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Summary: Going out for a drink, Drew (Texas Twister) and Angelo diLucci run into trouble as The Miracle Man and accomplice Shellshock try to rob the place.
Date: October 7, 2010
Log Title: A Backyard Brangle
Rating: PG-13
NYC - Financial District
The Financial District is an area at the southern tip of Manhattan. Major sights include South Street Seaport, Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange, Battery Park, and Federal Hall National Memorial where George Washington was sworn into office. The Financial District is lively during the day with businessmen and women scurrying about their affairs or visiting the many take out restaurants during their lunch breaks. At night the area is quiet due to barely anyone littering the streets and most shops and restaurants being closed.
NYC - Financial District
The Financial District is an area at the southern tip of Manhattan. Major sights include South Street Seaport, Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange, Battery Park, and Federal Hall National Memorial where George Washington was sworn into office. The Financial District is lively during the day with businessmen and women scurrying about their affairs or visiting the many take out restaurants during their lunch breaks. At night the area is quiet due to barely anyone littering the streets and most shops and restaurants being closed.
Being new to the Barnes Academy, Drew Daniels, but known to these at Barnes as Texas Twister is familiarizing himself with the area again and is making an effort to get to know the faculty before starting his work with the students. So he has met most his peers and has taken this opportunity to get to know one of them. Seated at a bar called The Backyard, The closest bar that NYC has to resembling something out of Texas. He has invited Angelo to meet him here. This bar is a new bar, it was previously a bar with no name. Drew stands outside dressed head to know in denim and cowboy regalia including a white cowboy hat and cowboy boots. He lights up a cigarette as he waits for the Barnes teacher.
Cowboy bar, and NOT a gay cowboy bar, that's a bit hard to find on the east coast. Angelo, sadly, does have some cowboy regalia as well, but he went to the trouble to talk to a rodeo friend to tone it DOWN to something less stupid. As a result, he's weearing blue jeans, NO chaps, cowboy boots with box toes instead of snake-stabbers, and a Montana Bib yoke shirt, long sleeve of course, in the classical sunset blue color. He's found a texas flat-crown cowboy hat with silver and turquoise medallion brim-band, in black. (No, ten-gallon on a man his height looks seriously stupid.) And that's as far as it goes. Still, he felt a bit odd on the taxi over, with the large-eyed ethiopian driver afraid to ask if he was really an outlaw.
He comes up to the man with the cigarette, recognizing him from the roster. "Evening, Tex." OH GOOD LORD that's a terrible fake accent.
Taking a look at the man standing before him, Drew simply shakes his head. He lowers the brim of his hat and tosses the cigarette which is blown into the sewer with a gentle little breeze courtesy of Texas Twister. Looking up at Angelo and in pure Texan twang, "Are you kidding me with this? Are you purposely making fun of me?" Drew raises angry eyebrow.
A limo pulls up behind The Backyard, two men in the back seat argue, "This is where I make my return!" The man across from him tells him to shut up, "Just mesmerize the crowd and I will do the rest."
"Hell, no, dis is a cowboy bar, I'm dressed for it. Why, you think maybe I shoulda come in my scrubs?" That's your Long Island back-in-your-face, really. Ange sighs, and turns to go back to the cab. NOT going to be fighting, the man is on staff, and Angelo isn't willing to risk his job over something stupid like an over-sensitive cowboy with … ah fuggeddit.
Laughing louder that a rattler in the desert on a hot August day, Drew nearly falls over, "Angelo, just joking." HE keeps laughing and tilts his hat up bats his baby blues, "Sorry, It's not everyday, I get to joke around. Thank you for meeting me here." Before Angelo makes it to the cab, he is caught in a big bear hug type hug from Drew, "That's how we do it in Texas!"
The two men exit the limo and go into the backdoor of the Back Yard. They both look at Angelo and Drew and the one dressed in a yellow body suit whispers something derogatory about gays. The other man is clearly the night's entertainment as he is dressed like a stage magician.
"Jus be glad I ain't violent," Ange retorts, but hey, a hug? He'll return that. And oh yeah, Angelo is stronger than he looks, for what that's worth. However, before he really gets to crush a rib (he'd fix it, honest) a remark about gay from behind him makes him turn around, and his eyes narrow. Oy yeah, he heard that. Stage magician, yeahright, and then a yellow body suit. Right.
"You dressed like that and you got the nerve to talk about anyone else bein' gay. Funny." The tone of voice indicates that perhaps it isn't so funny.
"Oh I don't think so." The man in the bodysuit is about to go towards Angelo when the stage magician pulls him back and into the bar.
Drew looks over and shrugs his shoulder, "Darn tootin idjuts. Oh well, come on and let's get some beers. Hopefully they got some good Coronas in this place." Drew drags Angelo into the Backyard and they grab a seat by the corner. Beers are ordered and music starts to play, "Ladies and gentlemen, Performing tonight for one night only….The Miracle Man!"
It's a good thing Angelo isn't paying attention so much, due to being annoyed at the mouthy one, so he doesn't say "is there such a thing" when "good Coronas" are mentioned. Not a beer snob oh no. (Yes.) He grins at the thought, though. Maybe the lime and salt lick will fix the taste. However, the performers are introduced before the alcohol can be consumed for its highly temporary buzz. Let's see what that's about. Hope it isn't those two idiots. Probably is though. Maybe the magician will make the guy in the full-body speedo disappear. That would be good.
Noting Angelo being a bit tense, the cowboy plays it off, "Don't let the idiots bother you. HA! They're stupid anyway, pegging us for gay." He shakes his head as he has already downed one Corona with lime, "Only beer, I drink! Best Mexico has to offer." He gestures for the waittress to bring another one when he turns to see The Miracle Man doing some card tricks.
"Can I please have a volunteer from the audience?" Drew hiccups, "Oh this might be fun." Drew waves frantically and points to Angelo, "You got a volunteer right here!" The Miracle Man smiles, "Perfect!"
"Several of my boyfriends ARE gay," Ange mutters back to Tex, "And a couple of my girlfriends too. I don't like it being used like it's a curse."
However, when Drew offers him for the volunteer, he smiles, touches the back of Drew's hand, and says, "Gee thanks." His eyes (and a bit of his hair that shows) flash for an instant, and he goes up to the stage, leaving a stone-sober Drew behind. That'll teach him. Gonna have to talk to that man about what those cigarettes are doing to his lungs too.
"Fine, I'm perfect, I knew that," he says when he reaches the stage.
Blinking at the statements that Angelo has made and suddenly finding himself very sober, Drew sighs, "Dang nabbit!" But he and the audience clap and applaud Angelo as he stands up and goes to the stage.
The Miracle Man bows, "We have our first and last volunteer of the evening, Ladies and Gentlemen." He looks to Angelo and says, "You will be hypnotized, my young friend." The audience shouts out things for Angelo to do, most involving removal of clothes, but Drew yells out, "Have him do the funky chicken!"
Hypnotized. Right. Ange's SHIELD training hasn't yet gotten to ways around that. Did experiment a bit with it in med school, paraesthesia, and put in the usual "only by consent" block, but SHIELD has better techniques. Need to get that on the schedule soon, Ange. Hope that they're safe then.
That suggestion from Drew gets a laugh from him. "Whatever, man. OK, give it a try."
Standing up, Drew says, "Gotta go to the big boy room. Don't have him do the chicken until I get back." The Miracle Man nods, "Alright then…strip show it is." The Miracle Man stares into the eyes of Angelo. The Miracle Man smiles as Angelo can feel a sense of his own soul leaving him…any sense of awareness he has is beginning to leave him in a whispered tone, "I have hypnotized the Fantastic Four to my bidding….you will fall just as easily and will do what I say while the patrons are distracted and robbed of their goods!" Sounds of a brawl seem to be coming from the bathroom but the audience ignores it as they look at the act on stage. "Dance, my little fool…Dance and give them what they want!"
The light flashes in his eyes ever so briefly, and then Angelo has a strange sense of dissociation. He's simultaneously imprisoned in the Miracle Man's will, and separate, hovering back away from his own body as a construct of pure light, but not visible in the material plane. Something tells him that the Entities that granted the light won't let it be abused by this kind of person. He watches/dances, then, as he/his body does a very sensuous strip-tease. Yes, he HAS been to that kind of club, and yes, under that shirt he's incredibly jacked. World class bodybuilder, at close to optimal height. If this WERE a gay club and he weren't hypnotized, he'd be demanding his own cut of the proceeds from this.
«Well. This is annoying. Body is not doing what it's supposed to do. Can't use living light without a proper channel. And … what IS that noise from the bathroom?» As he thinks the question, he's there in the bathroom. What IS happening?
In the bathroom, Texas Twister is on his knees before him is the man in the yellow body suit wearing a cat-like max. Blood drips from the back of Drew's head and the man known as Shellshock stands holding a broken bottle of Corona, "Did you not think we knew who you were, Texas Twister?" Drew sees his hat on the floor and he is VERY MAD, "Mista….you have no idea what you are in for!" The bathroom is suddenly filled with a furious wind that whips everything to and fro, "Never….never touch my hat."
Suddenly, Shellshock is flung from the bathroom and into the main room of the bar. Yet the audience pays no mind as they are entranced by the dancing stripping Angelo. Drew makes his way out and before he attacks Shellshock he blinks, "Uhm…I didn't need to know you that well, Angelo" The Miracle Man is no longer on stage and is on the floor pilfering through people's bags. He curses silently when he sees the Texas Twister.
Angelo has NOT taken off his shorts, which are, annoyingly, posing shorts. (They're designed to give good support. Honest.)
The man is distracted, and he deliberately overlaps his body and tries to synch with himself, to activate the spell purging him from curses, geases, and other … GOT IT. FLASH. He's broken thru and his mind is no longer in two pieces. Light blazes from the stage, as tattoos, wings, hair, eyes, all the points of light are visible in the real world. He backflips from the stage, hovering down behind Miracle Man, preparing to touch the hypnotist. He says, with a nasty smile, "Guess what."
Angelo has NOT taken off his shorts, which are, annoyingly, posing shorts. (They're designed to give good support. Honest.)
The Miracle Man is distracted, and he deliberately overlaps his body and tries to synch with himself, to activate the spell in the left-hand ankh, purging him from curses, geases, and other … GOT IT. FLASH. He's broken thru and his mind is no longer in two pieces. Light blazes from the stage, as tattoos, wings, hair, eyes, all the points of light are visible in the real world. He backflips from the stage, hovering down behind Miracle Man, preparing to touch the hypnotist. He says, with a nasty smile, "Guess what."
Distracted by Angelo's strip-turned light show, Drew pays no heed to Shellshock who is up and holding a large gun, "You're a horrible cowboy!" He shouts as he releases two gas bombs towards the Twister and he is suddenly covered by smoke.
The Miracle Man too was distracted and so is caught by surprise when he is touched by Angelo, "What is this? Who are you?"
"I'm Light," Angelo replies, wings made of pure luminance erupting from his back. "And please, have some. Have lots." The next flash is something Angelo has been known to call by a number of totally inappropriate names: Roofie Touch, Love Taser, even Forced Enlightenment. SHIELD has it down in his profile as "Stun-touch." What it does, though, is to induce a sudden flood of endorphins so strong as to stun, and for many people it can cause all the positive effects of being totally drunk. (It also cures any transient illnesses, pain, injuries, etc. but the main purpose is the stun.)
Suddenly the gas that was filling the room has been dispersed and out the window and harmlessly into the air. Spinning around fast and fast, The Twister points to Shellshock, "Now time for you to be shellshocked!" Catching the villain within his mini twister, the villain is engulfed, punches whirl about and pieces of yellow body suits are torn asunder. The wind can be felt by everyone in the room though they are still entranced. Dying down a bit, Texas Twister stands over the unconscious and now nude Shellshock. "You didn't like his outfit anyway!" He looks towards Light.
The Miracle Man lets out a loud scream, but then suddenly the look of horror on his face turns to one of joy? He begins to bob about unable to really stand and he finally mumbles something about fame before falling over in a drunken stupor.
Already calling in for SHIELD to detain the criminals. And the customers have merely passed out, alive, but unconscious. Drew just looks about, "First time in a New York Bar and of course I end up in a brawl!"
"Yeah, welcome to Trouble Magnet, man." Ange grabs his clothes off the stage, keeping the light running on high since it's pretty much a guarantee that people won't really recognize him. Maybe. But if they did, how will they really know anyway?
"By the way, hold still," Angelo says, and another touch FLASH FLASH gets rid of the injury to Drew's head. Standard procedure; head wounds can be tricky, especially when they involved breaking a not-fake bottle. He doesn't leave it long enough to cure his addiction to tobacco; that's one that the man will need to consent to. But some of the lung damage goes away.
Feeling a little better, "Well, I think it is time we took our leave of this place?" He smirks, "And this was fun. Next time, I will treat and hopefully, I won't see as much of your body…but I gotta get me a pair shorts like that. SHIELD-issue?" He asks as he walks with Angelo towards the door. The crowd slowly starts to come too, not really having any idea of what has just occurred.
"Hell no. I was going to do a contest last year, but, life and getting powers intervened."
Ange follows, through the door, but calls back to the possibly still-suggestible crowd, "Don't leave on my account. Stick around and make sure the cops get your stuff back to you!"
That should keep 'em busy for a moment or four so they can get out of here. He notes to a SHIELD officer, "Psi-dampers on that man please," pointing to Miracle Man. And a touch on the squirming-away Shellshock should fix whatever damage was present there, although it won't undo his handcuffs. "The cat mask looked stupid," he notes, and they walk the short distance to get into the SHIELD transport to leave the scene.
