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Summary: Eris picks on the wrong lady and ends up in a brief battle before Kalindi shows up and sends the woman running.
Log Title: Battle Aboard the Flight Deck
Rating: PG
NYC - Hell’s Kitchen - The USS Intrepid
Docked in the Hudson River running along 12th Avenue lies the USS Intrepid, a decommissioned Aircraft Carrier that now serves as a museum. A small bridge leads from one side of the busy road to the museum entrance, with the river just north acting as a docking area for cruise ships that come into the city. To the west of 12th Avenue is an area mostly consisting of warehouses and old buildings that have been converted into residences.
The ship itself is large and silent. Many old planes sit atop the deck for visitors to examine up close when they come to visit. Occasionally the ship is accompanied by smaller vessels and submarines on special holidays. The museum is open most days from 8am to 5pm, occasionally staying open later for movie showings on the flight deck.
Scene
The air is cooler than it has been for the past week, though it is still quite unseasonably warm. Eris leans against the railing of the bridge and glances out toward the dark shadow of the Intrepid as it sits in the Hudson. She can hardly believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve, not that the day holds any special meaning to her. She sighs and glances around again, fidgeting idly with a bracelet as she watches for any signs of that boy from the other night. She is dressed much more practically today, in a black outfit with a long black duster. This time she won't be inhibited by her clothing if she becomes involved in a fight. And if Mr. Teleport should show up, that is exactly what she intends to have happen.
No familiar boys perhaps, but making her slow way down the sidewalk, accompanied by a stout oak cane, is a mostly young, sickly-looking woman, her pace slow and labored. Her eyes are mostly cast toward the ground, save the occasional upward glance to scout for obstacles that may present themselves. As she closes, the faint sound of humming can be heard, a vastly softer version of an old Irish Christmas song.
The woman sighs again and taps her nails noisily on the railing of the bridge before leaning an elbow and glancing down at the people on the sidewalk below. Looks like they had no trouble cleaning up that car accident she caused. And she didn't even show up in the news this time. She narrows her eyes at a figure as it approaches on the sidewalk below. "Oh my. She certainly looks like she needs to stop…Living." Eris turns and heads to the side of the bridge Donna is nearest and descends the stairs, leaning against a mooring post to watch the other woman as she approaches.
"o/~ Ooooon Christmas Day in the mo-or-ning~…" comes the woman's thready voice as she draws closer to Eris, glancing her way and bobbing her head. "And… a merry Christmas… to you, miss…" she says, her voice carrying a noticeable brogue, even between the frequent pauses for breath. With that salutation, she continues on her way… wherever that may happen to be.
Eris flashes a bright smile at the woman when she offers her a greeting, but the woman's eyes belie her expression. "A merry Christmas, hmmm? Yes…Thank you, miss. Tell me, are you feeling alright? You look a little…" She pauses to glance the woman up and down, "Like you're going to spread whatever you have to the general populace. Bad for taxes, you know." Despite the unfriendlyness of the words, Eris keeps her voice sounding quite chipper. Making unfortunate people feel worse about themselves is one of her favorite things to do.
"Oh… not to… worry," the woman replies, only now creeping past Eris at a frankly glacial pace. "It's not… catching… just… congenital. Sort of like… acting… a sneery ponce…. wouldn't you say…?" Not once has her voice dipped below cheery, conversational politeness, but the back half of her words, delivered with a brief, hard glance over her shoulder. "Now… if you're not… askin' money for a toss… do run along…. there's a love."
"A sneery ponce…" Eris seems to be deciding if the woman has just insulted her or not. She glances down the street to see if perhaps her friend from last night has turned up at all, but it seems he hasn't. The woman turns back to where she assumes Donna should be by now but realizes that the woman is much slower than she had thought. "Asking for money? My dear, I can MAKE money." There is a quick snap of the fingers and a ruby rose appears in her left hand. A moment later it crumbles into glittering dust and is cast to the ground. And as for running…Well I suppose a leisurely stroll would seem a blur to someone like you."
"How lovely," the woman murmurs, though now her voice has become a touch more frosty. "Then… I assume… you simply whore… for the fun of it…?" Ten feet, now, separate her from Eris, growing inch by inch.
Eris laughs at this remark and claps her hands together. It is not a friendly laugh. "Whore myself? Oh no. What I do for fun is…Well you see I try to make the world a better place for those who deserve it." She is walking now, moving slowly toward Donna, though she is still closing the distance. "Who might that be you ask? Well obviously the superior species…Those people most would call "Mutants"." She makes little air quotes as she says this, maneuvering one hand from this position as a crystal sword appears to grow out of the air. She stops walking for a moment and leans on the blade. "And I would say that you are a…Particularly worthless looking human. My instincts tell me you should be culled from the herd."
"Isn't that precious," the woman says, breathiness falling away from her voice, the scorn just loud enough to be heard, as the shadows seem to… quiver… just a bit near her. "Hear that?" she says, tipping her head back, apparently addressing the sky. "'Superior species,' she says… Oh, pull the other one already." Straightening her back, she turns to face Eris, leaning on her cane in subtle mockery of Eris' posture, visible eye flickering up and down Eris' body.
Eris grins. The look on her face is one of grim excitement. She laughs and raises the sword a couple of inches, tapping the ground with a loud clinking noise. The ground before Eris cracks and an array of crystal spines erupt from the ground about five feet behind Donna. They are too far off to cause any damage to the woman, but that path is now blocked. A jogger who happened to be coming from that direction decides now would be a good time to go home. "I am a bit surprised. Most people run at this point…Granted I suppose when faced with fight or flight your only option it to stand your ground, eh?" Eris leans on the sword with one hand and checks her nails on the other hand, almost as though the woman's answer doesn't really matter to her.
"Well," the woman answers, taking up the cane and holding it out to her side, sketching a fencer's salute, and a courtly bow. "Unless you've got your brains in your arse, you've probably noticed… I'm *not* most people, myself, now, am I?" Glancing to one side and the other, the woman takes note of the fleeing jogger, nodding once in satisfaction. "So… This is the New York Superfight thing I've heard of? How do we do this, then?"
Eris seems pulled out of some thought by the other woman's response. She glances over and stand up straighter now, no longer leaning on the cane. "Ah it would appear that you are not normal, are you?" Eris ponders for a moment and nods. "Yes well…I could use the exercise. And you look like the less desirable type anyway." She glances at Donna as though she is looking at a particularly ugly carpet. "Well the super fight can be dangerous to those around us. I have no qualms with causing a major disturbance, but I can escape much faster than you if authorities should arrive." Eris places a single finger to her chin as though thinking again. "Granted, there is a rather void battle platform right there." She removes the finger and simply points up. The two are not far from the Intrepid, the massive ship looming beside them light a shadow in a shadow.
"As you like, then," the woman says, a small, bright smile beginning to grow on her face. Tucking the cane under one arm, she drops into a crouch, and launches herself in a surprisingly rapid sprint toward the bridge. However, as she passes under a particularly deep shadow, she seems to grow indistinct, then disappear, as though the shadows had reached out and enveloped her entirely.
Eris quirks a brow as she sees the woman dart off. "Well, that was a bit unexpected." She does notice that the woman seemed to vanish into the shadow. She cannot decide yet if that was some trick or an aspect of the woman's ability. Eris shrugs and walks toward the water, "Well I suppose I shall find out soon enough." She moves toward the ship and hops over the railing into the river, landing on a crystal spire growing out of the water to greet her. The pillar grows up to be level with the flight deck before Eris leaps off, allowing the crystal behind her to break apart and fall back into the river.
"Oi!" calls the woman's voice behind Eris, "took you long enough!" Where once the slight, pale stranger was bundled in an array of cold-weather clothing, now she seems dressed much less appropriately for the occasion; thigh-high boots, a sleeveless leotard, and tight elbow-length gloves, all in black. The only color found in her outfit, a crimson leather half-moon skirt, and similarly-colored soldier's beret. Around her waist, clinking quietly in the light wind, are wound an array of chains, binding a thick iron book to her hip. "You want I should do you a solid, and let the old folks' home know to send for you?"
Eris turns and glances at the other woman bemusedly before smirking and walking over toward a jet sitting off to her left. She removes her duster and hangs it on a missile head before returning to face her opponent once more. Eris is wearing a solid black outfit that may be one piece. Her boots are tall and come up over the pants. She swings the sword up and points it at Donna. "No thanks, dear. I'll call the morgue for you, though." Eris spins quickly and flings an arm forward, casting a crystal throwing star the size of a dinner plate at the other woman.
As an opening volley, it's clear Eris' opponent doesn't think much of the giant throwing star. The moment the ridiculously huge weapon leaves the mutant's hand, Donna steps to one side, a heavy, black metal ball attached to a long chain falling from… somewhere… to clang onto the deck, several coils wrapped round her fist. In a similar movement to Eris', she turns, flinging an arm out and sending the heavy ball arcing outward, cracking against one of the star's points and sending it careening across the deck. "…Guess they *do* grow 'em pretty and stupid in America… shame, really. C'mon, you tawdry bint, that *can't* be all you got!"
Eris seems generally unimpressed. "Pretty yes. Stupid…Well also yes. But I trained in Japan, not in America. And of course that's not all I've got. You think I'd come in close without knowing what you can do?" That last attack didn't really give Eris too great of an idea what this woman can do yet, though. She'll attempt another long distance attack and see if she can learn anything more. "Besides, why come in close when I can get you from afar?" The woman steps forward a few feet and holds up her empty hand. Her fingernails extend rapidly like thin spears made of diamond.
The extending fingernails prompt Donna to move… but not away from the oncoming attack. Instead, she crouches low, and leaps forward, covering the distance between the two in long, ground-eating strides, ducking between two of the spears and sending the heavy sphere out again toward one of the crystal shafts, its trailing chain singing as it unwinds from her fist.
The ball strikes the extended nail and causes Eris's entire arm to shift in the direction it was struck. There is an audible clicking noise as the struck nail breaks off and then clatters to the ground so that the woman can swing her arm back. The spears are retracted in an instant and her sword is brought up as her opponent approaches. Once she is close enough to Donna, Eris will attempt a spinning slash of the weapon, aiming a downward strike at the other woman's shoulder.
In the sky, if one were paying attention, a shimmering reflection of the lights of the city would be floating in the sky. Kalindi peers down from her floating disc of gold, spotting the shimmer of some crystal down below. She peers about before seeing two women fighting. Kalindi hops off the disk, which immediately attaches itself to her arm and reforms into a shield, falling down onto the deck with a loud but practiced landing. She keeps equidistant from both the women and demands, in her strange accent, "What is happening here?"
Donna drops into a baseball slide as Eris swing arcs down, passing in front of her nose by a hair's breadth. "Oi! You're gonna put someone's eye out with that!" However, now that they're close enough to swing, Donna raises a hand, and pulls another trick from her bag; middle and ring fingers bend in to touch her palm, thumb pointed downward and with an eerily reverberating cry of ErstaunenBolzen!! a wide fan of electricity sprays outward in Eris' direction, almost exactly resembling the lightning wielded by a fictional-but-infamous Emperor before his headlong plunge into Death's arms. Kalindi's demand distracts her, however, and her head snaps around, staring at Kalindi with wide, furious eyes.
Eris curses as the sword misses it's target and turns her free hand toward Donna as she ducks down. The mutant is about to send another array of crystal nail spears directly into her opponent's face when that electrical spell goes off. Eris cries out and stumbles back a couple of feet before falling to one knee. "What the hell was that? A lightning user?" She stays down on one knee, leaning on her sword as she glances over at Kalindi. That woman…Has she met her before? Maybe. "What are you doing here? Can't you see I'm…Entertaining company?"
Kalindi looks towards Eris and says, "I am here because I am here. I had seen what was happening, so I came to see what the…" And then Kalindi trails off, looking quickly towards Donna, eyes widening slightly, raising her free hand a bit defensively. "I… am not meaning to interfere with things, here."
Donna's lip curls, as recognition dawns in Kalindi's eyes. Glancing from Eris to the Hindi, her hand clenches around the chain, producing a grating, grinding sound. "…Looks like we'll have to try again another time," she says to Eris, eyes locked on the newcomer. "Thought I'd have a proper holiday here, but, I guess there's just no telling when work'll follow on your footsteps, eh?"
Eris manages to get to her feet. She tilts her head curiously as she looks from Kalindi to Donna and back again. "You…Know each other?" Eris looks over Kalindi again, "Yes I believe I have seen you around Mutant Town before, haven’t I?" She motions toward Donna, "I do not think this woman is one of us. She spoke a word before using her ability. It may be some form of spellcraft. Nothing I haven't seen before…" Eris looks back at Donna now and smiles, "And don't think you can brush me off that easily. Especially now that I know what you can do. That little static shock won't work again. Funny little property of diamonds, you see." The woman holds a hand out in front of her so that Donna can see as her fingertips turn to diamond. The transformation spreads up her arm, vanishing beneath her clothing as the transformation moves along her body.
"I do not know what you are talking about, but I bear you no ill will," says Kalindi to Donna, keeping her hand raised defensively, "But if you approach me any further, I will be forced to strike." To Eris, Kalindi says, "I do not recognize her, but I recognize her energy. She is bound to a very powerful being, you must be careful. And yes, you have seen me in mutant town, and there has been many times when I have fought those who were trying to harm its people." Her eyes shift back to Donna and she transforms the shield into a more meshy texture that touches the floor, grounding it.
"Yeah, he'd like to *think* that," Donna snarls, glancing from Eris to Kali, and back. "…And here I was, just looking for some me time. Well… shit." Electricity arcs up and down her body, as she fixes her attention on a point between the two women. "You get a free pass this time, *thrall,*" she snarls at Kalindi, bringing her hands up to her chest. "Don't expect another when I see you again." Her hands thrust skyward, voice rising in an echoing cry. Senden Sie meine Feinde in die Tiefen der Holle … GEWITTER AUSBRUCH!!
As the final word resonates in the night sky, the heavens part, and a bolt of lightning as thick across as a human being slams onto the deck of the USS Intrepid, causing an ear-shattering explosion centered directly between Eris and Kalindi, and bathing the area in a blinding white radiance.
Eris quirks a brow before the transformation causes her head and face to become diamond along with the rest of her body. "Thrall? Is that some sort of…" Before she can finish the question the lightning strikes. The radiance from that bolt causes the visible parts of Eris's body to sparkle magnificently for a moment before the light dies down. The woman holds up her arm as though to shield her eyes, though the light just passes right through her. The sound she cannot block out, however, the sound wave resonating through her entire body and causing her to take several steps back.
Kali seems annoyed at being called 'thrall', and her eyes shift momentarily toward Eris when she speaks. As the lightning strikes, part of the mesh becomes solid again to protect Kali's eyes from the blinding light, while her hands raise to her ears to protect against the sound.
"What the hell!? Did you see that? Bob! I think lightning just struck the flight deck!" There's a voice from down below coming up one of the stairwells. It seems that at least one of the guards has finally noticed that something abnormal is going on. There's a slight commotion down that stair followed by some tentative sounding footsteps.
When the glare of the lightning dies away, the pale, black-haired woman is… gone. Whether she slipped away in the confusion, threw herself over the side, or simply teleported away, is unclear… all that is clear, however, is that there is an irregular circle of red-hot metal, *pink*ing as it cools, and no visible sign of its creator.
After a few moments Eris drops her diamond form and shakes her head as though trying to clear her ears still. "Well that was fun. And now she's gone and run away." Eris looks around quickly but sees nothing suspicious. "She looked like some sick hunched up woman and then BAM! Attacked me out of nowhere." That's how she'll tell it anyway. And now there's the sound of some guards approaching. "Well that's a bother…Suppose they'll want us to leave." Eris glances at Kalindi, "It sounded like she wanted to go after you more than me. Sure you don't know her?"
Kalindi furrows her brow slightly, "I do not know her personally. She is bound to a creature known as Shuma-Gorath, an ancient demon, terrible and powerful. This is what I know." Kalindi's mesh unforms and wraps around her like jeweler, making her appear more like a civilian than a warrior. "I sensed it just looking at her, the scent of the demon is strong. I do not know what she wants with me, or why, but I suspect that it is not good." Kalindi looks directly at Eris and says, "Please be careful if you see her again. I suspect she may cause problems."
The sound on the stairwell grows until two men in security uniforms appear on the deck. They stop for a moment before, "H…Hey! You ladies shouldn't be up here! What was that sound? And…Oh what happened to the deck!?"
Eris nods and glances around again as though expecting the woman to reappear. "I'll keep that in mind. Though if it's just electricity then I should be able to keep pretty safe in diamond form. Also she seemed much more interested in you than in me, so I don't think I'll be a major target just yet. I think you might be the one who'll want to watch her back." The men pop up above the flight deck and Eris's sword vanishes into glittering dust. "What? Oh we were just…Got separated from a tour group? And lightning! It struck the ship! The oddest thing really."
When Eris tells Kalindi to watch her back, the young woman just gives Eris a nod of acknowledgement of that fact. Kalindi confirms simply to say, "Yes. It was lightning. I came up here to check on this woman here." Even though everything Kalindi says is true, that doesn't mean that the words aren't deceptive in their own way. "Pow. Boom. Lightning, yes?"
The men seems a bit more concerned with the fact that the flight deck was struck by lighting than the fact that there are people sneaking around on the deck. "Um…Maybe you two should get out of here before lightning strikes again. It's maybe not safe up here?" The guard who is speaking does not sound convinced of himself.
Eris nods to Kalindi, seeming to ignore the guards. "I have associates in the Town. If you know where to look you should be able to find me with little difficulty. Find me if you need anything, no?" There is a flick of the wrist and something small and glittering sails through the air to land at Kalindi's feet. It is a crystal card with the word "Envy" punched out of it. Finally the woman turns to the guards, "Yes. A metal ship probably isn't too safe in a lightning storm." She grabs her coat and darts toward the edge of the ship before leaping overboard. If anyone investigates they'll find a series of crystal pillars sticking out of the water here to form a makeshift staircase.
Kalindi nods at Eris and says, "You have my thanks. I will contact you when or if I have need." She takes the card and tucks it away, looking at the men for a moment before she simply walks away, to get off of the flight deck, in a less daring exit.
~ Fin ~