4975/Light Swallowed By Shadows

Light Swallowed By Shadows
Date of Scene:	01 February 2021
Location:	Hell's Kitchen
Synopsis:	Cloak and Dagger are on the hunt to rid the streets of those who harm the innocent. They happen upon Spider-Man and Superboy, who tried to help them remember their humanity.
Cast of Characters:	Tandy Bowen, Peter Parker, Tyrone Johnson, Jon Kent

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Tandy Bowen has posed:
~The City carved a silhouette,
On the ocean after dark,
Over the lonely and the holy,
And the red blood beating hearts.~

Hell's Kitchen is not a playground for the innocent, the saints, or those born with a gentle soul. It's a warzone between those who clash with the law, the gangs, and each other. Driven to rage by the drugs and poverty, those who merely 'exist' get by safely two breaths at a time. That's as long as it takes to cross the street or pass by an alley. Sometimes you're safe .. other times ..

It's after midnight when the scream of fear rips through the night of the empty street. Neon signs flicker on the front of dive bars and lights behind thick curtains suddenly cut out in old, run down apartments.

"Stop the howling or I'll cut your throat." Comes the rumbling voice of gravel as a youth wearing the black and red colors of the Scorpions holds a blade to the throat of a young woman dressed in a slinky black number with heels. Her boyfriend is on the ground unconscious, the remains of a shattered beer bottle surrounds his head like a halo of glass. Another man is on his knees currently searching and patting him down.

"Looks like we got lucky tonight, Jo'. He got a few hundred on 'em. Whatcha gonna do with her?" That's Melvin. He's a known runner of white powder on these streets and has no problem doing the odd jobs here and there when 'Jo' needs it.

"What do you think I'm gonna do to her?" Sneers Jo as he holds the woman by the throat with a strong hand, twirling the blade around with the other. "Party of course."

~Up from the dirty black water,
A shadow void of form,
Raised itself out of the river ..
And it climbed upon the shore.~

From a rooftop, a swirl of ink, followed by a flicker of light appears as Tandy steps out of the flowing dark portal of Tyrone's capes. Her eyes level downwards towards the alley as a pair of light blades slide across her palms.

"I know you're hungry, Ty'. I think we found you a meal."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey had been moving through Hell's kitchen when the scream tripped one of the sensors he had been using for the Maggia warehouse.
No contest. Potential crimes took a backseat to imminent ones.

Spider-Man dropped into position as Jo was twirling his blade, looking down at them from the wall 20 feet up.

"JOEY..."
Jo froze, then looked towards the voice. The fact that it was ABOVE him was the trigger for the cold chill going down his spine.

Spider-Man looked down at the two of them. "And Melvin, too. Sounds like the party's peaked early. When did you two get out of Riker's?"

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
"I'm always hungry." Cloak's low bass drawl emits from the congealing shadow next to her. Dark eyes look down over the edge of the rooftop towards the men in the alley below, indifferent and cold as if he wasn't even looking at human beings. "They look pretty stringy."

He doesn't actually eat them, right? Maybe he's just joking in a macabre sense, but the lack of emotion on his face makes it hard to judge.

"Looks like the spider's got other plans for them. Still want these two, or want to see what else is out there?" He asks aside to his luminous partner.

Jon Kent has posed:
Jon Kent is certainly not a saint. He's just a farmboy with power. Is he innocent? ...maybe. Mostly he's just somebody trying to do what he thinks is best, much like his father. In New York for a while because, well, that's where most of the supercrime seems to be, Superboy is currently flying over the city looking for some to stop. Unshockingly, it's not hard to find any. There are a LOT of superheroes around though, and he's trying not to step on any toes.

Currently passing over Hell's Kitchen, the half-Kryptonian hears that particular scream, his gaze being drawn to the streets below. A frown crosses his lips as he listens to the conversation between the two criminals, head tilting slightly. Well, that definetly isn't something that can wait for another person to show up. He begins to drop down, stopping when he hears other voices speaking, eyes drawn to a particularly dark rooftop where two people he's pretty sure weren't there before are. He studies them briefly, trying to place them in his memory. But again, there are a LOT of superheroes in New York City. Better demonstrated when he then sees a THIRD costumed person, this one more easily identified. He stops in midair, hovering in place and hesitating as to whether to he should actually get involved. His eyes are focusing mostly on the knife held to a throat.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
"Oh, shit, it's the webhead!" Melvin stammers out as he srambles away from the man on the ground, reaching under his hoodie to pull a small hand canon as he whips it upwards towards the red and blue costumed hero with a trembling hand. "I ain't going back there!" A round fires from the chamber quicky upwards towards Spider-Man, though the aim is hardly on point as it would ricochet off the side of the brick building. The woman gives another loud scream, which gets cut off by a press of Jo's hand against her throat.

"Settle down, bitch. Listen up, Spidey! You so much as look at me stupid and I'll cut her throat clear out! Don't think I won't." While Jo' may be nervous, he still has the upperhand. He pulls the woman in front of him, holding her in a choke hold by his arm while his other hand is holding the blade. Flashing a row of jagged teeth upwards, he ensures that the blade is pressed clean against her skin.

From the street a Cadilliac pulls up with a squeal of tires as three more members of the Scorpions climb out, one of which is holding an automatic rifle. "Yo! Jo! Melvin! Get the fuck in here, now! Come on man!"

So far, no one is looking up to see the son of Krypton hovering in the sky. Right now everyone is focused on the spider.

It also means that they aren't focused on Cloak and Dagger either. As Tandy glances to Cloak, she tilts her head towards the woman, then steps off the roof, knowing that her partner will be right behind her to snag her in the darkness. The plan? Step out behind Jo and the woman and swallow the blade holder.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey raises both his hands in a placating gesture, seeming not to notice the gun pointed in his direction. "Easy, Joey...keep it toogether. Right now you're at reckless endangerment, a Class A misdemeanor. That can get you a month or two in jail, and you can plead it down to probation. They'll likely accept it too, just to get you out of the courtroom."
Pause. "But the moment you draw a drop of blood, that's assault with a deadly weapon. Two years, MINIMUM, in RIKER'S. And you can be sure that if you cut her, you get the WHOLE package. Soup to nuts. So you got a choice. Do something smart for once."

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
There's a low, dissaproving noise from Cloak above as the threats to the woman continue. As Tandy begins to stir beside him, he's moving in tandem. They're two halves of the same coin, after all. Toss up a quarter, and both heads and tails are going with it. Or in this case, down.

As Dagger drops off the roof, Cloak is right behind her and sweeps her up in folds of dark fabric. They vanish in an instant, reappearing almost as quickly behind the gangsters and between them and their vehicle.

In his arrival and his attack, Cloak is silent. There's a rush of displaced air, the soul-penetrating cold of the shadows he emits as he looms up behind Jo. There's no warning, only the whip of dull striped fabric and a void black hand reaching out for him.

Jon Kent has posed:
Jon isn't entirely sure what Cloak and Dagger can do. But he trusts that they can handle the two already there. When the other car comes screeching up, he decides it's time to act. He quickly drops down, becoming a red and blue blur before suddenly just appearing beside the car. He shows his youth, and if it wasn't for the large S on his chest, most people wouldn't be particularly intimidated by him. He reaches out, gripping the barrel of the rifle in question and calmly twisting it up, eyes fixing on the criminal in question. "Sir, I'm going to need to ask you and your friends to turn off your vehicle and wait for the police to arrive. I believe that they'll want to talk to you." His voice is nice enough. But again, it sounds young. He's ready to move if they try to start driving again, and will appear either in front or behind of the car as needed.

He glances over at Joey, blue eyes growing harder as they lock on him. "As for you... I don't want to talk about the laws you were trying to break. They tend to make me upset. So I'll give you a chance now to lower your knife. Otherwise I'm not responsible for what might happen." He doesn't actually USE his heat vision most of the time. And right now is no exception. But he does let it start to well up enough to for there to be a visible glow to his gaze. He pauses, then nods towards Peter. "Mr. Spider-Man." He doesn't draw attention to Cloak looming behind the man in question. He doesn't want him to panic and cut her.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
When the duo of Dark and Light appear behind Jo, there is a sparkle of light from within the void as Tandy steps forward first. The gangster never sees it coming as a blade of light appears out the front of his forehead from where she slammed her light blade into the back of his skull. His entire body goes into shock as his eyes roll upwards into his head, blinded by the 'light'. The blade drops from his hand as the woman lets out another terrified scream as she stumbles forward.

As Cloak wraps his folds of fabric around the man, he is swallowed away into the dark, cold ink, where only his scream can be heard for a brief instant before it is snuffed out. Here and gone in a moment of time.

Melvin lets out another loud panicked noise, whipping his gun around to fire blindly at the pair as Tandy dances to one side as the bullets collide against the wall, spraying pieces of brick as she whips her hand out, slinging another blade of light across the alley to strike him in the chest. "You dare stalk our streets and attempt to harm those who can't defend themselves? You spread your poison in the veins of this city! For that, you are /undeserving/ of your light." There is a cold righteous fury in her voice as the beautiful angel steps forward towards the man who is convulsing at the bottom of the alley. As bright as she burns, there is a lack of emotion in her throat.

In the street, the dropping down of Superboy surprises the rifleman as he brings it upwards towards his chest quickly. "Fuck us, it's Superman!" Boy? Man? There's a big S in front of him and the gun is bent in half. As he lets go of it, he scrambles back towards the car as the wheels are already peeling to take off and even leave their friends behind. Spider Man they can 'deal' with. Superman? No way. No way in hell!

Peter Parker has posed:
Okay, things are happening FAST. Jo suddenly disappears into what he could only describe as a...
*"...it came alive and took him!"*
Great movie, scary concept, only it was a shadow that took him, not an invisible alien.

Then Melvin drops, and then he sees...Tandy? Jeez, how long had it been?
Judging by the cold, blank look on her face, maybe it had been too long. And he knew what that face meant. He had seen it in the mirror once, the night Uncle Ben died.
As a bird from the old Kipling story "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" had said, she means KILLING.

"NO!"
Spider-Man springs downward towards Tandy, one arm reaching out to web Melvin to the street. The guys in the car aren't his problem. Like he had told himself, potential always lost to imminent.
He landed in front of Tandy, grasping both her arms. "STOP! He's down, he's not going anywhere, so STAND...DOWN...NOW."

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
Jo disappears into darkness. There *should* be a body under that fabric. Cloak is definitely man shaped. So how can another man just vanish?

As Spider-Man approaches Tandy with the intent to stop her, a deep and animalistic growl escapes Cloak as the dark man turns to fixate a hellish stare on the webbed hero. "Do. Not. Touch. Her."

He moves fast, blinking out from one place and in to the next, this time behind Dagger with that cold visage glowering to Spider-Man from over her shoulder. "One warning. One. He's not dead, but he'll wish he was."

The woman who was threatened? Forgotten. If saving her was ever Cloak's aim, he seems to not care not. Not with his partner being challenged.

Jon Kent has posed:
Jon Kent tenses up when Tandy stabs the man through the the head with her dagger of light. It's only the lack of any visible blood that keeps him from moving to stop her immedietly. That, and the attempt by the others to escape. He moves behind the vehicle in a way that seems casual, leaning down and gripping one of the points that tow trucks attach to when hauling a vehcile and lifting it up with a hand, letting the wheels spin in the iar. He says to Cloak and Dagger, "I understand why you're angry. But I hope that you didn't just kill that man. Killing isn't the answer." He grips the axle of the rear wheels with the other hand, and teas it off of the vehcile, tossing it carefully aside before lowering it again.

Then he's at either door, crumpling them so that they won't open, still keeping an eye on the bright and dark duo. When the gunman who had been trying to enter the car turns and races off instead, Superboy moves just fast enough to get in front of him, then carefully flicks him on the temple. He'd of course scanned him first to make sure he wasn't going to rupture any anuerisms or the like. The simple looking impact causes his eyes to roll up into his head, and he collapses onto the ground. This is not going how he expected It seems like there's more danger of the various heroes fighting each other than from the criminals.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
It must have been a long time out on these streets, surviving under the decayed roof of an old abandoned church. Without a warm home to come back to, or love in their lives, these two have had to fend for themselves and all they've had was each other. Life either dulls the knife, or sharpens it.

When Spider-Man grabs Tandy by the arms, the crescent mark over her eye blazes brightly as she turns her blue eyes upon him, staring at the masked face of her friend. "You don't get it. They were going to rape her, then kill her afterwards. I've seen it a hundred times now. This city is /sick/. We are the /cure/."

There is rage in her trembling voice as her fingers give a wiggle and there's a flash of light between them, one that is designed to blind at close quarters. She knows Cloak is behind her. She feels his cold, hungry darkness waiting for her. As she steps backwards, she looks to back peddle into Cloak's darkness, where the two will most likely make their escape.

The woman who was held captive is clutching her companion on the ground, trying to wake him. "He's bleeding." She calls out to them with panic in her voice. "He won't wake up!"

With Superboy in motion, there is no way that these gang bangers are close to being on the same level. The man who gave chase after his friends is thrown to the side by a mere 'flick' of the fingers, sending him flying and bouncing off the pavement, knocked out.

As Superboy grabs the car, the wheels burn out and squeal before the axel is shattered and ripped away. As the car hits the ground, the men find themselves trapped, pounding at the windows to try and break them, screaming and cursing in panic.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man looked from the dark eyes of Cloak to the furious ones of Dagger, two pairs of eyes that had made many thugs, criminals, and crooks shrink and dwindle and retreat.

Spider-Man did none of these things. He did not back down.

"The legal punishment for rapists is PRISON. It is never being thought of as normal again. DEATH...is cruel and unusual punishment. You say the city's sick? Well guess what. You're treating a SYMPTOM, while the DISEASE goes merrily on!"

He glances to the bleeding man, then sends an urgent call to 9-1-1, describing the issue from a sub-vocalized list.

"You want to HELP? Help HIM! If not...get out of the way and let someone else help him."

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
"We're helping. They'll never forget how they *felt* tonight. What they've seen." Cloak growls back to Spider-Man before he steps to one side of Tandy. Stretching out an arm to one side, Jo comes spilling out of the darkness in a fetal curled heap. He's sweating but the air coming off of him is frigid, and his eyes are saucer wide as he whimpers and whispers something that isn't even recognizable.

"Let's see who's means of justice makes them think twice before picking up a gun again." Says the shrouded man with a scowl. Only his head tips towards the sounds of Superboy doing a number to the getaway vehicle. "Do bars and the scoldings of an old white man with a hammer stop the crime? Or do the memories of their own nightmares? She may never forget what happened tonight. And now, neither will they."

His other arm stretches out then to drape over Dagger's shoulders to take them both well away.

Jon Kent has posed:
The words from the woman in question make Superboy shift his focus, and he studies the man on the ground, floating over next to him and inspecting the wound he's been given. "He doesn't look good... he needs to go to a hospital." He mentally reviews where the nearest hospital is, then says to the woman, "I"m going to bring him ot the emergency room. I can come back for you if you'd like. Or you could make your way there yourself." He's still worried about the other three heroes fighting one another. But somebody dying is a bigher priority than that. His eyes shifting between the three of them, a frown on his lips. Then he gently lifts the man up in his arms before taking to the air.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
The anger in Dagger's eyes slowly melts away at Spider-Man's words. He's a friend after all. An ally.

"I -- ... "

Taking in a deep breath, she gives a glance to the form of Jo on the ground that Cloak just expelled, then back to the man on the ground that Superboy is picking up. The woman, though still scared, is relieved to see 'him'. SpiderMan is considered a 'menance' in the paper and these two? An angel and a demon ..

Pressing her lips together, she reaches out to give Spiderman's hand a brief squeeze, followed by a nod of her head before she steps back into the swooping motion of Cloak's fabric.

There is barely a breath held before they are gone in a swirl of ink, leaving behind only a cold rustle of the dark dimension in their wake.

~Shadows in the city,
I'm a stranger to myself,
On these streets I'm someone else --
Shadows in the city,
Like a demon in the dark,
Come to tear us apart .. ~

With that, the pair of vigilantes leave the two 'real' heroes to the alley, the captured, and the wounded.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man suspects they are leaving.
That might be for the best. Jo may be sucking down lithium for the rest of his life, but neither of them is going to be much trouble, and the other guys are going to be easy pickings if they cut up rough.

He looks to Jon, and is struck by how much he looks like Superman. Well, he's a chip off the old block if they are related.
"Yeah, go ahead, I'll handle things here. Get them medical help. the ER at Banner Trident in Queens is currently open, go there!"

He turns back at the squeeze of his arm, and...they're gone. Like a bad dream.

He sighs, then walks over to the woman to comfort her, to tell her the guy will be in good hands...and to web down any stragglers.

Whatta night...

Jon Kent has posed:
Jon pauses in the air, and looks down at Spidey. "Thank you, Mr. Spider-Man. I'll go there. I hope we can work together again in the future." He gives a smile to the webhead briefly, then resumes raising into the air, then speeding off. At a velocity that won't be too much for the injured man. Well, his time in New York is certainly starting off memorably at least.