16290/Shadow Puppets Brighten Hearts

Shadow Puppets Brighten Hearts
Date of Scene:	09 November 2023
Location:	Avenue of Tomorrow - New Troy
Synopsis:	Wonder Woman tangles with a shadow T Rex, but it was all a show put on by Richard Swift for one sad little girl.
Cast of Characters:	Richard Swift, Diana Prince

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Richard Swift has posed:
The call came across the radio. Panic at the Avenue of Tomorrow! DINOSAUR!

It certainly would have percolated up through the hero community, and maybe a frantic call to the Justice League of America. Details were scarce, but one thing was clear. People were running in fright, and the normally bright block of shops had fallen under the influence of something dark and terrible.

Diana Prince has posed:
There was no singular way to look at the life of a super hero other than describing it as 'busy'. Diana had been a public super hero for almost 7 years now, and she'd been a secret super hero for 100 years on top of that! The closer and close she got to going fully public with her existence, the more and more it was difficulty for her to even keep it a secret. It wasn't until the death of Superman in 2017 that Diana truly felt the need for going fully public. That is when the world learned of Themyscira, and its Princess. Since then she's been an open book, a public persona that the world has relied upon...

And boy is she busy.

Case in point, Diana's presence in Metropolis had her located not too far away when the call came in that something was going down near the Avenue of Tomorrow. Thus it wasn't a long wait for Diana's arrival. In the situation unfolding, Diana suddenly appears atop a tall statue, her right hand reached out to grasp the statue's head, as she stands on armored boots upon its shoulder. She stares down at the Avenue below, her dark hair gently waving in the November winds coming across her armored form.

With advanced senses, eyesight and hearing, Diana watches the Avenue for any signs of where to begin to respond to this latest outbreak of madness.

Richard Swift has posed:
The biggest sign of terrible trouble was the terrible lizard. Marching along the sidewalk, roaring silently in anger, is the inky black shadow of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Its head swings back and forth as giant teeth are exposed to the air, it stomps its way along leaving a screaming populace both ahead and behind it. A swing of its tail thumps against a brick wall, narrowly missing the glass store front of a jewelry store. It bends down and snipes at a couple who were only slowly back pedaling, one of them trying to live stream the event. But the only live stream is running down the man's pants as the T Rex nearly gobbles them up in one fell swoop.

Diana Prince has posed:
It doesn't take long for Diana to zero in on what is happening too. Her advanced senses are more than capable of picking up on THAT kind of chaos!

As the couple is narrowly avoiding the teeth of the mighty shadowy beast, and as it prepares to take another swipe at them, Diana arrives.

With a thud of her heavy metal round shield against the nose of the T-Rex, Diana lands between it and the silly couple trying to live stream the 'event'. As stupid as they may be, they deserve to be saved from harm all the same!

Diana delivered a bashing blow of her round shield with her left arm, her right clutching the handle of her sword that she'd pulled from the sheath mounted on her back. The bleaming blade of Athena shines in the ambient light of the market, as Diana glares over her shield at the beast.

Where had it come from? What was it doing here? Were there more, or was this one somehow the only one?

Questions that could be asked later, in the moment, Diana had a Dinosaur to fight.

Richard Swift has posed:
There is no sound that comes from this shadow apparition, but as Diana slams her shield on its nose it feels very, very real. It staggers back and swings its tiny arms in rage. And perhaps more pertinently, its tail slashes into the store front of a fashionable clothing store, filling the day with the sound of the alarms.

It recovers quickly, though, and lowers its head to charge at Diana, jaw closed to create as much impact with its head as possible.

Behind the T-Rex, a few opportunitistic audience members of whatever performance this is race into the clothing shop, only to dart out a few moments later with as many outfits tucked under their arm as they could.

Diana Prince has posed:
An imposing figure, a T-Rex would be to most people. Diana is far from most people, however.

With her armored boots spread at a wide battle stance level, she's ready for its attack, her eyes sharply glaring over the rounded tip of her shield's top.

It charges right at where Wonder Woman 'used' to be!

She darts to her left, moving at tremendous speed, which leads her to pressing her feet against a support column of a store, before she rapidly lunges forward now, her sword's blade coming down toward the creature's neck, right at the back of its spine!

Looters can wait to be dealt with for later!

Richard Swift has posed:
The T Rex turns quickly, but not quickly enough, as Diana's blade slices into it! For a moment it appears as if the head might come fully off, but then it swings its tail up and swipes at the Amazon, hoping perhaps to knock her down to the ground.

The T Rex's head hangs half on and off, bouncing like an accordion before tendrils of darkness start to form between the two pieces, as if pulling itself back together again.

Across the street comes a loud cry. "BE CAREFUL!!" There is a small pocket of people there, a trio of grown-ups and one child sitting in a wheelchair. Perhaps they feared danger in an attempt to escape, and stayed put.

Diana Prince has posed:
If Diana had learned anything in the past century of fighting for the safety of the innocent, it's that random madness like this is always more complicated than it might seem at first.

Such is the case when she instantly sees the shadowy T-Rex starting to rebuild its neck after she nearly cleaved it in half.

But she's taken away from finishing that separation by the tail attack!

Wonder Woman's shield comes up at the last second to block the tail, the momentum of it still transfers in to her physical form, and sends her flying across the market. Not out of control, mind you, but enough to land her upon her feet with her right leg stretched out behind her, her wedge-heeled boots sliding across pavement... until she comes to a stop, shield still held up!

She sighs with a rise of her bare shoulders, before they come down again, and set back in to combat readiness.

A magically created beast... that must have a source here somewhere.

Diana's eyes rapidly look around, her ears listening for any other signs that may shed light on the mystery, but she has to keep the Dinosaur occupied.

Once more Wonder Woman leaps at it, this time her sword's tip aimed for one of its eyes!

Richard Swift has posed:
There does not /appear/ to be anything amiss, or any sort of nefarious mystical elements near by.

A group of opportunitistics dashing off with clothing whose price tag is more impressive than their quality.

A few onlookers off in the distance trying to score likes and upvotes.

A man and a woman, standing each with one hand on the handle of a wheelchair.

A girl in the wheelchair, her arms clutching a faded, patched, green stuffed dinosaur.

A shadowy t-rex turning to stare at the impending doom of an Amazon's sword.

And suddenly the piercing scream of a child's voice cutting through the chaos.

"DON'T HURT HIM!"

Diana Prince has posed:
It's the voice that causes Wonder Woman to break from her deadly stabbing thrust attack. Instead she flies right over the shadowy T-Rex, to land on the awning of one of the boutique stores. She looks around the crowd, trying to pinpoint where that child's voice had come from, but there is little time. The beast is still on the loose.

Diana's sword is raised up, its jammed back in to its sheath on her back, as her eyes fall upon the rampaging Dinosaur. Her right hand drops down to her right hip, and her fingers wrap around the twine of the Lasso of Truth...

As the Dinosaur progresses on its tour of the Avenue of Tomorrow, now Wonder Woman suddenly lands on its back, her booted feet carrying her up its spine as she twirls her glowing golden rope forward toward its snout, to wrap the rope around its upper and lower jaws!

Richard Swift has posed:
As soon as the lasso slides into place around the T Rex's snout, the shadow immediately begins to dissipate. Dissolving away as the lie that it is, it somehow shrinks back, and rather than dispersing with a pop it retracts inward on itself, lingering only for a few moments as an egg before it fades away into oblivion.

With the T-Rex gone, there is no more looting and pillaging. The cameras turn instead to the Amazon.

The family remain transfixed on the other side of the street, the two adults with the child, their companion from earlier seemingly having vanished along with the T Rex itself.

The giggling laughter of the child fills the void. Perhaps, with her enhanced senses, Diana could see the tears on the cheeks of the two standing behind the chair.

Diana Prince has posed:
When Wonder Woman got keyed-up for a fight, and got a plan of action ready to go, it was hard to have that plan suddenly change on a whim! She had planned to hog-tie the damn dinosaur, but after ensnaring its jaws together, she lept from its back and spun around to find it disolving before her eyes.

When it vanished, she looked down at what remained, her dark hair gently blowing in the cool wind.

The laughter from the child caused her to look over toward the kid, and down at the doll on its lap.

Diana put her shield away on her back, and began to coil the lasso up between her leather wrapped palms. She walked toward the child in the wheelchair, and glanced to the adults with the tears in their eyes.

"Is everything alright?" she asked in her naturally husky toned voice, laced with her well known Themysciran accent.

Richard Swift has posed:
The man and the woman look at each other as Wonder Woman approaches them, and just start laughing along with their daughter, before turning their faces back towards the Princess of Themyscira. They nod, happy tears it seems, and are unable to bring themselves to speak.

Their daughter looks up and decides to answer for them. "The nice man with the funny mustache asked me if I wanted to see a show," she explains, clutching her stuffed T Rex tight to her heart. "It was the bestest show ever!"

The girl squints a bit as she looks up towards the tall hero standing before her, the rays of the sun framing the face of Wonder Woman. "I'm glad you didn't hurt him. He was just trying to find some friends."

Diana Prince has posed:
The response that Diana gets is a little less than satisfying, but it does eventually earn a soft nod to the young person in the chair. She glances toward the parents, then back toward the girl with the dinosaur doll. "Can you tell me where this man went?" She asks, her eyes casting around her immediate position for a mere moment, as she tries to spot someone who might be the one that the child spoke of.

"This was a very dangerous 'show'." Diana adds in a calm tone, "But thankfully no one seems to be hurt." She does note, with a glance toward the property damage behind her. That of course garners a frown, but Wonder Woman looks back to the child then.

"I'd very much like to speak with whomever put this show on ffor you." She adds.

Richard Swift has posed:
The girl furrows her brow. "He was a nice man."

The couple exchange glances, and then look at Diana. "Sorry, she..." begins the woman. "She just hasn't laughed in a while." The man places his hand on her shoulder, and sighs.

"He looked like he stepped out of an old movie. Tall hat, cane, the sort of twirly black mustache you'd expect of a guy tying someone to train tracks."

"DADDY!" comes the voice of the girl.

That seems to do the trick, as the man clams up, although he looks guiltily at Diana. "I don't know anything else, he just..." He shrugs. "He just said he wanted to make her smile, and the next thing we knew..." He waves his hand to indicate the street.

Diana Prince has posed:
the explanation deepens, and Diana gently nods her head two times to it. She stares at the parents a moment before she crouches down to be eye-level with the girl in the wheelchair. "I am sorry that you have had a hard time finding reasons to smile of late..." She tells her in a calm and sincere voice. "If you would like to come to the Hall of Justice some time, I would gladly give you a tour. Even take you to where my friends and I train. It is like... a giant... video game machine, where you can go anywhere, see anything, and be anyone." The Princess explains now, a smile touching her red hued lips. "If you'd like that, all your parents need to do is find a time, and come by the Hall. Tell them that I asked you to come, and we shall have fun. Hopefully we can fifnd reasons to smile together, too."

Her smile remains for a moment longer before she stands up once more. "Well, I should have a look around, and ensure everyone else is in good shape. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon." Diana tells them, smiling to the parents softly too before she'll turn to step away. As she starts to walk away, her eyes begin searching for anyone who fit the description of that man... if he's even remotely still lingering around. It is always better to be safer than sorry.

Richard Swift has posed:
All that is left of the shadow theatre is the broken window of the store front, the videos that start to surface online.

And the lingering smile of one little girl, who got to see her best dinosaur pal.

And meet Wonder Woman!

The parents start to wheel her away, heading down the street, when she squeals in delight.

"THANK YOU!" she cries.

If Diana is quick to turn around, she will catch the silhouette of a tall man in a top hat with a cane against a far wall waving towards the girl, before he melts away into the shadow of a street sign, leaving no trace behind.