3751/An Opportunity!

An Opportunity!
Date of Scene:	08 October 2020
Location:	Chinatown
Synopsis:	An opportunity to learn comes in the form of a webbed heroine. Aimee asks some questions, gets a broken arm, all that fun stuff!
Cast of Characters:	Aimee Alexander, Anya Corazon

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Aimee Alexander has posed:
It had started as a faint prickle along the back of her neck, as if someone were watching her. Despite her recent experience in Chinatown, Aimee had tried to ignore it. After all, what were the odds of being mugged twice in the same neighbourhood in about as many weeks?

Then, when the man leaning against the wall radiating malice had started following her after she walked past him, the teen had merely quickened her pace.

It wasn't until she saw the man ahead of her, a man she *recognised*, that she was finally forced to admit just how bad the situation was.

A second of hesitation is all it takes for the man behind her to catch up and grab her, a gloved hand covering her mouth while he pulls her down an alleyway without breaking stride;soon followed by the mugger she had recognised, along with a third man, presumably the one watching her, shortly afterwards.

"Careful! She can mess with your mind!" A scarred finger points almost accusingly at the teen, a gift from her last encounter with him. "Your friend isn't here to help you this time, bitch!"

It's all Aimee can do to flex her power and prevent herself from panicing. But even with a relatively clear head she can't see a single way out of this. She doesn't even have any skin-to-skin contact to even try to change her captor's emotions; not that it would do her much good when there's still two other men scowling at her. Despite the control she's exerting over her own emotions, she can't help the muffled whimper of resignation that escapes her.

The thug's right; there's no Katsumi to save her this time.

Anya Corazon has posed:
There's time enough to panic, to get control of herself, to see the inevitable. But there's also time for other things. This being New York, the chances of tailing someone for a block without being seen is maybe thirty percent. Those odds, the dice roll, and come up...spiders.

"Look, seriously, this isn't how things work," a voice says from behind the trio. When they turn though, they see these HUGE eyes, almost creepy-looking, danging from a line up above. Aimee would see it too, but her calm state could let her see..a bit better.

The eyes are attached to a face, a body that is upside-down, danging above. But then the man holding her would step back, pulling her with him. And the other two turn to handle whoever's interrupting.

"Back...back off!" the guy on the left says. Truly creative, must have his PHD.

"Gonna have to say no on that one too," the female voice attached to those huge eyes says, waiting patiently. "Though we could talk about YOU giving up. I'm cool with surrender."

She seems so calm. Whoever the hell it is, even as the men pull their blades.

Aimee Alexander has posed:
A superhero. It's one thing to see them on the news, but who ever expects to actually be saved by one? Of course this one sounds fairly young, looks it too based on what little detail Aimee can see in the shadows of the alley, but when someone has superpowers age probably doesn't matter a whole bunch.

It's a *chance* though, an opportunity. Aimee might not be able to mess with her captor's emotions, but she can *feel* them. He's scared. Backing away, obviously, but also not really thinking too hard on the teen he's meant to be holding hostage. And his friends obviously aren't paying her any attention right now either. She waits, her eyes locked on the girl who seems to be playing her hero; trying to convey her thankfulness through gaze alone. And when the thug holding her takes his next step...

One leg shoves off the ground, the other attempting to hook behind the thug's legs as she throws her weight backwards. It's not much, and certainly won't put him down for long, but Aimee can only hope it makes things a little easier on her saviour.

Anya Corazon has posed:
The two guys pulling knives doesn't make the 'superhero' react. She hangs there, tilting her head and watching. The lack of an answer to their threat is almost an attack in itself. She seems completely, utterly unconcerned. And the men, still close to their fight-or-flight response, see it for what it is. They look at their knives and hesitate.

The noise from behind makes them glance, trying to keep both the super-thing and the source of the sound in their vision. The sudden flip of the spider-girl lands her on her feet though, the fact that she's much smaller than either of her opponents giving them pause. Then they're able to fight again, temperatures rising. "She's just a girl, get her!"

Not that 'just a girl' didn't tear them apart last time.

The one holding Aimee is now struggling. "What the f&@*!" he curses as the two fall, and he flings her to the ground. Scrambling to his own feet, he aims a kick at Aimee to keep her down, then turns toward the ongoing fight.

And it is one. The girl has entangled one of the men in her line, up close and personal. It looks like she has a fishing line of sorts, and she's gotten a knife hand caught in it. She slams a kick into the gut of the second man who's up close with her, driving him back, and uses his stomach to launch her over the one she's tangled.

Landing heavily on her feet, she pulls on the string, and Aimee sees her grin as the guy goes down in a heap. Then she's turning toward the second knifer, while Aimee's kicking asshole comes up behind her.

She's not like that last ninja girl. This one looks...she looks almost normal? Except for those eyes, which you can see are just big goggles now.

Aimee Alexander has posed:
Perhaps using her admittedly rather scrawny arm to try and protect herself from a big heavy boot might have been a bad idea. It certainly seems that way when Aimee feels a sharp and momentary bite of pain. Did she hear a crunching noise? She isn't quite certain. But when she attempts to put weight on her arm as she tries to get to her feet, and instead finds herself howling at the deep tingling pain that seemingly spikes from her wrist to her elbow, it seems clear that something is probably broken.

Rolling onto her back, Aimee watches the fight through water eyes, struggling to bite back her pain and hoping that her hero won't need any help, it seems the empath will probably be even less use than normal. Gritting her teeth, she shuffles herself backwards to the alley wall. Then, with a lot of wriggling and grunting, uses the wall to support her back as she slowly climbs into a standing position without the use of her arms.

"K-kick their asses!" At least she can cheer Anya on, if nothing else.

Anya Corazon has posed:
Good. Get out of the way, get safe. That's what happens in Anya's head as she glances back and sees the last guy incoming, from behind her. But she also sees the girl getting back from the action. She sees him pick up the length of pipe, hears her com in her ear warning her about the one up front. Then she snaps her left foot up and over the incoming knife, up front!

She hooks his arm, grabbing the knife to keep it from her own admittedly sliceable flesh, then stomps down hard! A very familiar noise comes, much like what just happened to Aimee...and the man drops his knife, hard!

Then the bug girl turns, catching the incoming pipe with sheer physical strength. Girl must lift, she's got pipes of her own and they ain't metal.

Even stopped cold though, the man seems unimpressed. As bug lady wrestles the weapon away, clanging to the ground, he grabs her with his hands instead, and suddenly they're wrestling. "You ain't even super! You ain't a ninja, you just a girl. What the hell do you think you can do to me?"

Arms tight against his own, the girl grits her teeth. Her arms are corded, powerful, trained. And she says, with a fierceness within, "Anything...I...WANT!" And with a heave, the man slams into the brick wall, propelled back by her push!

And then he falls, his head knocked back, to the ground.

She's gasping. But she's standing, and they are not. "Hey....hey..You. You okay?" Gasp, pant.

Aimee Alexander has posed:
Aimee visibly slumps in relief. For just a moment she'd been worried that her saviour might be beaten, a worry she now feels a little guilty about having. Anya's words have her reflexively trying to wave her hand in recognition, then hissing in pain as her broken right arm immediately protests the movement. Eyes sparkling with unshed tears, she settles for nodding. "Y-yeah, thanks. I... I think I maybe broke my arm but... I'll be okay. Thanks for saving me. Really didn't expect a superhero coming to get my butt out of this mess."

Her voice sounds strained, and her expression is tight as she fights the pain to try and maintain a neutral expression. She looks over the bodies on the ground before squeezing her eyes closed and shaking her head. "I need to stop walking home so late..."

Anya Corazon has posed:
The bug lady gets down to Aimee's level, hunching so she can try to help. She glances at the bad guys, then nods. "Police are on the way, I've also got you an ambulance. Try not to move too much. You did really good, you know that right?" She reaches to touch the arm, then hesitates. "Hey...don't move it. The medics can help. Try to think of something else. Ask me a question, maybe. Hey, you know what the difference between a superhero and a normal person is?"

She's babbling a little, and she knows it, but she's not a super-healer. She's a punchy type. "Not a god damned thing."

It's not true, but she might be doing better if she was a talker.

Aimee Alexander has posed:
Aimee remains just leaning against the wall, thankful that Anya's apparently taken care of everything so all she need do is wait. A bemused smile works its way onto the empath's face despite the pain in her arm as she listens to the bug lady ramble.

"I think the big difference between a superhero and a normal person would be that the superhero is super, right? Otherwise they'd just be a hero?" A cheeky grin is offered to accompany the words, and Aimee's eyes give her saviour a quick once over before she adds "So... what *is* your superpower anyway? Are you like Spiderman, or? Wait, is it rude for me to ask?"

Anya Corazon has posed:
There's a pause, and the bug lady looks at Aimee with a slight headtilt that might suggest a few things. Then she pulls her goggles off. Beneath is a face, pretty'ish, normal'ish, and she says, "Never met him. But me? I try harder."

She doesn't move back, just letting Aimee see her face. It's so...normal. Not even the most beautiful dame on the block, it'd be easy to forget. Mexican-american, someone from any street. "It's this simple, hon. When my friends are out having a smoke, I'm training. When my family is having christmas, I'm working. That's my power. I don't stop trying, I get up earlier, I go to bed late. Querida, you just rest. Maybe use the time to work on your bad arm, make me proud."

Then she leans her head back and listens. "Should be able to hear them soon. You know I can't hang around, right?"

Aimee Alexander has posed:
Aimee stares, very obviously in disbelief despite not being able to feel any emotions that might indicate deception. "I... you can't tell me that... you don't have *any* super power?" Then she winces, realising that she really can't expect you to hang around and discuss superhero motivations all night "Right, yeah, more people to save right? And I guess maybe the cops don't always get along with superheroes." Still in disbelief, the empath shakes her head. "You go be a hero. I'll be fine. Thanks... thanks for saving me."

Anya Corazon has posed:
She seems to pause. "I did all of that without powers," she says with a bit of a wince. "Nothing that can't be done with a ton of work and a good gym membership. And an un-broken arm, so don't get any ideas." She seems to have an idea of hero-worship and all that, though she does smile and pull her goggles back down. "I do have a team coaching me. What's your name?" she asks, offering a couple of fingers to squeeze. With her good hand. "And yeah, I want to make sure you're safe first."

Aimee Alexander has posed:
"Aimee. Aimee Alexander." It's only moments after she's given her name that the teen's eyes widen and she quickly clarifies "You're not going to send someone to wipe my memory or anything right? I'll keep quiet, you're helping people. I'm not interested in making that harder for you." There's another moment of awkwardness before she blurts out "Not that I think you go around wiping peoples' memories! Just... ignore me."

Cradling her broken arm to her chest, and looking a little sheepish, she does her best to change the subject "So... how long did it take you to get this strong anyways?"

Anya Corazon has posed:
She sighs, not standing over Aimee, still in front of her. "You're hurt, I'll forgive that," Anya says with a half-smile, less than before. "I'm trying to help you relax, chica. That's all." The sound of incoming sirens is starting to get audible, and she shakes her head. "You're safe." A pause, and she seems to be listening to something. "No. She's safe, I said. Stay out of this."

Then she nods firmly. "How long?" She pauses, then stands up. And pulls out her line and grapple, easy to see now that it's up close and Aimee's eyes have adjusted to the dark. "All my life. Same as everyone else in the world. Don't forget how strong you already are when figuring it your own journey out, okay Aimee?" Then she tosses it high, as lights become visible. Red, flashing. Intrusive.

"Araña," she says, as the grapple hits something. "And good luck. I'll see you again, I think." And then she's climbing the wall, fast. On her own power, no specials. Just me, and my grapple..

Aimee Alexander has posed:
"Araña..." Aimee repeats, the name probably sounding a little less natural coming from her tongue but generally accurate. "Hopefully I won't need to be saved again. But if I do, you're more than welcome to swing by?"

She laughs at her own pun, then winces as she jolts her arm. She can't exactly wave, so she instead just watches the bug girl go with a smile, quietly trying to figure out what the heck she's going to tell the police. And also what she's going to tell her parents...