigh, blue eyes regarding the two on bikes.

    "Is it me, or do these jerks not look like certified barbers?" she asks, and looks to Fiore, giving an up-nod.

Shredder has posed:
    Saki is here. He wanted to see how his developing student would handle this. How far would she go? What level of violence would she default to? He isn't high up as one might expect. Instead, he is at the street level, viewing from the same advantage that she is viewing the scene. He takes a seat outside a deli, and folds his hands across the table, his steel eyes assessing her approach.

Mark Grayson has posed:
Thug one had taken the lead. He was dressed in a letterman's jacket from one of the local PSes, marking him as a former captain of the football team. And this is how he is chosing to live his life this way.

Fiore passes by the alley first, seeing the shield spring to life behind him and he turns to see Bunny... well, the Black Back Alley Avenger skate out of the shadows. The upnod gets only a quick wave, because he's intent on getting away as fast as possible, and to school where he'll be safe!

Thug One, who was closest, does not have time to stop. The front wheel of his bike slams into the shield, the tire compressing and popping as the frame and spokes bend. The handlebar is pressed into his midsection as he frontflips off the bike, slapping into the shield as well and sliding to the ground in a dazed lump. "What the fuck?!" he manages, a groan of pain as he realizes his collarbone may be broken.

Thug Two, who was lagging slightly behind, was able to slam on his brakes, sliding to a halt before he hits the other bike and the shield - instead, he finds himself faced off against a five foot nothing troublemaker.

"What are you supposed to be?" he asks, doing a few flips of the blade from the switchblade, deploying it and sheathing it before deploying it again. "Are you looking for a good time, little girl?" he asks her, sneering as he looks her over. "I don't go for genejokes, flatscan."

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    School is where Fiore would be safest.

    "Oooh, I bet that wasn't the 'snap' you're used to, huh tough guy?" Bunny states as she turns one of her batons over, moving a little forward on her skates and delivering a very targeted blow to the Jock's solar plexus with the toe-break of her skate.

    "Stay Down." she growls to the one with the broken collar bone, and then turns to address the one with the knife. She's got superior speed on her skates -- and the advantage of reach with her batons.

    He doesn't get an answer, because really -- this isn't going to be a good time for anyone involved.

    Bunny comes in hot and low, picking up speed as she comes in and ducks the knife kid's arm, turning on one foot and swinging her leg out to try and smash the metal and hard acrylic of her skate against the back of his knee!

    "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Except not friendly, not neighborhood, probably not Spider-man." she states as she straightens up, facing Knife's back.

Shredder has posed:
    Saki watches, eyes shifting between Bunny and her quarry. He observes her more confident stance before the enemy. Very different than what had been previously reported. He picks up on the aggressive stance that she takes, she's in control. A slight smile creeps on the side of his lip, and he nods.

Mark Grayson has posed:
There's a nasty /crack/ as Bunny assails the Jock Thug, probably breaking a few ribs. He wheezes and doubles over, his frame shuddering with hurt and angry sobs as he tries to catch his breath.

With Bunny rushing the knife thug, his wild swing missing her as she ducks beneath it and a crack rewards her move as his knee snaps and he goes down, trying to fall down towards Bunny, the blade flipped around as he tries to drive it into the girl's side before she can get away. "Die, you crazy bitch!" he seethes, clearly eager to try to draw blood from her.

Jock thug gets to his feet and he reaches into his jacket. What he pulls out isn't a knife, it's a gun. His hand is shaky, breath ragged. It's lifted, aimed in the direction of the pair, not quite willing to shoot at his friend - but he is definetly trying to scare Bunny off.

Or worse.

Shredder has posed:
    Saki narrows his eyes, watching the gun come out. From inside the sleeve of his shirt, he places a finger on a hidden shuriken. But he doesn't throw. He waits, giving Bunny the opportunity to handle the matter in her own way. By whatever means she deems necessary. This fight has turned from a brawl to decidedly lethal combat. The knife always presented a threat level, but not the way someone with a gun does.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    She drops her baton low to block Knife Thug's blow, Bunny's eyes darting to his face to register his rage as her other baton comes up, wedging his arm as she turns to try and press against a pressure point on him to get him to stand still -- and be a shield as she turns to look to Jock Thug.

    She didn't like guns, but she couldn't show them fear, even as she felt her left hand quiver.

    "You lost before I even came out of the alleyway." she warns, around and below Knife-thug's arm because *terminal shortness*. "Let's take this logically. I generated a forcefield that you slammed your bike into. Odds are I can generate it again between you and me and your friend. Or worse, between me and your friend, who might lose his arm in the process. You're in pain and shaking and panicking. Put the gun down. Kick it into the sewer drain. I'll call medical for you two. And if you even crack a joke about mutants, I will track you down and shove you down there following that gun." she states in what has been termed a Mom Voice. The one she used to use on her younger siblings to make them behave or get them to make their beds. Her blue eyes dart between the gun and the injured guy she's holding.

    She's got her foot wedged well so that Knife can't sling her on her skates.

    "If you don't agree... well then we see what kinda mutie freak you two pissed off."

Mark Grayson has posed:
Jock thug, now Gun thug holds the gun in his hand, glaring murder at the helmeted girl. He could pull the trigger, sure that shield stopped his bike and him -- but she couldn't possibly stop a bullet, could she? He's in pain, emotions blinded by rage. His hand squeezes on the handle of the gun, finger twitching.

Knife thug screams as Bunny wedges his arm and flips him around to use him as a shield. "Do-do-don't do it! Pl-ple-please don't! I don't want to d-d-die!" he hiccups, sobbing openly, so terrified and in pain with the gun aimed at him that a puddle spreads at the front of his pants and pools around Bunny's skates.

Then Bunny is straight spitting facts. And in totally that, this is going to turn out bad for you, no matter what way you decide this goes down, you're fucked way, and Gun thug glowers, his hatred only so much worse, before he coughs again, his free hand coming up as he stares down at the blood that has pooled there. Collapsed lung. He definetly has a collapsed lung in there. And knowing that he's going to need an ambulance, the gun tossed aside as it clatters along the cement, not quite making the sewer grate.

"Fuck you." he wheezes, hatred and pain clear in his voice, as he slumps, blood freely flowing from his mouth now every time he coughs.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny taps her ear, releasing Knife Thug and stowing her batons. It confirms a medical alert. "Sit him up. There's am ambulance on the way. There's no external wound, but he has internal bleeding. They'll probably knock him out and intube him." she states.

    She didn't want to kill them. "And not a word that you got beat up by a little girl." she comments, and giving the gun a kick to the sewer -- just in case -- she creates a plane of a shield, swings herself up to it -- and one - two -three she's gone, up to the rooftops as the red and white lights of medical alert and the scream of sirens approach.

    And Bunny takes off, flying over rooftops on her skates, wanting to get the smell of urine and blood out of her nose, fleeing the scene as her heart rattles in her chest!

Shredder has posed:
    Saki takes his finger off his shuriken, standing quietly from his seat as Bunny retreats from the scene. He casually walks toward the scene of damage as the ambulance arrives.

    "Sir, did you see what happened?" one of the paramedics asks.

    "Yes. These young men were in a brawl of sorts," he says. "They were the aggressors, it seems that they bit off more than they could chew." They look to the young men and their injuries, and then turn back to ask him another question, but he is gone, having disappeared as if a breath caught on the wind.

    It isn't long before the master arrives at the pre-arranged location to debrief from the fight, an overgrown that is just too small to place another building, and in this neighorhood, no one is going to take the trouble to keep it in good repair. Grass grows up to the waist in places, chunks of old concrete are dotted around, and the imposing red bricks of the ever watching buildings of Bushwick stretch up on either side. Discarded garbage speckles the area.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Discarded garbage and the remains of Bunny's take-out that have been taken-out.

    Bunny has peeled off the pink bolero jacket. She was not wearing a helmet. Her head was tilted back against the brick wall, her cheeks red and eyes puffy.

    She didn't register Saki's arrival on the scene, and once she realizes she's not alone, she gives a sharp intake of breath, one of her hands reaching for her batons before she looks to Oroku Saki, and she gives a hesitant nod of her head.

Shredder has posed:
    "Combat is dangerous inherently," he says. "Today you handled yourself with excellence, assessing the threats before you, and you neutralized those threats. Further, you were able to quickly secure the safety of the young man they were pursuing."

    He walks closer patiently until he comes to stand before her. "But you aren't satisfied."

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    ".... it was sloppy." Bunny replies, and she draws her gaze up to Saki's steel. She feels her breath shiver. "It wasn't fast enough. They saw my face." she takes a hand, and wipes her palm upwards to wards her eye. "I could have let the one with the gun die. I could have let him kill the one with the knife. I lost control of the situation. It. Was. Sloppy." she states, quite firm in her own self-criticism of it.

    "I feel like I should be admonished, not congratulated."

Shredder has posed:
    "Yes, it was sloppy. You let your enemies see your face, which risks you in the future. You further let them live, which means that they can report your face. But what you did not do," he says, raising a finger of point. "You did not hesitate. You took action. You did not let fear control you. No plan of battle ever survives contact with the enemy. Many things will go wrong in any combat. Do you regret that you allowed them to live?" he asks.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "No." Bunny answers back instantly. "They can't change their minds if they're dead." is the oft-repeated phrase she's heard others say, but her panic is mollified, for the moment, as she drops her gaze down from The Shredder and breathes out in a soft huff, her shoulders relaxing.

    "I don't regret letting them live. I regret almost killing one."

Shredder has posed:
    "That sounds rehearsed," Saki critiques the quote. "Stand up straight. You became a warrior today. Combat carries with it the possibility of death. This is always true. Even in a controlled setting combat can kill unintentionally, though the odds are much lower.

    Saki points back in the direction of the street. "You must understand this. There are those who wear capes and declare that they will never kill. This is but a fantasy and poorly disguised propaganda. If you were to carefully examine their battles, I promise you, people have died in their battles. You chose the life of that young mutant over the life of his attackers the moment you engaged that fight. You chose your life over their lives the moment you chose to defend yourself. These were not immoral choices, they were necessary choices. Not everyone is willing to change their mind. Fewer still will do that in the midst of battle."

    There's a solid stillness in the master's stance. "There is a place to change minds and influence. Battle is not one of them. Battle is for changing a course of action, not a course of thought."

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "If I could have stopped them without fighting them, I would have." Bunny replies with honesty, though she does stand up straight as he bids her. She takes a eep breath, and lets his words wash over her. She chose the life of the mutant kid who just was running late for school. She chose her own life over the possibility of being seriously hurt.

    ".... but they don't stop unless you make them stop. And sometimes they only understand it if it hurts."

Shredder has posed:
    "No, they don't." Saki nods. "Not all people have the capacity to change. When this happens, you must decide if you can allow them to continue their course, or if they must be stopped. Allow yourself to rest knowing that you did what needed to be done."

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "Thank you, Master." Bunny replies, and she bows her head again, breathing out in relief. Not exactly a failure, but she'll happily accept this as a win.