679/Home of pizza. And the Maggia.

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Home of pizza. And the Maggia.
Date of Scene: 21 March 2020
Location: Little Italy
Synopsis: Pizza turns to gunfire turns to talking. For the non-gangsters, at least.
Cast of Characters: Hope Summers, Conner Kent




Hope Summers has posed:
Since her introduction to the wonder that is pizza at Xavier's, Hope has added further investigation into this wonder food to her list of things to do. And since there's no one who's going to make her sit and take classes, there's also no one to warn here that certain parts of town aren't really great to walk around alone. Not that she'd paid attention anyhow.

It was a quick ride on the Hyperloop into the city, a little more investigation into the subway and how it all worked, and eventually Hope managed to find herself in Little Italy. In jeans, sneakers, and a tank top and hoodie, she looks like any college student out and about. Except, perhaps, for the way she takes her time to read every sign and look into every storefront, soaking in the neighborhood.

Conner Kent has posed:
Little Italy is not as dangerous as they paint it in the movies because although crime families control the neighbor, they have been at peace for years now. There is still crime, but not that much violence. Unless the Punisher is in the neighborhood.

And by the way, they say he is.

But Conner has no idea, he just wants pizza. Just like Hope. Pretty much for the same reasons. He discovered pizza about a day after he escaped the clone tank, and never looked back. Virtual reality food might not be as bad as post-apocalypse foodstuff, but it is still, well, fake.

But he is not in his civvies, because who cares? Well, having a young (clueless) superhero eating pizza in an old gangster hangout is making some people very nervous. And of course, Conner is oblivious.

Hope Summers has posed:
Hope did manage to find online reviews in the midst of her reconnaissance for this mission, which pointed her to the particular restaurant in question. The pizza is supposed to be spectacular, a true representation of what Italian style pizza is supposed to be.

The bell on the door rings softly as she steps inside, pausing when she hears it to find the source of the sound. Huh. All right. Hands in her pockets, she makes it two steps in before she picks up on the tension in the place, head tilting and eyes narrowing slightly as she tries to pin down the source and traces it...to the young man peacefully eating pizza?

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner nom-noms, not aware half a dozen guys are already pointing at him with guns. And not normal guns, because this is a Maggia den, so they have super-tech blaster guns built by the Nefaria family engineers in their secret labs in Sicilia.

"I am starting to think New York has better pizza than Metro," comments the dark-haired young man. "I gotta bring my pal Imp here, it will blow his mind," he adds to the nervous old waiter. "Hey, are you okay? You look a little ill. We gotta be careful, I heard this is a Chinese bug going on."

Hope Summers has posed:
The thing is, it's hard to tell who's actually the good guy when you walk into this sort of situation. On the one hand, the person who's not holding a gun would usually be the good guy. On the other hand, the person who isn't worred about a half dozen guns being pointed at them is //probably// the most dangerous person in the room.

Of course, it's not like Hope can just slip right out. Aside from the fact that the bell would give her away, this is the most excitement she's had in weeks. Clearing her throat softly, she takes another step toward the hostess stand, which can conveniently offer cover at need.

"Hey, uh, sorry to interrupt but..." She smiles awkwardly, waving with one hand. "Are you guys open? Because I heard the pizza here was the best in the city, but I //definitely// didn't read anything about dinner theater or guns involved, and I didn't pack my guns."

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner glances back and spots Hope. Then smiles at the young redhead, "heeey... it is true pizza is great here, why don't you..." he pauses, noticing the armed suited up guys (they even have fedora hats) at last. "They have guns," he notes, unnecessarily.

"They are not even tommy guns and revolvers," adds Conner. Because that breaks the undeniable 20s gangster looks they had pretty much nailed. "Look guys..."

He gets interrupted. "You are one of those super-heroes, aren't cha?" Rasps on of the gangsters. "Sure. I am Superboy, but..."

"Kill him," and suddenly there is a lot of energy blasts going Conner's way. The waiter dives for cover. Most of the other customers also dive for cover, except for the usual half a dozen idiots that go for the smartphones to take pictures and are likely going to get killed.

Hope Summers has posed:
Hope throws herself behind the hostess stand when the guns start to go off, bracing herself for a minute as she tries to figure out what just happened. "Well that went pear-shaped quick," she mutters to herself, leaning around the stand to get a look at the attack. Superboy rings zero bells, but she //has// heard of other super-people, and so far as she's aware, they're pretty...everything-proof.

The same can't be said for the idiot civilians in the room. Besides, those guns...are definitely not slinging lead. Interesting.

Keeping low, Hope darts out from her cover long enough to grab the arm of one of the patrons, pushing them toward the door even as she flips the table to provide some mobile cover. "You could've just said no!" she shouts over the sounds of guns.

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner gets hit by a couple blasts, which fail to vaporize him instantly, but do carry enough kick to send him flying through the table and against a wall. The other shoots blow up a good chunk of the wall, sending brick and glass to the street outside. There are screams.

"Ow, I just wanted pizza!" Protests the clone. Aghast, as he notices a large hole in his leather jacket. He goes through a lot of those. "Besides, lying is wrong!"

The goons shoot again, but he moves quickly out of the way. There are more explosions behind him. Fortunately Hope got the witless tourist that was there out of the way.

Conner grabs a nearly round table for four and sends it flying towards the gangsters, mailing two of them. Two others manage to dodge it, but have to stop firing. The remaining two shoot again, this time in full auto, filling the small restaurant with plasma bolts.

Hope Summers has posed:
"This seems a little excessive for this time period, people," Hope mutters, even as she starts to roll the round table along the floor to keep cover as she moves toward the gangsters who jumped away from the last table. Might as well take out the easy targets first, right?

As she gets close enough, she launches out from behind the table, picking up one of the fallen guns and bringing the butt of it up to slam into one gangster's jaw, clapping his teeth together hard enough to break several of them. In the same motion, one leg strikes out at the other one trying to regain his weapon, her heel slamming down on his hand as he reaches for it.

Conner Kent has posed:
This time Conner can't really dodge. Or maybe he could, but then those blasts would hit cowering customers or the staff. Most had no time to escape yet.

So he braces himself, crosses his arms before his face and concentrates in adding a telekinetic shield to his natural defense. It works, although most of his jacket gets vaporized. Also, owowow. Those burns are going to take a few hours to fully heal even with plenty sunlight.

The shooters realize Hope is attacking just as she knocks out the second one. "Get her!" Commands the older one, trying to reload his energy gun. The other thug, easily twice Hope's size, charges the redhead, trying to slam at her with one of the chairs.

Hope Summers has posed:
If Hope had ever seen Indiana Jones, she'd have a quip for this. But sadly, the selection of movies in the apocalypse is extremely limited. So when the the man with the chair charges here and Hope just aims a blast right at his shoulder, she's doing it purely out of practical instinct.

"You guys obviously can't be trusted with these," she says, firing a shot at the feet of the man giving the orders as she levels a stare on him. "Put it down, before I put you down."

A scrawny teenager shouldn't sound so...believable when she says that.

Conner Kent has posed:
Hope's blast takes out the chair and likely would have blown up the thug whole arm if he had not already been sent flying by the explosion. He also got a face full of wood splinters, some bandaging will be needed.

Hope might notice the 'power' setting was to max. Small wonder they ran out of battery.

The older gangster snarls at Hope. "You are messing up with the Nefaria family, little girl," he breathes, "why, in my time..."

Then Superboy pushes him down. "Well, in my time you don't shoot a guy for wanting pizza. What's wrong with you, old geezer?" He turns to Hope and smiles again, "nice kung-fu there. I am Superboy, Conner for friends." He adjusts the remains of his leather jacket, almost striking a pose. Said jacket is now sleeveless. Still stylish.

Hope Summers has posed:
"Yeah, I'm real scared," Hope rolls her eyes at the gangster. "Gun down, thanks. Or I'll experiement on the settings on this thing with your limbs. Shouldn't take me more than three tries to get it down. Probably."

She tips her chin to Conner, but she's keeping her eye on the gangsters for the moment. "Hope," she introduces herself. "Nice to meet you. So just to check, this isn't normal for a pizza place, right? Becaise while it's been great exercise, it seems like a little much for just a meal when there are options that don't involve guns."

Conner Kent has posed:
"No for a normal pizza place. But this was the first time I come here," admits Conner. It was top notch pizza too. And now the restaurant is going to be closed 'for reforms' for a month or two.

He considers for a few seconds, then walks into the kitchen. Police sirens are wailing in the distance, but he still has time.

He returns with a tray full of pizza, straight from the oven. "If you still want, we can share. I don't think anyone else was going to eat it."

Hope Summers has posed:
Hope collects the fallen guns, slinging them over her shoulder while keeping the one in her hand trained on any of the mafiosos still conscious. "This is what passes for good weapons tech right now, right?" she asks them rhetorically, not really expecting an answer. "Gonna have to take a look at it. You definitely ran out of charge way too fast for an energy weapon, regardless of what you had it set at."

As Conner comes out with the pizza, she pauses, a bemused expression flickering over her lips. "I mean. I definitely still want pizza. You got a plan for getting out of here with the pizza without these guys or the cops following us?"

Conner Kent has posed:
"Yup," replies Conner, offering Hope his hand and walking out. If she took it, he pulls her close and then takes off. He doesn't even need to grab her, using the tactile telekinesis to carry her to the rooftop. "Actually I will go talk the cops later," he points out. "After pizza."

Hope Summers has posed:
Hope is wary, but also armed with enough firepower to finish demolishing the restaurant, so she's feeling pretty secure at the moment. "Fair enough," she grins, taking the offered hand. Her grip tightens when he takes off, but despite that she's remarkably steady about the whole thing.

"So the cops here are trustworthy?" she asks as they settle onto the roof, unloading most of the guns from her shoulder and sitting cross-legged to give the remaining gun a closer inspection.

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner passes the pizza tray and shrugs. "I am not sure. Hmm, Robin told me they were as corrupt as in Gotham, so maybe. In any case I have to give a statement, it might help to keep those guys in jail for longer."

No, he is not looking forward to do that, but not all the super-heroing is fun. Oh well, he looks at the redhead again and says, "you handled that very well. Most people either freezes or runs away. Are you from New York?"

Hope Summers has posed:
Hope starts disassembling the gun with one hand, reaching for a slice of pizza with the other. Multi-tasking is key! "Not exactly," she answers as she takes a bite, then pauses the actually look at the pizza, blinking. "//Wow//, that is good. That is almost worth getting shot at. Actually, it might really //be// worth getting shot at."

Before explaining any further, she takes another bite, chewing happily as she looks back to the gun. "That wasn't really all that bad," she says around the pizza, taking something out of the gun and tossing it aside. "Six guys on two, with one pretty much invulnerable? Definitely not a fair match." She looks up, eyeing his shirt with a small smirk. "Did you know this was their place when you decided to come in?"

Conner Kent has posed:
The gun is pretty primitive for what Hope is used to. Some parts are obviously hand-crafted. The energy cell is vastly inferior to what Cable uses in his guns. It is still a major step above the chem-based slug-throwers most people of the age uses.

"Yeah, I am invulnerable... Kryptonian, y'know?" Although not totally invulnerable, he burned his forearms taking those hits, but they are healing quickly enough Hope can see the blisters vanishing. "I had no idea those guys were there, to be honest. Sure, there are gangsters in Little Italy. But I wasn't looking for them. Also, they aren't supposed to be armed with what looks like Intergang hardware."

Hope Summers has posed:
"Intergang?" Hope echoes, examining another part with a sniff of distaste. "Does that stand for people who are //really// inefficient with their weapons construction? This entire assembly is unnecessary," she shakes her head, pulling out a tangle of wires until it reaches the power supply. Her brows climb as she takes another bite of pizza.

"Damn, no wonder. That's ridiculous." Shaking her head, she twists a few different wires together and shoves everything back inside before closing the casing to actually look back up at Conner. "Kryptonian. It's a type of alien, right?"

Conner Kent has posed:
"Hum, yeah. Although I am from Earth," points out Conner. "But I have Kryptonian powers, and also Tactile Telekinesis," he explains. "Intergang is a group of criminals in Metropolis that have alien weapons. Now I think about them, their guns are bigger and pack more punch." He peers at Hope one-handed gun-dissembling skills, "are you an engineer, too?"

Hope Summers has posed:
"I've mostly got a lot of practice at putting things together out of trash," Hope admits, a rueful note in her voice. "Usually under pressure." Another bite of pizza and she sets the gun down next to herself, patting the roof on her other side to invite him to sit.

"So just to clarify, someone told you that the cops here are as corrupt as the cops in Gotham are, which even I've already learned about, but you're still going to stick around to give them a statement because you think it'll make it more likely for these guys to get arrested," she summarizes.

Conner Kent has posed:
"Rob did," admits Conner, taking another slice of pizza. "Robin," someone Hope should know, in Conner's mind. "He tends to be cynical about cops. I think those guys shooting high power guns in a restaurant are going to go to jail no matter what. But if am there to give a statement, it is a little more likely. This symbol still counts a lot for many people," he points to the red S in his chest.

Superman has been dead three years, though. It is not the same.

Hope Summers has posed:
"Robin," Hope echoes, making a mental note to look into that a little more later. Finishing her firt slice of pizza, she leans over to take another, nodding thoughtfully. She's read a little about Superman. About the things he could do. "But they're not likely to arrest you," she says, not quite a question. A faint smile flickers across her features. "Still good not to be a mutant, I guess."

Conner Kent has posed:
"What? No," Conner has to wonder if a mutant would be arrested. Not in Hawaii, but New York has a bad reputation in that regard. "I mean, I am not sure the D.E.O. likes me much, but mostly we help each other. And I had some friends in the police when I lived in Hawaii."

Pause. He glances at Hope again. She is still hot, he decides. "Are you a mutant?"

Hope Summers has posed:
"Yep." Hope takes another bite of pizza without breaking eye contact, as if daring him to make a comment on it. It didn't //look// like she used any powers earlier, but...Well, who knows with mutants? "What's DEO stand for?" she asks. There are a lot of things to learn in a different timeline, and if you don't know what questions to ask, it's all too easy to never hear about it.

Conner Kent has posed:
"You don't know about the DEO?" So far Conner has assumed Hope was American. He didn't notice any foreign accent. But now he is not sure. "It is the Department of Extranormal Operations. Sonner or later all super-humans are going to have to deal with them. They are... uh, not very clean. I mean, I know they run a lot of stuff that is not technically legal. But some of the agents are pretty cool."

Hope Summers has posed:
"So they're like...SWORD and SHIELD then," Hope nods, storing that away as well. She takes it all in stride, even if the questions certainly make it seem as though there are a lot of things she's not aware of. "Seems like it's a pretty universal constant that people without powers are always going out of their way to try to keep an eye on people //with// powers," she grimaces, shaking her head. "Which is pretty sad, considering most of them are either heroes, or just want to be left alone. And if you stopped persecuting them you'd probably remove the threat from about half of the ones that //aren't// heroes or just looking to be left alone, you know?"

Conner Kent has posed:
"Well, SHIELD is anti-terrorist and SWORD anti-alien," points out Conner. "I guess there is a lot of overlap. But the DEO is American, like the FBI, aren't they others international?"

Conner knows what Hope is saying. Although he should point out some are super-villains and regular cops, or even FBI agents, are not trained to deal with them, while the DEO has all kinds of gizmos and power-armor.

But mostly he agrees with here: The DEO often causes the very same problems they are supposed to fix. "But yeah, they should leave some people that want to be left alone well alone."

Hope Summers has posed:
"You ever get the feeling there might be a few too many organizations running around trying to protect the world?" Hope asks, arching a brow with a wry smile. "Not that I'm saying protecting the world is bad, just more that this whole thing sounds like a nightmare to keep straight when it comes to who's the boss at any given time. I bet they spend a fortune on paperwork."

In short order she's polished off a second slice of pizza, eyeing the rest of it speculatively. Does she have room for another? "So you're a free agent, then? Or do you have a team?"

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner hmhmms in agreement. Not being the spy, detective type he is sometimes bewildered by the amount of alphabet soup agencies, federal and international, that claim to protect the public from this or that.

"Oh yeah, I have a team. Shortly after Superman's death I formed a gang with Impulse and Robin, then others joined us, like Wonder Girl. We haven't been very active the last year, but we have plans. Why? You looking for a group of young, cool heroes to join?"

Hope Summers has posed:
Hope's lips twitch at the question, a brow arching. "You offering?" she counters, then shakes her head with a grin. "No, I'm not particularly looking right now. I've got a lot of stuff I'm trying to figure out. And besides, priority number one for me right now is figuring out what happened to Genosha. I used to have a team," she adds, smile faltering as she looks away. "I didn't really get a chance to say goodbye to them, but I hope they're doing all right without me."

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner shrugs, "I could..." ah, but she is not looking. Truth is he was impressed the way she handled the gangsters, and if she is a mutant she might have superpowers, even if he didn't see them.

But Genosha. Of course, that would be all mutant heroes' priority. Actually it should also be the priority of the big teams with powerful resources. Which right now means the Four F and the Avengers. What can he do?

Hope Summers has posed:
"It's one of those...butterfly effect sort of things," Hope says, turning back to him. "I mean, things are pretty decent for mutants right now, given the way things //could// be. But Genosha could be the beginning of things turning down those paths if it doesn't get solved. So."

She finally decides on one more piece of pizza, though she folds this one in half to eat it more efficiently. "You called your team a gang," she observes belatedly, smile flickering.

Conner Kent has posed:
"Really?" Conner thought things for mutants were pretty bad. And Genosha has been the most terrible thing that has happened on Earth since the alien invasion. "How could be worse?"

He did call the team a 'gang' yes. It started pretty informal, things got serious when they got serious. Perhaps too serious. He smiles back and shrugs.

Hope Summers has posed:
Hope arches a brow at the question. "Look, I'm not saying that Genosha isn't awful, but there are //way// worse possibilities," she shakes her head. "Like mutants living in camps, being hunted by hundreds or thousands of sentinels. Or being forced to hunt each other. There being fewer than two hundred mutants left and no new ones being born. There are futures where most of the world is dead, or burning, or..."

Trailing off, she shakes her head again. "I'm just saying, things can get way, way worse. But we just might be early enough to stop it before it gets critical. Which is definitely a good thing."

Conner Kent has posed:
"The people wouldn't allow that!" And by people he also means the other supers. The Avengers and Power Girl and others. She is also speaking as if she had seen that, which is a little weird. Well, it wouldn't be weird in his world. After all he is best friends with a super-fast time-traveler.

"You know. Maybe you should at least talk with Impulse," mentions the young man. "He is from the future and might know some of what is coming. But definitely the world is not going to burn. I know people from the Thirty First Century!"

Hope Summers has posed:
"Funny thing about futures," Hope says with a wry smile. "There are a lot of them. And they're all pretty malleable. Trust me, people would allow it. But hey, we can always do what we can to keep it from happening. Starting with figuring out what happened to Genosha." She finishes off the third piece of pizza then sighs contentedly, leaning back on her hands.

"So there's you, Robin, Impulse, and Wonder Girl," she lists. Apparently she's been paying attention. "Do you guys operate on your own, or is there someone looking over your shoulders?"

Conner Kent has posed:
"Lots of futures, uh... okay?" Conner shakes his head. He doesn't believe people would allow mutants being sent to camps, though. He would fight against that! All his friends would. He frowns, leaving the pizza tray aside. They managed to eat most of it, but he is not interested anymore.

"Anyway, no. Not right now. We are on our own, but Robin and Wondy are adults now," he is not sure about Bart! As his age, that is... complicated.

Hope Summers has posed:
"Adults," Hope echoes, that faint, amused smile flickering again at one corner of her mouth. "I dunno, I kind of feel like being an adult is overrated. Or at least people make way more out of being one than they ought to. Most of the so-called adults I've known have been way worse at dealing with things than most of the so-called kids. Too much baggage."

Conner Kent has posed:
"Yeaah," replies Conner with a degree of eyerolling. "We got a lot of flak, but no one else was doing what we did. I mean... there was the Fantastic Four and... maybe the X-Men? But they are super-secretive. And that was it." He sighs, "next year the Avenger formed. The Avengers are okay, you know? But not quite like the Justice League were."

Hope Summers has posed:
Hope quirks a brow, head tilting. "How so?" she asks, reaching for one of the guns to go back to disassembling things as she talks. It seems like it's half curiosity, but also half to keep herself occupied. Like the idea of sitting and talking quietly is too unfamiliar to be entirely comfortable.

Conner Kent has posed:
"The League? They were amazing," says Conner. Which doesn't explain much, but that is his opinion anyway! "Uh, are you going to keep the guns? Otherwise I should give them to the cops. I better go talk with them now. They have everything cordoned," he points down, "and are starting to talk with the witnesses." Any second one of them might look up and spot them.

Hope Summers has posed:
"You go ahead and take one for evidence," Hope says, passing one over. So generous. "If you don't mind, I think I'll keep the rest of them. See if I can make something actually useful out of it," she adds with a flash of a grin. Slinging them over her shoulder, she stands up to offer over a hand. "Nice to meet you, Conner."

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner chuckles. "Fair enough," he will take the gun. And likely get yelled for letting the redhead take the other five, but hey, if he is being called a vigilante they can't ask him to collect evidence, right?

"Nice to meet you Hope, hey give me your phone number? Maybe I can introduce you to the others, or we can just hang out?" He had to ask, of course. His own cell miraculously survived him being shot with blaster guns.

Hope Summers has posed:
"Yeah, sure." Hope pulls out a flip phone - obviously a burner of some sort - and flips through it until she rattles off a number. "Can't promise I'll always have it on or pick it up," she admits, smile wry. "But I'll check the messages." Just how she expects to make it back to Westchester with a load of high-tech guns is probably a question best left unasked.