2014.05.13 - Immigrant Song

It's a sunny spring day in New York City, and Roberto da Costa has joined a whole host of tourists and locals in Central Park. He's going for a run, wearing truncated black soccer shorts, green sneakers, and a blue tank top, the better to soak up the rays. He makes his way along one of the paved walkways skirting an artificial lake, eyeballing a hot dog stand and wondering if it would really hurt his exercise regime THAT much to give in and get a little protein boost.
Anya Corazon rides through the park on a skateboard and well she works it with style as she coast along, evidently spider agility and balance really pays off. She spies the hotdog stand as she rolls up and stops. She gives the board a little kick as she flips it into the air and catches it.
Roberto shifts direction slightly to go around the girl on the skateboard. As he does, a twenty-something in a black ballcap shoves past both of them. He pulls the hat down to cover his eyes, charges up to the stand, and grabs the cash box while the proprietor is busy making change for a customer. In seconds, he has taken off running toward the nearest park exit. Roberto turns to watch, muttering obscenities in Portugese. Can't he just take a break from heroing for one damn day...?
Anya Corazon looks to Ballcap and grumbles in Spanish to herself as she turns and kicks off on the skateboard after the guy. Luckily she already has on her track pants and red shoes. Her costume is just a shirt change and a pair of goggles away. She skates till she is closer to the guy and then does a headlong dive/roll into some bushes. It takes several moments to change her shirt, but after she does she climbs a tree nearby for some extra height and wings out on a grapple line as Araña. Seems she has managed the art of quick change, or atleast learned to dress so that it does not take as long.
After getting over his annoyance, Roberto starts running after Ballcap himself, but only gets a few steps before the hot dog vendor, forgoing superpowers and costumes entirely, yanks a long-barreled revolver out of his stand and takes justice into his own hands. Yelling something about inalienable rights, he fires wildly into the crowded park. The gun goes off like a cannon, and Berto, like almost everyone else anywhere nearby, instinctively ducks. He tries to whirl around without getting higher than a crouch -- even with his soccer training, the move takes longer than he would like, and the hot dog man fires a second time. "Filho de puta!" the black Brazilian yells, running TOWARD the angry gunman in defiance of all sense.
Anya Corazon curses in Spanish as she hears a gun go off, she then pulls with her arms on the grapple line and flips higher into the air. Remotely the grapple on the end of her line releases from its tree as she whip/snaps the second out line out aiming for the rear foot of Ballcap before looking down and back under her to make sure that mad hotdog venders are not aiming hand canons her way. As she yells with in a Brooklyn accent that hints of Latino "HEY I'M WORKING HERE!"
The vendor wasn't expecting anyone to try to retaliate against him once he drew the gun, so fortunately, Berto catches him by surprise and doesn't get himself shot. Gritting his teeth and activating his powers, the young athlete is replaced by a shadow wreathed in a fiery corona as he grabs the gun by the barrel. Normally that would be incredibly dumb, but his balrog-like mutant form siphons off most of the heat -- and, incidentally, gives him the strength to bend the barrel at a right angle. "Imbecil! Put that thing away!" he barks at the man. He flicks back to his human form almost immediately, but his look of fury is so intense that he's barely any less intimidating.
Anya Corazon snags the Ballcap's back foot and pulls her line taut as he is trying to take his next step pulling him completely off balance sending him down to the pavement. She then flips at the arc of her swing as she whips both lines back to her and lands on the ground a few feet behind the thief. She then looks to him and says "Started out a solid eight, but you splashed a little on the landing so I'm going to have to go with a 6.7 on this one!" She then crouches down into her highly personalized fighting style "Now you do get a second attempt if you think you can improve on the first attempt!"
Splashed is right. Ballcap comes up with his face skinned, clutching at a bleeding nose. He's torn between fear and anger, but when he sees that the cause of his humiliating faceplant is a teenage girl, anger wins out. He growls and rushes, aiming an unskilled, telegraphed kick at Anya.
Back at the hot dog stand, the vendor has gotten over his initial shock and is yelling something about mutant immigrants trying to mooch off of real Americans. Berto has, frankly, tuned the man out, and is scanning the area where he was firing to make sure no one is hurt. He spots Anya's confrontation with Ballcap and starts running over, but he can't cover ground like the spider-powered girl can, so it'll be a while.
Araña springs towards a lamp post to avoid the kick sticking to it in the middle as she says "Na homes your doing it all wrong. You have to pivot your weight at your hips and lead with the shoulders." She then does a face palm as she says "And your dialogue, your dialog man!" She shakes her head as she throws a bola line to entangle the crooks feet as she says "Try this! At humm, Damn you pesky kids, stay off my Great Lawn! Oh and don't forget to shake your fist! It seems to help."
Ballcap topples over onto his butt this time, legs entangled. His breath knocked out of him, he throws his hands over his head and wheezes, "I give up! I give up!" Apparently he's not in the mood to be receptive to the combat training. Maybe next time, grasshopper. It goes without saying that the vendor isn't any more interested in her opinions. He's yelling at passerby: "Did you see that? Property destruction!" They're uniformly giving him skeptical looks.
Berto finally arrives, too late to be much use. "Damn. Nice moves!" he compliments Araña, leaning forward to prop himself up on his bare knees.
Araña looks to Roberto and grins as she says "It's mostly the shoes!" She then flips off the lamp post and lands on her feet as she kneels down and looks to Ballcap and shakes her head as she says to Roberto. "Araña." She holds out her hand to Roberto and says "Um your not going to melt my hand off or anything if I shake yours are you?" She motions to the aura around you.
"What? Oh! No." In about a second, the inky blackness clears away and the molten emanations fade, leaving plain old Roberto in his exercise clothes. He takes Araña hand and shakes it, smiling and introducing himself: "Roberto. I run a little hot, but not hot enough to burn. Unless I want to." He flashes her a grin. "I somehow don't think you're telling me the truth about those shoes. Still. I may have to buy a pair, just in case."
Araña grins as she says "The secret if you have to lace them up extra tight." She then nods sage like as she says "Thanks for stopping that guy from accidentally shooting me, I'm not exactly bullet proof."
"Yeah, me neither," the Brazilian replies with a lopsided smile. "Happy to help. You'd think that in a town full of superheroes, people wouldn't be so quick to fly off the handle like that, but..." He waves a hand at Ballcap, who has been cowed into silently watching this exchange. "You'd think people would be smart enough not to do this kind of crap, either."
Araña stands before Roberto with a would be robber sitting on the ground between them. The robbers face is a bit scared up from when he tried to slide on it and wrapped around his ankles are a bola line. Araña looks to Roberto and grins as she says "Well honestly most criminals are not your great intellectual thinkers." She then crouches down and rubs Ballcaps head as she says "And what did we learn today Timmy?" Okay it is bad enough a teenage girl brought him down but her banter is probably just twisting the knife to his ego.
The ballcapped thief glares at Araña and mutters something vicious. "You kiss your mother with that mouth, seu bosta?" Roberto asks, stooping to pick up the cash box 'Timmy' dropped when Araña snared him. He glances back at the hot dog vendor, who is still trying to unbend his gun barrel while shouting about illegal immigrants. "I gotta say, I'm really not looking forward to giving that jumento his money back."
Gabriel is walking up to his favorite hot dog vendor when he spots the little tableau a bit away down the path. For a moment he looks like he's just going to ignore it then he does a double take and smiles widely. Headed for the small group he hollers, "HEYO DICKY! What'cha get yourself caught doing now? Didn't I tell you it might be a good idea to go straight after I kicked you out from Jonah's shelter for peddling drugs in there?" He sounds friendly enough but the look on his face is anything but...
Araña grabs the Ballcap crook buy by the bola lines on his feet to pull him up and then by the belt as she lifts him up with one arm over her head till he is face to face with her upside down as she says "Seriously dude, no manners, no banter, not even a decent fist shake. I'm just not feeling the bad guy love anymore!" She deposits him into the pond, okay in the shallows of the pond since his feet are entangles making it hard to swim. She then shakes a finger as she says "Now you sit in time out and think about what you have done mister!"
Smiling, Roberto watches Araña take Dicky for a swim. "Yeah, no one bothers with style anymore," he laments, agreeing with her. When Gabriel approaches, he turns and gives him a wary look. "You know that guy?"
Off to the side, there's a splash, and ballcap calls from the pond: "I told you not to call me that, dude!"
Berto's eyebrows rise. "Okay. I guess you DO know that guy. He got shot at by a racist and then half drowned by Araña here, though, so I guess he's paid his dues." He shakes the cash box. "Who wants to give this back to hot dog man? I dealt with him already, and I'm not white, so I call 'not it.'"
Gabriel chuckles evilly when Dicky gets dunked in the pond, "I'll call you whatever I want. You're just too dumb to make the choice for yourself." Turning to Roberto and Araña he adds, "Sure do know him. I caught him trying to sell crack to some of the kids in a homeless shelter managed by a friend of mine. Kicked is dumb-ass out. I mean, who thinks homeless kids have enough money to buy crack?"
Looking back at the hot dog vendor with a little frown of confusion he shrugs, "Well, I buy two or three hot dogs from him almost every day. Even if he really is a racist don't think he'll say much to one of his best customers." With a flick of an ankle he sends a small rock flying to bean Dicky on the head. Just because he can.
Araña sighes "Spiderman gets the Rhino and I get Dicky the racist drug dealer. I tell you life is not fair some times!
Hapless Dicky is brained and falls back into the water. Berto hands Gabriel the cash box with a shrug. "I wouldn't be so sure. He's pretty pissed." He smirks. "I mean, he is going to have to buy a whole new gun before he can shoot it into a park crowded with people again. That's gotta ruin your day, right?"
He reaches over to give Araña a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Hey, you gotta work your way up, y'know? I'm sure you'll go toe to toe with some of the big bads before too long."
Gabriel arches an eyebrow at Araña then smiles a bit, "You have a death wish girl? Why would anyone wish someone like the Rhino on themselves?" Taking the cash box from roberto he chuckles and shrugs, "People do and say stupid stuff when they're angry." then he turns to the hot dog vendor and yells out, "Oy! I should keep the cash box for you being so dumb as to try and use a gun in a crowded park. Why don't you get a bat, like everyone else?" He starts making his way to return the cash box, regardless of what he's insinuating and as an after thought he looks over his shoulder at Dicky and tells Berto and Araña, "Maybe we should pulls him out of there before he drowns? Sometimes I don't know my own strength."
Araña yanks on her bola line and fishes out poor Dicky before tying him with the line to the lamp post she used in the fight. She does make sure to take the grappler at the end of the line, those things are not cheap for a kid. She then leans down and says "See Dicky I knew you could do a better dive. I'm gona give that one an 8.2" She then stands and stretches slightly as she rolls her shoulders in a shrug to the both of you. "I don't know Dicky here." She looks down and says "No offence Dicky, Dicky here is like being a dog catcher anb being sent after kittens that are terrorizing neighborhoods!"
"Yeah, you didn't see her take this chump down," Berto tells Gabriel. "She's got skills." He doesn't say so, but he may be biased in her favor. He is, after all, a former teen hero voted by his graduating class 'most likely to get in over his head.' But surely he's mellowed out since then, right? "So, do you run with one of the teen groups?" he asks Araña, trying to strike up a conversation. "Or did you make all that gear yourself?"
Dicky mutters darkly at all three of them, but stays where he's put, waiting for the NYPD to show up. The hot dog vendor takes the cash box back, but hardly pauses in the stream of invective he's directing at Berto, great customer or not.
Gabriel taps the hot dog vendor hard on the shoulder and frowns at him, "Hey. Stop that, right now. Or I'll spread the word that you really are a racist. Have you seen how many non-whites live in the area? You'll go bankrupt if we all boycott you." Without waiting for an answer he turns back to the little group around the lightpost and once he gets there he gives Dicky a little shove to set him a swinging, "Did someone already call the cops?" Then he waits for the answers to both his question and Roberto's questions.
Araña says, "I'm telling ya its all in the shoes!" She then grins as she says "No I had to make all this stuff myself. She then looks to Dicky and says "By the way that line is like a dollar a foot so you own me like 50 bucks. Seriously that stuff is expensive!" She then looks to Roberto and says "No no groups or secret club houses. I did get some training from friends, but that's about it.""
"Yeah, side with them, why dont'cha? Damn kids, throwing the whole country down the toilet," the vendor growls. But Gabriel's words are predictive: nobody in the park seems hungry for a hot dog anymore now that they know the kind of guy who's selling them.
Berto gives Gabriel a sidelong look as he returns. "Dude, there was gunfire in Central Park. Somebody called the cops. Count on it." He glances at Dicky and smirks. "Besides, even if they didn't, it's not like the situation isn't under control." He nods to Araña. "That's cool, by the way. I just added some armor to my outfit. If I ever actually wear the stupid thing, I won't have to worry as much about malucos with guns."
Gabriel stops Dicky's swinging and starts going through his pockets, pulling out everything in them, "And don't you dare complain. I'm pretty damn sure anything in here is stole or bought with stolen money." Once he's thoroughly gone through all of his pockets he taken any and all cash and hands it over to Araña. "There we go. That should be a start at least. Oh, and before I forget..." he turns back to Dicky and sets him swinging again before turning to Roberto and asking, "You're a hero too?"
Araña frowns at the cash "Un I don't think I am allowed to take this. I mean Nick would have a cow!" She tucks the cash back into Dicky's pocket and sighs "Sylvie". She does pull a second line out of her backpack and attaches it to the end of the one grappler before she starts to coil both back up to a manageable bundle. "I seriously need to jack Spidey's, er never mind."
Berto snorts and shakes his head. "'Hero' is a stretch. I'm a mutant -- used to run with the X-men. But it's been a while. I'll pick up something heavy if the situation calls for it," he explains, his tone as self-deprecating as his words. "Still -- can't hurt to have an outfit ready, in case an old friend wants some backup. And speaking of which..." He lifts his shoulders slightly and looks at Araña. "If you need some cash for a replacement line, I can foot the bill. Least I can do. And then you won't have to take it off anybody."
Gabriel tilts his head curiously at Araña, looks at Berto, then looks back at Araña and slowly starts to smile. After a few seconds he digs into his own pocket pulls out a fold of bills and peels off three twenties and offers them to the girl, "OK. Well, you have no excuse not to be able to take this money. I know what its like to be young and trying to pay for things without having a steady job."
Turning to Berto he asks, "You're pretty open about being a mutant. A lot of people see that as a whole lot worse than not being white. Sounds like you're into business too?"
Araña wont take cash from the bad guys but if the good guys want to flip the bill her who is she to complain right? She takes the money and tucks it into her cleavage, or what there is of it as she stores away her lines. I had an armor power once but that skeeze Apocalypse Man ripped my exoskeleton off and it never grew back!"
Berto tries for a casual shrug, but from the way his expression darkens, it's obvious that he's bothered by anti-mutant sentiment. "Sim, I'm a mutant. I used to try to be discreet about it, but I mean, I can't hide that I'm black. Why should my mutant powers be any different? Take me or leave me." He lowers his head, glaring in the direction of the now-deserted hot dog stand. "And if William Stryker or anyone like him wants to make an issue of it, they can chupar a minha po--"
He cuts himself off with a quick shake of the head, and forces himself into a cheerier mode. "Yeah, big business, hopefully. One project I've been working on is showing a lot of promise -- maybe get me out from my pai's shadow, finally."
Gabriel frowns a bit at Araña, "That sounds like it hurt... So you had an actual, growing-from-you exoskeleton?" Then he holds his hands up placatingly to Berto, "You're not the only one. No judgement here. What's this big project you're working on? If you're ready to talk about it already..."
Araña nods to Gab as she says "Yea it sucks big time!" She then sighes "I actually have to avoid the bullets now!"
"Also, you fought Apocalypse?" Berto asks Araña with a look of awe. "The Rhino is one thing, but that guy..." He shakes his head. "Forget an exoskeleton. Give me the X-men, the Avengers, the Justice League, AND all the armies on Earth, if I'm going up against him." He shudders, then turns to Gabriel, suddenly awkward. "Ah...it might be a joint venture thing with Stark Global," he answers, trying not to sound like he's bragging. "I probably shouldn't go into more detail than that until I've seen it in writing, y'know?"
Gabriel looks back and forth between the other two young people (idly reaching out to set Dicky swinging again) and answers the business part of the conversation first, "Make sense." before going on to Apocalypse, "What so bad about this guy that you would want that much back up?"
Araña laughs and says "No Apocalypse Man, Completely different guy." She holds up her hands as if to ward off the Idea. "No that guy would, well I don't know what he would but, but I am sure it would be short, and to the point of leaving me as a fine red mist."
"Ohhh, right, okay." Roberto seems deeply relieved that Araña hasn't had to face that level of threat. "As for other guy... he's not named after the end of the world for no reason," he answers Gabriel. "He's basically invulnerable, he can't die, he time travels, and he's got crazy super science that he can use to twist your powers and take over your brain. Oh, and he is a SUPER big genocide fanboy. He's into genocide the way hippies are into jam bands."
Gabriel blinks slowly a couple of time in reaction to Roberto's description of Apocalypse then turns to Dicky, "See? If you really want to make it as a criminal that's the kind of guy you need to hook up with. Or you'll just keep getting hooked on lamps." Then he turns back to his serious conversation and says, "If he ever shows up when I'm around remind me to be an ant... Oh, I wonder if I can go as small as a water bear. Those little buggers can live though anything."
Araña says, "Well unless he goes causing problems in Brooklyn I doubt I will ever run across him. If he is in Brooklyn Ill steal a line from a movie and just say that 'Strange Things are afoot at the Circle-K'." She then laughs and says "Ill just stick to the jug heads like Rhino and Scorpion and leave the Armageddon brigade to you guys!"
"Powers, huh? Small world," Berto says to Gabriel with a casual smile. He nods in Dicky's direction. "Too bad you didn't show up in time to beat up on your buddy here. Petty crime isn't the brightest line of work to be in, but it does offer us a chance to show off a little." Araña he gives a sidelong look. "Hey, now," he protests with a grin. "I may not look it, but I'm a bruiser. Super strength, protective powers. Am I one of these 'jug heads' you speak of?" He even plays up his Brazilian accent as he pretends not to understand.
Gabriel grins, "Well, I dropped enough hints. And I really don't need any of my unusual abilities to deal with small timers like him." Digging in his back pocket he pulls his wallet out and from the wallet he pulls out two cards that have only two things printed on them. 'Gabriel' and a phone number. "But I have to get going. It was nice to meet you both. Please give me a call if you ever need some help with anything or if you're bored." As he speaks he offers Berto a card with one hand and Araña a card with the other.
Araña says, "Well guys its been swell but I got to get home before my dad kills me. I was supposed to do some chores." She grumbles something about heroes and taking out the trash as she swings off into the trees."
Berto accepts the card and stuffs it into his shorts pocket. "Sure thing, Gabriel. Nice to meet you. And you, Araña" He glances at Dicky, then back at the paved pathway he was following earlier. "I should probably get back to my run anyway. I don't think he's going anywhere." He nods and starts off at a jog.
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