17535/Late Night Sight-Seeing

Late Night Sight-Seeing
Date of Scene:	31 March 2024
Location:	Chelsea - Miagani Island
Synopsis:	Osprey and Mania play cat and mouse, and then decide to go get chocolate instead of a fight.
Cast of Characters:	Andi Benton, Austin Reese

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Andi Benton has posed:
A bit of time has been spent around Gotham City lately. Mania, whether it's Andi, the symbiote side, or both, has found parts of it..appealing. It fits her vibe in ways. The rooftops are different, yet familiar. Still easy to scale, to cross, but she knows Batman often patrols the night as well. What if she encountered him? How might that go? Sooner or later, the costumed ones often find out. For the moment she looks out toward the university, then turns her attention elsewhere.

Austin Reese has posed:
Osprey's patrol often takes him around the uni. He plays football there, and he knows the campus well enough. With Spring Break having recently ended (he got to spend his buming around in the sewers hunting for Killer Croc), the activity on the campus has picked back up. However one thing that the Gotham vigilantes are always on the look out for is people lurking on rooftops. There's only a few good reasons to lurk on rooftops, and Osprey has done all of them at one point or another. He's on a different roof, looking down across the campus when he spots the movement down by one of the ledges on a building below him. He moves off from the ledge where he was, and moves around to the side of the building and leaps off, dropping down onto a secondary roof and creeping closer to Andi's rooftop. He's just trying to listen in right now, to see who this is or what they're up to. Could just be some kid sneaking off to smoke pot or something.

Andi Benton has posed:
An interesting thing about symbiotes? They tend to have an awareness of most things around them thanks to the way their abilities to 'see' work. Spider-Man's sense comes as more of a tingling when danger is near and about to strike, but it's not quite the same for Mania. It remains to be seen if she knows of Osprey up there or not.

However, after he's made his leap to begin closing the gap, she also moves. First, it's behind an HVAC unit, then around the side of some masonry. Who is tracking who?

Austin Reese has posed:
Once he'd landed at the rooftop, he quickly tried to re-establish where she was, only to realize that she'd moved. Dids he know he was there? He was being pretty stealthy, he thought.

He ducks back around to the other side of a different HVAC unit, and pulls something out of a belt pouch, tossing it up into the air above him. The micro-drone goes into a hover and transmits footage to his gauntlet, as he tries to look for where his rather elusive prey has slipped off to.

Andi Benton has posed:
The game of cat and mouse, or whatever fits in this case, takes the next step up with the introduction of the drone. There are probably a number of them around the city at any given time that help with certain types of surveillance, but this is a bit more direct. When she looks up and sees it, Osprey might catch a brief glimpse of something beneath. That is, until a blob of sticky webbing is sent up toward it, quickly. See how well it works then.

Austin Reese has posed:
Well, at least that narrows down what he's dealing with. He's had encounters with a few of the various Spider-Peoples. Though he's also aware not all of them are heroes, either. Still, with the drone camera reduced to static, Osprey mutters a little under his breath and switches it off. He thinks it might be time to try something different.

"Don't you all usually stick to New York?" Comes his voice, echoing a bit around them, as he tries to coneal where he's at when he calls out to her, then he shifts his position and calls out again, "Are we gonna do this the easy way or the hard way, I wonder? It's up to you. I'm just being curious about somebody in my town.."

Andi Benton has posed:
There's something that sounds like a chuckle from wherever Mania is. She's moving as well, probably enjoying the game whether Osprey's getting annoyed or not. From another position she retorts, "That's what we did, stick to your toy." It's an odd mix of someone female and something alien, two different voices blended together as one. "Not in the mood to play? We heard this is Batman's city. Is that you?"

Austin Reese has posed:
"I'm not Batman." He replies after a moment or two, "I'm one of his vigilantes. Despite what you may have heard he can't be everywhere at once."

He hmms faintly to himself, "If you're not here to cause trouble I have no reason to start any. We just don't get a ton of alien visitors. Well, at least not friendly ones. I'm hoping this'll be a nice change of pace." His movement continued as he worked his way around, trying to get closer to where the webbing shot and that voice came from.

Andi Benton has posed:
He can get close, but she won't be there. She's moved around to cling to the side of the building and make her way along it, listening as he speaks. As he finds the place Mania had been in, Osprey can see signs of more webbing left behind. Just something to make him curious. It won't last long, though. Its 'shelf life' is rather brief, only a matter of minutes.

When she does speak again she asks, "Why do you assume we are alien? Have you seen us before?" There /is/ a social media account that is occasionally posted to, nothing that gives away who she really is beneath that 'mask.' "We've seen others here recently and decided to wander. Happy?"

By the way, the voice comes from very close behind now.

Austin Reese has posed:
"Not you, specifically." He replies, "I mean I'm pretty sure I've seen you post on Twitter. But no, I've met all kinds of aliens and all sorts of other weird stuff. I'm getting kind of used to it."

When he voice comes from behind him and close he wheels around, not doing anything overtly hostile but at least making sure if she's behind him she won't have the full drop on him...Even if she already would have

Andi Benton has posed:
Mania has taken up a crouched perch atop the HVAC unit she'd moved behind before, leading Osprey around in a circle, or at least part of the way. "We are sneaky, aren't we?" The visage is an odd one, apparently faceless except for those eyes, enlarged and all white, angled in such a way that they give off a sense of expression and more. Right now? Shaped into amusement.

"The funny thing is we /are/ alien, at least partly. Do you remember who we are, then?" She is also quite spiky in places, but she isn't giving off 'about to attack' vibes, as far as those things go.

Austin Reese has posed:
With the face to...Well not face, per say, meeting finally happening, Osprey keeps his hands down by his side. He looks like he's thinking when she asks if he remembers, "Wasn't it something like Maniacal or Manacle or something?" He asks after a few moments of thinking about it, "Like I said, I don't mind anyone being in Gotham as long as they play by the big man's rules. But I'm sure you know that."

Andi Benton has posed:
Mania's head tilts in a show of curiosity. "Yes. The first one. We have a fan?" she asks, moving to stand up more fully, crossing her arms in such a way that no spikes are in a place that they could damage her or tear part of her costume, assuming that's what it is. Why wouldn't it be?

"We don't come here to cause trouble. Sometimes we help deal with it." Before a potential question follows, she raises a hand to add, "Without killing."

Austin Reese has posed:
"I've seen you pop up in a few posts here and there, I tend to mostly lurk. You've got a unique way of typing, I always figured it was a bit until right now."

"That's really the only rule." He responds once she explains herself, "Outside of that, I mean...You know, try to keep it proportional. Don't go breaking every limb of a shoplifter or somethin'. Cool?" He gives a faint shrug afterwards, and pulls his hood down, "So you're one of those Spider folks? I figured with the web thing." He asks afterwards, "I've run into a few recently, mostly when I've ventured out of Gotham on other team business."

Andi Benton has posed:
Mania hops off the high spot and walks past Osprey, back and forth. She has a little strut to her. "It's how we talk," comes a simple response, the eyes again showing a flash of amusement before hands settle at hips, next to a spiky belt. "We know. We learned from Spider-Man," she explains, as if that ought to make it clear and obvious. If Osprey knows of them, it should. "Usually we're around New York City, but we made a new friend here."

Austin Reese has posed:
"Well I'm definitely not gonna tell someone they can't come see a friend." Responds the vigilante, before he sits down on the ledge. He must trust her enough to let himself be seated, "I've seen him in action. He's definitely got a unique style."

Andi Benton has posed:
"We saw him once," Mania replies, but she doesn't have more to say on top of that just yet except for, "Some losers tried to ruin a night out." What she does ask is something a little different. "Is it as bad here as some people say? Are there things you have to get used to and look out for?"

Austin Reese has posed:
"It can be, particularly in some of the worst parts of town." Responds Osprey, as he considers back to his own rather terrible childhood, "The place isn't great, but lots of people who don't wear costumes try really hard to make it better every day too. And I think that's the important part."

Andi Benton has posed:
Mania's demeanor seems a bit..on the prickly peacock sort of side, bristling up just a little as she remarks, "We know how to take care of ourselves, and protect others. We don't like letting those scumbags hurt people. It's important to help when you can." Imagine that, a standard lesson taught by the head spider. Looking out over the area again, she adds, "We were downtown earlier. We like some of the buildings."

Austin Reese has posed:
"Yeah?" Osprey asks, as he sits back a little, balancing on the ledge as he watches her a bit, "I love this city. It's got it's problems, of course. But it's home." He stretches out a little bit, rolling one of his shoulders to keep it loose, "Well I'm always happy to get a helping hand."

Andi Benton has posed:
The odd-looking vigilante that's not native to Gotham City but could just fit in looks Osprey up and down. "There are problems everywhere, even little places in the middle of nowhere. There are just more of them when there are more people. Have you seen any trouble tonight?" Mania wonders, almost looking as if she'd relish the opportunity to deal with some.

Austin Reese has posed:
"Thankfully nothing more than the usual kind of crime you see. Muggers, a couple carjackings. Things like that." He responds, "And yeah, I know what you mean...Everywhere has trouble and we can't be everywhere at once."

Andi Benton has posed:
There's a round of silence from Mania as she nods then grows quiet. Hard to tell why, but after it seems like she might be finish talking at all, there comes a question from out of nowhere: "Do you like chocolate? We love it, and we are hungry. Find us the best chocolate you've had here, and we think you could be a new friend."

Austin Reese has posed:
"I love chocolate." He replies, as he finally stands back up after a moment, "I know a place that's actually open 24 hours. You learn those kinda places when you work the night shift, so to speak." He grins, "C'mon, we can take the rooftops."

Andi Benton has posed:
"Good!" Mania follows, making use of weblines as needed instead of just scaling rooftops and cutting through alleys. Much chocolate will be had, although it requires being careful enough to stay out of sight while Osprey acquires it. If he's lucky, he might just even see those rows of sharp teeth, definitely confirming she - in this form - is something special.