2013.04.24 - A Dark Alley In Queens

Queens - Dark Alley
A shadowy alley. Litter has been strewn over the groud and the occasional rat skitters here and there. A few 'cardboard condos' line the walls at either side, signs of the homeless that calls this stretch of road 'home'.
So very early.. not even the butt-crack of dawn. The lights are still on, for the most part, though there is some traffic in the streets. Mostly revelers that are looking for a way home, and not necessarily in a good section of town. There are more than a few dark alleys in which to get turned around. Particularly when one isn't all that familiar with the geography.
As a result?
Drunk co-eds.. definitely not where they're supposed to be. The pair walk arm and arm, or rather, stumble arm in arm down the street, giggling and talking a little loudly, that has grafitti markings alongside the business shutters and brickwork. More than a few people follow the girls in the shadows.. a nod here on one side of the street, another.. a small group of young men who have nothing better to do than to be out in the early, early morning hours. (School? What's that?)
There is another that follows, however.. but only if one truly has the eyes to see him. There is a man.. a blond skater dude in loafers(?!) that keeps to the shadows.. on the side of the walls. Currently, those glowing yellow eyes.. no.. light blue eyes watch and wait, keeping an eye on those that watch the girls progress down the street.
Amanda Sefton doesn't actually make a habit of haunting late night/early morning streets in bad parts of town. Usually, she's too darn sensible for that. (Well, that, and she likes her sleep.) But, the rumble with the Texas Longhorn Idiots Brigade early in the evening left her wired. Too, there were a handful of things she still needed to collect for the major spell she's been working on and her suppliers are best found after midnight and in shady alleys.
Oh, the glamorous life of an urban witch. 
Thus, she finds herself out and about in the wee hours, cloaked in a protective shadow spell of her own devising, and doing much the same as the loafer-wearing skater dude -- following the drunk co-eds just because those silly girls don't appear to have the common sense God gave a gnat. 
Of course, the fact that the skater dude is wearing loafers gives the witch pause. Loafers? Really? Perhaps the randy boys following in the girls' wake aren't the ones actually out of place, here. 
There are few things in this world that Gloria cares about. Not surprisingly, her own health isn't up there. Especially when she's hunting. Her quarry? Not the easiest to track by any means! Still... The connections she has have been keeping eyes and ears open then whispering to her.
Those whispers have brought the hispanic woman to where she is now. Black leather pants, boots, a tight black shirt and, surprise!, a black leather jacket. She's even gone so far as to zip the jacket to minimize the exposure of her skin. It lets her fade into the shadows easier.
While it appears as if she's walking down the sidewalk, her footsteps are completely and utterly silent. Almost like she's not really touching the ground despite appearances. It would seem, for all intents and purposes, that she happens to be heading in the same direction as the skater and the girls.
It never hurts to get a little practical experience in the real world's dangerous places. It's with this in mind that Jubilee's out and about, having been visiting a friend in twon. Well, that and the fact that the school's out for Spring Break. She doesn't have to worry about classes tomorrow.
She does have to worry about staying quiet and unobserved, though. To this end, she's traded her signature earrings for simple black hoops, and her usually colorful ensemble has been exchanged for black flared jeans, a stylish leather jacket in the same color, and low boots of similar material, their soles specially muffled. A red sash around her waist has been reversed, showing black inner material to the world now. Any worries about quiet aren't a problem now, and her senses are tuned to what's around her.
And those things include, from farthest to nearest, a pair of chattery, giggly girls who definitely seem to be lost, a small group of young thugs who seem to be following the girls, and some skater dude who must've lost his Vans in a bet and taken the cheapest thing he could get. Or who's hiding something besides poor finances, considering his eyes don't stay the same color. The California girl frowns, then falls in at the end of this impromptu, badly-spaced parade. Aside from the strange skater, the girls might need help very shortly.
And.. there's one shady looking gent that begins to cross the street, deliberately walking in front of a car that is driving slowly, trying to get its bearings. A flash of gun-metal in the lights causes a little acceleration on the part of the driver as they discover that even if they are a resident? There's no way in hell they're sticking around.
\*giggle*
"Did you see him? I mean.. eeeeeewwww!!"
"I got a phone number.." and one girl pulls on the arm of the other, still.. happily drunk and oblivious. "Maybe we should call him?"
Cellphone twins, unite!
The small group of young men with nothing better to do nod to the one crossing the street and aren't too far now. Handful of yards and closing.
Kurt, in his current skater form, pokes a head out from around a corner, and a decision is made; particularly when the gun is flashed. In a heartbeat, the teleporter is there and gone, only to appear right in front of the street-crossing thug. "I would suggest you had that over.. now." Beat. "Dude."
So, here's the thing. There is one way to clearly and absolutely identify one Kurt Wagner -- the mutant commonly known as Nightcrawler. And it can be summed up in one word: *BAMF!* 
It doesn't matter how quiet he tries to be, a BAMF is a BAMF is a BAMF. And, to Amanda's knowledge, no one else in this world BAMFs. Just him. 
Pausing in the shadows, she covers her face with a hand and lets out a martyred sigh. Of course, he's out here, following hapless young co-eds, rather than keeping his fuzzy blue tail safe in a dank, dark sewer tunnel. Of course, he's going against every piece of advice either she or Domino might have given him. Of course, he is. Because, he's the Amazing Nightcrawler. And that's just what he does. She knows this. 
It doesn't make her any less happy about it, however. 
Of course, there's that gun. She'd worry more about it, if it wasn't for the fact Kurt's fast enough to avoid a single thug with a Glock. She's more concerned about collateral damage -- and that her good-and-dear-friend's inevitable heroism above ground might tip his presence off to any number of unsavoury sorts. 
That has her far, far more concerned. 
And the words she mutters subvocally under her breath in Romani as a result are far, far from polite.
There's a shake of the head from the woman in all black leather as she sees what's about to go down. A wicked smile curves lips painted ruby red. He just couldn't help himself.
With a smirk, Risque stops and and turns, facing the scene before her. Does she offer assistance? Nope. She simply leans back against the nearest wall, showulder and one foot being propped up on it while her arms cross over her chest. Should be an interesting show. She'll make her presence known after everyone else is out of the way.
Okay... someone's crossing the street. Someone that seems to know the elite volunteer scuzz squad Jubilee and Skater Dude are tailing. Set-up, definitely.
The alleyway in front of her is suddenly sans Skater Dude! Was that a /bamf/? The scent of sulfur in the air confirms to Jubilee that it was, and she certainly knows that /bamf/! Kurt! Suddenly she doesn't feel quite so outnumbered, even with all the guys following the two coeds.
Still, the guy up there probably isn't the only one here who's armed. Despite the truly ludicrous number of gun control laws on the books, criminals never seem to have any of the holdups and hassles about getting hold of pistols that regular people do. So Jubilee lifts her hands, smiling as she summons up some bright white plasmoids and sends them flying!
The first are aimed at the feet of the frontmost following thugs, just to get their attention. The next, once they turn around to see where /those/ came from, are thrown in a bunch at the middle of the alley at head height, and burst in a series of blinding, stroboscopic flashes! After all, they can't shoot (or fight) what they can't see!
"Yo.. yo.." and the youth grins. He's got the gun, after all. And this blond? Easy pickings.
The young man raises the gun, the trigger finger wiggling as it settles into the guard, and he begins to squeeze off the round. Point blank range.
But, the target isn't anywhere to be seen. Or rather.. in a word? BAMF. Yes.. the smell of brimstone is in the air (which is better than blood in the water!), and Kurt lands above the shooter, pushing down hard to get him down to the ground. The moment the youth is on the ground, the teleporter grabs him by the shoulders and flips him backwards (neat trick as nom-mutant backs only bend so far..) and lays him out on the road, the gun now long forgotten and cast aside.
"Dude.. ist enough.. ja?"
The girls walk on.. oblivious to what is going on.. until one taps the other. Cellphones are out, and the gemstones that bedazzle the cases gleam in the lights. "Should we call.. ohmygod! Did you see that?"
And.. the lights go on in Queens. Bright.. bright light. (Maybe they can play it off later as a meteor flashing across the sky like in South America?)
Kurt looks up from where he's got the young tough (who isn't quite so tough) and blinks blue eyes as he looks in the direction. Only one that he knows can do that! Jubilee?
"Jubilee!" Kurt hisses, trying to keep his voice down, but.. "Was.." Blind! Ouch!
The small group of thugs, now, that were closing in on the girls start up a litany of.. greetings. Less than polite, to say the least. Well, okay.. the greetings start off as somewhat polite. "Yo.. hey.. sweethearts.." It's another yard closer they get before an explosion of light goes off. The young men pull their hands up to their faces, trying not to look.. but the light burning into their retinas certainly do blind them.. making them forget about the weapons they're about to pull for more than a few moments.
"What the f**?" is called in various shades of venom..
BAMF. Followed by... plasmoids? 
Jubilee? 
"Oh, for cryin' out loud!" Amanda doesn't speak above a mutter, but the urge to facepalm a second time is powerful. Very, very powerful. Wrapped in shadows, now, she levitates skyward, moving to a higher vantage point where, frankly, it's a helluva lot easier to see what the heck is going on down at street level that way. (And the plasmoids are less intense there, too.) 
Chanting softly to herself, she begins to weave an illusion. It starts with the soft wail of a siren that grows in volume as a whirl of blue and red lights down the street draw closer to this no-longer-so-quiet back alley street. There's the sound of motors and the squeal of tires as a trio of NYPD cruisers start boxing in the street. 
Just as Risque's able to shake off the blinding, there's cops. Well fu--! A look is shot at Kurt before she hisses out her displeasure, pushes off the wall and turns to head back the way she came. If she has to, it'll be up to a rooftop to avoid the police.
They're blind... YES!
But wait... Kurt's blind! NO!
"Kurt!" Jubilee shrieks, panic mingling with concern in her tone. She shoulders aside one of the young goons and dashes forward to catch him around the shoulders. "Oh, fudgesicles... I'm so sorry, Kurt! I was just trying to help!" With her free hand, she blasts a wide burst of screaming plasmoids at the blinded thugs, to send them running. The sirens should help.
Trouble is, they're not going to get away so easily. "Can you pop us up to one of these rooftops?" she asks her fuzzy blue friend. "I think the cops can help the two drunk girls."
Blink.
Blink.
The brilliant light is setting spots in front of Kurt's sensitive eyes. Nightvision, when met with blinding light is, well..
Blinding.
The sound of the police cars, however, is a sound that cannot and will not be ignored. He can feel the whisper of magic up the back of his neck, but he's not paying a great deal of attention to it. The image of the skater is replaced with a blue-furred .. spade-tailed demon, with glowing yellow eyes that blink as he tries to gain his vision.. which brings something near a scream from the man on the ground. "What the f**?!"
Blinking again, there's a *bamf*, followed by the second.. and taking hold of Jubilation Lee, he murmurs, "Und here you were dressing for the occassion?"
\*bamf*
Upon the roof, however, Kurt looks.. disturbed, to say the least. "I must go.. I'm sorry, leibchen."
\*bamf*
Amanda maintains the illusion as Kurt bamfs the younger mutant to safety, and then bamfs away himself. Don't think we're not going talk about this little escapade, Fuzzy. The thought is sent after him, even though there's not a hope he'll hear it. She's not telepathic, after all. 
The girls do their best, startled, deer in the headlights impersonations, before they start running simply out of confusion. The young thugs scatter in entirely different directions, simply trying to escape the cops. 
The cop cars skid to a stop and figures can be seen emerging from them. Once the street has emptied, however, the figures, the lights, and the cars dissipate like morning mist over water. 
Amanda looks across from her rooftop perch to Jubilee's rooftop perch and fixes the teen with a hard look. Flipping a hand, she conjures the fire escape into a metal bridge the spans the alley and marches across it toward the younger X-Man. 
"I think we need to get back to the Mansion, don't you?" 
Despite the slight disorientation of suddenly finding herself on a strange rooftop, Jubilee sighs in relief. It beats being down there answering police questions! Plenty of the Boys In Blue have opinions of mutants that would do the Friends Of Humanity proud. "Thanks, Kurt," she whispers, giving him a quick hug. "Yeah... I guess I was dressed for trouble. And I found it. That'll teach me to do that, huh?"
But then Kurt apologizes and... /bamfs/! "Oh... guess I'm walking home." She can hear screaming and running footsteps below, along with the sounds of brakes and car doors. "Correction: I'm walking home after they leave!" she murmurs, ducking down to avoid being seen from below. This long night's about to get even longer.
Or maybe not. Suddenly the alley is strangely silent. "Wait... cops on a call are never that quiet." Jubes peeks over the edge of the rooftop, only to find an empty alley! Not even any MARS lights! "Huh?"
And then the metal fire excape of the building across the street reshapes itself, squalling and groaning as the metal complies with magical forces! Jubilee stares... and then tears her eyes away as Amanda speaks.
That look and tone aren't promising ice cream when they get home. "Coming," the California girl calls, with little enthusiasm, and crosses over the reshaped bridge.
Geez, what's she done /now/?
Amanda steps back and opens a portal between the City and Mansion, allowing the younger woman to enter first. List of infractions? Out past curfew -- even if it is spring break. And then there's the whole plasmoid blinding thing. But, truthfully? The worst is simply that the girl gave Amanda cause to worry. 
No one likes that. 
Fortunately, it's highly unlikely the girl will get anything worse than a mild scolding. Then, maybe there can be ice cream.
Category:Log