2012-11-27 No More Bullies

Lower Manhattan is good for all manner of different things. Between the famous locations and the pedestrians packed in, often shoulder to shoulder with little room to move about in, it also happens to be an excellent location for anyone that's wanting to make a scene. Word would travel like wildfire, every news agency would be quick to catch the action, and the sheer number of bystanders present to witness it all going down can prove to be quite alluring to future troublemakers.
Like these guys, for example.
Thanks to the internet and viral video feeds, the gathering of individuals ranging from teenagers to late twenties virtually explodes out of nowhere. Every one of them is dressed in various shirts announcing their very distinct displeasure of having to share their wonderful city with 'mutie scum,' some even so bold as to have names or websites linking them back to cyber activities all trying to further their rallying cry. Their movement is sudden and vicious like wildfire, creating havoc where seconds ago there was none.
"Clean up the streets, eradicate the freaks, -take back Manhattan!-"
While many view the internet and social media as generally good things, the appearance of flash mobs and viral videos dedicated to hatred of mutants, shows a dark side that Wanda Maximoff knows all too well. For now, she's sitting at a nearby cafe, trying to sip coffee calmly even if her every muscle is tense with the desire of showing these bigots the errors of their ways. Observe, don't engage unless necessary, she was instructed. And the inactivity has her on edge, ready to fight.
Normally, Manhattan's a nice place to visit. Jubilation Lee does it often, sometimes for the sales, sometimes for the city itself. She loves New York; she even has the bumper sticker to that effect on her hot pink backpack, something that's proving to be a real conversation-starter with the coffee cart vendor she's buying a caramel-mocha espresso from.
She loves this city. But sometimes it can turn bad with little warning, like now. The sight of the hatemongers and their signs has her paying her bill quietly and stepping back out of their way. But she can't entirely conceal her disgust, scoffing quietly at the sight of one of the web site names: www.hatinmuties.com.
Also not engaging, but watching from a fire escape, the uniformed form of the Titan Mend. Right now, they're just executing their First Amendment rights. The immortal mutant isn't going to intervene until they start trying to break heads or worse. If they do, though, she's in a good position to come in and break it up. She's unaware of the presence of other mutants as yet.
Senri wends her way carefully through the evening crowd. Having a bike makes her job as delivery girl a viable one, but dealing with the press of bodies while atop it is something else again. Fortunately, she's coming back from the last delivery of the night. Though she is alert as always, within the space of a few moments, she finds herself engulfed by a mob of protesters. Their message appeals not at all, and her jaw clenches. Her uniform is her best protection, though, and she continues on at the best speed she can. With supreme effort, she schools her features into a mask of neutrality, even advertising her presence with a polite "Excuse me. Delivery girl coming through." to those in her way. Fortunately, the shop isn't all that far away, and she points to it in an effort to get a path cleared.
Trying to get through the mob is like trying to serve drinks to a mosh pit, from the outside it might seem like a bad idea and from the inside it's a mess waiting to happen. Senri's lucky in that she doesn't look outwardly different, but she's also in -their- crowd, without having one of -their- markings visible. No shirt, no sign. Not even a hand-held camera to record the entire display for streaming across the web.
It's a bad place to be. All it takes is one incorrectly turned shoulder, or a foot caught within a tire of a delivery bike, or someone simply not wishing to give up their personal space to someone that obviously doesn't belong in their crowd.
"Hey, watch it! We're trying to make a stand, here!"
Unlike many mobs that are cobbled together by people with nothing better to do, a lot of these individuals are either going through college or have already graduated. They're organized, they're clear about their message. But, they still adhere to the mob mentality. One subtle shift away from center and everything begins to topple.
Not far away, Jubilee gets singled out for her own peculiar look. She's not even that different beyond the way that she dresses, but that's enough for her to stand out to some of them. A mostly empty Starbucks cup gets thrown overhead toward where she's standing. "Embrace humanity!"
There's a woman at a nearby cafe that isn't left out here on her own. Wanda would recognize the commanding visage of Lin Daiyu, a smartly dressed Chinese businesswoman that happens to be a favored persona of a shape-changing representative of the Brotherhood. "Idiots are going to get themselves killed," she asides to Wanda, passing around behind the other woman before leaning forward on the nearest table to watch. "This is no longer a simple game. You ache to go out there and right their wrongs, don't you?" She pauses for a few seconds, watching as the crowd goes from overly vocal to downright unstable. Her next comment carries with it a tone of malice, "They must be reminded of their place." Lin's hands drift away from the table, standing neat and proper once more before she works her way into the crowd. Maybe Magneto would be content to sit back and watch this ride out.
He's not here now, is he?
.
Damon isn't a mutant, but that doesn't mean he's all down with persecuting someone for being different. He knows all about being different. He knows all about being something more, or less, than human through no fault of your own. People can't choose their parents anymore than they can choose their genetics... most of the time anyways. Some gods might take exception but this isn't about religious figures. Yet.
Damon was simply taking the rail to various places, exploring the city, trying not to call a girl he got the number of yesterday so as to not appear a creep but when he exited the line he wasn't expecting this, not even remotely. He looks completely normal, well, biker normal, if a biker had a permanent deep golden tan and actually shaved every day anyways. Even still, "Yes, embrace humanity. Rah rah rah. They should be selling pom-poms and T-Shirts... sometimes I think we inspire the demons, not the other way around." He mutters to himself.
As it is he's not about to let someone get hurt for simply being born that way. "RACISM IS BAD." He announces, "PERIOD." Because actually saying 'Period' just means there's /so/ much conversation to be had. Meanwhile he looks for somewhere he might do the most good... which appears to be Jubilee and so he heads that way.
The appearance of Mystique doesn't exactly surprise Wanda. At least, she does her best not to show surprise. Instead, the auburn-haired mistress of hexes nods in confirmation, watching the scene play out. And then, the coffee cup get thrown at the young Chinese girl. This has officially gone on far to long, now; any obvious mutant is going to get torn apart by these bigots. Clenching her fists, Wanda lets the energy of chaos flow into her, feeling it build up inside ready to be unleashed. She gathers in more, standing up and walking off to the side. When she reaches a more secluded point, she sends a wave of hex energy towards the anti-mutant crowd, not particularly caring about the consequences of what she's unleashing.
Jubilation, watching the bunch, has the presence of mind to duck when an arm holding something goes up, and the cup misses her, instead dousing a young woman in a nearby cafe, who gives a horrified wail as her new coat is covered in coffee. This is not lost on the teenaged mutant. "When humanity embraces love and compassion, I'll embrace it!" she fires back, losing her temper.
Fortunately, somebody else speaks up nearby, and she nods in agreement. "Racism is bad!" she echoes. "And that's exactly what this is!"
New York City is a big, big place. It's odd how sometimes it can feel so small. Jim Gordon has been here on official business, working in tandem with the FBI, DEA, and NYPD on a number of high profile cases as the highest representative GCPD can offer.
That's a lot of acronyms.
Regardless, Gordon happens to be riding in an unmarked FBI car that's as obvious as it can be - a black Suburban. Doesn't the FBI always drive in black Suburbans? As it were, the SUV slows down as a traffic jam quickly forms near the protests.
"What's going on?" asks Jim.
"Not sure," answers the driver. "Hey, Tom, get on the NYPD traffic channel, find out what the hell this is?"
And then...oh for...power use. Mend sees it and descends from the fire escape with practiced swiftness. Then she finds a different vantage point, vaulting onto the top of a parked taxi cab and crouching there. Crap. Of *course* the mutants would start it...putting her in the unenviable position of having to protect the flash mob. But not too much. From nearly, a call comes up.
"Cape!" Not that Mend is wearing one.
"She's a mutant by all accounts!" Some of the crowd begin to swarm towards the car she is perched on. Crap.
Senri fights the urge to hunch her shoulders and wince. Bad enough to be caught in a flash mob. Now, from the sound of it, they've found a target. The shout drifts to her over the growl of the mob, and this time she -does- wince. She agrees, but, "(Make that targets. This is gonna -suck-.)" She weighs the merits of making a break for the shop. One the one hand, she can almost certainly make it, if she doesn't mind running people over and only if she kicks in her newly found power. On the other hand, if she does, she'll be one more target: One against possibly hundreds. And she'd rather not bring them down on her workplace. With a grimace, she abandons her bike and worms her way toward the street. From the way the horns are getting leaned on, traffic's stopped, so if she can just make it off the sidewalk, she can lightfoot her way from roof to roof. That's the idea, anyway.
Funny thing about randomly hexing a horde of angry, overly-opinionated people. One never knows just how it's going to turn out. Whether it starts with Wanda's curse or Senri dropping her bike within the writhing masses of upset individuals is impossible to tell. One of the protestors gets tangled up in the bike and twists his ankle, his arms thrown out to try and catch himself as he falls.
His hands slam into a protesting woman beside him, breaking her nose. There's a shrill howl as her arms fly out, her own balance lost.
The digital camcorder flies out of her hand, almost graceful as it arcs over the heads and limbs of so many people only to strike the windshield of a nearby black SUV with enough force to send a spiderwebbed ring of cracks through the automotive glass.
Two protestors are down, with no room for them to be lying prone. Others quickly begin to follow, their precarious sense of balance disrupted. Those that don't fall turn angry, seeing this as the first physical act -against- their cause. With the swiftness of snapping fingers the crowd ignites into a riot, complete with yells, screams, heated language, and makeshift projectiles.
No one ever saw the first piece of the puzzle to fall into place. Not one of them could trace that simple mishap back to its source. No one knows, and no one cares.
The taxi cab that Mend decided to perch upon is getting rushed, dozens of hands falling upon the yellow paint with a few more brave souls attempting to climb right up it to reach the lone 'cape.'
The only safe place to be is somewhere far, far away from here.
From the sidelines, Lin Daiyu merely grins with sadistic pleasure as chaos erupts before her. She was denied her fun the last time. Today will be different. Today, she'll give every last human present something to fear. It doesn't have to be mutantkind, why should it be when they can so easily be this afraid of themselves?
When things start to go bad, real fast, Damon drops the Racism is bad card and just shoots of a curse under his breath in a very dead language and starts to move. He /was/ trying to be somewhat nice, but, now he's not. As the crowd starts to go bad and the general chaos starts to ensue Damon starts to push back. It's not so much that he's trying to stop the whole mob, he's not, couldn't do it if he wanted to anyways, but what he can do, is make a path for himself and pick up the pace.
Unfortunately Damon's pathmaking skills just make the chaos worse as he pushes someone out of his way, yanks to people apart from each other, and otherwise muscles himself through the sea of humanity. It's not that he's ignored, because he's not it's just that when he gets hit with a fist, or an elbow, or a knee it doesn't really have a lot of effect at least not from these norms. Of course all good things must come to an end and just when he's pulling people away from Jubilee things get worse.
Making a hole for himself Damon asks Jubilee, "Are you alright?" And starts trying to keep people away from her as best he can, and that's when a picket sign is used to try and brain him. WHACK. Damon stumbles a bit but his instinct takes over without thinking and he strikes back, an elbow snaps into a person behind him, but it's not the right person of course, Wanda's hexwave making sure of that and a broken nose is followed up by a cracking of heads together. More stumbles, and well... these things tend to get out of control fast. Things definitely aren't getting 'better' around him.
Good job Mend's been training with Nightwing, although she's far from as good as him. She does a back flip off the car, knocking a couple of the guys down as she lands, but she's actually trying to get clear. She's also hitting the emergency button on her comlink. Unfortunately, none of her teammates are close enough to come help with the riot. It's all very smooth and she clearly knows what she's doing. She's a fighter and they aren't, but there are just so MANY of them, and some of them are armed with, well...signs. Which make great weapons. "Should have brought stun grenades," she grumbles as she tries to make some space around her. But she's badly surrounded.
It's a good beginning, Wanda thinks as she witnesses the effects of her power. The energy required for the massive wave staggers Wanda a bit, though, and she moves unsteadily. Spotting Marissa Sometimes on the cab, and seeing that the young mutant is the focus of some of the crowd, heads to try and extract the teen from danger. With another surge of chaos energy, Wanda erects and invisible shield of energy to protect her and Marissa. "Come on," she says as she fights her way to the heroine. "Let's get out of here..." The strain in her voice is apparent; Wanda's not sure how long she can protect them both.
Jubilee has no idea that the Scarlet Witch is anywhere around, or that she's hexing anyone. But that something is changing out there is plain to see! The already-touchy crowd goes violent with the swiftness of an exploding grenade!
Damon arrives just in time to get her clear of an overly-grabby protestor. She's been holding back on using her powers to protect herself. "I'm good. Thank you!" she replies... and gives a little yelp of dismay as her rescuer is suddenly crowned with a sign!
Fortunately, he's not hurt much. Unfortunately, he hits the wrong person, and people start falling down behind him! "Come on, we've got to get clear of this!" the teenaged mutant calls, catching one of his hands and pulling him towards an alley, and a fire escape within it. Above ground is the safest place to be right now! Behind her she throws a wave of coruscating plasmoids that ripple through a cascade of colors as they spin and whirl... and then detonate at eye level with a blinding series of stroboscopic flashes!
"Traffic cop's reporting it's a peaceful protest," replies Tom.
-CRACK!-
"Yeah," murmurs Gordon, watching as the camcorder slides down the SUV's cracked windshield. "I can see that."
"NYPD's sending control units," corrects Tom while things rapidly devolve.
"We're not going anywhere," adds the driver. "Look at this mess."
But Jim Gordon is already out of the SUV, slamming the door with a frown on his face. "What ever happened to peaceful protest," he mutters under his breath, before looking around swiftly. The girl getting mobbed atop a taxi is the first thing he sees, but without riot gear, not to mention jurisdiction, there's nothing he can do there.
However, when his eyes skim across Jubilee, he recognizes her from Brooklyn, the night before. Quickly, he elbows his way through the crowd like a champ, knowing just how much muscle to give without inciting any undue anger. When he thinks he's within earshot, he calls out to her. "Hey! Kid! Hey!" No use. Frowning, he tries a different method. "Girl who lost her britches in front of the paparazzi!"
Wince. Tact, Gordon, tact!
Suddenly he crouches over, grasping at his eyes when momentarily blinded by one of Jubilee's stray... things.
Good news: There's suddenly a lot more room to move now that a bunch of the protesters went tumbling. Bad news: The flash mob is now a riot, and it's probably her fault. Yay!(?) Senri takes full advantage of the chaos, putting her escape and evade skills to use. She makes it to the street and vaults onto the hood of a stopped car, then down to the other side. The mass of steel between her and the mob is vastly reassuring, and she heaves a sigh of relief. Taking quick stock of her new situation, she spots the uniformed figure of "(Marissa?)" atop one of the parked taxis. She takes off full tilt down the dividing line toward her, quite against her better judgment. As she does, she notes that someone has stepped in to help, but continues running anyway.
Angry. Frightened. Fighting for survival. And now blinded, by the powers of a mutant nonetheless. Those that see Jubilee's plasmoids before the flash know something unnatural when they see it, then they're left with the memory of it burned into their thoughts as their vision is stolen from them. Now there's the cry of "Mutants are here, mutants are fighting back!" mixing into the cacophony. Perhaps it's a good thing that those few voices are largely drowned out by the rest of the noise.
Making matters worse is the shield that Wanda cast around Mend on that cab. Those that make contact with that invisible sphere of power seem to have a nasty habit of colliding with their buddies and adding to the mess of people getting tripped up by the curb. No one in that area can seem to keep themselves together, it's like someone coated the street around that cab in butter!
Senri's bike is, sadly, a lost cause by this point. Her running, however, makes her an easy target. "There goes another one!" Logic is far past this group's comprehension, anyone could run like that given enough skill and motivation.
The gathering is starting to spread out, partially out of necessity and partially because some people simply want to get the heck out of here because there's -actual mutants- involved. One of them makes the mistake of trying to plow over a lone Chinese businesswoman, there's no time to register how he transitions from running toward a bystander to being laid out on his back with a collection of new injuries beneath his skin. "Never lay your hands upon me, gene trash."
By the time Lin turns to walk away the lone figure becomes the next victim of being trampled by the mob.
How -is- her little Wanda holding up out there, anyway? Lin Daiyu searches the crowd for the familiar looking woman, curiously well off compared to the world around her. Is she trying to -protect- someone..? Mystique does not know this other person, but she won't interfere. Wanda is a treasured resource to the Brotherhood, and generally not the best of people to have be upset at you. But, the process has already begun. There's no need to further provoke this crowd. What more could she possibly do that isn't already being done? The rest are abandoned at large, the metamorphic woman instead easily clawing a path for herself back to Wanda's side. She won't leave such a useful ally all alone within this mess. "Now would be a smart time to make ourselves scarce, dear."
Damon is rubbing the back of his head with one arm as he's being drug away from the mob by Jubilee, "See now this ain't right..." He mutters to himself, "I came to save you." His tone is amused though and he pulls on Jubilee's hand, "Give me just a moment here." And he chants something in a /very/ dark language, an old language, older than humanity really and he traces a runic symbol in the air with his free hand. The air burns where he touches it and then it flashes with crimson light and a wooden fence springs into being, blocking off the alleyway. It won't hold up against the mob for long if they really push it, but, it is an eight foot tall barrier, and it should buy Jubilee and himself some more time.
"Better than nothing... Ok lets go." Damon says to Jubilee and allows himself to be pulled along after her, up fire escapes or whatnot to wherever she leads him away from the mob-turned-riot. It's only then that he keeps an eye out to where they're going, so he doesn't get lost... or so he hopes. Not likely to help but... he's trying.
Wanda nods to 'Lin' as she helps Marissa to her feet. The strain of maintaining the hex shield is showing on her face. "Definitely..." The sweat mats down her auburn hair, but she's still managing to stumble away. And as the protest devolves into anarchy, she starts to make her escape with Mystique and Marissa. Hopefully, this will score some points with the young mutant; points that can be redeemed sometime to the benefit of the Brotherhood.
"Sorry... I have a hard time with what's supposed to be," Jubilation ripostes simply, pausing to let him do his stuff. "Are you a mutant, too?"
And then she hears a voice shouting at her, coming this way quickly. "I /sooo/ did not /lose/ anything!" she protests, hearing the unintended slander. "Debbie pantsed me, the meanie!" She recalls quickly that this is neither the time nor place, though. There are lives on the line! Including theirs! "I think that's Commissioner Gordon, and he's coming this way!" So she hurries to the fence to help him over it, since the other side of that fence would be a very bad place to be. "Commish! Over here!" The escape will come after. For now, she's got a friend to rescue!
This is becoming a pattern in her life, actually.
Senri begins to decelerate as soon as she notes the unusual frequency, not to mention uniformity, of people stumbling around the taxi. She's relieved when Marissa is helped to her feet, but it's only moments before she, too, passes the invisible barrier. In an instant, she finds herself sent flying, tripping on her own feet. In an instinctive move, she tucks herself up into a roll and touches down in a sloppy three-point landing, nearly faceplanting on the pavement. "(What the?! I can do better than that! I sure hope whatever that was doesn't stick around!)" She takes off after Marissa as Wanda and Mystique make their escape with her. She puts her arm up in a wave with a smile, trying to flag them down.
Hearing Jubilee's familiar voice, the half-blinded Gordon staggers through the spreading crowd, until his body slams into the fence. "Oof!" He murmurs, then reaches a sprawling hand to try and catch something to climb onto. Just then, -someone- helps him up and over, and he ends out tumbling onto the street on the other side. All that said and done, however, he's grasping at his head, not his arse, which he'd promptly fallen upon.
"Ooooh, urgh. Damn. I'm -never- leaving Gotham again!"
Unfortunately Damon isn't the gentlist with Gordon, being as he wanted to draw as little attention to the wooden wall as possible. "Sorry." He doesn't sound that sorry though, "Had to be quick." He looks towards Jubilee and then moves to help the Commissioner up, "Shall we leave?" He asks her, "That wall is just a 1x8 wooden fence... it's nothing special. To answer your question, no, I'm not a mutant."
Jubilation gives a little yelp of dismay as The Commish comes tumbling over the wall! "Oh! Oh, I'm totally sorry," she cries, hurrying to help him up. "We were going this way, down the alley." Damon's suggestion draws a nod from her. "You're right. We'd better hurry before they think of using the others to cut us off! This way!" And, helpfully guiding the older man along, she hurries after Damon.
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