9139/Learning to Fly

Learning to Fly
Date of Scene:	17 December 2021
Location:	Abandoned Subway
Synopsis:	What was supposed to be an instructive lesson on how boring patrols are turns exciting. Rave shines.
Cast of Characters:	Dinah Lance, Naria Shepard

---

Dinah Lance has posed:
<Let's patrol together.>

It's been a long time coming, but tonight the message pops up on Rave's phone. An invitation to actually patrol alongside the Black Canary. Finally all the bruises the pint-sized pugilist inflicted on Rave (sometimes feeling like it was for giggles) will have a purpose!

The follow-up message... <Miagani outlet of the old abandoned subway.> ...set the meeting point.

In preparation for the trainee session, Dinah cheated a bit. She set the time as 9PM. She went in herself at 8PM, making sure there wasn't a serious threat that could hurt Rave. The girl was eager, powerful, but ... not experienced. It would be best to ease her into a patrolling lifestyle.

So at 9PM sharp, the Black Canary, having done a stealth run through the tunnel before looping back and tearing off on her new Ducati, rounded back and pulled up as if she'd just arrived, parking the bike in a nearby alley and then covering it up with a black cloth she carried along, followed by tossing a bit of trash over it to break up its form in the darkness.

"Rave?"

Naria Shepard has posed:
Truth be told, Rave had been out and about in the past, putting her skills to use where she could. Already the lessons had been paying off a little more than simply just hurling herself at threats, but a chance to catch up with Dinah and work alongside her for real?

That sounded awesome!

One rushing comet of blue neon later and she appears, arriving at the mouth of the alleyway with a smile on her features.

"Hey!"

Dinah Lance has posed:
Canary hugs Rave in greeting before putting on her serious game face.

"OK, this is the first patrol with me. Let's try not to make it a disaster, OK?"

Canary enters teacher mode. You can practically see the narrow-profile, horn-rimmed glasses she puts on. Or is that the librarian? Pop culture confuses.

"Before we go in, there's a few things we need to get clear. A patrol is not a fight. We're looking for trouble, yes, but we're not looking to cause trouble. If we find trouble we end it. So that means we have to mostly OBSERVE. Move quickly, but quietly. Don't let people know we were there at all, ideally, but if they do, only after we've passed."

She gestures to the collapsing, rotting entranceway.

"It's dark down there. First challenge for you: not being seen in that darkness." Canary winks. "I wanna see you working hard."

Naria Shepard has posed:
A hug? Awesome! Rave was certainly happy for the moment of comfortable friendliness and closeness before things shift to a more serious tone. Time for business!

"Not a disaster, got it!" she confirms before folding her arms under her chest as she listens, Rave frowning a little to herself.

No light, all 'ninja' like, that might be a problem for her. Still, their very first 'job' together had a similar rule at first, so she could probably manage. Right?

"Okay...so I'm gonna need myself a hood or something in the future," she muses before exhaling. "So, no speed for the time being, unless they're not looking my way."

Dinah Lance has posed:
~Was I really ever that young?~ the barely-older-than-Rave "big sister" Canary wonders to herself.

Then a moment of honesty.

~Younger.~

Her recent trip to Star City was evidence enough of that, though it's not entirely her fault that the op was almost blown. Can't stop interfering with an op you don't know about, after all.

"OK, now here we don't need Ninja Skillz. There's always people moving down there. Someone moving isn't the problem. It's moving in ways that are out of place. So listen and try to mimic how people walk. No solid, proud strides. No super-stealthy things. Just ... shuffle. Like you're downtrodden. And stay out of visual range. That's normal there too."

She grins and smacks Rave on the back.

"This is the training scenario. Don't stress out too much."

And with that she showed Rave the path into the subway.

Almost immediately the stench of decay and filth (some seem to be using it as an open-pit latrine) assails the nostrils. Pausing only long enough to let her eyes adjust to the deeper gloom, Canary taps Rave on the shoulder. "OK, let's go. Watch your step. There's stuff here you don't want to get on your shoes."

Naria Shepard has posed:
Gross. The subway itself was a strange enough idea, she hadn't been down here pretty much -since- her powers emerged. Why worry about the grossness of the F-train when you can cross the town in heartbeats after all? Still, with that encouragement and the shove on her back Rave makes to move and screws up her face a little at the scent before they move on.

Casual. Downtrodden. She just had to play the part, right?

Dinah Lance has posed:
If this is patrolling, two things are of note:

1. The smell is horrific. It smells so bad you can taste it. Even without opening your mouth. The thickness is such that it spills out from the back of the throat.

2. It's really boring. Aside from the times that Canary stops Rave and explains things... "OK, so that over there. That cluster is a bunch of Gotham down-and-outs. No home, and by now no hope left. They beg for enough money to get booze which they then use to flavour Lysol spray. All so they can wipe out feelings and forget the world." ... Her voice is compassionate, but dark, when she says this. She then follows it up with ... "Not usually a problem. But sometimes one of them will snap. You can usually pass them by, but you need to look for signs of incipient violence. Tonight they're being very passive."

Other such instructional notes. Then her body gets tense. Her eyes have fallen on a group of people moving through the tunnel from the other direction with something unusual in their stride.

Purpose.

"That's a bad sign right there. They're not keeping attention from themselves. They're asking everybody to watch. Be alert when you see that in places like this. They're up to something most times."

And up to something they were. They approach a miserable figure rolled up in discarded newsprint and cardboard, kicking it. A weary masculine voice pipes up. "What did you go and do that fo...?"

The question is cut off by a vicious punch as one of the group kneels next to the man to deliver it.

"That's our cue."

And now that 'downtrodden' walk vanishes in favour of a cat's walk, silently approaching the group.

"Take 'em out."

Naria Shepard has posed:
Lots of cues, lots of notes, lots to take in. Rave had to note it all and in some ways she was very glad for her superspeed if only for getting the chance to have a second look at her surroundings. She just needed to have the patience to really process it!

Of course, Dinah's talk of the downtrodden earns a nod, the sorts of people that were outcasts in society were often the sorts that like to come to her shows or indulge in her music when she performed in the underground shows....but thoughts of sympathy and general musing on the state of work were simply washed away as violence begins.

Likely Dinah would see it, that momentary flare on Rave's body language where she wants to simply launch into superspeed action, loudly announce herself and go to town...but that was the rules she was working with. There's a glance back to Canary, clearly waiting for 'permission' to use her powers, but already matching the blonde's pace to intervene.

Dinah Lance has posed:
The gang member closest to the back sees Canary first. Unfortunately for him, her stealthy approach led him to see her just in the last run in. Seeing disembodied legs, disembodied forearms, and blonde hair rushing at him out of the darkness confused him long enough that he didn't manage to call out an alarm before the Canary was unleashed among the predators.

For his slack service he was bequeathed ... a boot to the head.

Now close enough to see the group in action, alarm enters Canary's voice. "He's got a knife out!"

She's not in a position to say who has, finding herself engaged in a beat-down brawl with the next two in line, but she's probably referring to the one that had just punched the sleeping man.

Further instruction is not forthcoming, given the predicament the pugilist finds herself in, learning the hard way (that's gonna be a nice set of bruised knuckles!) that the larger of her targets is wearing ceramic inserts in a vest.

Naria Shepard has posed:
Knife. The word itself was an instant priority. Her own sweep in to try and engage one of the gang members with a feinted punch to the face carried into a snapped roundhouse at his ribs when the hands raised landed, but the moment that call went out her eyes literally lit up while the world around her slowed to a crawl.

Maybe she was technically failing the challenge, maybe not, but if the man with the knife crouched over the homeless victim moved? He was likely going to be a threat too serious to just handicap herself. Maybe not to Canary, but the gut-punched man already on the ground didn't really look like he was defending himself anytime soon.

Momentum was a heck of a thing, and when that momentary flare of neon flew across the brief space to those without her hypersonic view-point? It probably looked like the thug had simply 'lit up' and been launched across the subway station the second Dinah had called out the weapon. The truth however was more straight-forward, combining Dinah's over-the-shoulder throw with moving a speeder pace put a little more 'Zip' in the force that sent the man clear from his victim.

In his place? Rave stood, her hands already coming up for a 'guard' once more.

Dinah Lance has posed:
Rave's sudden exchange of places with the knife man, Canary's explosion in the midst, and the sound of the knife man knocking into a crumple half a station away is somewhat of a distraction.

The kind of distraction that lets Canary finish off the two she got entangled with and a third beside with a one-two to the kidneys.

These kidneys didn't have ceramic plates. This guy would be urinating red for a while. Probably from a prison hospital bed.

"It's taken us less than ten seconds to knock out four of you," she says, quite reasonably, to the five remaining gang members standing. "So the question you want to be asking yourselves at the moment is ... is what I'm doing right now so important that I want to go to the cops a mass of bruises or would I rather be in jail without the pain?"

Then a smile flashes Rave's way. "Well done, honey. That's the kind of split-second decision you've gotta take from time to time. Good instincts."

Naria Shepard has posed:
A grin, a thumbs up to Dinah that might actually look a little less intimidating after Canary's warning to the thugs and Rave turns back to the men, those glowing lights dancing around her fingertips.

"Also, I have lasers so..."

Alright, so perhaps some of her threats and stagecraft needed a little work when compared to a pro.

She lowers her hands, frowning a little for a moment in consideration. Maybe she needed to start carrying around zip ties or something. Suprise restraints at speed could be super handy!

Dinah Lance has posed:
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand...

Canary produces from her pocket a fistful of thick cable ties. "Never leave home without restraints!" she says with a grin. "Now guys, if you'd just line up over there, be good and I won't have Rave here throw you across the tunnel like your friend with the knife."

She pauses and looks at the smallest, weaselly looking one. "And if that hand goes anywhere near that bulge you think I can't see, I'll cut it off myself."

Begrudgingly the still-standing gangers stand up against the wall. Canary holds out the ties in the flat of her hand. "Do the honours would you, Rave? Then I get to show you how to handle the cops."

Naria Shepard has posed:
Well, at least utility belts made sense! Rave was very much sure she didn't have the pocket space for that.

Maybe she'd actually catch up with Kate and organize some gear for herself!

Back to business, Rave nods and makes to take the ties, zipping up to the line in another flash of neon. Just a little reminder of what she could do!

"Hands together behind your back!" she instructs, making to restrain each of the gangers.

Dinah Lance has posed:
Everybody squared away, Canary glances over at Rave and raises a hand for a high five.

"It's not normal to have action on your first patrol," she says, "but you handled it really well. Best student EVAR!" She grins and winks, but then her face goes wry.

"Now for the 'fun' part. We gotta get these guys out and call the cops. This is where it gets messy and annoying and tedious. If you wanna zip out ... well, a lot of us in the scene do just that. Let the cops sort out the mess. But I got a bit of respect for cops, so ... unless I'm having a bad day I stick around and walk them through things."

She tilts her head as she asks the silent question.

Naria Shepard has posed:
High Five! Rave is happy to claim it and the praise gleefully with a giggle.

Then the lesson turns to the next step and Rave frowns, a little whince at the thought that she herself had usually gone for the 'flee' option, but well...

"Alright," she nods, folding her arms. She'll let Dinah talk her through dealing with the cops!