9882/Throwing Down

Throwing Down
Date of Scene:	28 January 2022
Location:	Queens
Synopsis:	They all just wanted to take the subway.
Cast of Characters:	Emma Frost, Ted Kord, Luke Cage, Cain Marko

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Emma Frost has posed:
It's a quiet evening over in Queens. Emma Frost, fallen Queen of the Hellfire Club, is taking a late evneing stroll. A purse is slung over her shoulder and she's going through the streets. Heading along to the subway station and taking the long way, occasionally taking a moment to glance around.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord is left with little to do one night. Oddly enough. He delegated too well. He took a cab out to Queens hoping to catch Peter and check out tat gyro place he always raved about, no luck. Joan and Booster were bth working late. The sometimes superhero shrugged and decided to walk home. It seemed within his abilities. The weather cold as a witch's nose, however and he soon decided on the subway. He, never rode a subway in New York. Spotting a nearby station he hoofed it quickly, noting the attractive platinum blonde in passing. Quickly realizing, out of his league. He falls alongside, hoping not to scare her.

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke Cage... in Queens. Not exactly his scene but it is what it is.

The gruff and stoic demeanor on the face of Luke Cage is one that is likely known around the city even if he's not necessarily in Harlem. At this exact moment he happens to be hanging out near the subway stairwell, leaning back against the wall of a shop. Black hoodie over his usual yellow t-shirt and dark jeans combination. It's all fairly civilian.

Every once in a while Cage looks at the subway. Almost like he's waiting for someone. Or he's just chillin'. Who knows.

Cain Marko has posed:
The arrival of Cain Marko to any given area is not without some form of visual spectacle. It comes with the territory when one is the physical embodiment of power and the earthly avatar of an uncaring magical..whatsit..thing or whatever Cyttorak passes for. Either way, to watch him emerge from the Subway stairs is something akin to watching Godzilla slowly crest up through the surface of the ocean, so massive is the man and so small the wide eyed and mildly terrified looking crowd of people that are at present encompassed around him, quietly praying that he doesn't trip and fall or otherwise start moving faster then them and flatten them in the process.

Once he reaches the street level the crowds begin parting around him like waters surging around a mountainous landmass as he comes to a stop to look the area over. For his part, the behemoth looks un caring and dismissive of the world around him, dressed in a winter jacket that somehow stretches across his gargantuan body, jeans, tee shirt and a winter cap that still shows tufts of his red hair from beneath it. He's huge, perhaps inhumanly so, towering at a cool seven feet and 'don't-even-ask' pounds. One might wonder who tailors his clothes. An even bigger mystery might be how the hell he managed to ride and fit through the subway doors to begin with.

Emma Frost has posed:
It's a rather unique group that are all heading towards the subway on an intersecting path. Emma Frost catches note of Blue Beetle out of the corner of her eye, dipping her head at him, "Mister Kord, what brings you to the city? I hope nothing catastrophic iwth all else that's going on. Is it of a business nature?" 'Business' could mean heroics, something else.. Always good to be familiar with competitors. Then she would catch sight of Luke and again dip her head.

"Mister Cage, I don't believe I've had the privilege of meeting you before. Emma Frost, Frost.." Any sort of words that she might make would be cut off as Man Mountain Marko would approach.. No, wait.

"Mister Marko I presume?" Emma would say very, very cautiously with the tone of voice of someone whom knew exatly who was here and what htey could do.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord notes Luke Cage in passing. It's the mountain of a man who gets his attention, and, he feels sorry for him. He can't go anywhere and be left alone, or have any privacy. People would just gawk or gape... or was it gawp. Poor guy. So what if he could probably throw Ted a block say. When you can't fit in a booth at a diner or a car... or you have everyone step out of the elevator after you step on. Ted was sort of an odd duck himself, billionaire and genius. Except you can easily hide those. Actually Ted has trouble sometimes. Starting with finger painting Lussac's Law of gas pressure in kindergarten.

Wait what? The lovely lady is talking to him, knows him?

"Oh hello Ms. Frost. No nothing is going wronger than usual. I'm on call, but dealing with support." He turns to Luke Cage, "Evening Mr. Cage, Ted Kord. I'm a fan of your work." He extends a hand.

Luke Cage has posed:
"Sup."

That basic response is given both to Frost and Kord with an uptick of the head from Luke Cage. He doesn't seem to budge or move from his spot leaning up against the storefront that's right next to the subway entrance. He actually only seems to look somewhere else when the giganticness makes his appearance.

Luke Cage raises an eyebrow.

Now Luke's not as tall as Cain but he's pretty close at the six-six mark so he doesn't have to look too much farther up to take in the big man. Still, though, even he's a bit on the impressed side. He doesn't stare, though, as he's had to deal with stuff like that a few times himself.

"Thanks." comes the final response from Cage to Kord.

For the record, Cage doesn't not shake Ted's hand out of disdain. He's just being cool. It's a thing.

Cain Marko has posed:
That has to be some sort of record. Getting recognized -that- quickly, that is. Cain's nostrils flare bullishly as he emits a displeased grunting rumble that has the air of a far away distant roll of thunder. Ted's insightful thoughts are pretty much on the money as well. Existing in a world to small for him - and really one he's supposed to be crushing and destroying in the name of his 'sponsor' - can bring with it daily annoyances that he has to learn to deal with if he wants -some- form of out of costume life. Being able to pass for a shockingly huge man, even possibly meta, has its benefits as there are a few steps between 'huge man' and 'the friggen Juggernaut'..
fSo getting noticed this quickly is a problem.

"I friggen new this'd happen in this city.. Whose askin'?" he rumbles before finally turning enough to see Emma and..seemingly recognizing her. He blinks a few times in surprise and perhaps there is a hint of some cautiousness deep in his gaze that flashes there before he composes himself. "..Yeah it's me." he confirms before now pausing to take closer stock of just who might actually be around, eyes roving over Cage and Ted. .

Emma Frost has posed:
The group all seems to by circumstance heading towards the subway station, "Mister Marko." She would dip her head "We're all just out for the night for our own personal affairs. I hope that includes you, doesn't it?" She would say that with just enough inquiry in her voice for a polite 'does everyone here need to evacuate' turn of phrase.

Watching the otehr two and then going to.. Explain.. "MIster Marko occasionally does.. Freelance work for troubleshooting." What was a polite wa to put 'mercenary who smashes things for hire or when bored' when people were around?

A nod be given to Luke Cage, "I hope that the night finds you well all things considered, Mister Cage. And i hope that.. Business goes reasonably for you Mister Kord. Not too well of course, we are competitors." An amused look on her face.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord lets his hand drop giving it a quick inspection. But it's obvious Mr. Cage wants to keep a low profile. Well luck with that with a seven foot tall ginger acting surly. He does offer his hand to Cain. "Ted Kord."

He just hopes he'll et it back.

To Miss Frost he says casually, "There's only a 12% overlap in our products and services. Just enough to keep things interesting." He looks back to Mountain Marko. Hopefully this doesn't trigger a Doomsday flashback.

Cain Marko has posed:
The behemoth of a man doesn't answer immediately, letting the beats between any answer he may give linger and increase as if he were deliberating on what directino to truly take this even as Emma explains his presence.

Fortunantely Cain seems to land on the more peaceable option and he even allows a slight mildly lopsided smile. "..Sight seeing. Just a tourist. Heard that there was some Wrath of God stuff going on...and got curious. Thought I'd take a look... That a problem?"

Ted's arrival causes the giants mood to grow darker again and he turns his attention onto the man and then looks past him towards Luke Cage to linger his gaze there and then back to Ted, clearly suspicious once again. "Yeah?" he rumbles, waiting on Ted to continue and, probably fortunantely for Ted's hand, opting to not grab it..

Luke Cage has posed:
"Thanks."

Cage is being as quiet as possible because this ain't really his crowd. This also ain't his neighborhood so he's not going to be ruffling any feathers or causing any static. Even if he's keeping one eye on Cain throughout this whole conversation. Which, of course, he's paying very close attention to while he's not looking like he is.

"Jus' hangin'." Cage explains to people in case they are trying to figure out what he's doing outside of Harlem. He's just here for the scenery and such. Yeah, that's it.

Ignore the consistent glancing at the subway entrance.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would go to fold he rhands in front of her, "Not at all. I'll merely note that the.. Area you'd wish to be in would be Manhattan, and they've put quite a lot of effort up into making sure that no tourists get in, MIster Marko. So you're in the wrong borough if you're looking for that particular venue." Whatever Cain was up to, Emma really didn't want to know. She'd had the fortune to not be in anything directly with him..

So she was more than happy if he would just go on his way or if they had to make small talk. Giving a nod over for Ted to (hopefully) remain calm and then looking at Cain. "So let's say.. Five thousand to ensure that you're off duty until you get to wher eyou'll be applying for a tourist visa?"

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord lets his hand drop again. Not his crowd either. If he wants to get dissed, he could go hang out with the Justice League, let's face it. Plus, he wanted to speak with Luke Cage but this is obviously not the venue. Maybe he isn't the one to even do it. Maybe the offer shouldn't be made.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything Mr. Cage. Ms. Frost, enjoy your evening. Mr. Marko enjoy your stay." With a nod he starts to walk away. No idea where he's going yet.

Cain Marko has posed:
Well Cain isn't about to apologize for being himself even if his reaction to Ted was quite the mood killer there. Still..the fact that Emma is openly offerin to pay him to simply -leave- is somewhat noteworthy..

Still, one should be careful about feeding the dragon, so to speak.

"You payin' me to just walk away, eh? I must have quite the rep. Maybe I need to do some more walkin' around and standing. See who just wants to pay me to not knock something big over.."

His grin becomes slowly shark like. Stretching from one ear to the other as he rumbles darkly, "Wanna make it seven?"

Luke Cage has posed:
"Nah. S'all good, man." Cage makes it a point to say that to Ted so that he understands that normally Cage isn't this rude. It's more like he's distracted. Like he can't miss someone coming out of the subway. Almost like he's gotten an anonymous tip or something and he's just waiting to cash in on it.

Speaking of, when a random ruffian or two come out of the subway, he leans over to catch a second glance at their faces and then checks his phone. No match.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would look up at Cain, "The offer was made in good faith, Mister Marko." Blue Beetle would be given a look of 'good'. Emma.. Wanting to make sure to limit anyone in the line of fire in case she did manage to frustrate Cain. While gazing up at him and locking eye contact. Moving to maneuver herself slightly to the side as well to ensure that she was a step away from Luke Cage, and hopefully Cain's attention would turn to follow her as Emma would move in the slow, opposite direction from the subway she had been heading to.

"In your line of business, repuetation is everything. You don't want to give things which lend themselves to an impression of bad fiath."

Cain Marko has posed:
There is a certain art to this. A skillset honed in board rooms and in the darkness of mercenary contract negotiations.

Cain holds eye contact with Emma and tracks her movements, turning slightly to follow her and his attention pulled away from Cage and Kord.

She's not intimidated, she did not give in to his demand. The offer is still on the table. Cain is boorish, willful, at times pig headed and stubborn..but he's not an idiot nor a wet behind the ears newbie to these scenes.

"You got an ace somewhere up yer sleeve, toots, eh? Is it him?" he eyes Cage and then cuts his gaze back to Emma, "..I'd break'im." he rumbles with set confidence. And then..

"....But alright. Deal. I'll take your offer and play nice."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would go to cross her arms over and then move to take a hand out, "Where's an account to have the money deposited to? If you can give me a reference to it I'll write you a check to have deposited to it electronically or at your convenience." SHe would offer up to him.

"And no one. Merely someone taking the same subway. We all sometimes have to go along the public promenades." She would dip her head up and over to wait for his response, a hand going to her purse in a show of being ready to get her checkbook out.

Cain Marko has posed:
"You really about to go through with this eh?"

Perhaps, to the end, Cain was expecting a double cross or some sort of big move on Emma's part but she's calm, collected and true to her word. This seems to be enough. Test passed.

"Keep yer money. I aint here to cause trouble and never was. I can have a day off, can't I? I don't need to be paid to relax. I aint that broke. Save it for a deposit if you need serious muscle."

He turns away from her, waving a huge arm as he steps forward to begin the process of moving away from the subway finally.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would give a nod, "Of course. I hope that I don't need them, but I shall keep that in mind if there are ever a circumstances that might require them." Eternally polite after all. That was how things went. For anyone else about to take the subway, to speak of a quintessential New Yorker..

They might take the next one.