Players:
Summary: Bruce, Kalindi & Vinny run into each other on the street.
Log Title: Falling Snow
Rating: PG
NYC - Mutant Town
Mutant Town, also known as District X, has become a haven for mutants. This section of town doesn't care what you look like, accepting all mutants no matter what their appearance. Most of the businesses in this section of town are mutant run ranging from small convenience stores to clothing shops to restaurants to night clubs. The buildings here aren't the high rise buildings you might find in mid-town but most are about 5-6 stories high. Mutant Town might not be the most luxurious section of town, in fact it's fairly run down, but this section of where mutants are safe and welcomed regardless of race, religion and culture.
Scene
The air is cold and a few flakes of snow have started to fall out of the sky. They are the harbingers of a terrible storm that the news casters keep predicting for the city. The puddles that have built up on the corners of the blocks from all the snowfall have frozen into sheets of ice, it seems that even the road salt isn't enough to keep it melted. Many of the stores in this part of town are closed and gated shut this late at night. The neon signs in their windows still cast multi-colored light onto the sidewalk. A few small places are still open. A corner store that sells beer and lottery tickets, a small Chinese restaurant, and a pub that appears almost empty. Down the street a ways is a row of apartment buildings, many of the lights are still on.
Bruce steps out of the bar and nearly slips on the ice that built up on the stoop. He frowns down at the cement and then looks up at the sky, letting the flakes of ice land on his face as they fall out of the sky. Damn winter. The sky is always overcast and the lights from the city reflect off the clouds. It's been months since he's seen the stars. He sighs and tips his head back down, hunching down into his coat as he begins to walk to the north.
Vinny emerges from said corner store and slings a small knapsack over one shoulder as he nods back in to the man at the counter. "Thanks mate, pleasure doing business with you." He steps out onto the sidewalk and looks skywards a moment at the falling snow. Even with his layer of fur he's had to put a jacket on in this weather. "Don't think I'm ever gonna get used to weather like this.."
As Kalindi descends from the sky on her golden disk, she moves at a pace neither dangerous nor particularly safe, hopping off and turning it into a staff as she lands, sliding quite a ways on a particularly large and slippery patch of ice. This is the second time she's done this, having whirled back around in order to try it again. She looks up when she arrives at concrete (quickly stopping her motion from the added friction and causing her to stumble just slightly). "Hmmm," she starts, looking back towards the patch of ice and then up towards Bruce. She spins the staff in her hand as she walks towards him seeming in good cheer. "Ah, hello. What an ugly evening!" The staff stops spinning and she points up with it, "Even more snow."
Bruce raises his eyebrows as he sees Vinny, offering the other Australian a wave. "Hey there. Seem to keep finding you 'round these parts…Hmm?" He turns to see Kalindi land and scratches his head for a moment. When she comes over and mentions the snow the man sighs and exhales a large bit of steam. "Yeah. I'm soooo excited for it, too." He shakes his head. "You were at Nowhere the other night, right? How you holdin' up? Looks like that kid with all the arms fixed ya up pretty good."
At the sound of Bruce calling to him Vinny turns and smiles "Ah G'day! Yeah well I suppose it's a small part of town eh?" He walks closer in his usual semi-waddling gait and stops as he sees Kalindi on her golden disk. "Well now, that's a new one." He gives a nod to the woman as he approachs the conversation. "Evenin' to ya miss, I think I remember you at the boozer the other night."
"Ah, I do not like snow either, and I want it to be warm very much. This cold, I do not like it!" says Kalindi, though she seems in a positive mood regardless, "And yes, I am feeling very fixed up. All of my normal aches and pains were gone too, like I was good as new. Even soreness from my regular training. Though some of these things are coming back, the major breaks stay gone." She smiles and turns towards Vinny and says, always speaking in her own unusual accent, "It sounds like you two are from maybe the same place. Yes, you saw me there, or I saw you there."
Bruce nods and juts a thumb toward Vinny. "Yeah, he and I are both from Australia, but we didn't know each other before we met that night at the bar." He shrugs slightly, "Seems I see him around all over now," Bruce chuckles and looks over at Vinny, "Granted you do stick out a bit, mate." He hesitates for a moment before speaking to Kalindi again. "You haven't had problems with your attacker again have you? Hate to see that guy resurface."
Vinny grins and nods "Ah yes these rugged good looks are a bit of a curse, but it's somthin' I've learned to live with. No point in stressin' over somthing I can't change really." He looks toward Kalindi with a curious gaze "You got attacked? Not more of those anti-mutant types I hope, though they'd be driven out for good."
"If I see him again, I think I want to stab him in the chest, but I do not know if I will. I will give him a chance to apologize, if he is /really/ apologetic like that lying man says. But I do not think he is. I think he will say I am a 'vedy vedy bad debil woman' again and then he will, eh… try to beat the shit out of me? But I will have my gold next time." Kalindi speaks the last phrase like she's not particularly familiar with it. To Vinny she says, "No, those anti-mutant people, ehhh, I killed them, but then some people from SHIELD said, 'please do not kill them', but it is harder to not kill them! It takes more effort, and then I got strained from the effort, so I left so they did not kill me." She shakes her head and says, "No, I think this man who attacked me is a mutant or someone with powers, I went through him when I tried to punch him. So maybe he is not anti-mutant if he is not a mutant. But he is anti-me."
Bruce quirks a brow as Kalindi talks about this man again. "You went through him when you tried to hit him?" He ponders for a moment. "I knew a boy like that once. He had white hair and glowing eyes. When I attacked him with salt it still hit him, even when he was all invisible and intangible." He glances back to Vinny, "Yeah those shooters were no good. I'm surprised to hear that SHIELD wanted them alive though, I thought they had all that figured out." He taps his foot for a moment. "Well it's probably better to kill them than to let them kill our people." He glances at kalindi's cane, contemplating asking her about her power, but he'll wait for now.
Vinny gives a visible grimace at all the talk to killing. "Well I suppose I can be thankfull it takes a great deal of effort for me to kill somone and usually folks run before it gets to that point. I got no problem with beatin' the tar out of somone, just not willing to cross that line ya know? Get called a monster enough as it is without acting like one."
"Well, this man who I went through, he is a very large black man. A foot and a half taller than me. His kick, just one! It broke my ribs, and he was trying to make me dead. I would feel safer if I made him dead, but I do not like to do that much. If he attacks me again, ehh… nothing I can do," says Kalindi, shaking her head and spinning her staff again between her fingers. Given that it's solid gold, it's probably pretty heavy. To Vinny she says, "Well, one of my men was there, and these killers they came in these robot costumes and killed people. It is again where I think it is them or me. Because they will want to kill me, too, I think?"
Bruce listens to Kalindi and shakes his head. "Hmm, not the guy I was thinkin'. Not familiar with that guy, but maybe he has some strange weakness like Ghost Kid did. Try carrying salt around just in case." He turns over to Vinny and shrugs, "Somethin' I have left over from me years with the RAIC I guess. When there's a bunch of folks shooting machine guns into a crowd of civilians you try to take 'em out as quick as possible. When you've got a power like mine that tends to kill 'em."
Vinny nods again. "Well mine isn't as lethal unless I got a whole lot of it to work with. Usually a few shots and they get the hint and head for the hills. I suppose as my control improves we'll see what happens." He looks over to Kalindi "Hmmm guy sounds familiar, ran into somebody like that when I first got here. Course he was a teleporter I think."
"A teleporter? Did he talk like he was still from Africa, and he likes to talk about God?" asks Kalindi, raising her eyebrow. "But he is a very big man. Maybe he is both of those things? I know one thing for sure. I want to punch him right in the eye." She takes a single swing with her fist into the air, and the fist actually lashes out in a way that looks like it could be painful. She puts her staff on the ground now and leans on it lightly. "I will make sure to carry some salt, though."
Bruce furrows his brow at Vinny. "Water? It's all over the place. You could probably drown people I guess. Probably about as effective as my sand." He still has no idea who this person is they're talking about. "Ah, so he's god crazy? Did he attack you for not believing in his deity?" He shakes his head. "Seriously, as if we don't have enough to worry about. To think he'd attack his own people over something stupid like that."
Vinny nods "Well for somthing like that even if I wanted to attempt it I'd need alot more than I can get easily in this settin'. Can't control snow or ice, would have to break a Hydrant or somthin' to make it work. Even than that's a bit of finer manipulation than I'm used to."
"That is the crazy thing!" says Kalindi, gesturing to herself and tapping on her chest, "He thought I was the /devil/ is what he said! I do not even believe in the devil!" She rolls her eyes and shakes her head, "Stupid. Stupid man."
Bruce shrugs at Vinny. "You'll get it down eventually." Apparently trying to encourage the other man and inspire him to learn how to drown people. Turning back to Kalindi he makes a confused face. "He thought you were…The devil? Do you have an ability that would lead him to believe you are the devil? Maybe like…Growing black wings or breathing fire?"
Vinny looks between the two and chuckles "Thankfully I've never been called a demon. Well I best be movin' on, gettin' a bit too cold out here even fer me so it's time to head home. Nice to see ya both again and I'm sure we'll run into each other again."
Kalindi says, "Well, I do some things with my powers," bending her staff over in half, and then using a scissor motion of her fingers to cut it in two, "And he did not even see me use my powers then, I do not think. It is maybe because I am the adopted daughter of an otherworldly being. Who is /not/ the devil." She sticks the staff back together and offers to Vinny a wave, "Goodbye to you."
Bruce offers a wave to Vinny. "See ya around, mate. Stop by the pub sometime and I'll buy ya a beer, eh?" He turns back to Kalindi in time to see her trick. "Interesting. Is that with any metal or just your staff?" He seems slightly confused about the otherworldly being comment. "Like…An alien?"
"Well, some would say 'demon', but I think it is not the best word. There are meanings to that. He is a magical thing who I share a soul with, and I love him like a father, and he loves me like a daughter, so I say I am his daughter, but I usually try to make it clear I do not necessarily mean biologically! But it is a bond that is not biological and real," explains Kalindi, kind of awkwardly, before she spins the staff once more. "Gold. It is with gold where my control is put."
Bruce nods slightly as he listens to the girl speak. A demon, eh? He's not too sure he believes that. Bruce wonders if perhaps this woman is merely confusing a mutant with something else, but he won't mention this thought to the girl just yet. "Interesting. And gold is…Probably a difficult resource to come by. I can see why you may not always have it on your person."
"Well, I have several hundred pounds of it, but I do not always carry it all. Most people they cannot lift it even if I do. That day, I was to come without weapons to talk to a contact, because he is paranoid, but I know I can trust him from other deals we make," explains Kalindi, shaking her head. "So that day, I had none of it, not even an earring."
Bruce nods. "Yeah well I'd never go anyplace without a weapon." He ponders for a moment, "Granted I suppose I am never without a weapon. Just the way my powers work." He holds up a hand in front of him and turns it into sand. After a moment it returns to normal. "Though I try to keep a bit of it hidden around the city in case I need it." If Kalindi saw the news reports from that attack on Mutant Town, she would have seen Bruce in the form of a several story tall sand Dingo.
Because of prior conversations with Bruce, and from watching the news, Kali knows who he is. But does not much care. Kalindi watches as Bruce's hand turns from sand and back and then nods, "Yes, sand is very common and very good to have! With gold, all that you can do is whatever you have with you. Sometimes others will wear jewelry, but I will not take it unless it is necessary." She crosses her arms and says, "But in Mutant Town, at that festival or carnival, I would have rather had quantity so I could make all of my enemies squash flat instead of going one by one and popping them like big dumb pimples. Even though that is not good for your skin."
Bruce chuckles a bit at Kalindi's remark. "Yes well…Unfortunately if you have too much of the material you work with it just makes you a much bigger target. At least, that's what I learned." He shrugs and shivers slightly. "Well, I should probably get headin' home soon. Dog's gotto be worried that I haven't come home yet."
With one final swirl of the staff, Kalindi forms it into a disc and tosses it onto the ground. "I suppose that you are right about that. They still targeted me, but not a very great much." She steps onto it and nods at Bruce, "You stay safe here. If these shooters, eh, they try to shoot you. Make them die. Have a good night."
Bruce offers the girl a wave. "Ah yeah. If they try to shoot me they'll die alright. Granted if they're still around I think they know better than to try that on me." He offers a crooked smile and turns to head North again. "I'll see ya around."
Kalindi nods once and flies straight up and then away, back to her own neighbourhood. Mutant Town is always a nice place to visit.
~ Fin ~
