19239/A Mugging, Or Something Like That

A Mugging, Or Something Like That
Date of Scene:	07 October 2024
Location:	New Lots
Synopsis:	Eddie Brock happens upon a homeless Maria Foster, passed out in an alley as if she's been mugged.
Cast of Characters:	Maria Foster, Eddie Brock

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Maria Foster has posed:
New Lots is still struggling economically. This part of the multi-block area is filled with slums and other decaying dwellings. Businesses hang on the best they can, while the drug trade and street gangs make life difficult, and dangerous, for everyone involved.

It's evening, around about 9 o'clock. When most of the decent people left in the area are heading home, or at least staying close to it. The bars are doing a steady business, helping people forget their troubles.

In one alley, out back of Monaghan's Dry Cleaning, someone seems to still be in the midst of their own troubles. A small body lies on the pavement, back far enough it's not obvious to those passing by, but not so far that someone observant looking in might not notice it. Wearing jeans and a threadbare dark green hoodie with the hood up, it's someone smaller. Maybe a juvenile. They are lying on the ground not moving. A bunch of spare change lies strewn about them, as if maybe there was a struggle there over money. A mugging perhaps.

Eddie Brock has posed:
A nearby crash is heard by those who are paying attention, though for the most part, it's still Brooklyn and nobody got time for that. It's not a car crash, or domestic violence, or any of the sort. It's just the resident Lethal* Protector, Venom, making an abrupt landing on a rooftop. The symbiote had informed Eddie of a kid laying in an alley, where no kid should be laying down. The alien has standards apparently.

As Venom wall-slides down, the symbiote retracts to unveil Eddie Brock, his human form better suited for this sort of thing than a monstrous 10 foot tall alien. "Hey, kid!" Eddie urges, turning the juvie on her (it's a her, apparently!) back. "Wake up, are you alright?" he asks, shaking her shoulder firmly, but gently so. He glances around at all the shinies, his investigative acumen already putting together more or less what happened, and likely why Venom had acted on it so abruptly. "Alley way bandits.." Eddie mutters under his breath. They're lucky they got away.

Maria Foster has posed:
At first approach one might have thought it might be a juvenile boy just based on the size. But up close and rolling her over, Eddie can indeed confirm it is a teenaged girl. Probably in her late teens judging by her face, but petite in size.

Her clothes weren't in the best of shape, and Eddie's familiarity with the streets might suspect she's homeless or at least someone for whom shelter is not a need that is constantly met. As the hoodie falls back from her head as she's rolled over, he can see she has dark hair that only comes to her shoulders at most, mussed up and in good need of a brush. There are two small dirty streaks on her face, and a larger one on her cheek where it ended up pressing into the ground.

As she's gently shakes, she starts to come to. Her eyes open, but don't show a lot of recognition yet. It takes several blinks and a passing seconds for the cobwebs to clear and for her brain to start making sense of things again.

"What..." she murmurs, a hand moving slowly to the back of her head in the way of someone touching a spot that pains them. Yep, that's the spot that hurts.

Why do we do that anyway?

"What happened?" she tries again, eyes coming to focus on the rather robust dark-haired man who is crouched over her.

Eddie Brock has posed:
Relieved that the kid regains consciousness fairly normally, Eddie realizes he is not a first aid kind of guy. "You uhh.. hit your head. But I guess you already figured that out. Maybe someone else hit your head." he notes, his eyes briefly flashing to the loose change around her. "I think you were mugged, kid. What's your name?" He asks, which is simultaneously a totally valid way to check for brain damage and some personal care for a stranger. Can't keep calling her kid once you know her name.

Eddie looks her over, checking for bleeding, bruising or scuff marks of any kind. "Don't try to move too fast, we might need to get you to a clinic or something."

Maria Foster has posed:
Maria Foster sits up slowly and looks around as if trying to figure out where exactly they are. "Feels like it," she murmurs before pulling her head away from the spot on her head. "Um..." she stammers at the question of her name. "If I say Alison Blaire is that enough for me to end up in her penthouse?" the teen asks, invoking the name of the famed singer. "Maria... it's Maria," she says slowly.

As her eyes fall on the coins on the ground, Maria scoops a few of them towards her. As if finding worth in the coins that to so many people wouldn't be considered worth stopping and bending over to pick up. The few coins that come up easily go into a pocket of her hoodie, and the girl taps her other pockets as if seeing if she's missing anything.

"Whoever it was, got me good," she says. "Don't suppose you got an aspirin on you or something, mister?" She looks up at Eddie, getting a better look at the rugged man. The sight of him makes her look down again a little bashfully.

Maria gently rubs at the sore spot again, trying to recall what happened to her. At first only a few things come back. Sounds, a flash of an image or two.


Each coin made its own sound as it hit the alley pavement. The soft clangs of metal on stone unique yet similar as one coin after another joined the collection on the ground. Eventually each coin fell still and left the alley once again quiet.

Eddie Brock has posed:
Eddie chuckles. "If you were Dazzler, I'm sure I'd know." he notes dryly. "And we'd both get turned away at the gates regardless." That part he's not even sure of. What he's sure of is how Dazzler could rip the symbiote off him with a single high note, so he's not even entertaining the thought any further

"I got a.." Eddie starts, patting his own pockets before turning up a candy bar. "..Snickers bar?" He offers it to her, silencing the rumbling protests in the back of his mind willfully. "Eat this, it's not medicine but it's something. Stops you from getting dizzy when you get up. Something to do with sugar, I think." He shrugs. It's only a childhood remedy really, but it seems to work most of the time.

"Did they take anything? Money? Wallet? Keys? Phone? Do you have anyone you can call?"

Maria Foster has posed:
The girl takes the offered candy bar, keeping herself from grabbing it quickly when offered. Though her expression still betrays Maria's eagerness for the Snickers bar. "If it was a dementor I think this is the perfect cure, right? Or am I confusing things? I haven't seen all the Harry Potter movies. Just... two of them?" she says, scrunching up her expression in thought. At least she can remember that much.

She takes a bite of the candy bar and lets out a sigh, then digs in her jeans pockets. She turns the front pockets inside out. "I guess so," she says as she stuffs them back in. Her eyes go back to the change, and she crouches down, gathering up more of it. Her hand goes into her hoodie pocket. "Didn't get all my change though," she says, pulling out a few more coins to check than she'd put in previously.

After a moment's hesitation as if on how to answer, Maria gives a tiny shake of her head. "Nah, there's no one to call," she says quietly. Another bite of the Snickers bar is taken, as if to focus on that instead of any thoughts relating to her answer. "I'm normally better than letting someone get the drop on me," she says, sighing and looking around the alley. "Thanks for your help. What's your name, mister?"

She picks up more coins, trying to remember the attack but only a little more makes it through her foggy head than did previously.

Each coin made its own sound as it hit the alley pavement. The soft clangs of metal on stone unique yet similar as one coin after another joined the collection on the ground. Eventually each coin fell still and left the alley once again quiet.

The number was growing as more coins bounced off the bricks out back of Monaghan's Dry Cleaning. Mostly pennies, but a few nickels, dimes, and quarters as well for a variety of sizes and weights. Maria watched the next coin hit the wall harder than the last, eyes widening as it caused a tiny chip to fly off the brick!

Eddie Brock has posed:
Eddie smirks and shakes his head. "Me either, kid." Whatever a dementor is. "It's a fixer upper from granny's time." he adds. "Got anywhere to stay? Anywhere you can go after the clinic checks your head?" he asks again, peering at her checking for all her loose change.

"If you're strapped for cash, I can.." wait, can he? His website is only doing 'okay', not 'great'. "Any idea who might've caught you by surprise, if you're normally better than that?" He rounds up a few more loose coins, figuring they're either hers or discarded and -now- hers. "I'm Eddie Brock." he offers gently, watching her face for any sort of recognition, horror or otherwise.

Maria Foster has posed:
The petite teen gives a little shrug of her shoulders, a hand rubbing at her face, unknowingly smearing the dirty smudge that came from her cheek lying on the alley's rather unsanitary pavement. "I don't know. Anyone. Meth head or heroin junkie looking for something they can pawn and score with. Just takes walking past and not noticing them sitting there in a corner," she says. "Though I mean, I know enough to look for that."

She pauses to look down the alley, and out at the street beyond. "This is Tres Reyes territory, but they wouldn't bother messing with me," she says slowly. But then pauses. "Well, unless they were just, drunk and being assholes."

Her eyes lower to the ground for a moment before she gives a little shake of her head to Eddie's question about somewhere to go. "Nah, I... I'll find somewhere to sleep," she says. "There's, you know, shelters and stuff," the girl says, in a tone that the journalist experienced with the streets might read to mean she isn't likely to seek help at a shelter.

She does pause to look at Eddie. Doesn't seem to recognize him, but she does look a little bashful after looking at him. "Thanks for stopping. Most people wouldn't bother," she says, her tone grateful.

Eddie Brock has posed:
Eddie nods at her assessment. "Yeah.." he slightly agrees. It's odd to discuss 'people who could rob you in an alleyway' with a stranger. Especially when you're big and tall normally, and even bigger and taller sometimes. Nobody in their right mind would pickpocket Eddie, because his pocket would pick back.

"I know that look." Eddie tells Maria with a slight smirk. "As soon as I leave, you're back on the street never even considering a shelter." Eddie fishes a wallet out of his jacket and retrieves some bills from it. "Here's 20 dollars. You get some decent food somewhere and go to a shelter to wash your face. You look like you were face-down in alley way grime." he points out with half a grin. "And then, maybe, you'll already be at the shelter and you'll figure 'maybe I can stay one night'. How's that sound?" he asks, holding out two $10 bills to her.

When she shows some gratitude, Eddie shakes his head. "Most people would say I'm not most people. It doesn't take a mask or spandex underwear to do good, no matter what they say about the Avengers, Justice League or what-have-you."

Maria Foster has posed:
There isn't any puffed up pride that prevents the teen from taking the money when Eddie Brock offers it. It does earn him a pretty smile of gratitude from her. "I just go there when it's bad," she says in a quiet tone, as if it's not the kind of thing she often shares. "Like in winter when it's freezing, and there's nowhere warm left."

Of course, that's when those places are most likely to fill up.

She looks down at the money, the man's kindness drawing another smile, and then she leans down, pulling up the cuff of a pant leg and tucking the money into her sock there.

As she straightens, the girl wobbles a little unsteadily before correcting her balance. "You live around here?" Maria asks, perhaps in part to cover for the little stumble. She hasn't seen him before. But then not like there's any reason to think she'd know everyone in the area.

She brushes back some of the mussed up dark hair from her face, as she tries to remember more of what happened in the alley.


Each coin made its own sound as it hit the alley pavement. The soft clangs of metal on stone unique yet similar as one coin after another joined the collection on the ground. Eventually each coin fell still and left the alley once again quiet.

The number was growing as more coins bounced off the bricks out back of Monaghan's Dry Cleaning. Mostly pennies, but a few nickels, dimes, and quarters as well for a variety of sizes and weights. Maria watched the next coin hit the wall harder than the last, eyes widening as it caused a tiny chip to fly off the brick!

It took another dozen tries before one hit hard enough to lodge itself within the wall. Maria cackled and quickly sought to duplicate the result.

Eddie Brock has posed:
"Listen, I'm no social worker, but you just got mugged, right? Seems pretty bad to me." Eddie Brock notes, leaning against the wall for a moment. He immediately stands back up, turning to find a coin stuck in the wall. "I.. found another? Is this yours?" he asks, pulling on the coin and dislodging it with a rough scraping sound, tiny bits of brick falling out of the wall as the coin goes. "I mean, you can have it regardless, but I mean, did you put this coin in the wall?"

Eddie grins and shrugs. "New York, yes. Brooklyn, no." he replies. "I just go places and look for stories to put on my website." Tapping his chin, he glances back at the wall he pulled a coin out of. "And I might've got one just then. Teen gets knocked out in alley, coins stuck in brick wall? That's traffic right there."

Maria Foster has posed:
The brunette girl takes the coin, adding it to the small supply of loose change that she's built up in her hoodie's pocket. "People always doing stuff," she says of the coin in the wall. "That's a new one. But we used to put coins on the train rails and flatten them out. Try to sell them to tourists," she says, stuffing her hands in her jeans.

She eyes Eddie again, for just long enough that perhaps she gets self-conscious, as a little blush comes to her cheeks. "Well, if you make money off it, make sure to give the girl in the alley her cut," she says.

"I'll um, go let the clinic check me out," she says. And probably having no such plans. No, she needs to sit down and think for a bit. "Thanks again. For the money. And for being decent and all," she tells him, giving him a shy, pretty smile, before turning and hurrying off down the alley. Her head clear enough that events from earlier have cleared of the mental fog that hid them from her before.



Each coin made its own sound as it hit the alley pavement. The soft clangs of metal on stone unique yet similar as one coin after another joined the collection on the ground. Eventually each coin fell still and left the alley once again quiet.

The number was growing as more coins bounced off the bricks out back of Monaghan's Dry Cleaning. Mostly pennies, but a few nickels, dimes, and quarters as well for a variety of sizes and weights. Maria watched the next coin hit the wall harder than the last, eyes widening as it caused a tiny chip to fly off the brick!

It took another dozen tries before one hit hard enough to lodge itself within the wall. Maria cackled and quickly sought to duplicate the result.

Holding a penny flat on her palm, Maria focused and "pushed" hard on the metal coin. It flew across the alley and embedded itself in the wall. The deepest amount yet! The homeless girl set another coin on her palm, this one a quarter to see how the larger size changed matters.

Yesterday, her stretched arm had fallen short of reaching a diamond ring someone had lost through a storm drain grate. She wanted it so badly! Maria had gasped when the ring jumped up out of the muck and into her grasping hand. Experimentation revealed she could both push and pull metal. But only directly to or away from her. The ring turned out to be costume jewelry, only netting enough at the pawn shop for a scant meal that day.

"I wonder how deep I can bury it?" the homeless girl murmured to herself. This time she didn't use a momentary push, but kept the force constant as the quarter flew across the alley.

Push sideways on something light and it will slide away. Push on the same thing when it's against a wall, and you're now pushing against the wall's weight. It will be you that moves. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Unexpectedly to Maria, that's what happened. The moment the quarter hit the wall and was braced by it, the force of Maria's push threw her own body back through the air. She slammed into the wall on the other side of the alley, head bouncing and body crumpling as she fell to the ground unconscious. Lying amidst the spare change that was scattered across the ground.

Sir Isaac Newton can be a real jerk sometimes.