8717/That's gotta hurt

That's gotta hurt
Date of Scene:	18 November 2021
Location:	Outside The Centinel Hotel - Mutant Town
Synopsis:	Raphel's Nightwatcher persona helps Mike deal with some potential muggers
Cast of Characters:	Michael Hannigan, Raphael

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Michael Hannigan has posed:
Most people would probably advise against walking by yourself at night. And such advice would not be laughed at. But sometimes things happen and it must be done. And this is what leads Mike to doing what he is doing.

Mike, like many, have dressed for the weather. With the chill returning in the air, he has forgone the ponytail and has gone back to tucking his recognizable long hair into a knit cap, giving the illusion of short hair. His jacket and clothing are pretty old and worn looking, not at all befitting a typical guest of The Centinel Hotel and the bookbag on his back doesn't help either.

The only two things really that are preventing him from getting any weird looks is a past incident in the lobby and the fact he hasn't even set foot in the building yet.

Instead the story starts off a couple alleyways over where two men linger in the shadows, waiting.

Unknowing of the potential problem that lays ahead, Mike continues on his walk towards the hotel.

Raphael has posed:
On one of the lower rooftops nearby, another figure lingers in the shadow, leaving almost no trace of his presence. Unlike the two potential miscreants in the alley, he lives in the shadow, trained from a hatchling in the ancient arts. He watches through the visor of his helmet, certain that these two are going to start some trouble, and equally certain that he's about to put a stop to it. Until they make a move, however, he waits, noiseless and patient, not even a glint of light reflecting off of the dull metal armor he uses to disguise his true self in the human world.

He would have attacked already, save for Master Splinter's teachings... a preemptive attack could just as easily be an unprovoked assault. He has to be sure.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Deprived of the vantage point of above and the building he is walking alongside from obscuring his view, Mike is deprived of such warning to the men standing in wait. The general benefit of this for Raphael is that he's not left to wait long before certainty makes an arrival.

Seeing the potential quarry approaching, one of them gives a silent nod towards the other. Unspoken agreement made, the taller of the two steps further back, hiding from view. The one who did the nodding reaches into his pocket, pulling out a knife while pressing against the wall to obscure himself from view.

Mike's approach was inevitable. The alley entrance a necessary one to go past in order to reach the destination. Seeing a streetlight flicker off across the street, the musician glances over, shaking his head to the place becoming much lonelier. He's likely going to give the person he's meeting an earful when he gets there.

As he crosses past the opening, the waiting assailent steps forward, reaching for the backpack handle.

Raphael has posed:
"Time to go to work," Raphael mutters to himself, seeing the glint of a knife as one man readies to attack, the other reaching out for this kid's backpack. (Said 'kid' being years senior to Raph is a technicality.) He rolls off the ledge he was lurking near, flipping down into the alley not so much acrobatically as a very graceful walking tank.

The Nightwatcher is clad in unpolished metal armor, a visored helmet with two (currently dark) headlamps obscuring his face. To the average person, he looks like a humanoid wearing three-fingered mitts and a large, shell-like piece of armor. "Hey, bozos," his amplified voice says, the speakers utterly failing to hide his heavy Bronx accent, "pretty sure he needs that... and you don't." He flicks his wrist, sending a manriki-gusara out at the man going for the backpack, the weighted chain aimed at tangling up the guy's legs.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
The hand very nearly reaches the handle but upon Raphael speaking up to address the group. Several things of note domino as Raphael proceeds to throw the manriki-gusara. The voice speaking up causes for the man reaching for the bag to falter and instead reach out for the person wearing the bag. Two, the address being in the plural was enough of an alert for Mike who gets out of daze long enought to spin around, hand balling up. The visual of the guy grabbing for him provides the remainder of the stimulus as his fist ends up taking advantage of the spin's momentum to turning the attacker's head with impact.

As bookbag guy spins, the chain hits its mark, causing for the man to contine spinning on his way down to the ground.

The other man, what he lacks for in sense he makes for in bravery. Or it could be stupidity depending on who you ask. Either way, that knife in hand, he's opting to try and make good use of it by charging at the shell armor. That must be some knife.

Raphael has posed:
Raphael grins beneath his mask. Mr. Backpack's situational awareness doesn't seem too good as he left himself open for a mugging, but he's got the right instinct when someone's making a grab for him. The other would-be mugger gets his attention, however, and he leaves Mike to clobber his foe or not, turning to face the other punk.

"Punk," he hisses through the speaker static, "you are in WAY over your head." He tanks the hit, letting the mugger charge at his armor. The thin metal, uh, shell over his actual shell helps resist the blade, but even without it his shell is pretty blade-resistant. Seeing this as a golden opportunity to let off some steam, he throws a quick punch to the face to try and disorient the guy and give the Nightwatcher an opening for a more savage blow to the solar plexus.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
As the knife hits target there's a momentary sound of satisfaction coming from the one doing the stabbing. The sound is short lived however as the knife continues to glide, scraping along the surface of the armor. Apparently of the 'try try again' school of thought, the hand is lifted again. The attempt to do over doesn't work out for him however as the punch he receives in return is much MUCH more effective. "Ch-" The man snaps, turning his head as he starts seeing stars, "Noe!"

The man on the ground glances over to the sound and starts to reach for his waistband. Mike, who had been perfectly fine with the guy just landing there, widens his eyes as he realizes why the man seems so attentive to his pantsline. "Fu-" He steps forward, making a swift kick to the man's hand to keep it away from the object sticking out. It's not a graceful movement, but... pretty effective considering what he's trying to accomplish.

Raphael has posed:
The Nightwatcher drives a heavy fist right into the goon's solar plexus, going for center mass in a powerful, yet oddly graceful hit belying his tanky appearance. A quick glance shows that Mike has at least had enough presence of mind to see the other guy had a weapon, too. Good for him. And if it's a gun there, all the better that he noticed - a bullet might not pierce the armor, shell, or plastron on Raphael, but humans are much more... squishy. He sweeps the legs out from under knifey with one powerful motion, grabbing a length of nylon rope to essentially hogtie the creep and keep him down for the count.

"Toss the weapon away from him," Raph says. "I'll tie him up next, stick a little bow on 'em for the NYPD."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
The feeling is less than pleasant for the goon. "HOOoo-" Crumpling down he doesn't even notice the incoming sweep until his back hits the ground. His knees curl up as he does his best...

Well, turtle on its back impression.

Mike's having to kick the hand again as it tries once more to grab at the gun but after the second attempt, Mike's no longer got the patience. He stomps down on the man's crotch.

There is a stream of obsenities that soon follow after that which is less than pleasant but at least the guy has forgotten about the gun long enough for Mike to reach down and pull it out of the waistband and fling it away. He is almost sorry. But he figures a bullet would hurt more. "Just... STAY down." Mike advises the attempted bookbag grabber.

Raphael has posed:
Even Raph has to give the slightest wince at that. He's glad he's a reptile, that's all he's gotta say. Raph yanks on the manriki-gusara, dragging the downed thief towards him as he makes to tie him up with the far more disposable rope, as well.

"You gotta be more careful," he admonishes Mike, albeit gently (for him). "This ain't a good part of town, even if some'a the people here ain't bad, just stuck here cuz of who dey are. You got a phone, call this in, boys in blue will pick 'em up." He looks around for a moment, then hurls the nylon rope over a street light, hauling the pair up so they can swing there, troubling nobody else, at least until the cops cut 'em down. Hey, it works for Batman.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Mike steps back as Raphael hangs up the two muggers, giving a nod as he pulls out the battered looking nokia. "Yeah ok." He allows for the mini-lecture. Being that the guy came in to stop an attempted mugging, he isn't about to argue back with him on the matter. Pick the battles that are worth fighting.

The tired look upon Mike's face is a bit odd looking, previously tired tinged with adrenaline can do that. "First off, thanks. Uh, secondly, do you have some type of call sign you're doing for these types of things or are you one of the anonymous types?"

Raphael has posed:
"Yeah, call me the Nightwatcher. None of that friendly neighborhood bunk, just keeping the streets a little cleaner, one... or two deadbeats at a time." He nods his head at Mike, the flips a chain up toward the lower rooftop, leaping up effortlessly despite what looks to be a ton of armor. Really, it doesn't seem wholly armor so much as a shell around his body, but then again, this IS Mutant Town. He stops at the top, giving another look at Mike as he scans the street to make sure there are no more immediate signs of trouble before vanishing into the night.