17715/Sh*t Never Just Goes Bump.

Sh*t Never Just Goes Bump.
Date of Scene:	20 April 2024
Location:	Warehouses - Hell's Kitchen
Synopsis:	Sara recruits Corben to the JLD, it could be the most terrible idea ever.
Cast of Characters:	Corben Kelly, Sara Pezzini

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Corben Kelly has posed:
It's well after midnight and this probably isn't the safest place to be at such a time. But it's about the only time any self-respecting street artist can get his work done.

Tonight Corben has settled on the side of an old warehouse for his canvas. It isn't because he feels it's just an easy tag, it's more because he feels it might not be. Why? Because...

He's taken a 'death emoji' - all yellow with x's for eyes and a bullet wound in the head - and turned it into the moon for his landscape. Turning ganger tags into something more is all good until the bangers catch him.

This isn't a high wire act, he's on the ground. The landscape is of a moonlit beach. Out in the water, bathed in the 'light' of the moon are tentacles lurking just below the surface, out of sight of the cruise liner heading straight for it.

A single little black bird flies just beneath the moon, casting a tiny shadow on the beach below. Lil' Black Bird strikes again. Anyone that pays any attention to actual street **art** - not just graffiti - would have seen that special little signature before.

Dressed in all black, save the leopard print vest under his black duster, Corben is mostly hidden in the darkness even when he takes a few steps back to admire his handiwork.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Most nights Sara went home right after work, but tonight had been different. Witchblade had an urgency. He wanted to go to a specific place for a specific reason, though at first he didn't share the reason. So it was that she found herself sitting a block away on the back of her motorcycle, waiting for the ancient god to decide what he was doing.

Leaving her helmet on the bike, she closed her eyes a moment before she started to walk, following the 'urge' from Witchblade. When she reaches the alley that ran between the two warehouses, her vision was suddenly enhanced, allowing her to see the young man as he worked his art on the side of the warehouse.

Under normal circumstances Sara wasn't the kind of police officer to go after graffiti taggers. In fact, normally that was left to the gang task unit or patrolmen. Any other person out spray painting the side of a building would have gotten her placing a call to the local precinct and waiting for them do deal with it. This time however was different, this person was of interest to Witchblade.

Corben Kelly has posed:
Letting the gloved hand still holding a spray can drop to his side, Corben's head snaps in the direction opposite of where Sara's watching. Statue still, he literally doesn't move a muscle. If he were facing Sara, she'd see his eyes slightly rolled back in his head - a vision, blessedly not a particularly intense or violent one.

"Nope, not my business," he mutters under his breath after he comes out of it and gives his head a good shake. "Just going to go home," he begins as he's bending to put the last can away and gather up his satchel of spray cans and other goodies. He throws the bag over one shoulder. A beat, one, two, three and his head turns back in that direction. "Damnit," he mutters. He lets out a put upon groan before, "Terrible idea."

...and then? He goes raven. It's a seamless thing without popping of bones or shredding of clothes. His bag even shifts with him.

If he'd seen Sara, it might be he's on the run. But he didn't, so where's he going and what got his attention?

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara curses under her breath before a mental reminder to Witchblade is offered. He wants to follow, and to do so means armoring her up which meant she would lose her clothing. In the past, he would have just done it and leave her clothing in shreds and her holster with service sidearm laying there in the alley. Now, with a gentle reminder, he merely shreds her clothing and leaves the shoulder holster in place beneath the armor. Four years together, they had an agreement.

The change is quick, taking only seconds for the metal tendrils to expand from the bracelet and form the gauntlet that is his true form. From there the tendrils move to shred the clothing and place the armor over her body, the last thing forming being the wings on her back.

As silent as the night, she lifts into the air as the red stone on the back of the gauntlet comes to life like red mists swirling, and the Witchblade moves to follow the bird.

Corben Kelly has posed:
It's not a long flight, only a block or three down the way to another rundown warehouse riddled with tags, more than a few of the 'answered' by Little Black Bird in one form or another. There's a skull and crossbones tagged turn into a giant pirate hat, what was one snake has been transformed into the head of medusa - it's always taking something small and angry and making it something bigger and beautiful despite the sometimes dark nature of them.

But Corben isn't here for another tag. No, he's here for something else. That fact becomes readily apparent by the sudden screams of a few young voices and the loud growling roar of something inhuman inside the warehouse. Still in bird form, he ducks - pun unintended - inside.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
In spite of the fact that Sara was covered in spikey metal armor, she still blended into the night as if encased in shadows. Following the movements of the bird was easy, the gifts from Witchblade allowing her to see the creature no matter where it might have dipped and dived.

The screams are watch draw her attention, even as Witchblade is still watching the bird. His entrance to the warehouse was quick and stealthy... her entrance, not so much.

Diving down toward the doors as the growls from inside can be heard, she bursts through the main doors with a shouted, "Get out while you can!" to any innocents who might be inside.

Corben Kelly has posed:
The source of those growls? Well... that's where it gets a little surreal? It's a **giant** stuffed bunny rabbit with eyes glowing like coals from the pits of Hell. Seriously the thing is a good twelve foot tall, perhaps more. Those responsible for the screams are two children, probably just into their teens. They have a book opened on the floor near where they're cowering in the corner.

Corben? He's currently perched up in the steel beams of the building, all human now. "Go you **idiots**!" he readily agrees with Witchblade, managing to completely hide his shock at someone else being present. "Hey, Bunnicula! Up here!" he calls down to the demonizer bunny. It has the desired effect, the thing looks up, attention drawn from the children. He's already pulled three things from the pockets of his coat. One is a small orb that he promptly swallows, the other two are small vials still gripped in his hand. "Fucking **terrible** idea." That seems to be his motto. Seems he has a plan, even if it's a terrible plan. Will Witchblade watch that plan play out? See what this little faeling can do? Or give into his own natural urges to kill that walking nightmare of a Velveteen Rabbit?

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Witchblade is the one that stays Sara's hand, which is the exact opposite of the usual. Normally Sara has to maintain the rage inside Witchblade to keep him from killing innocent people who made a mistake. This time, he stops her from going for the bunny, even though a sword does appear in her right hand.

"Hey kids, over here!" she screams, putting herself between Bunnicula and the kids, so they have a clear path toward the door. "Don't play with shit you don't understand, now get out!"

Corben Kelly has posed:
The two kids run - oh how they run - who knew kids could run that fast? They've probably learned their lesson too.

"That's right! Up here! Don't you know that you're past your expiration date? Easter has come and gone!" Corben is a good twenty foot in the air up there. Of course he can shift and fly if something goes awry.

Flying doesn't seem to be part of his plan though. In fact, his plan includes **falling**. Hands stretched out to either side, each one gripping a vial tight, he free falls right toward that demon bunny. Now, the thing isn't quite big enough to just swallow the faeling whole, but that doesn't mean it doesn't open its mouth in anticipation of a tasty snack. It's exactly what Corben was hoping it would do.

When he's about thirteen feet from the ground he crushes the vials and shoves the both straight down the gaping maw of stuffy nightmare. Immediately the thing **explodes** into a mess of stuffing, brimstone and goo. Five feet from the ground, Corben just stops mid-air before unceremoniously dropping the those last five feet. Laying there, cheek to the cold concrete floor - tarred and fluffed between the stuffing and the goo and slightly smoldering from the brimstone, he groans out, "Terrible **fucking** idea."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Defense against the explosion of stuffing and goo comes from the wings wrapping forward and around Sara's body to protect her, then they return to their normal position on her back. None of what she witness was expected, she'd never seen alchemical magic at work before, but it was exactly the show Witchblade was hoping for.

"You could have warned me," she mutters out loud to the entity she shares a soul with, then folds the wings up on her back.

Walking across the now slippery and stuffing colored floor, she extends a hand toward the man on the floor to help him up. "Impressive... a terrible fucking idea... but impressive."

Corben Kelly has posed:
Corben rolls over onto his back and looks up at Sara. "What?!" he yells before he puzzel out what she said. "Oh! Couldn't risk missing if I threw them," he points out before accepting the hand up. Overall he seems to be in okay shape, maybe a bruised ego to go along with the scrape on his cheek from the little drop he took.

It's still dark in the warehouse, it's still after midnight and the only real light is the moonlight filtering through dirty windows.

"I lost a processor," he grumbles more to himself than to Sara. So he's only hearing from the one ear. A little flicker of light from his fingertips turns into a small orb about the size of an orange. It casts a blue, eerie glow over his immediate vicinity. "You see a little round thing? Looks like it has a weird little earbud attached to it by a wire?"

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Pulling the man to his feet, Sara takes one step back so he has some space, all the while studying him. Witchblade already has what he wanted, which means he's content to just sit back and listen for moment.

"Probably best, given the size of explosion," she comments, with a slightly raised brow.

When he asks about the processor, she points in the direction of the device without even looking. Witchblade kept track of /everything/ that happened. From the minute Corben jumped, to what he did to cause the explosion, to the aftermath which included losing the processor.

"You look no worse for the wear," she then says, still pointing. "You got a name?"

Corben Kelly has posed:
"Merci," Corben offers before snatching up the processor and reattaching it. He doesn't answer Sara's question, not yet. Instead he goes to pick up the book the children left behind. That little orb of light just dances along with him, bobbing up and down like a little faerie might. His nose wrinkles as he flips through the pages of the book.

"It's just a children's book," he murmurs - again more to himself than to Sara. He flips through the pages, reading each one. Then he glances at the crude little circle drawn on the floor.

He turns the book around to show the title: Baby Bunny Grows Up. "Pretty fucking straight forward, oui?"

Cursed is what that book is. "Even talks about how baby bunny needs a playpen to keep him safe while he's still little. Shows a picture of a bunny in a circle." Now he's gone to talking half to himself and half to Sara.

Oh! Right! His name. "Corben, Corben Kelly."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
At first Sara just watches Corben as he moves. She listened to him rambling to himself about the books, and even takes note of the circle. Something inside her flares up with anger, which is matched by Witchblade's fury.

Closing the distance between them, she offers a brief nod to recognize that he gave her his name, then snatches book out of his hand with her left hand.

As the book is taken, the gauntleted right hand forms an intricate dagger. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but on this dagger is the blue stone from the back of the gauntlet. Without pausing, or even checking with Corben, she stabs the dagger through the book. The blue gem flashes brightly, almost blindingly bright, and then the books turns to ash that falls to the floor.

"Witchblade was displeased with a cursed children's book," she then states, the dagger disappearing back into the gauntlet. "And worse... there are more of them out there. He can feel their power writing in the energy he just dispersed."

She's talking as if Corben has an idea who she is and what she wields. She is an Avenger, she is known to the public, but that doesn't mean everyone knows or has read about her. "My name is Sara Pezzini, I wield the Witchblade. It's nice to meet you Corben Kelly," and now she extends her right gauntleted hand to shake his... the spikes on the metal disappearing as she does, just as they had when she offered her hand to help him up.

Corben Kelly has posed:
His hands move up quickly to shield his eyes, but not quite in time. "Whoa, dramatic much?" Corben comments when the book is snatched and destroyed in such a, well, dramatic fashion. He's rubbing his eyes with the heals of his palms in an attempt to squish the dancing spots that were in front of them after that flash.

"Would have been nice if I'd been able to read the whole thing, look for the writing between the words," he adds once he lowers his hands. He doesn't sound terribly put out by the fact that he can't finish reading it. It just would have been nice if he could.

"Low level possessor type demon," he murmurs. Talking to himself again? Maybe, it's hard to tell with him. He's a little bit all over the place. "Controls inanimate objects. "Not to hard to take down. But why's someone want them here and why kids books?" Rhetorical question or a real one? Still hard to say. He bends to pick up his sunglasses lost along with his processor - that he was indeed wearing at night - and shove them back into place.

"This really isn't any of my business." That was definitely meant for Sara and, as much as Corben would protest that it isn't, it's an outright lie.

Kid tries, really really really tries to turn his back on this sort of thing all the time, but never winds up being able to do so in the end.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
A soft snort of derision escapes Sara as she folds her arms across her chest lightly. "He disagrees," she says bluntly. "I don't know why he does, but he does."

Glancing to the ashes she continues with, "He's not the most patient of entities, and when he wants something gone, it's difficult to disagree. A cursed children's book," she snorts again, before her green eyes lift to look at Corben again.

"Under normal circumstances I'd dance around the bush, offer comforting words, and perhaps slowly drop a hint... but given what I've witnessed tonight, I'm going to forego all that." A slight nod of her head happens, perhaps something for him, or she could be reacting to the voice in her head.

"Have you heard of the Justice League Dark, Mr. Kelly?" She asks bluntly. "Most magical circles around the city have, and I assume you are well informed about your surroundings. We need you. You offer a type of magic and understanding of magics we lack."

She pauses then sighs, "And he wants you to know he will let you read the next one."

Corben Kelly has posed:
"Uhhh..." Corben really has no clue how to respond to that. His brain completely short circuits - for about two point two seconds. His answer might come as a surprise. He raises both of his gloved hands in a defensive, palm out, gesture and shakes his head. "No, no thanks. Nuh-uh, nope." He even turns to walk away.

... he makes it about a dozen steps before he stops and looks down at his boots. It takes him a few moments more before he raises his head and, for the fourth? Fifth? ... time tonight groans, "This is a terrible idea."

He turns to face Sara again. "Please don't call me Mr. Kelly, that was my Papa and I can't fill those shoes. Look, I'll see this kid's book thing through to the end." Because sometimes a man has to see something through to the end. "But beyond that? No promises."

The thing about reluctant heroes though? They sometimes turn out to be the most dedicated of them all in the end - they just bitch and moan about it more.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
It was an interesting thing to witness a short circuiting brain. Sara had never done that to someone before, usually it was her own brain that had that reaction. yet just as quickly as it happened, it was gone and he was saying no. She expected that, honestly they all said no, and that was why the JLD was having so much trouble.

Magic ran rampant around the world because most people who could wield magic preferred to work alone. She knew from experience that when you worked alone, things fell through the cracks. Sadly it was much like the myth of the hydra (not the HYRDA organization), when you succeeded in chopping a head off, another one grew in, but if you were part of a team, you could chop them all off while someone stabbed the beast in the heart.

She was just about to make a second attempt when he stopped, so she snapped her mouth shut and waited. When he turns around, she is standing exactly like she had been, arms across her chest, just looking at him.

"If that is all the more you are willing to offer, then so be it," she states, already convinced it was enough and he would never leave. Two of the Ghost Riders had been the same way, and they were still members. "Sometimes it takes a new pair of eyes to succeed, and with this, I think working together is the best course of action, so thank you."

Corben Kelly has posed:
"I don't do spandex," he states in a way that doesn't leave that up for debate at all. That's point one of his 'make or break'. The next? "And no one, I mean *no one* fucks with Kib'Kir." Corben's little demon buddy is off limits! Of course it's not as if Sara knows he's talking about a demon slug-bat, yet.

"Also, if we need something specific, something that requires reagents I can't get that are difficult to get to? I'm not doing all the work myself. ...and I take no responsibility if someone causes one of my potions, elixirs or powders to blow up the block."

While he's standing there, waiting to see if his 'demands' will be accepted, he mouths, 'Terrible fucking idea.'

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara cants her head slightly, one brow raising. It wasn't her first 'these are my demands' conversation, after all she'd recruited all three of the Ghost Riders at one point and seriously, that could not have happened without a lot of demands. Truth was, most magic wielders had demands, because they were secretive little bastards.

"I have no idea what a Kib'Kir is, but so long as it isn't some force out there creating chaos and killing people, I see no reason it can't be off limits," though what off limits was, she didn't know.

"We have a very large collection of reagents at our headquarters, but if there is something you need, you won't be alone in getting it or paying for it," she then says, this time at least understanding what he's talking about.

"As for activating your potions, elixirs and powders, don't leave them sitting around and I'm certain no one will blow up the block," she then adds. "If you leave then out where others can get to them, it is on you for that level of stupidity."

Corben Kelly has posed:
"I don't leave my shit laying around," Corben replies with a little indignant huff. "...and typically a person needs to know the right word to make them do what they're meant to do," he adds, still sounding a little indignant.

"...but, other people are stupid, especially when they're desperate. If they go digging in my bag in a moment of desperation, I'm not responsible."

It happened this one time, in band... no, that's not right. But there is a story there that might have something to do with turning an entire small town in Belgium into literal chickens for five hours.

"And my bar, once it's open, is also off limits to bullshit. Drinking, hanging out, having a meal, drinking..." That warrants double mention. "... all cool, but not bullshit spills into my place of business and my home, oui?"

He waits until that last bit is agreed to, then he'll extend a gloved hand, fingertips visible and stained a deep shade of blue.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
That was another thing about users of magic, they were always so full of themselves. Sara /really/ wanted to roll her eyes at him, so badly it was making her brain hurt, but she managed to not do it. All her training to be a police detective and keep a straight face in any situation was paying off.

"Agreed, if they dig in your bag, it's on them." She comments first, not that she thought anyone would go into his bag without his permission, but it could happen, so he was off the hook.

"You're place of business is yours to rule, but honestly I can't stop a demon from deciding to bring shit down on your head. You can tell the others yourself about your rules, and should they break them, throw their asses out. It's your sanctuary after all."

Closing the distance, just a few steps, she takes his hand to shake. "Welcome aboard," she says almost cheerfully before adding. "And spandex is never required. The JLD isn't a superhero organization after all, we're the ones who stop the shit that goes bump in the night."

Corben Kelly has posed:
Corben snorts. "What is up with **that**? Shit rarely ever goes 'bump' in the night. It screeches, it snarls, it bellows or you don't hear it at all until it's right behind you."

As he breaks the handshake he adds, "If it's just going 'bump', I exercise my right to turn off my burner," because certainly that's how they do things, not like he expects a BatSignal, "...and sleep through it."

Without further ado or warning, there's suddenly a large, regal looking raven standing where the was once a Corben. "I'll be at the Raven's Nest..." - obvious much? ... "...if you have any sort of 'If you die, you can't sue us' paperwork for me to sign." With that, he's airborne and out a broken window, off into the darkness; leaving Sara suddenly in it as well when his orb vanishes.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Another magic user with an overly cocky attitude.

Even as he is shifting to a raven and flying away, Sara does in fact roll her eyes. She didn't sign up for this, she wasn't a good leader for this sort of shit, but he was right. Things didn't go bump, they screamed, shrieked, tore flesh and ripped reality.

"This may have been a mistake," she finally says to the empty warehouse, then she too lifts herself into the air and flies out a broken window.