2012-08-17 Dead Men's Party

So Nate is feeling well enough to go out at last. He still has some bruises visible on his face but at least he is not bleeding anymore. Besides, if he had to stay indoors another minute he would have gone mad. So he took a long walk and ended up in a bad neighborhood. One thing led to other and he ended up realizing that since he needed cash and there were some people around that needed a beating, he would just kill to birds with a stone. A couple hours later he stands among the remains of an underground lab, counting the cash he got out of an old box-shaped safe which has been cracked open like an oversized nut. There are a dozen men sprawled around the lab and basement room around it, some are not going to be moving for a long time, if ever.
The last thing someone ever wants to do is catch Illyana's interest. Why? Because she gets bored easily and has the power to spy on like, 99% of the world's population and isn't exactly shy about it. It's like her own version of cable. Nate happened to be one of those that got her attention. She hadn't heard anything about the Manhunter following up on him, nor from Xavier's whom she alerted to his existence, so he gets her popping in on her. Dressed in her white Titans uniform there's the flash of light from one of her stepping disks as she appears sitting on a counter. Her nose wrinkles as she brushes at some of the dirt and she looks around, shaking a head at Nate's handiwork. "This is a mess."
Evening in the Bronx finds the Phantom on a rooftop, one foot on the parapet as he leans forward, two fingers on his mask near his temple. He'd gotten a tip on a drug lab that had recently opened, and is checking out the lay of the land, as it were, while creating a plan of attack. Attacking a drug lab can go quite a few ways if he isn't careful, and Devil is still recovering so he'd be doing it alone.And then it sounds like someone mixed the wrong chemicals together. Oh, the Phantom should be so lucky. He hops over the edge of the roof, dropping a story to grab the will of a window, then he jumps backward and spins, dropping the two stories to the ground and landing in a roll, coming up running. He ends up in the lab a few minutes later, brows arching as he sees the mess. "Wow..." is all he can really say at the moment.
This time Nate sees Illyana appearing at the edge of his vision, he curses softly, glaring at the young woman for a second or two. Then he smirks, "what can I say? It was not much better when I got here. Now at least it is quiet and..." he falls silent, sensing another mind approaching. Another 'brigand', no doubt. The Phantom outfit gives him pause, though. Was he thinking in attacking the lab? "Friend of yours?" He tilts his head to Magik.
Illyana's gaze follows Nate's and well, purple's a pretty easy color to spot! She smirks, looking the outfit up and down. "Not mine, nope. I usually run pretty friend-light." She doesn't bother to get off of the counter she's sitting on, looking eminently casual though her blue gaze remains fixed on the Phantom.
Emitting a low whistle, the Phantom puts his hands on his hips, just above his holsters. "Got'a say, you know how to wreck a party," he says with an appreciative tone. Anyone who can do this to a bunch of drips is okay in his book. He spends just a beat looking around, noting the men unconscious, a few looking to be dead. Well, at least it's one drug lab that won't be operating. "Oh, where are my manners," he says as he extends his right hand to Nate for a firm shake if taken. "The Phantom. Glad to see someone else who doesn't like this kind of thing." He'll offer his hand to Illyana next.
Nate looks suspiciously at the purple-clad man. He got to this world a week ago, so he has never heard of a Phantom. He has seen some TV, though. "Phantom... er, are you are a 'costumed hero', like Daredevil?" He also spent some days hiding in Hell's Kitchen, you see. "I am Nate Grey," he shakes the offered hand.
"Secret identity. He has not a clue." Magik says dryly as Nate introduces himself. She'll also shake the offered hand. "Magik." Who actually has some small degree of public presence since she's on the official Titans roster. Nate gets another smirk. "Well I'm pretty sure that's not his day-to-day attire."
At the other man's comment, the Phantom grins. "Something like him, I guess," he says, waggling his hand, palm down in the classic "eh, kind of" gesture. "And actually it is," is said to Magik. "But that aside, while I don't know , you, fella--" a polite nod to Nate, then he looks back to Majik, "--you seem familiar. A--newspaper, that's it. A--group that was recently formed?" It takes a moment to scan through his memories for what he's looking for, but he seems to recall reading about the forming of the Teen Titans in the newspaper a while back. And he knows he's probably one of the last people to actually read /newspapers/, but still.
"Secret identity?" Something else for Nate to learn about. Bah. "I am not a costumed hero," he comments, since he is the exception here. "Just a foreigner short of cash. And those guys just... I can't believe they would do this shit in a place like this city."
"Really?" Magik says of the Phantom's daywear, and then grimaces. Apparently, she's not a fan. Actually she wouldn't want to wear it herself but that's hard to tell. Even for Mr. Telepath that can't read her mind. Her head cocks over to the side at Nate, smirking again. "Where better to do it? Out in the sticks? Then then'd have to transport it all the way back in to sell it." She frowns down at the bodies. "By the way, if some of them are dead? It's gonna be a problem."
"She's right about the bodies," says the Phantom, stepping over to the nearest one and crouching. Two fingers against the neck, just under the jaw. This one's just unconscious. "If there are any dead, you'll have problems with the police. they--tend to not like that sort of thing, even in Gotham. These men deserved their day in court, if nothing else." That's said as he looks around, trying to count bodies and see if any can be seen to be breathing from here.
"I mean there is no need to be a brigand," explains Nate, "no one in this city is really hungry or has to fear to be killed anytime. There is no need to hurt or poison people for this." He has a roll of bills in his left hand. "Why does anyone care about them? They had weapons and were willing to use them to kill. Most of them had used them already." And if not dead some of them are so badly hurt they will die without medical attention.
"Because people always want more." Magik says simply. "And they like to prove they're better and stronger than others by putting people down. It's human nature. And people care because we have a governing body. We all buy into the system and the system says even if you break the law and do bad stuff, you get a chance to prove yourself innocent. And 'willing' and 'did' are two entirely different things. You kill people while in our society, you're gonna get stopped."
As the Phantom gets to his feet, he says, "Plus, 'separates us from the animals', 'justice and mercy both walk hand in hand'; pick your cliché. But they're true. These fellows may not have deserved much else, but their victims did. They deserved the chance to see them brought out into public and brought to justice." Brows knit in thought, then he looks to the other two. "Let's get out of here. I'm going to get the police over here in a hurry, and we shouldn't be around." And with that, he heads over to see what chemicals have been left intact.
Nate looks somewhat skeptic about such varied statements about law and justice and other nice things. So young and so cynical! "Yeah well... I liked the one about justice and mercy." Pause, smirk, "on a purely theoretical level, I mean." He leaves reluctantly, pocketing the roll of cash but leaving several more in the busted safe. He just needs some for food, after all. But he wants to entanglements with the authorities. There are still dangerous chemicals around, and probably packets of pills if the Phantom knows where to look. The damage to the lab looks accidental, due to the fight, not deliberated thrashing.
Magik finally hops down with a sigh. Yeah, she can't be here and let Nate walk. Which is something she's going to make sure he gets before she leaves. Killing means she'll feel obligated to take him down. Even if they're scum. She looks over at Nate. "You're a telekinetic, right?" Since he's a mutant and that's what it looked like, and seems to crop up with surprisingly regularity for those with telepathy. "Because the best way will be 'up, up and away' and I don't fly."
A gallon of this, a beaker of that, ooh, this tub of powder will help. In a few minutes, the Phantom has collected everything he needs on a cleared bit of table. Grabbing a pair of rubber gloves, he lets the other two sort out the details while he works. A cup of amber-ish liquid and a dash of the powder carefully mixed together in a glass cup, then he looks around--ah, there it is. Wax paper. A sheet is torn off and set over the cup. A clear liquid mixed with a yellow-ish liquid in another, smaller cup, then an eyedropper is used to retrieve some of the mixture. A small pool is put onto the wax paper, which begins to sizzle softly. "Alright, I'll call the police now," he announces to them, as he brings up his left gauntlet.
"I am and... yes?" Nate is new at flying and not very good, yet. But he is not going admit it. "You can teleport?" He notes as an alternative. He glances back to the Phantom, curious about what he is doing. "Are you going to stay here?" In that case, "I'll try to avoid killing, actually I don't expect to get into fights often, had enough of them back home. This city is very peaceful." Shows what he knows.
Hey, Illyana's from a school. They don't let you get as old as Nate without knowing how to fly if you've got the TK-oomph to do it! "I can, but most people don't enjoy the grip." She says, smirking. She nods to the Phantom's concoction. "I think he's about to make it go 'boom' on top of the incoming police, so leaving is good, yes.
Adopting a pretty good southern England accent, after he gives the address he says into his gauntlet, "Ah, yes, I saw some men with guns enter a warehouse, and now there's shouting and people running around with what looks like packages of white powd--wait, what's that?" The pool of liquid eats through the wax paper and falls into the cup--with a decently loud crash and a louder sizzle as it smokes. He cuts the line and turns to face the others, "Alright, if that doesn't bring them here with bells on, I don't know what will," he tells them. Drugs, possible explosions--that'll get the police running. Alright, so, is there a plan or are we just running like heck?"
Nate smirks, "she wants me to fly us out of here," does he have time to explain his teacher instead of training him in his powers forbade him from using them? Probably not. "Let's see if it works. Blame her if it doesn't," he waits until the Phantom is close, and forms a golden telekinetic bubble around them. Then makes it go up, through the ceiling, and then two more ceilings of a fortunately derelict building. Noisy and messy. And his bubble is not perfectly closed, so there is also dust and small bits of concrete. Then they are up over the street, in a very visible golden bubble. "Where to, now?" He asks Magik.
*Crash* *Crash* *Crash* Magik gives a small yelp and her arms come over the top of her head to fend off the dust and debris. Luckily she's got a hood on! As they clear the roof she glares over at Nate. "Oh yeah. *that* was subtle. No one's going to possibly connect you to assault and possible murder *now*. Jeez." There's a beeping at her wrist and she brings it up to look at, frowning. "Business. Gotta go." She looks at the Phantom. "Maybe *you* can tell him why being caught is bad? Jeez." A circle of light appears and swallows her way.
...and the Phantom is not entirely sure what to make about all of this. As they fly up and through the roof, he puts on hand above his face to help ward off the debris, using his other hand to wave in front of him so he can try and breathe in as little debris as possible. "Yeah. Subtle," he agrees with Magik, though there's a small and amused smile on his face as he says it. And then she suddenly teleports away. Looking to Nate, he says, "Umm. How about that rooftop?" He points at a four-story-tall apartment complex.
"Sure." Nate grumps at Illyana's vanishing act. Again. "Telekinesis is not subtle," he points out. "Or maybe mine is not." He manages to direct the bubble to the roof, the landing is a bit rocky, and he falls on one knee, his body reminding him he was supposed to take it easy for a while. He stands up grimacing. "I am getting better," he mentions, brushing some dust away with a hand. Then frowning, and then brushing -all- the dust away with telekinesis. It worked, he notes with a faint smirk.
After settling on the roof, the Phantom goes to help Nate to his feet, if the man will allow it. "You alright, chum?" he asks, concern obvious in his voice and on his face. Sirens can be heard, and he'll look over as a few cruisers screech to a stop outside the warehouse. "Be glad we got out of there in time, friend," he says, motioning to the scene. "Most police officers are fair and good-minded, but a few aren't. That aside, they might be packing things that can stop even you." All of these super-tech companies like Hammer Industries and Stark Industries and such, the levels of tech hitting the streets is becoming--extreme.
"I am fine," replies Nate, looking a bit paler nevertheless. He glances back at the police, which look like normal humans with small handguns. Nothing like the cyborgs and giant robots that did the bulk of law-enforcement in his home. Still, he catches the Phantom thoughts about them having access to high tech weapons and makes a mental note. "Well, maybe. I am not planning to give them reasons to look for me. I have noticed they care more for some areas of the city than for others, hmm?"
Looking back to the other man, the Phantom says, "Yeah. Lot of reasons for that; too few police officers, higher crime in some districts, and even less savory reasons." He clucks his tongue once. "But just remember that they aren't the only game on the block, okay? There are people and whole groups out there, bent on stopping people just like you if you get--too out of control. They've just formed a few, too." A bare beat's pause as he strolls through the memory palace to find the right newspapers. "Avengers and Justice League, two names that come to mind. And they've got some heavy hitters."
"And Titans?" Adds Nate, "Magik mentioned them. Well, we'll see what happens. Thanks for the heads up, I'll be careful." Liar. "I am going down to get some food, see you around, Phantom." He jumps off the roof, slowing down the fall with his powers to land on his feet on the alleyway below.
((Fade Out))
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