Players:
Summary: Union Square weekend activities are disrupted by angry protesters and twitchy gang members.
Date: May 7, 2011
Log Title: Lemme Break It Down
Rating: PG-13
NYC- Union Square
Always bustling with life is Union Square, with its large statue of George Washington standing in the center. Live music, dancers, artists, activists, vendors, and more can all be seen here on a daily basis. There are even some tables set up for chess games. The Green Market can be found here, selling fresh fruit, breads, vegetables and other farm products. Union Square has more of a younger feel as most the kids who hang out here have that artistic, indie look to them, making Union Square one of the more open minded parks in the city.
Typical Saturday early afternoon in Union Square. There's a live band playing at the top of a set of stone stairs while soloists are scattered about the area. Dancers, artists, and vendors are littered about the large open space amongst trees and fountains. The outdoor market is of course swarmed with people and nearby to that the quieter sort sit playing a game of chess in an area setup to allow many games to run at once.
Somewhere near the market wearing a dark grey t-shirt, cargo shorts and high top sneakers is Tony Stark. He's walking along staying clear of the crowds with his dog at his side. She's very distracted by everything going on though keeping close to her owner who has taken to putting on his sunglasses. They've come to a stop near a pair of teens who are break dancing to tunes belted out from an overly large boombox.
Joan's outfit is whimsical today, and very spring-like. A pale yellow top that's snug up top, a tad revealing as spring wear can often be these days, and billowy around the hips. Snug, white jeans that would show her ankles excepting for the fact her tall sneakers cover those. And those sneakers themselves are covered entirely in opalescent spangles that shimmer and gleam in rainbows as they catch the light. Soft pink ribbons instead of laces too! Her hair color too has changed color. It's a bright yellow that's no where near a natural blond. Streaked with hints of dark too. With a recycling bag in hand, the woman is in the market picking out fresh veggies. Dinner always tastes better with these. There's laughter as she jokes around with a vendor. Money is eventually exchanged and a plastic bag of veggies goes into that larger bag. Which is of course soon shouldered.
This being a weekend with a test, Mike Drakos has not gone back home to be with his parents. As Tony and his arm-candy-du-jour (not a human this time) are watching the two teens dancing, Mike is also; he's looking very much average late-teens kid, thanks to image inducer technology, leaning against a post watching the dancing. Of course he's actually trying to break it down into movement sets so he can program it and use it later in P.E. to either impress or annoy his training partners.
Out and about in the square is a young rat girl, dressed up once more in her gothy outfit. A black corset hugs her tightly, while a damage black skirt slit up each side hangs about her hips and legs. Tall black boots and matching gloves festooned with straps and buckles complete her outfit; but at least she hasn't pierced every square inch of her face. She draws a lot of looks as she passes groups of people, and likely not from her outfit. Tabitha keeps her eyes straight ahead, and whistles tunelessly as she walks, though her large ears twitch every time someone nearby whispers a comment about 'the freak'. Eventually, she comes to a stop near tbe break dancers, and hefts the teddy-bear backpack that hangs over her right shoulder as she watches.
The freak could be quite a few people around the square like the gentleman with full body tat's or the man hanging a cinder block from his nipples at the moment, or it could in fact be a comment made towards the goth chique Tabitha. The break dancers are drawing quite a crowd away from the other acts littering the square and as such thier open case is filling with small bills offered as tips for putting on a good show. Tony spots Mike across the way and offers a wave if the teen catches sight of him before he's pulling out his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans to toss a rather large bill into the case. Athena has no idea what's going on as she sits there listening to everything around her with her tongue lolling about.
It's Tabitha that draws Joan's eye, and for the same reasons that other people call the teen freak. Now, Joan doesn't say anything, but she sure stares. Mostly because that outfit is painful to the woman. Although, if Tabitha draws by Joan there's a smile for the teen and not a discouraging word. "Where did you get your boots?" Yep, totally ignoring the whole rat part. Okay, Joan likes the boots. Totally hasn't spotted Tony and his dog yet, but then Tony is trying not to be noticed. As she doesn't know Mike, well, yeah.
Tabitha's ears perk up, and she tilts her head to look sideways. It takes a moment before she figures out it was Joan who was talking to her. "Ohh… me? These boots?" She shrugs her shoulders lightly. "I got the at a store in Salem Mall actually… can't remember what the place was called off the top of my head." She shrugs her shoulders, and adopts an impish grin. "I kinda got into goth stuff by accident, but… now that I'm wearing it, I like it."
Mike returns the wave with an attempted teenage-cool salute and a silent (to most) "Hello, Mr. Stark," sent as an AM signal on the bluetooth frequency. He's been watching Tabitha as well, huzzah for multiprocessing! and is cross-checking some databases he probably shouldn't really have, to see if she's someone he should know. Ah. There she is. New student at Barnes, cool. Will have to stop over there once this dance set finishes. Wow, the girl dancer is making the boy dancer look weak. And that odd little hopping thing balanced on one arm and one leg behind the back, definitely not going to be able to pull that off. Arms won't bend that way.
A beautiful, warm spring day was just too much for Star to resist. She's slipped away from the school without telling anyone (especially not her brother!) and just wanders around Union Square, enjoying the music and window shopping for the most part. The young empath is dressed in a long, light weight denim sundress that swirls around her ankles as she walks. For once, she's doing a fair job of keeping calm in the crowd, though she does do her best to keep to the fringes where she won't have too many people to contend with. Then a younger teenager bumps into her from behind and sudden panic flairs around her, "Holy shit!" She spins around, ready to lash out in defense, only to find the kid already gone. A fierce blush floods her cheeks and she looks around to make sure no one else saw her freak out, "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, after all…"
Replying, "It's nice to see you again Mike. How're you fairing?" To anyone around either gentleman it would appear as if they were simply watching the show rather than speaking to one another across the crowd. Having stood here for sometime watching the girl dance circles around the boy Tony slips into the crowd heading over towards the market with his dog in tow. "I'm out enjoying the sun for once. If you want to join me I'm passing through the market on the way to see what the artists are up to."
Joan is nice. She doesn't tell her opinion on the outfit. "Salem.. That's north, right? I'll have to go check it out. Thanks." There's a pause and the woman looks briefly uncomfortable. "How do you fit that tail through things?" So totally curious, but not wanting to be rude. Motions hands in an apologetic manner. "Do you modify things yourself?" Another pause. "Oh, I'm sorry. Here I am yabbering away. I'm Joan. I won't hold you up if you have to be somewhere." She's old after all! The teen might have somewhere else to be!
Oh hello, there's a small knot of freakout in the crowd. Mike's left eyebrow raises as he focuses on it… ah, someone let Star go out in public without a keeper and without a tranquilizer. But how do you just walk up and say "calm down" to a girl you killed, even if she really needed it because she was all zombified?
Flashback over, Mike moves fluidly and a bit too quickly towards Star, closing in with a large image-induced toothy grin.
"Star! How you been, haven't seen you in dogs years!" Yes, he did use that term. Hanging around his parents and their ancient friends will rapidly destroy any teenager's ability to use the correct slang. Or maybe he meant it ironically.
Mike starts to send Tony a "Classes are going well, Mom's getting better," but Star's predicament interrupts his train of thought, and he sends a fast, "oops, xschoolfriendhavingminorpowerissuebebackshortly."
Tabitha laughs, and shakes her head. "No, it's alright," she replies, as she waves a hand dismissively. "You haven't called me a freak or demanded that I vacate the area, so it's cool. I don't mind questions." She pauses, searching for words. "I uhh… well, I've been getting help from someone at school who's good at that sort of thing. I do have to have a hole for my tail, yeah. Otherwise I just have to have my pants or skirt halfway down my butt, and then they tend to fall off." The insides of her ears color as she blushes. "And, it's Tabitha. Good to meet you, Joan."
"Woah!" Someone's moving entirely too quickly in Star's direction and the girl jumps, turning to look at this total stranger that's just rushing towards her. A stranger that knows her name? "Um… Hi." It takes her a moment to recognize the voice as someone that she once knew and she blinks a couple of times, "Wait… Mike?" She gives a tentative little smile, "I, uh… I didn't recognize you." Last time she saw him, he was full on robot; now he looks like a real boy! How times change when you go from a horrifying other dimension to the real world… She gives a tentative little smile, nervousness still billowing around her, "I'm… Well, I'm alive, anyway." She's just jumpy as hell, "How've you been?"
Not too far in the distance across the square towards where the statue of George Washington resides there are people mobilizing for a protest on the recent events that have occurred in the city relating to the crooked police, and the rise in the trafficking of drugs. Most protests go off without a hitch though there is always a moderate police presence to keep the peace.
Stark acknowledges the message from Mike as he speaks incredibabble himself so he goes back to cruising the market. What are these green things anyway? Or that bizarre vegetable that looks like a musical instrument? Is any of this even edible? Ah-ha! A beeline is made towards a vendor who is making gyro's of all things. Gyro in hand Tony feeds a piece of lamb meat to his dog then spots Tabitha speaking to…Joan? Nah, can't be.
"Some people are just plain rude." Joan shakes her head about some calling Tabitha names and telling her to leave. Looks a might sheepish for that Tabitha doesn't mind questions. "I figure there's no point in ignoring the obvious." Which doesn't bother her in and of itself. Pants hanging off. "Like those boys with their jeans around their knees?" Even motions walking like a penguin briefly as she grins. "Like in Mary Poppins." There was a great dance scene there about that. The dog soon catches her attention and Joan looks over. Not often people bring dogs here. There's soon a curious look. Is that someone she knows? She shifts her attention back to Tab and apologizes, "Sorry, he looks familiar."
Tabitha chuckles, "Yes, exactly like boys with pants so low down you can see their underwear. I don't know how they think that's attractive. Turns me right off, that's for sure." She clasps her hands behind her back, and stretches lightly. As Joan looks over at someone, the rat girl tilts her head to look in the same direction. "Oh, him? Yeah, he looks familiar alright. I know him." She shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly. "You might have seen him on TV. He's… Oh, I dunno. Mildly famous."
The protest thing starting up means traffic on the police bands, so Mike spins off a mental process to listen for anything untoward there. Meanwhile, Star seems jumpier than usual. The calming thing is to …hm. Food and perhaps a quieter place for a moment. (An irrational thought goes through his head proving that the robot kid isn't hopelessly inhuman yet: he has a vivid flash to a comic where a mad scientist made "calming pies" that were administered facially. This causes him to have to stifle a laugh.)
"Hey, would you like something to eat? It'd be easier to catch up and we could move out of the crowding a bit?"
Mildly famous? This sinks in and recognition dawns. Joan's shoulders slump a little as she admits, "I do too." Straightening, the smile returns and she rolls her eyes upwards. "I think I was the last one in the city to meet the man. Are you friends?" Curious there. "Let's go say hi." Brightening some, she turns herself around and heads towards Tony. Does pause to look back at Tabitha though. Coming? "You have a dog?" Asked of Tony once she's in easy speaking range. Doesn't pounce the dog or anything, but will sink down into a crouch and offer her fingers to Athena. "Hey, baby. Aren't you a pretty thing?" Baby talk to the dog of course, and a warm tone.
Star is starting to calm down a little, though it does take her a bit. She frowns a little at the stifled laugh, but doesn't question it. The invitation to get something to eat has her smiling a little and she nods, "Yeah, sure. I could use a bite, anyway." And the thought of getting away from the crowd is just wonderful. Then she won't have to worry about making everyone else freak out when she gets startled.
Signs are pulled out of various cars, people are coming up from the Union Square subway station carrying signs as well that blast the way the NYPD has been operating as of late. Between Toad Juice, MGH and Kick, missing mutants and rampaging sand monsters the citizens are more than a little frustrated and are here to make their voices known. Sitting across from the protesters is a rather angry looking group of people of various ages gazing upon all in the square as if they're encroaching on theirspace. Could also be in part due to the fact that many of them are drug dealers, and gang members to a local chapter that resides in the Bronx.
Gryo near decimated Tony finds himself set upon by Ms. Sunshine and Miss Gloom. Athena is the first to react as she takes a step back for a moment then nudges forward to sniff at Joan's fingers. The human smells ok so she leaves her alone in favor of barking at Tabitha in a playful manner. There's even a little bow with a wagging tail as she knows Tabitha. "Hello, ladies." Tony chuckles. Fancy pants?
There's laughter as Athena licks her fingers and turns to bark at Tabitha. Joan pets the dog briefly and rises to her feet to give Tony a smile. "We seem to have strange luck in running into one another." Tabitha isn't the only one who knows him. "How have you been?" Joan trails off at that point as she catches a hint of the angry voices and shifts her attention there. "What is going on?" Asked even though those around her likely don't know either. Stands up on her toes to try and get a better look. Not that this helps much. "Was something planned for today?"
And there's no cars. Mike takes Star to the Gyro place, because, well, he's half Greek when he was human, and if he can't have one himself, at least he can introduce Star to the wonder that is compressed, roasted, and shaved spiced lamb in a pita with amazing yogurt and cucumber sauce. And there's Tony AND Tabitha AND someone he doesn't know, and Tony has a dog with him. Wait, would meeting Tony Stark make Star more or less nervous? Well, he's going to buy the gyro sandwich first.
"Sorry, none for me. Fasting. But she's allowed," he says to the Greek vendor. Yes, in Greek. No, it's technically NOT a fasting day, but there are exceptions.
Tabitha locks eyes with Athena, and plants her hands on her hips. "No chewing on my skirt," she admonishes in a tone of mock-severity. "Or my ears… and especially not my tail." She giggles softly as she straightens, and bobs her head to Tony. "I see you're out with your chick-magnet again," she observes as she once more adopts the impish grin. "Seems to be working too, you've got a couple of chicks hanging around you, paying more attention to Athena than to you." She pauses, and her ears flick before she turns to look over her shoulder. "Oh. That doesn't look overly good," she observes. "Err… Joan, not to be overly forward, but… what's your ability, if you don't mind my asking? As a mutant, I mean."
Following along with Mike, Star keeps an eye on everyone around them. She's willing enough to try something new, and since Mike seems to be buyng, she'll go along with having a Gyro. Her brows rise a little at the sight of Tony and she gives him a little wave, "Hi, Mr. Stark." She might not be entirely at ease around the billionaire, but she does know him, apparently. And there's someone else she knows, too! She gives Tabitha a smile, "How're you doing, Tabitha?" Kind of hard not to miss the rat girl, after all. She gives Mike a slightly surprised look at the Greek.
The crowd of protesters are beginning their protest peaceably much to the displeasure of the nearby gang members, and the police are unfortunately trapped in between the two groups. Fortunately for the rest of Union Square this is a pretty typical sight so no one pays much attention to what is going on some distance from the outdoor market.
"We do," Tony finds amusement in this while settling down Athena. "I've been alright for the most part, Joan. Thank you for inquiring." Amazingly Tony has remembered her name and mentions that he was unaware of a protest being organized for today. Athena seems to attract quite a crowd because she's an adorable one year old puppy but her owner is distracted by the fact that Tabitha's pretty much outed something about Joan that he hadn't known. An eyebrow quirks up from behind his shades at Joan then he's greeting Star whom he hasn't seen in ages. "Hey kid. Nice to see you again."
That look of surprise from Star would get a laugh and an explanation from Mike but he's paying attention to too many threads at once and his expressiveness has dropped a bit.
To Tony, "I heard you knew every woman in the city, but I thought it was just a rumor," by way of that radio channel from earlier.
From the impending demonstration, a slight increase in the traffic as the police are much faster to respond to even the slightest risk of confrontation than they would have been two months earlier. This has Mike looking around for a car, a golf cart, anything he can use in the very slight chance that something Bad happens and he has to protect people. Not so many of them close by in the farmer's market area.
A nod hello to Tabitha; while they probably don't have classes together, Barnes Academy is small enough that most students have seen one another after a few weeks. And a wince when he realizes that she did say that out loud. Oh well.
And a wary look is turned on Athena. Some sort of instinct says, "that one will chase you."
And that outing has Joan reacting poorly. She starts and stares at Tabitha in shock and outrage. "What?!" There's no real denial, because that seems silly, but that doesn't mean she's happy about it. "Overly forward?! How about smack in the face rude!" Cheeks are coloring, but she doesn't look at anyone else, just gives Tab the stink-eye. "You have to make everyone around you miserable too? Is that it?" She doesn't yell however. Her words are still calm, if firm. No, this doesn't tell what Joan can do, and she's not telling either. Puts hands on hips and continues to look disapproving at Tabitha before she gradually shifts her gaze back to Tony. "Sorry." A shrug and she shifts the bag on her shoulder. Mike and Star get an unhappy look for no reason other than they are standing near at hand.
The rat girl's jaw drops, and she takes a step back in the face of Joan's… rage. Her mouth flaps open and closed as she searches for words, and her ears lay flat aginst her head. "I… I…" She points off towards the protest. "I was just… just asking 'cause of all that… going on over there… and I'm worried we might be defending ourselves in a minute. I didn't imagine I was being rude!" She gives Tony a look that says 'Why me?!' before turning back to Joan. Star's greeting goes unnoticed, for the moment, as does the approach of Mike.
Gyro aquired, Star takes a little bite out of the unfamiliar 'sandwich' and smiles a little at the flavor. She nods at Tony and smiles a little, swallowing quickly, "Yeah. Since Caleb freaked out that one time." That was before she talked to Dr. Parker-Mayfair and learned exactly what her powers are, so it really has been a long time. Then Joan's outrage washes over her and she scowls, turning her attention just on the food in her hands and taking a fierce bite out of it. She shoots a look from Joan to Tabitha and back again, "Can you two just calm down, please? I'm having a hard enough time not jumping at everyone all on my own."
The communicated comment from Mike earns the man a quirky smile. As for any nearby vehicles there are those that are parked hear the square and those that are traveling down the street. The voices of the protesters are growing loud especially toward the officers that are in the area doing their job. The gang members are heckling from their cement perch while trying to instigate a fight with the be-signed ones. The air around the gathering seems to be growing thicker with tension.
Speaking of Tension there is quite a bit about the small gathering in the market. This is not Tony's fight so he remains silent allowing Joan and Tabitha to work this out on their own. That Joan is a mutant? Doesn't phase him in the slightest. "It was not something that should have been blurted out." That's all he has to say on the matter. As for the gathering? "It would be best if you ignored it or carried on to somewhere else." There is concern for Star as she reacts badly to the rise in emotions. Being around Stark is difficult enough but with tempers flaring? "Would you like to walk away from the gathering a bit?" Gestures in the opposite direction of trouble."
"Because what?" A motion off to the protest. "Because you think everyone with an ability is going to jump into a protest and start kicking heads. Honey, you need to stop believing movies are reality, and leave that to people actually trained in how to do those kind of things." Joan's voice still doesn't rise in volume, but the tone is clear. "What if those two groups have every right to be here? You think it's okay to beat up people because of what they believe, or don't like? So no, I'm not telling you. If you want to avoid any trouble we can simply run away." Not like there's a fight yet. "Speaking of that, perhaps we should move." That to the others here, agreeing with Tony. No chiding for the rest of you! Star gets a strange look though as she's shrugging helplessly to Tony. "This is hardly normal for me."
Mike is especially glad at this very moment that Star's power is carried by pheromones, because his own scent, under the monotone 'generic human', is very much 'engine oil' and whatever emotions that might carry are long gone with the dinosaurs, rather than the annoyance he's feeling. He tilts his head at Joan's comment, though.
"Sorry, ma'am, but when you're an obvious mutant, it often doesn't matter how much you want to not be involved, and I suspect that my classmate — Hi, Tabitha, I'm Mike, if you don't remember — I suspect she's had more experience with that than you have. It doesn't hurt to be aware and prepared, and the last time I was at a protest, the ones who came to cause trouble had mutant detectors and were shooting anyone who pinged them. But I agree with the idea that the police should handle it, except that I hear them calling for backup."
He doesn't mention that there is someone here who could, if she were in full control of her power, probably STOP that fight from breaking out simply by standing there and feeling peaceful and tolerant.
The rat's expression shifts from apologetic shock to outrage of her own. Her eyes narrow to slits, and she plants her hands firmly on her hips. "Oh, so that's it, is it? You see a teenager and think obviously I've got my head shoved firmly up the movie industry's ass. Well, no, 'honey', I wasn't planning on going over there and kicking heads, I was thinking about what happens if they start a battle and it comes over here, to us. I don't give a damn who has a right to be where — last time I saw a fight with gang members involved there were bullets flying *everywhere*." She straightens, and crosses her arms. Only then does she notice that there's other people present. "Hi, Star. And hi Mike, I'm Tabitha. Nice to meet you, wish it were better circumstances." She tilts her gaze back to Joan, and perks her eyebrow upwards as she presses her lips into a thin line.
What looked to be a peaceful weekend for once was turning into anything but. "I'd suggest you all hug it out though it won't work." Tony sighs while drawing Athena away from an interesting vendors wares. The taunts have grown louder, the protesters turning from their cause now to dealing with the gang and the officers there. "Drop it. Tabitha shouldn't have blurted out that you," glancing at Joan. "Are a mutant and the rest is something that you all should avoid. If you're wanting of my opinion drop the squabble and just leave before things get out of hand." Proof in point the gang members have gotten up from their cement seating and are approaching the officers from behind while pointing and yelling at the protesters.
Joan said her piece and decides that this is going no where. She lets Tabitha have the last word and merely turns and walks away. If that means she's walking away from the others, well, that happens too. Means she doesn't reply to Mike either. Does lift a hand to motion to Tony, knowing he's right. But the woman doesn't look his way. Going to avoid the crowd that's turning ugly.
Oh, that's not fair. They're totally going to mess up the cops. Mike sends another short-range radio message: "If you want to leave the dog with us while you deal the guys with the prison-wannabe tattoos, I would be happy to stay right here and not get involved, sir."
Since, you know, Avenger assisting police in minor situation, not at all like swatting flies with a planet-buster nuke. But so much better than 'mutant kid getting into BIG trouble fighting with gang bangers."
Tabitha shrugs her shoulders lightly. "Bye then," she mutters, in a dry tone of voice. "I'm going to go get one of those… whatever those are, that people are eating." She turns, and starts off towards the Greek food place. "I hate fighting on an empty stomach," she mutters, before wandering up to the kiosk. Since there isn't much of a line, she can basically just order; and shortly afterwards, she has a Gyro in hand of her own.
"And sometimes you get pulled into bad shit even when you aren't obviously a mutant…" Star sulks a little at that, her voice a low mutter at the memories that comment calls up; fear and anger billowing around her for a moment before she manages to push back the memories and almost reach that calm center her therapist has taught her about. She glances over at the protesters, cops, and gang bangers, her eyes widening a little at the sight, "It looks like things might be about to go bad anyway, though…" She bites her lower lip for a moment and reaches up with her free hand to finger comb her hair for a moment, "Now I'm really glad I didn't bring Cloud with me." Knowing her brother, he'd have insisted on getting right there in the middle of everything and would end up seriously hurt.
Or kidnapped again…
"It may come to that, thank you." This is told to Mike over the short-range communication that is being used to speak with Stark. "Joan, wait." Shrugs in apology to the gathering of teens near him and takes off after the woman he's met a handful of times. Athena bounds beside Tony as they only needed to jog to catch up. "I don't want to leave things as they are. If you honestly want me to piss off and let you be that's fine."
As Tabitha grabs some food the distance between the bickering groups has closed in trapping the police on foot in between them. One loud mouth gets a little too cocky and takes an unintended thwap upside the head from a sign being waved about. That seems to be the impetus to chaos as fists swing around the cops, and signs are now used as defensive weapons. Several horse riding officers have arrived on the grounds attempting to break up the fighting which has not entered the market as of yet, scratch that, a body has flown into a fruit stand.
"For which I am grateful. I like your brother but he has no impulse control," Mike says to Star. He waves politely to the departing Joan, marking her down in his file as "that woman who seems to think nothing can hurt you if you sincerely try to avoid trouble, hope she doesn't find out the truth in a hard way." And then the escalation happens, and someone's gone flying and landed in the fruit. Pray that it wasn't a southeast asian specialties cart and that wasn't a durian that the human projectile has landed in.
Wait? The woman looks back, more sad than angry at this stage. "No, you're fine. And you're right." Joan shrugs, shifting the bag on her shoulder. "Not much I can do with thoughtless teens spilling secrets with no warning." Her attention is shifting between the crowd and where Tony. Still worried about that gathering over there. With good reason as the fists begin flying and that body hits a fruit stand not far away. Joan gasps for it and shifts between it and Tony. "I shouldn't get involved." Said for reasons that have nothing to do with her worried she'll be hurt. "And you should get your dog out of here." Unless it's Krypto in disguise.
Tabitha munches on her Gyro, devouring not less than a third of it in one bite; the debatable benefit of having a muzzle with a much larger mouth than most humans have. The rat girl hovers about away from the group, watching the violence escalate as she rather swiftly destroys the Gyro. She's got just about a quarter of it left, when some poor soul goes flying into the fruit stand. "Oh, shit!" The rat girl drops the remnants of her food, and takes off at a dash — straight towards the fruit stand. "Hey!" she shouts, as she gets close. "Hey, are you okay in there?"
A thin man about middle aged from all appearances is laying unconscious amongst the smashed fruit that cover him like a rainbow colored paste. The vendor is in tears angrily shouting at those nearby until she takes up several pieces of her fruit to pelt those within range. Her stand is ruined as is most of her wares so at least she can get some sort of satisfaction braining people with pears. Pepper spray is out, as are other forms of crowd control as sirens can be heard on approach. Several fighters make their way into the market place swinging wildly as one man goes down falling into Mike as the attackers swing sails for Mike's head since he's there. Tabitha is in a rather bad spot as several members of the angry mob are revealing their abilities to use against each other causing shards of ice, balls of fire and other various interesting things to start impaling the marketplace. Athena is put into a stay, which she will listen to, "This always happens." Tony dodges something coming his way. Clothing tears and slips from his body as metal flows over his body. The remaining pieces of his gear will take a moment to arrive as he had to summon them to him.
A double take as gold flows over Tony. Then eyes wide as fruit goes flying. Thankfully not in her direction. Uh… Joan hesitates at all this. What should she do? "Will the dog listen to me?" Asked of Tony as she seeks to take that leash. "I won't be much help out there. I'd just hurt people, but I can at least watch the dog for you." And clear out of the way for those who can actually do something positive in that mess. Joan does lean down and help up someone who stumbled while trying to flee the event. And if Tony allows she skirts the trouble and gets Athena somewhere safer.
It would probably hurt that man's hand a LOT if he were to land that punch, or worse, scratch Mike's paint, so he simply moves, dodging the swing by what looks like a complete accident, grabbing the man's hoodie and yanking it down to put him on his back on the ground, and then he kneels (dodging some flying fruit) resting one knee on the man's chest.
"You should stop fighting and get out now. They've called in the Avengers," he tells the man, who probably has trouble breathing from the slam and from having 400 pounds of robot knee on his chest. "Or you could keep fighting and I'll break four ribs and your nose for you."
He feels around himself for anyone coming his way, using that 'radar' thing. And sends a quick note off to Barnes, "Protest north of farmer's market at Union turned into a riot, am trying to keep minimal impact. Iron Man is on scene, as are Tabitha Jones, and a Xavier's student, and several other mutants are among the combatants; powers fighting has broken out." SHIELD is probably expecting this though. It seems to happen to their students a LOT.
A bad spot Tabitha might be in; but then 'Bad' is at least occasionally the rat girl's middle name. She's standing there trying to work out if she can help the poor guy in the fruit stand, when a number of things happen in sequence. First, a mushy spear splatters across the back of her head. Against this assault she proves vastly impervious, and her only reaction is an annoyed "Hey!!" As she turns to face the fruit seller, a large shard of ice comes hurtling through the air, and slams straight into Tabitha's back. She staggers forwards a step, and grits her teeth, just as a blast of searing flame engulfs her torso and head. Once the blast lets up, the rat girl stands up straight; her corset is ruined and still smoldering, and smoke rises from her as she turns to face the battle; though she herself seems utterly unhurt. Even her fur has escaped being singed. "Oh, that is IT!" she declares, as she dashes forwards, hops over a park bench, and makes a beeline straight for the man with the fire; and when she reaches him, it'll be her elbow, aimed straight for his gut.
"She will," Tony tells Joan as powers begin to manifest amongst the squabbling and pounding of fists. Leash is transferred over to Joan which has Athena looking between the humans to make certain this was ok. She barks loudly as objects begin to hit nearby and flames begin to alight some of the southern portion of the marketplace stalls. Stepping away from Joan the rest of Tony's armor assembles around him. Once he's square the tips of his fingers open up emitting a fire retardant foam to put out the current fires. After that he takes to the air to hover over those below. With voice magnified to carry over the action below, "Enough. Drop the signs, put away your powers, and clear out." Most are startled though some continue to fight.
Joan nods, takes that leash, and gets the heck out of dodge. Doesn't even notice as some shrapnel hits and tears her shirt across a shoulder. Going to be surprised later when the bag proves destroyed at the handle thanks to that. Doesn't notice because she's oggling that armor. Okay, that's totally cool! And that is a speed bump. Oops. A stagger, a sheepish look to the thing, and she and Athena are out of trouble.
Mike pats the downed man on the cheek as he makes a hurried nodding motion. "Good. Go home."
He stands and scans the crowd … another fight between a ganger and a man selling … what are those rude looking vegetables? … but that's easily dealt with; Mike "stumbles" into the ganger, knocking him backwards but catching his shirt so he doesn't hit the ground hard, and intercepts the very rude vegetable with his owh shoulder; the man was using the vulgar produce to conceal the knife with which he was chopping up said produce to demonstrate it, and that knife, Mike has caught in his other hand.
"Sir, are you all right?" the robot kid asks, looking pointedly at the knife, then looks up. "Oh, look, Iron Man is here. Everyone should stop fighting, right?" He lets the man he caught drop to the ground, and the fellow scrambles away and runs. But he doesn't let go of the knife hand yet.
Of course: Star leaves school without telling anyone and a fight breaks out nearby! There's almost a sense of inevitability about it all. She has no desire to be involved, so makes a very hasty retreat with the other people that are running away. She'll just go shopping another day…
The ice-wielding ganger isn't about to stop fighting, after Tabitha has him bent over double. He straightens, and his fists encase in massive ice gauntless, before he takes a wild swing at the rat girl. "Bitch!" he shouts, as she ducks under his fist and it leaves a big dent in a lamp post. His next swing misses as well, and slams into the hood of a car; the horn goes off and then dies, in a piteous "Bwweeeep" sound. Tabitha steps to the ganger's side, and aims a kick at his kidney, followed by a series of swift punches to the solar plexus and a last one to the man's chin.
The rat girl backs off a step, and points upwards. "Time to give up. Look who" The rat's instructions are cut off as she's yanked backwards, and sprawls out on her back. Two more gang members stand over her, one sporting tentacles from his back, and the other simply wielding a handgun. The latter fires his weapon point-blank; Tabitha raises her arms and shrieks instinctively, but as several bullets pepper her arms, torso, and face, only her clothes get holes.
"Damnit!" The rat swings her legs about to gather momentum and snaps up to her feet. Upon raising she slugs the gun-wielder across the side of his head, then snatches his pistol; there's a quiet snap of bone as she spins it around to point at him, bending his finger past the limit in so doing. yanking the weapon free, she presses the button to eject the magazine, then tears off the slide and flings the two pieces in opposite directions. Just as she finishes, the tentacled man's extra appendages are on her; the rat girl is grappling with one arm, while the other is wrapped and yanked out to her side. This could be interesting.
The man Mike is dealing with still seems to back down from whatever action he was about to take. Didn't really want to cause harm, and certainly not against this young man. Mike will notice that a great many people are starting to take off before they're arrested by the police who've surrounded the are subduing people as best as they can with the means allowed to them.
With a birds eye view Tony spots the trouble Tabitha is in. Poor girl just had to go and get involved in the situation and is surprisingly not dead after that gun having been fired on her. She fights well enough though something is off. Squidward ends up taking a repulsor blast to the back intended to stun the man. This of course scatters a great many of those still fighting. There's no way they wanted to stick around to get beat up on by an Avenger. Some of the more violent of the gang are fighting the police in the center as protesters flee.
Off towards Joan a gang member has broken free from the pack and has approached her from the side flicking out his switchblade. Why not have a bit of fun with an unarmed person who clearly isn't fighting nor running away. "Shoulda taken off. Now give me what you've got there." Grabbing for her damaged tote while bringing the knife about clearly willing to use it against her.
You have got to be kidding. Joan stands there, blinking at the man, yet there's no fear. She holds bag in one hand and leash in the other. "Really?" Asked wearily. "You want to threaten me with that?" In fact she lets him grab for the bag. Joan just doesn't let go of it. Let him tug and she drops the leash. "Stay." The order is firm, and to the dog, but her eyes remain on the gang thug. Grabbing for the knife, the woman seeks to bend that blade. Bare handed. If she ends up breaking some hand bones, well, that's the way things fall. Really, she could crush his hand, but only breaks a few bones. "My bag is staying with me you little pissant. Now go before I really do something to hurt you." Angry face!!
"Thank you for not stabbing me," Mike says to the rude-fruit man. He looks around, switching from normal vision to a tactical-scan mode that identifies problems (thank you, SHIELD combat division, for having such things for the LMDs) and turns up his hearing as well. With people clearing the area he sees and hears Joan about to be "mugged" … not time to run to help her, he grabs one of the very rude looking pieces of fruit and hurls it in a very precise throw intended to hit the man in the back. Like a thrown baseball but disturbing.
"Also, how much do I owe you for the fruit?" And so misses seeing her defeat the guy, but hears it. Reclassifying woman: Not likely to be hurt in situations, probably underestimates others.
Tabitha is still grappling with the tentacled man as he's blasted in the back by Iron Man. Though the man is stunned, she doesn't immediately let up; she manages to get one arm free from his tentacles and unleashes a flurry of punches to his chest, and then kicks him hard in the knee. As he finally goes down, she pulls her other arm loose from his tentacles, leaving her glove destroyed in the process, and gives him a last punch in the temple. "Bastards," she snarls. The sound of footsteps behind her causes her to whirl around, just in time to grab the ice man's arm and use his own momentum to fling him straight over her shoulder.
A loud blast echoes down the street as one of the last gangers who hasn't fled fires a sawed-off shotgun at the rat girl, blowing a hole in the side of her corset and not much else. In response the rat girl charges the short few steps, only getting slowed down by the next two shells hitting her in the chest; then a few punches and a kick and she's standing over the man, hold
holding the shotgun herself.
"Who the /hell/ are you?!" asks the man.
"Patches," replies the rat, as she pumps the shotgun to eject the remaining shells. "And don't you forget it!"
At this point the police are starting to gain the upper hand. Most have cleared out of the area save for the more violent offenders. Mike's aim with the fruit is spot on causing the man attacking Joan to arch his back from the blow to his back while he cries out as bones break in his hand. To add to his grief the unnoticed dog at her side has leapt up grabbing a hold of the mans wrist. "Get it off me get it off me! I give! I give! Let me go!" Of course the man is now crying like a girl. If Joan calls Athena off the dog will back down though remain ready to pounce again. The man's feeling the pressure of the dogs jaw not so much having a few new piercings though there will be marks and heavy bruising to go with those broken bones.
If Mike would further like to get involved there are a few injured people that could use a hand or he could pull off a few flailing fighters nearby. As for Tony he's landed in the thick of things breaking up the gang leader and several others fighting the police officers.
After giving the man a buck for a projectile which is explained as "it tastes like figs but it's really sour," the robot kid looks around for further situations.
Mike completely lost track of Star (but that's good because he saw her running with a group of escapees) and Tabitha in the affray, and the IM from his Barnes contact is "We think all the drug manufacturers were taken down but we're not sure. So make sure Tabitha doesn't get grabbed if you can do so without being harmed yourself, and report back ASAP."
So now he starts looking around for … oh. Hello. Tracking audio source. Location is … ah. Mike starts trotting towards the sound of the angry rat-goddess, but as long as he can hear her, and she sounds Just Fine, the injured are more urgent, so he stops to check out the one closest, and will work his way on to the next, etc. First Aid supplies are a bit limited though; he'll have to start carrying some in his glove compartment.
Tabitha glowers down at the recently disarmed man in front of her; and then she turns to walk away. She breaks the shotgun apart and pitches the pieces in opposite directions, as she did with the pistol. Since things seem to be generally under control, she goes on her way back towards the Greek place. As she walks, she inspects the damage to her clothing; well, at least she's still decent. "Guns, stolen powers," she mutters. "What a crock of shit."
The fighting has toned down, the police have things well in hand, and arrests are being made in the case of those that were not only carrying concealed weapons but used them. With the situation under control Tony is standing near the officer in charge who is seated upon his trusted horse. The square is slowly being cleared and medical teams are filtering in to help those who suffered any injury in the scuffle. The market sure had seen better days that's for certain. Reaching up a hand Stark shakes the offers outstretched hand then walks over to where Joan is with Athena. By the looks of things something happened, "Are you alright?" Scans the crowd to see if Mike and Tabitha are still there.
Joan's got that familiar thunder struck look for being approached in the armor. Omg, he's coming over here. Oh wait, that's still Tony inside, isn't it? She manages a smile. "I'm fine. Nothing Athena couldn't handle." Down playing her own efforts as she always does. "She's very protective." The good dog gets some more pets. "Um.. since you kind of destroyed your clothes, and you're wearing that.. where do you want me to take the dog?" Helpful Joan is helpful!
Mike is still there; he located Tabitha by sheer luck when she came across him kneeling on the ground, giving first aid to a woman who was trampled by the escaping crowd. He moved on to help other critical-situations, where he could. (Fortunately, rescue breathing wasn't required. Robot Car Boy can't even inflate a balloon, much less a lung, not being among those who 'breathe'. Made for a very odd fifteenth birthday party.)
The police haven't yet reached his position, but they'll be there to ask embarrassing questions any minute now.
Tabitha makes her way up to the Greek kiosk, quite serenely given the state of her attire and the aftermath of the chaos behind her. She steps around Mike in passing, and… knowing no first aid whatsoever, she doesn't get involved in that issue. The rat girl makes her way right up to the kiosk, where she raps her knuckles on the countertop, before leaning over to look at the poor young man cowering behind it. "Hey down there." She flashes a grin at the man. "It's all good, fighting is done. …Those Gyro things? Could I have two more? They were really awesome."
"Athena?" Tony's dog probably reacted in the way she's been trained. He rubs a lone metal clad finger over the top of the dogs head for she's done a good job. "Did you come by car? If you wouldn't mind her riding in yours I can tell you where to go. She's not shedding at the moment if you've got allergies."
Medical help has arrived near Mike to take over. They thank him for staying with the fallen woman and the police of course are wanting to know his part in things though clearly he's not one of those that ought to be carted off to fill up a jail cell.
As for Tabitha she's getting the wide eyed spooked gaze from the cowering young man. He points a shaking hand up at the counter, "P-peh-please make wh-what-ever you want. I'm q-quiting like n-now." This was supposed to be a nice area!
"I don't own a car." Joan reminds with a smile. "I took the bus. I don't mind walking. We can even catch a cab I bet." That doesn't tell her where thought. Oh wait, Joan does know. "Stark Tower, right?" That's the obvious choice. "I'll get her there, don't worry." Yeah, Joan's a little frazzled after today. She's not used to riots and power use. "She's well trained." Still has her bag against her stomach, but isn't shaking at least. Being assaulted is always scary.
The explanations to the cops are reasonably sincere when Mike is questioned.
"Why didn't you leave with the others?"
"Because someone attacked me and once I convinced him to quit, there were injured people who needed help." Sincere smile.
The cop takes his ID card, runs it through the office, and comes back to tell his partner, "Uh, he's OK." Apparently SHIELD has a special 'do not hassle' list for Barnes students, or something.
Mike finds Tabitha again, and the Gyros vendor. "Hey, it's New York, this wasn't bad at all. You get used to it," he says to the guy.
"Right," no car. At least this time the man terrible with remembering names remembered hers. Third time must be the charm. "My car is not far from here. If you would like I could show you over to it. It would be the least I could do since you've been stranded with the fluff ball." The main tower of the Stark Towers is where Joan will be heading regardless of what means of transportation she seeks out. "Walk with me?" Offers to take your damaged bag since you're holding onto Athena's leash and it's a chivalrous act. If they head through the damaged marketplace they can stop by the Gyro stand to make sure the teens are in one piece before heading to the parking area.
Joan at least doesn't look like she's flailing, but inside her head is a mess. Drive Tony Stark's car. Reality hits her hard and she's reeling as she attempts to process this. There's a sudden terror she's going to destroy the vehicle entirely. "..Um.. okay." A meek answer that. No, she really doesn't want to drive the car, but she promised to get the dog home. There's a nod and Joan falls into step with Iron Man. "It's okay." About her bag. "Someone broke the handles is all, and Athena's no trouble. She's very well mannered." Is she babbling? She feels like she's babbling. Mostly Joan isn't sure she can let go of the thing right now. Give her a bit.
