Owner	Pose
Vanessa Carlysle	It's fairly late at night in New Lots, a section of Brooklyn that matches the stereotypical image of a slum that many Americans have picked up from television and movies. Buildings that are in poor shape and people that are sometimes poorer. Like many such areas, there is a lot going on at night out on the streets. Youths hanging out, gangs protecting their turf, street workers plying themselves for another day's income. Tonight there are a couple such of the latter group, three ladies dressed to advertise their occupation, and a fourth wearing jeans and a green jacket over a black top. Vanessa Carlysle, stuffs her hands in the jacket's pockets. "Yeah, I know. It's tough to see any way out. That was me for more years than I want to say," she tells the other girls. "But hey, if you're done for the night, what do you say we head over to Fred's? Something to eat and-" "And blueberry pie?" a rather thin, strawberry blond asks. Vanessa grins. "Of course, blueberry pie. My treat," she says. Vanessa puts an arm around the twenty-year old, herself just a half dozen years older from the looks of it. The four start walking down the street together, in the direction of Fred's diner. Meanwhile, up ahead a few other people are working. A group of young men who note the four women, without any other protection. They gather in the alley in a group to discuss their plan of action.
Landry Lugar	Landry Lugar was making his way home, cutting across a not so hot part of town to make up time. The bar had closed late, and he'd had to shut down his equipment on the way out after the band was done. He walked along in dark jeans, a black hoodie, with STAFF written on the back, with a treble clef for the S. A backpack hung off his shoulder, and his hood was up, though the gangly young man would hardly make an imposing figure anyway. He was a good half block behind the women as they started walking, not noticing them up ahead, lost in his own world, head bobbing as he went along, listening to music from the ear buds tucked away under the hood.
Abby Oster	It hasn't been long yet since Abby's first taste of heroic exploits. It didn't go //great//, per se, but-- it was enough to whet her appetite for it, make her feel a little less awkward. She actually had a whole spider-person tell her thanks for her contributions, and if she got shot in the doing, well... it wasn't that bad. So now she's back in the glove-sleeved, high-cut leotard, trusting in the black hood that covers her face down to her nose to cover her identity. She's prowling the sides of the buildings in the dark, less like a spider and more like one of those weird bugs that just.... have too many legs. She's getting the hang of the scurry, the pause, the hop from shadow to shadow, tiny skitters of claw on brick and stone and wood whispering in the alleyways.
April O'Neil	April is on her bike tonight, headed toward where Vanessa would say she'd be this evening. She hadn't been far away, just a handful of blocks, covering a story for Channel Six who needed a reporter for a remote piece after the reporter they had for it got sick after a bad experience at a Mexican food restaurant... good times for THAT reporter, surely. A little ring of her bike's bell will surely grab Vanessa's attention, as the helmeted rider spies her friend down the street. She pulls her bike up and hops it up onto the sidewalk, splashing her way through a puddle. on the way. April's eyes are up ahead now, not aware of any other stuff going on around the seemingly normal slummy part of New Lots.
Vanessa Carlysle	Vanessa Carlysle had let April know she was going to check in on a few girls from her old neighborhood. She still has her apartment there, but is living in Starling City pretty much permanently at this point. Thank goodness for the HyperLoop running all night making travel possible. The sound the bike bell draws Vanessa's attention. Something that the young woman climbing around the outside of the building does not manage yet. "Here's my friend April," Vanessa says to the girls. She remove she arm from the strawberry blond as she moves to greet April as she coasts up on the bike. "Wondered if you'd make it. We're heading to Fred's Diner. My treat," she offers with a smile. Meanwhile, the small group of men, six in all, break their little huddle. Two hoof it down the alley to circle the block and come out behind the group of women, while the other four wait for them to approach. Approaching they are, assuming April joins the girls as they start walking towards their destination, chock full of blueberry pie goodness. "How'd your story go?" Vanessa asks April.
Landry Lugar	Landry Lugar glanced up as two guys came out of the alley up ahead of him. He started to think nothing of it, till he noticed how fast they were walking, as they were quickly catching up to the girls. His brow furrowed beneath the hood, and he pulled his backpack fully on his back then. He pushed up the sleeve of his right hand, and continued on, keeping a more careful eye on the guys ahead, as he matched pace, another quarter of a block behind them.
Abby Oster	Two dudes hoofing it down the alleyway? Abby flattens herself to the building high over their heads, still just long enough for them to pass, then, curious, follows along. Landry may or may not notice their black-clad tail peeking out around the corner, but she doesn't come fully out into the light, shying back and keeping her covered eyes focused on the guys, the guy tailing the guys, and the girls heading for the other guys up ahead. She stretches a talon out to her side and then up, grabbing the brick above her head and drawing herself up, substituting elevation for proximity as she slinks slowly upward to keep an interested eye out.
April O'Neil	As April rolls up on Vanessa and her friends, she places her feet down and squeezes the brakes on her bike's handlebars. She comes to a halt and smiles at them all. "Hey. Good to see everyone." She states, then nods about the diner. "Sounds like a plan, I haven't had anything but a energy bar like... six this morning." She then starts to dismount her bike and reaches up to remove her helmet, before running her hand through her auburn hair that's a bit wind-swept after the ride over here. Wearing a blue tshirt and faded blue jeans, April's in super casual mode. "The story?" She asks Vanessa as she means to walk her bike to the diner. "Oh, you know... rival hat store owners started throwing balloons filled with paint at each other's store windows, and then a pack of wild dogs showed up and chased everyone inside because the paint was apparently not paint, it was some kind of food-based -- you know what, it went well." She flashes a smile at Vanessa and the girls. She hasn't yet caught on to anything else going on around them that wasn't normal city stuff.
Vanessa Carlysle	Vanessa lets out a soft laugh at the description of the story. "Comedy. And a bit with a dog. It ends well," she says, quoting one of the many movies that she's prone to watching late at night when she's not able to sleep. The two young men near to the age of twenty who are following her, are often up late as well. They are too intent on their quarry to notice either person that has noted their loop around behind through the alleys. Their steps quicken, timing things so they'll reach the girls at the same time they reach the alley where they hatched their plan. And that happens soon enough. Shoes scuff on pavement as the four men move out quickly to make an arc in front of the four women, angled towards the street since the buildings will help block them in on the other side. Vanessa stiffens and steps in front of the other girls as one of the men steps forward. Scruffy beard and a face tattoo that Vanessa recognizes instantly as belonging to a gang in prison. A bit of Oliver Queen's knowledge, buried in her head coming to the fore on its own. "Looks like you ladies have had a good night. Time to share the wealth," he says in a menacing tone. All of the men move a little closer to increase the sense of menace the women will feel.
Landry Lugar	Landry Lugar nodded as the men moved quicker, and went to hem the women in. "Ah yeap... It's go time." He moved quick...ish, as well. He didn't get in close like a proper hero though. He pointed, palm out, towards the shoes of one of the two trailing the ladies, and a deep, angry, red light poured forth. It didn't give much light, but, it did tint the guys jeans red in a menacing way. Too bad for him though, that light was HOT, and with the flash of it, the bottom of his jeans caught fire, and the souls of his shoes melted to the concrete he was standing on. "Look out behind!" He called, and then was already reaching into a pocket, pulling out... Candy? And popping it into his mouth.
Abby Oster	".... Dude!" Abby whispers to herself, admiring the way the guy in the music shirt //sets the guys on fire// like that. And she's not sure she's going to have much to add to this discussion, after that, but it won't stop her from skittering around the corner of the building, crouching against the wall and then using her long, powerful raptor-legs to jump across the road and land on the building-face opposite, turning to face the gentlemen, and, with her face covered from the nose up, she unhinges her jaw and lets three demonic tentacles, grey-black mottled with suckers rimmed with jagged fangs, spill from her maw, spreading into a sort of grotesque three-petaled flower and waving threateningly.
April O'Neil	April is quick to shake her head at Vanessa last few words to her there. "Oh no, it didn't end well at all. The pack of dogs broke into both stories and completely trashed the place, even caused a fire in one of them that burnt a whole---" She cuts herself off as the men suddenly interject themselves in front of their pathway as they're traveling before the mouth of the alley. April sighs, almost like she's seen this sort've thing before. She even just tilts her head and gives them all a tired expression. "Fellas." She starts. "I'm a reporter for Channel Six, and if you even slightly consider doing anything stupid here tonight you're going to have your faces plastered all over the entire internet. I assure you I'll figure out everything about who you are and make your lives even more pathetic than they already---" She cuts herself off /again/ when she hears someone shouting 'look out'. Then the fire. Then the person with the tentacles coming out of her mouth. It's definitely enough to make April just take a step back, still holding onto her bike... she's now reaching fo rher phone with one hand to pull it out!
Vanessa Carlysle	Vanessa's head is whirling with how to handle the situation, when Landry's action spurs things along. The young man whose pants are now aflame and his sneakers melting lets out a terrified yelp and begins beating at his pants leg trying to put the flames out. The other guy with him turns to help, bending down to slap at the flames. The two together will probably extinguish the denim unless Landry keeps up the heat. The four in front don't seem to know what to make of it. Neither do the girls with Vanessa and April, which results in the leader pointing towards the dark figure of Landry behind them. "Hey you freak! You do that to our buddy!?" he yells in an aggressive tone. The next words out of his mouth were likely to be a threat, or even spurring his friends to action. Though he catches sight of another dark figure leaping through the air overhead. All four men turn towards Chick-A-Plao and see the tentacles emerge from her mouth. "Christ, it's like Cthulu or something!" one exclaims. The three women are frozen. Vanessa tries to spur them to action, pushing one and grabbing the arm of another, moving them towards the building to try to slip past the men while they are distracted.
Landry Lugar	Landry Lugar chewing frantically, and starting to run forward, he downed the handful of Skittles. With the two guys behind now distracted at the least, he went to after the one that wasn't rubber cemented to the ground. He 'snuck' up behind him, and with both hands together, smashed down on the back of his head like the heroes in the movies do. "Owww ow ow ow... Yeah, not a good idea." The thug gave an 'oof', but didn't seem all that effected by it. "Oh great, yeah, this is going swimmingly... Gotta remember to carry a walking stick or a baseball bat or something..." He mused to himself as he backed away, getting into a nerdy looking fisticuffs stance. "Come on, why don't you ah... pick on someone your own size?" Brave words, but, Landry wasn't feeling it 'too' much just yet.
Abby Oster	Well, Abby has certainly startled everyone, and that's... it's not nothing. The girls are getting herded off, somewhat-- it might be easier if she weren't also startling the heck out of them into the bargain. Her abyssal appendages shrink in slow retreat, closing up to a bud, then parting again to reveal... something shiny. She's writhing there, mid-crouch, and she lifts a hand to grab the shiny object from the middle of her monsterous maw, pulling it out to reveal black beyond the metallic bulb... widening and going silver again... then red and black with a scratched-up logo. Soon she's got a whole aluminum baseball bat she's just disgorged, and, with a flip in the toss, she sends it end-over-ending toward Landry. It might be a little sticky, but any blunt instrument in a brawl, right?
April O'Neil	April isn't backing down from what's going on here outside. She does step out of the way of Vanessa and the other girls to let them get by to get out of the way, and she does back up a little more to get some distance - but not for her safety, and instead for her phone's camera lsense. Holding her phone up now, April is looking at /it/ instead of the action unfolding in front of her. "Holy shit. You guys picked the wrong time to enact your tough-guy routine." She quips whilst recording the scene in front of her, her bike still leaning up against her right hip. Being that she hosts a podcast all about super heroes and conspiracies, crime and justice, this is going to be gold for her.
Vanessa Carlysle	Vanessa is still busy getting the three younger working girls out of harm's way. Seeing Chick-a-Plao disgorge a baseball bat from her maw is enough to hold the guy's attention. "I think I might be sick," one says. The leader gives his shoulder something between a punch and a hard shove. "Freaks, on our turf, time to show them," he says. That's when Landry lands the surprise blow on the street tough. He's got a bald head and a scar across one cheek and is a bit larger than the average man. "The f-" he says as he staggers slightly and turns back towards Landry. "So gonna mess you up," he says, rushing forward to throw a punch even as the bat is tossed Landry's way. The other men are getting goaded by the leader. "Come on, we're not backing down to this thing," he tells his men. One of them pulls out a length of pipe he'd had in a jacket inside pocket. Another holds out his hand to the side, seemingly nothing there for a moment and then SHTICK! a metallic looking bow staff suddenly expands from his hand. He gives it a few whirls about himself as if he knows what he's doing with it. The leader, he makes a move for April, meaning to grab a hostage, just intending to wrap an arm about her throat.
Landry Lugar	Landry Lugar had room as he'd backed away, and was wide eyed seeing the bat come into existance. His head cocked to the side a moment, and gave a shudder, but then the bat was flying end over end towards him. He grinned at that, "Oh yeah. Game on now." He reached out a hand as if he was Thor summoning his mighty hammer Mjonigagaer or whatever. It was then the thug rushed him, throwing a punch that connected to Landry's jaw, even as the bat slammed into the back of the thug's head. Landry fell. The thug fell. Landry groaned on the ground, and then struggled to grab the bat from out from under the other guy. Once gaining control, he used the knob end to smack into the thug's temple, and the guy went limp. "Rock... Lights out, punk." That sounded rehearsed. He pushed to his feet, holding the bat up, and rushed after the one stuck to the ground, swinging with all his might.
Abby Oster	Chick-A-Plao has seemed, up to this point, more or less content to hang out up on the building's edifice and generally //be gross// at people, to varying degrees of effectiveness, and once she's delivered this up and coming Thor his hammer, she slinks upward, almost meekly. You can't see her eyes through her mask (though presumably she can see out through the fabric that's covering her eyes), but she's marked O'Neil... and her phone. "Are you taking pictures of me?" she whispers. Not like she thinks the reporter can hear her, in all of this, but you never know. It's enough to unsteady this unlikely novice of a heroine. Maybe even upset her. "That's kind of rude." A kick of her black-scaled legs and she flips twice in the air before landing on the ground, arms dead at her sides, shoulders hunched, looking sort of like a weird combination of a plucked chicken and that girl from The Ring. She tilts her head away from April, attention drawn by the sudden whirling of that bow staff, and she tilts up her chin, shooting out one of those tentacles of hers like the tongue of a frog to wrap around it, grabbing on with its suckers and yanking it back toward her. Angled correctly, she can tilt her head back and suck the whole thing back down along with the tentacle, like some sort of sword-swallower.
April O'Neil	April is recording with her phone while also swiping the screen to signal the Police Caller app she has (and uses far too frequently, as most of the Cops know her all too well by now). She doesn't notice the guy coming up on her, especially with the display that the creepy girl is putting on. "Woah, you look like that girl from The Ring." April mutters a second before she's grabbed, and thusly yelps out a feminine squeal of protest as a big thug-arm goes around her neck! April leans backward into the man tries to use what limited skills she learned from that sleezey instructor at the gym to try and flip the thug over off of her, but there's basically no way in hell it'll work against a big dude like this. "Get off'a me, you Meat Wad!" April shouts along with her frantic movements now, her phone still up though, shaky-cam footage inbound.
Vanessa Carlysle	Vanessa's girls have been drilled in what to do in a moment like this. Drilled by her. "Go, you know where," she says, shoving the last into the alley before the familiar voice of her bestie shouting at the man turns Vanessa back around to see what the situation is. The remaining man in back as managed to extinguish his jeans and remove his shoe. One foot clad only in a sock with a hole that reveals a middle toe, the other still in a shoe. "Randy!" he says as Landry takes the big guy out. He rushes at Landry, meaning to tackle him about the waist and take him to the ground, where the bat won't serve him very well as a weapon. Meanwhile, the man with the bo-staff finds a tentacle wrapping around it. He tries to hold on but it's torn from his grasp, and pulls him halfway forward towards Chick-a-Plao. He's staggering off-balance, and with a horrified look on his face that suggests he was never a big fan of The Ring. Vanessa closes in on the man holding April. He's tightening his grip on her throat. "Stop fighting, bitch!" he tells her. The last words he gets out before an open handed blow from Vanessa breaks his nose. Sorry about the blood in your hair, April, but it does make him let go, though still on his feet. The other two men rush forward towards Chick-A-Plao to help their comrade.
Landry Lugar	Landry Lugar watched the girls disappear down the alley, "Oh good. They got away..." He was confused, "Randy?... I mean, this isn't really what gets me all hot and..." And then the bat connected, and then the thug was spear tackling him to the ground. "Son of a..." He groaned, "I JUST GOT BACK UP!" He complained, "This never happens to Superman..." He muttered, wrestling with the barefoot thug. He tried to punch the guy in the nose, but his hand slipped, and he ended up sort of holding the nose between the flat of his palm and his thumb. "Got your nose!" He grinned. The thug looked crosseyed at Landry, confused, and that's when the lights were turned on. Landry's hand erupted into 1000+ lumens, blinding the guy at so close of a range. With his advantage of sight now, Landry was able to overpower him, holding the guys arm behind his back.
Abby Oster	Chick-A-Plao eyes April once more, but she's got a small trupe of assholes closing in on her and she'll just need a second to re-group, so she crouches and springs upward with remarkable velocity to land back on the side of the building where she'd jumped down from moments before. Now that the reporter is free, thanks to Vanessa, and the other three are following her, the former pair should be able to get away and... well, Abby doesn't have to go all Chick-A-Plao on these guys if they can't get to her. From her safe perch, she looks back at Vanessa and April, then, anxious, she fidgets a moment-- And leaps across the street again, over the heads of the guys and the girls alike, ricocheting off of the other bank of buildings and landing on the street near April and Vanessa, shooting out that sticky, grey-black mottled tentacle-- trying to slap-grab the phone, this time, from hopefully an unexpected enough angle the reporter won't see it coming.
April O'Neil	The smack from Vanessa is well placed and it frees April up. She steps away from the thug as he back-pedals and clutches his nose. She sweeps over to stand with Vanessa then and looks from him to her, to him again. "That's not gonna make him happy." The Reporter says, about to lift her phone up when it's yanked out of her hand by the tentacle-thing. This makes April's head go over to the RING GIRL AGAIN, who gets a /GLARE/ from April. She motions to her and the phone. "Ya know that records to the cloud right? Destroying it doesn't stop me from recording stuff." She has to tell this to /so many people/ but, at least she has a really nice phone case on it that the cute guy at the phone store said would keep it saf-- April sighs as she sees that her phone has broken into two halves now. "Damnit." "Police are coming!" April shouts to everyone in this crazy fight. "I called the police." She adds in a quieter voice.
Vanessa Carlysle	The thug fighting Landry gives a cry and moves his hands to cover his eyes at the sudden bright burst of light that shines his way. For that matter, it makes Vanessa jump even if the beam of light isn't directed her way, the sudden brightness is unexpected. The three thugs start to rush towards the building only to find that Chick-A-Plao has leapt back over to the other side of the street. They see their leader holding both hands over his broken nose, blood dripping from his chin. They are looking at each other and then at the tentacle that comes out of Chick-A-Plao's mouth, and not looking like they want anything to do with her. April's cry about the police gives them the reason to retreat they need. "Police, come on man, get out of here!" one calls to the others, and then the three start to beat it, running off down the road. The leader will start to try to stagger away as well, his eyes watering and nose bleeding. The remaining conscious thug is blinded and pretty much at Landry's mercy.
Landry Lugar	Landry Lugar slammed the guy into the ground again with the hold he had on the guy's arm. "Yeah! The cops are coming! You're screwed buddy." Landry paused and looked up, "Oh shit. Cops..." He was bright eyed, looking to Vanessa and April, "I probably shouldn't be here when they get here." He stood up, and golf swing'd the baseball bat, and fully laid out the other guy. "Here's two of them in any case. Are you both alright?... You've got a bit of red on you..." He said, pointing towards April, a soft, pastel like light shinning where the blood spots were. "Might want to have them test it, just in case." He looked up to where the Chick-a-plao went, "Do you need this back?" He asked, holding the bat up for her. "Thanks, by the by! You were a big help!"
Abby Oster	Chick-A-Plao doesn't much bother breaking the phone. It's small enough she can swallow it without any sort of issue. If it remains intact, in fact, and is still uploading to the cloud, April could be getting some //interesting// footage from it about now. "You shouldn't take pictures of people without asking their permission, first," she lets April know. "Especially when they're just trying to //help//." Gah. Her eyes are still invisible, but there's a small crack in her voice, like she might have stubbed her vocal chords on that retractable staff-- or is actually really upset at the liberties taken. Landry's thanks draws a wan, shy sort of smile back to her lips. "Nah, keep it, if you want. You're welcome... though you're the one who actually... hit anyone," she points out. She's still finding her place in all of this, and the actual 'fighting' part of it is kind of hard for her.
April O'Neil	April is pulling her bike back and out of the way, leaning it over against the wall of the building when she hears the men talking about leaving. She looks to the one that Vanessa socked right in the face and she smirks at him. "Don't grab people." She tells him before he'll have a chance to run off. Her eyes are then going over to Landry who she gives a nod toward. "Thanks for the save, Flashy Fists." She states whilst giving him a slight grin. But it's the words from Chick that garner April's gaze the longest. She stares at the girl and smirks then. "I'm a reporter, lady." She starts. "The truth is what matters in moments like this, and getting the truth out there isn't any easier than with video evidence to prove what went down. When shit hits the fan, I'm not gonna stand around here asking for permission to record stuff." She nods once toward her. "But thanks for stepping in. You better get used to being on camera if you're gonna go full vigilante in life though."
Vanessa Carlysle	The two thugs are down and will remain that way until the police arrive. Vanessa gives April a little nudge. "We're grateful for the help, from both of you," Vanessa says. She's wracking her memories - ok, Oliver's memories - for any recollection of either vigilante. And not finding any. "Appreciate you intervening," she says. She looks over to April, hesitant. Knowing her friend is a journalist, but they did save them. In the end, Vanessa just decides to stay out of it, offering another, "Thanks," to both of them. She looks after where the other girls ran to. "I should probably go make sure they made it back safely," she states, looking to April to make sure she's ok, or if she wants to come.
Landry Lugar	Landry Lugar gave Chick-a-plau a nod, "Thanks again. I'll put it to good use!" He laughed, "Flashy Fists... Not bad. But no, it's SpotOp. I'm just glad you all are ok." He gave a nod to Vanessa, "Do you want an escort? Or like... You got this?..." He asked, running his hand over the bat, the dark red light coming off his hand again, getting rid of the sticky substance as he did, watching it evaporate into the air.
Abby Oster	Chick-A-Plao is getting a little squirrely with all the thanks. She levels a stare at April which would certainly have more impact if anyone could see her eyes, but with a slight hunch and a subtle draw of her lips back toward her ears, she regurgitates the reporter's phone, vomiting it placidly onto the ground if she wants to recover it. Just. Might be a little sticky. She doesn't think to give the superhero nickname she gave herself, like she did last time. It might have slipped her mind as important to do with someone in the press there, but, instead, she just spits out the phone and flicks upward like a flea to the top of the building adjacent, and from there-- off elsewhere.
April O'Neil	April is now pulling her hair around to look at the blood in it which makes her sigh softly. "Not again." She quietly mutters before looking up toward Landry at his question. The escort question makes her glance to Vanessa. "You wanna bring everyone over to my place? We'll order out instead? I should go clean up, I think. Thug blood is the worst..." The actions of Chick draw April's blue-eyed gaze though and she sees her phone on the ground, reassembled? She steps over to it and crouches to pick it up, ewwwing at the device, but seeing it whole again. "Thanks." She says then as she rises up and steps back toward her bicycle. A glance is given toward the direction that DARK FLEA CTHULU RING GIRL went... At Landry though, April flashes him a smile. "We'll probably be fine the rest of the way. I'm gonna call some friends."
Vanessa Carlysle	Vanessa winces at the phone, seeing the drippy clingy fluids on it. "I don't think a bag of rice is saving that one," she says with a wince. The brunette looks over to Landry then. "Yes, I think we'll be ok. Thank you so much for helping us out. Please, be careful and all, with the whole, you know. Saving people thing. We do appreciate it." She gives him a smile and then turns to April. "Yes, that sounds good. I don't want to freak out Sally with the story at the diner," she says of the waitress there.
Landry Lugar	Landry Lugar grinned brightly, literally, his hand shinning in the dark night. He caught it, "Alright... well... ahem. Citizens! With everyone safe now, have a good night! Remember, the light protects!" He gave a wave, and a small flash of the light again. And he was gone. Sort of. They could hear him jogging down a side alley, just out of sight, his stealth skills still needing work.