9633/A Pocket of Resistance

A Pocket of Resistance
Date of Scene:	14 January 2022
Location:	Hell's Kitchen
Synopsis:	Stuff happened.
Cast of Characters:	Roy Harper, Franklin Richards

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Roy Harper has posed:
Most people in New York City have had the good sense to leave already. There are so many refugee camps set up in Gotham, Metropolis, and other places. But Roy is an outcast by nature and he knows what it's like to get lost in the crowd, to be left behind, to be forgotten. So he's out patrolling for the outliers. And find them he has. There's a small tenement in the Kitchen where some folks have holed up, hoping to ride out this angelic attack. But no such luck. Three winged beings have found the helpless civilians. When Roy comes along, one of them is standing on a top-floor balcony grabbing humans handed to them by at least one more angel inside.

"You should have left when you had the chance," the creature bellows as he tosses a woman to her death. "Now stand firm and be judged!"

Oh no, not on Arsenal's watch. With a frown, he knocks a net arrow and fires it. The falling, screaming woman is wrapped in netting connected by a carbon fiber line. With all of his strength, Roy starts pulling the netted woman up to the rooftop of the building across the street where he's standing. "I got ya, lady," he says, as he unhooks the net to free her.

The offending angel peers across the way to Arsenal. "Interloper! You have interfered with Holy Fate. You are judged!" He aims his spear at Roy and lighting arcs, hitting him in the chest. He is knocked backward and off the other side of the roof.

Franklin Richards has posed:
    New York City is home of the first superhero family, and the Fantastic Four have not abandoned it. Search parties have gone out every hour. Franklin's currently getting back into the city after having dropped a group of kids off at the Four Freedoms Plaza.
    Seated in a futuristic hovercar, Franklin soars through the desolate city. His head hangs over the side of the aircraft, and he extends the range of his psychic filters so he can look for survivors. Finding them is not hard; fear is one of the easiest emotions for Franklin to latch onto. But filtering through the misery and hopeless of those left behind is it's own challenge. The Astral Plane is too dark, and Franklin's telepathic abilities lack refinement.
    He sighs, setting the vehicle on auto-pilot and resting his head on the pulsing dashboard. "Call Roy," A picture of Arsenal unmasked and at the Queens' mansion appears on a holographic image, as the H.E.R.B.I.E AI dials Roy's phone.

Roy Harper has posed:
The phone rings several times and then goes to voicemail. Tracking shows that the device is actually nearby, and not in Starling City (where Queen Mansion is) or Gotham (where the Roost is). It's here, in New York, in Hell's Kitchen.

As he falls several stories after getting knocked off the roof there is a distant part of Roy's mind, a part that is tired of the fighting, tired of the war between Heaven and Earth, tired of everything always being up-fucking-hill that whispers to him, 'Sleep, Roy. Close your eyes and take the rest you've earned.' And he actually does close his eyes as he free falls. We have, it seems, reached the end of the story for Arsenal, one who fought so long for so many. A sad end to a sad tale, but who could blame him in these final moments?

Then his phone rings. He snaps his eyes open. He actually says aloud, "Frankie" and his thoughts instantly turn to one who has come to mean so much to him. He remembers waking up in the middle of the night and seeing Frankie lying there sleeping quietly. He remembers throwing a garlic knot at him during their first date. He remembers walking all night in the rain and talking about past memories and future plans.

Like greased lightning, the acrobatic vigilante fires a grappling arrow up and it catches the side of the building, stopping his descent abruptly. He is holding the carbon fiber line, dangling there. He looks down. He is surprised to see that his feet are less than ten feet from the ground. That's how close he was to dead. He lets go of the line and lands lithely on his feet.