Players:
Summary: Two of Kalindi's cult members try to rough Alexander up before Kalindi steps in.
Date: July 11, 2010.
Log Title: A Fortuitous Inconvenience
Rating: PG.
NYC - Hell's Kitchen
The rough neighborhood in Midtown West New York known as Hell's Kitchen almost has a darker tone to it. Once you step into this neighborhood the city takes on a different feel, the buildings are shorter but everything feels darker. There is real grit to this part of town where many of the New York City criminals see to make their home.
This part of Hell's Kitchen is in terrible condition compared to the rest of the area. Old warehouses and apartment buildings in terrible condition line the streets. An abandoned six-story factory or warehouse sits squarely at the end of a block where the decrepit streets meet. The street lights in front of the factory either flicker or are completely without power. The fact that it's so late in the evening, approaching 11:30 PM, make this factory particularly foreboding to the normal individual.
However, some people, like Alex, see factories like this as a haven. A place where he can sleep without being bothered, and if there's still water, take a shower. Because this factory is such a find, Alex takes the time to go around back and inspect the door. It's locked, of course, but the no-entry signs and boarded up windows signal that it's just not inhabited. Abandoned. Politely, he raps the door with his right hand a few times, waiting for a reply. A couple minutes pass with no reply, and so he gives the door a firm punch with his arm. The door frame splits where the handle is and the door creaks open. "Well, nothing like a bit of lock-picking finesse." He says sarcastically to himself. "Time for some sleep." And with that, he enters the facility.
"Man, I can't believe you spent our frickin' tithes, what the hell's wrong with you?" this voice sounds from outside of the door, "That shit's due tomorrow, you know?" A man enters through the door a few minutes after Alexander has arrived. He's wearing a dirty jacket and has hard, unshaven features. "We finally get a good thing, and you fuck it up for me."
The second man coming through the door answers, "Uhhh, well, I thought that I'd win the bet for sure. I didn't think that, uhhhh, there would be such an upset. It was a sure thing! What's gonna happen?" He seems younger and smaller and cleaner.
"Fucking gambling. You and your bets. You're gonna sell a kidney, that's what's- Hey, whassat?" The older man gestures towards Alex and says, "A tenant in our place, huh? We could make that money back, now couldn't we?"
Alex turn around to wave, "Nice place. Let me tell you, Mister. Give me three steps toward the door and you'll never see me again." The guy's smiling widely, like he just stepped into the wrong room or something while looking for the bathroom. "I don't want any trouble."
"Listen, man, I've got nothing against you either," says the larger of the two men, "But you gotta pay a fucking fee when you come to these places, it's just not fair otherwise."
The other man objects, "Uhhh, Harold, uhhh, maybe we should just let him go? Do you think he even has money?"
"He'd better goddamn hope so," says Harold, turning back towards Alex, "Two hundred dollars, that's all we need from you. Come on, man, cough it up."
"Listen, man, I've got nothing against you either," says the larger of the two men, "But you gotta pay a fucking fee when you come to these places, it's just not fair otherwise."
The other man objects, "Uhhh, Harold, uhhh, maybe we should just let him go? Do you think he even has money?"
"He'd better goddamn hope so," says Harold, turning back towards Alex, "Two hundred dollars, that's all we need from you. Come on, man, cough it up."
Alexander continues smiling. "You know, I'd love to. I actually don't live here. Besides," the guy's innocent smiles spreads quickly into a grin. "I'd like to see you two leave with a majority of your limbs intact." There's something unusual about the tone of this retort, it isn't angry, but it's cold.
"Guy, your fucking limbs are the only limbs that you should be worrying about this, so shut your trap," says Harold. He puts his hands together and electricity arcs between his fingers, "Now cough up the cash and get the hell out."
"Harold? Ummm, you shouldn't do that you, uhhhh, you-"
"Shut up, Aaron, and give me a hand!" says Harold, glancing back for a moment to the other man, who vanishes as if he was never there, his movements only detectable by his footsteps.
Alexander lightly scratches his cheek. "Hmmm. That could be a problem. I don't like invisible people." He smiles at the electricity, however. "I can do that too." As soon as Alex's sentence finishes, red bolts of electricity jump from the metal scraps in the are as the begin to lift themselves into the air and circulate around Alex in an orbit not unlike an atom. Slowly the metal pieces twist and mold as the parts get prepare for assembly. "You'll have to wait though, technokinesis is slow."
"The hell?!" says Harold as Alexander very elaborately responds to his actions. He isn't really all that patient, and he fires bolts of electricity which will have an effect similar to a taser if they connect, "Why don't you just sit down, freak?"
"Uhhh, you probly shouldn't call, uhhh, mutants or whatever freaks anymore. It makes you look kind of, uhhh," and here the invisible man trails off, running to a new location now that his voice gave him away. He picks up a piece of broken concrete, tossing it at the technokinetic.
The electricity veers off from its original course to strike the floating metal pieces surround Alexander. Letting off electromagnetic fields due to the molecular reconfiguration occurring to Alex's components, electrical bolts become somewhat unpredictable in his direct vicinity. This doesn't seem to have any side-effects to the device slowly assembling on Alex's left arm. In self defense towards the concrete, however, Alex raises his right arm to block the incoming debris. It makes a dull clunking sound as it bounces off, tearing a part of his sleeve. The tear reveals a dull metal gleam, could he be wearing armor? "Oh, come on. Do we have to be so barbaric?"
"Uhhh, well, you're kind of creeping me out, man, and, uhhh, I'm in pretty over my head," comments the invisible man as a response to Alex's question, before once again running off to another location. Hey, the concrete worked better than the lightning bolt, so he may as well just try again, this time choosing something he can throw easier, a small chunk of wood.
Harold, on the other hand, raises his hands in the air when his electrical bolt veers off. "The hell?!" he shouts.
"Uhhh, well, you're kind of creeping me out, man, and, uhhh, I'm in pretty over my head," comments the invisible man as a response to Alex's question, before once again running off to another location. Hey, the concrete worked better than the lightning bolt, so he may as well just try again, this time choosing something he can throw easier, a small chunk of wood.
Harold, on the other hand, raises his hands in the air when his electrical bolt veers off. "The hell?!" he shouts.
"Your meek electrical attacks have no use against me, foo-OW!" The small chunk of wood bounces off of Alex's head. Carefully he rubs the area with his right hand, considering something /large/ is still assembling itself on his left arm. The device is beginning to take the form of a combat shotgun, but the barrel and body keep building as if to make it into a chaingun.
"Oh man, oh man, he's going to riddle us with holes. And you say I got us in over our heads!" says the invisible Aaron. He runs just outside of the building to gather some rocks. It seems as soon as he holds them off the ground, they disappear with him, until they leave his hands. He launches them at Alex, moving to different points in the room. It's obvious these guys are not combat strategists. "Just call her! She'll be merciful, I know it!"
"No way I'm gonna let this fucker fuck with me," says Harold, another few bolts firing from his fingertips, making sure to take the move any time Alex seems distracted.
Another rock bounces off of Alexander's head. "Would you quit that?! Seriously." Business. Alex doesn't have it at the moment. What with most of the parts finally attaching to the now finished arm-chaingun, the electricity hits it like a lightning rod. The shock, though most of it dissipates, causes Alex to freeze in place. Red electricity continues to crackle over the gun before Alex goes 'Zoom!' and attempts to run out of sight of the lightning man, who has become a bigger threat than the invisible dude.
There is the sound of clicking before a rudimentary message is sent, invisible to sight. Aaron's voice can be heard next, and he follows after Alexander. The lightning man is faster, but bumps into Aaron as he runs, managing to toss the other vagrant aside while pursuing, "Get back here, you little bitch!" Another bolt is fired off at Alexander as he tries to pursue.
"Oh, geez!" Alexander ducks quickly beneath a desk to the avoid the bolt. It's a pretty hilarious sight to see him bumbling about with that huge cannon on his arm. "Oh hey, look, I'm an office bitch now!" He laughs about it, willing to give away his position for the sake of a cheap joke. Or maybe to draw out the lightning man. Without hesitation he quickly gets out from under the table, plopping his gun arm onto the table to begin unloading a clip of HELL at the thugs. "Anima mundi! How do you like that?!" He laughs as the barrels ignite with light and little foam pellets made from compressed packing foam begin pelting everything in a cone in front of Alex. It's not a very accurate weapon. The foam pellets, however, sting about as much as a paintball gun.
"Aaaaugh," cries Harold, stumbling back against the wall at the assault brought upon him by the foam gone, ducking behind a crate for cover. It's convenient that there are always these crates around when you need them. The invisible man doesn't seem to make his appearance known, managing to keep out of the spray of foam as he tries to sneakily sneak right up to Alex and punch him. Right in the face.
Alexander has little hesitation in turning around to provide a quick 360 spray around him. "I have no idea where you are invisible guy, but taste my three-hundred and sixty degrees of fury!" He honestly doesn't, and that sweep would only cause a couple of pellets to hit the other man. It also gives an opening to both of the mooks as for a second or two he isn't even facing either of them.
Harold stands and fires another shot of electricity at Alex, this one he sustains when he makes contact, keeping his focus to keep Alexander stunned. "Aaron, looks like I've fucking got him. Hell yeah. We didn't need to call her." The invisible man, after a few pellets bounce off of him, stumbles back and becomes visible again. "Okay, uhhhh, about that…"
A stream of gold craches through the window, blowing it right off the pain, and a regal looking Indian teen slides down it up onto her feet. "You. /Idiots/," she fumes. It's likely that she's been watching the display ever since the signal was sent. "Kneel," she says to them, and they submit to her command as she walks up to Alexander, the gold from the window following her up and forming a shining cape. "Get up," she says, looking down to Alex with furrowed brows.
Alexander is zapped ever so clearly. The electricity especially crackles over both of his arms that are both metal. Shocked, he falls to his knees with little motor control until the electricity is released. He pants and coughs a little bit, doubling over from the system shock, but stands anyways, eventually. This has more than ruined his playful mood and he instantly levels the cannon at the regal figure. "I've changed the ammo. It's real bullets now." He's bluffing of course, but how could anyone tell? "Who are you?" He demands.
"Are you lying to me?" asks Kalindi, sighing softly, "Do not ever lie to me. It is a grave insult for one such as myself." She eyes the cannon for a few moments and looks back at Alex, "And if you are telling the truth, lower your weapon. This is just a request." The sides of her lips quirk up slightly as she looks over Alex, "Actually, lower it in either case. I mean you no harm."
"But he-" says Harold, before Kalindi glares over at him to silence the thug, her eyes trailing back to the gun and to the technokinetic's face.
Alexander looks quite serious but he complies with the request. As soon as the barrel of the gun taps the ground, the device just begins falling apart. Bolts and nuts fall out of the cannon and bounce off the ground and whole metal components just fall and clatter until his hand is free. Whatever was holding the gun together isn't now. "I don't want to hurt you, so this is my sign of peace."
"These men are idiots," states Kalindi, gesturing back at her men, "Do not begrudge me their failings." She looks at the components as they fall to the ground, and then back at her men, "Why were you assaulting this man?"
"We, uhhh, I, uhhh, gambled our tithe money for tomorrow away. Harold wanted to, uhhh, recover it," says Aaron.
Harold keeps his head down, but nods his agreement with the statement.
"You will repay them in servitude, then. You know that it is always an option. There is no reason to become common thugs, attacking one who has meddled nothing in our affaird," chastises Kalindi, eyes flashing black for a moment in anger. "What is your name? I am Kalindi, Chosen Daughter of Umbalificos."
Alexander offers his hand, "Alexander Koyla, uh, Russian. Nice to meet you Kalindi, Chosen Daughter of Umbalifilificus." That last word has some sort of Russian accent to it. How that's even possible isn't exactly clear. "I tried not to hurt them, they obviously didn't do anything worthy to go meet death." He flashes a smile, "Hey, for my trouble, you wouldn't happen to have any food, would you?"
"Food? Yes. Plenty," states Kalindi, "It is not my debt to pay, but if food is your cost, then it's granted." Her own accent is a mix between Hindi and something otherworldly. "These men are some of my newer followers. They are not completely familiar with my tenets, but they will familiarize I hope." She turns her attention back to Alexander, "How spicy do you like your food?"
Alexander licks his lips. "Well. Let's put it this way. Can food be too spicy?" He grins, letting off a short laugh. "I have a feeling you and I will become good friends! Maybe we could exchange information over a warm meal?" A big grin is plastered as his expression at the moment, he's happy to have found /another/ free meal. New York is great.
"Yes, there are things to talk about, certainly." She tosses her cape to the ground and it becomes a large platform, which she steps onto. She offers her hand to pull Alexander onto it, "Come with me, I will bring you to my home. I have made curry for tonight, and there is still plenty. It is very good."
Alexander takes Kali's hand and hoists himself on the platform. "I usually don't trust people with capes that turn into solid platforms, but in this case I'll make an exception." He says this jokingly, of course. But it could be lost in translation of empathy, perhaps.
A small smile appears on Kali's face, and she raises the platform off the ground and sits down, floating the device out of the window that she came in on. Down to her servants, she pauses at the doorway, "You two will report to service tomorrow morning, or have your tithes ready."
Alexander ducks long enough so the window sill doesn't hit his head. And off they go to Kali's magical palace home. Where they have flying gold capes, probably. At least, this is what's going on in Alex's head. Finally, a lead to doing something interesting in this city other than dine and dashes. Suddenly, Alex rubs his right shoulder where the machine meets his flesh. "Ow, cramp." He states nonchalantly.
Kalindi glances over at Alexander and states, "Get low. It is more stable like that. If you fall, I will catch you, but I will be a bit annoyed." She's pretty direct in her speech. She transports Alexander back to her home quickly. Unfortunately, it's not a palace or anything so fancy. It is just an apartment building, which she flies in through the window.
