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Summary: Hosea and Tabitha meet again. Now that she's not under Mindbender's influence, they get along much better.
Date: Wednesday, October 19, 2011. 3:45pm
Log Title: Motorcycles and Mufflers
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.
The high-pitched whine of a motorcyle engine pierces the normal noise level of traffic and people in Mutant Town, as a black Kawasaki Ninja comes screaming up the road. The driver, a young rat girl with no helmet, guns the engine as she crests a rise, only to apply the brakes and bring the small vehicle to a halt outside an automotive store, next door to a coffee shop. Tabitha revs the engine a couple more times before shutting it off. As she dismounts, she pauses to brush her fingeres over lingering damage on the right side of the bike; deep scratches and large dents that scar her pride and joy, and a heavy sigh escapes her lips.
Hosea doesn't use motorcycles. The whole concept of a vehicle seems useless to a teleporter. He appears on the street, stumbling slightly from a misplaced teleport, and nearly losing his footing. Hey, nobody's perfect. He glances at the addresses on the street around him, and then takes a step forward, appearing almost a block down, and near Tabitha. He glances at the address again, and then takes a few steps forward from that place, knowing that he's near his target building. He's looking for an automotive shop. One of the brothers at the church had a part that needed to be picked up, but didn't have time to go get it. Hosea, being a friendly guy, decided to help out. He spots the shop, but then glances toward the sound of the engine. He instantly gets to a ready position when he sees Tabitha, but doesn't make any aggressive motion, knowing that the people who had been altered by Mindbender had been under an outside influence at the time. Still, his instinct says to be careful with someone he's met as a foe in the past.
Tabitha's ears prick up and she whirls about, both hearing and sensing the presence of a mutant suddenly appeaaring nearby. She finds herself facing Hosea, and standing beside her bike, instinctively settles into a combat-ready stance herself. Her lips purse, and she eyes the large Nigerian for a long moment. "…This is about the whole deal with Mindbender again, right?" she asks at last, in a taciturn tone of voice. "Were you one of the people I dought? I suppose you might've been the teleporter that I tangled with in Hell's Kitchen… am I right?" She sighs heavily, and shoves her hands in her pockets. "You don't have to worry, all that is done with now."
"Dat I am," Hosea answers. "You made da earth shake, and you set a building on fiya." He relaxes his stance as Tabitha puts her hands in her pockets. Someone with their hands in their pockets is clearly not preparing to fight. "You were also captured by Mindbenda," he observes. "I am glad for you dat he was defeated. I would not have liked to kill you," he tells her.
"You wouldn't have," she replies. "At least, not right then… oh hell, it doesn't matter anyway." She shakes her head slowly. "I'm really angry with myself for not seeing through the lie. There were a lot of reasons why I didn't… but I don't feel like laying out excuses. I'm just glad I didn't hurt you… I know I did hurt a lot of people, some of them pretty bad." She pauses, and pulls her hands out of her pockets, to fold her arms beneath her bosom. "So, uhm, I'm assuming you didn't show up here just to make sure I'm not about to flip my shit."
"Hosea smiles… kind of. "I know what it is like, believe it or not," he tells Tabitha. "Sometimes lies can be vedy convincing, and can trick us to do things dat are wrong. Satan is da masta of lies, and think, he has convinced many in da world to follow deir desires ratha den God. It is not a strange thing dat has happened. But it is good to learn from, yes?" He looks back at the auto shop. "I have come to help someone who needs to pick up a muffler for deir car." He gestures in the direction of the shop.
"I don't believe in the Devil," the rat replies off-handedly. "I've seen what kind of evil people pull off all the time, and frankly, he's unnecessary. There's nothing he could do that could top what humans do, every day." She shrugs her shoulders, and sets about tugging her riding gloves off her fingers. "Anyway, try telling that to the people who's buildings I burned and cars I totalled and stuff." The rat steps up onto the sidewalk, and gestures behind her, towards her bike. "I thought I'd see if they have anything to help me fix the thrashed bodywork on my baby. …I can help you get the right muffler if you like; I'm betting a teleporter doesn't know much about cars. Uhm, no offense or anything."
Hosea chuckles. "Hah, since when does being necessary mean dat someone can exist or not?" He doesn't argue that people can be very evil on their own. "I do not know much, only a little. I do not find cars are needed for me, yes? Ha! If I could learn to teleport many people, I could open my own taxi service!" He smiles at the thought.
Tabitha nods her head quickly, "Yeah, I bet. I tried your teleporting out for a couple weeks myself, it was pretty exhileratig to be able to just hop up on top of a skyscraper. That had its advantages." She nods towards the store. "Is your friend well off? He'd be better off getting a good muffler, not some piece of garbage that's just going to rot out int a year or two."
"Hah, I do not know. I just know dat he asked me to pick it up. He vedy much likes cars though, I think he would call da Mustang he drives his baby, like you do for your motorcycle," the Nigerian comments. "I do like da gift God has given me. It is a great blessing dat I can use to serve others."
"You're lucky, then. As cool as my abilities are from time to time, I wish I didn't have 'em. I'd rather have been normal." She shrugs, and pulls open the door to the shop. "And a Mustang is a great ride, especially some of the older ones. I'd love to get myself a car with some decent muscle and fix it up right."
"You can copy other people's powers! Dat is a vedy useful thing, you can bless people with dem in all da ways dat other mutants can, yes? It is a great blessing." He walks up to the door, and holds it open for the rat girl. "Do not be sorrowful for da blessing God has given you."
"It's not a blessing," Tabitha counters, "If anything it's a punishment." She steps inside the store, and waits for Hosea to follow. "Possibly not even a punishment intended for me… if anything even is intended, I dunno. I think it's just random, I happened to be lucky, or unlucky, depending on how you look at it." She shrugs, and plucks a displayed bottle of car wax off a shelf. "Anyway, I uhh… yeah. Sorry, I don't mean to get all emo on you." She turns the bottle over and eyes it for a moment, before putting it back. "They'll probably have your buddy's muffler at the counter, at the back there."
Hosea lays a finger to the side of his nose. "Hah, I used to think like you, but now God has shown me dat he has a desire for my life. I know dat he has a desire for your life, too." The African's mood seems to be improving by the moment. He steps up to the counter, pulling out a slip of paper with an order number. "Hello," he tells the man at the register. "I am heah to pick up dis order for Mr. Dalton Willis," he hands the receipt over.
"Ehh, I… don't want to argue it," she mumbles. "I guess it doesn't really matter. I'm just gonna keep putting in the practice to get good, like Magneto told me I should." The rat girl walks up to the counter with Hosea, and takes a position beside him, making it clear by her positioning that she's next in line. "It must be nice to have so much faith," she observes.
Hosea smiles. "Yes, it is," he says. "Had it not been given to me, I would have died long ago in despair." The man takes the receipt, and heads to the back. "But now dere is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," he quotes Romans 8:1.
Tabitha hunhs? softly. "What's that? Anyway… I dunno, seems like there's as much arguing about religion these days as there is about mutants," is her candid observation. "I'd rather just stay right out of it." She picks up some cheap doodad on the counter, and turns it over, not really looking at it. "Actually, I wouldn't mind sparring with you, sometime? You were pretty damn good. I think we could probably learn a lot from each other, if you're willing."
"Hm, mebbe," Hosea says. "I should be good, I once fought to live," he tells Tabitha. "I do not much enjoy fighting. But I can show you how to defend yourself, yes? I would be happy to teach you. You did not seem to know vedy much about fighting, which is good. But you could use more knowledge to protect yourself and others." He rubs his chin. "Have you ever learned anything about fighting?" The man comes back with the muffler. "Hah, here it is, yes?" he says, taking it in his hand. He looks over the muffler. Yep, it's a muffler. A pretty nice one as well. Not that Hosea would know the difference.
Tabitha sputters noisily, "What? I've taken several years worth of training in Kung Fu and my Dad taught me how to handle firearms from a young age, I don't think I'm a complete newbie! And I stood up to Iron Man in a one on one." She oepsn her mouth to say more, but then the muffle arrives, and Tabitha oohs. "Your friend is getting the good one. He must actually care about his ride; that's a nice change."
"Den I am glad you did not have a gun, yes?" Hosea answers with a chuckle. "I have nevah taken Kung Fu. I took Krav Maga, it…is different from most martial arts I think. Dere are no rules. Da only rule is to win, yes? If you breathe at da end, and da other person cannot attack you, den you win." He shrugs. "I did not mean to insult you. Iron Man, he is an American superhero I think, yes?" he asks. "I have heard his name before. Why would you want to fight him?"
"It's alright, I know you didn't mean it." Tabitha shrugs her shoulders. "I didn't want to fight Iron Man. I know Iron Man personally, and he's an awesome guy, though he doesn't give himself enough credit I think. Anyway, it was while I was being Mindbender's little brain-slave. he made me think my Father had hurt Iron Man real bad and taken his armor, which I know is lame but… but I was mind controlled, alright? So I believed it." She shrugs, and pauses to glance up at the guy behind the counter. "Oh, uhm… got any body kits for Kawasaki Ninjas? Mine's a 2010… I think I saw some stuff on your website. Just need a basic one." The rat girl watches the guy disappear into the back, and tilts her gaze back towards Hosea. "Right, so, when I saw Iron Man I thought it was my Dad, and we got into a pretty big fight."
"You want to fight your father?" Hosea asks. "I would never want to find my father. He was a great man. It would have been vedy disrespectful to him to raise my hand against him. "Iron Man, he is a millionaire I think? A vedy rich man. It could be a blessing to have a friend who has so much money, yes?" From Hosea's attire, it would seem that money isn't something he has very much of.
Tabitha ehhs softly. "I'm not looking to be friends with him for his money," she points out. "I don't go asking him for handouts, though he has helped me a couple times in the past when I was really needing it. …He's generous with his money, sure, but even if he wasn't rich I'd still want to be friends with him, just for… y'know. Just to be friends." She shrugs lightly. "Anyway, my Dad is… a very bad person, and almost turned me into a bad person, 'cause I was Daddy's girl and I loved him too much to see that he's a really bad apple. I don't ever want to see him again."
"Well, it is good to seek friends for friendship, money can come and go, yes?" Hosea agrees. "I am sorry dat you have had a bad relationship with your father, maybe one day he will realize dat his ways are wrong. I shall pray for him." I do not think I know your name, though. My name is Hosea Ikbuku." He shifts the muffler to his left hand, and offers his right to shake.
Tabitha holds out her own hand, letting her smaller fingers disappear inside Hosea's grasp for a moment as she provides a good, firm handshake. "Tabitha Jones," she replies. "Or you can call me Patches, which is my… I dunno, mutant name I guess. I respond to either." She scratches the back of her head, and humms softly. "I doubt my Dad will ever change his ways. But that's his problem. …I just hope he gets arrested and put in jail for the rest of his life."
Hosea doesn't push the issue of Tabitha's father, instead he simply responds, "Well, it is good to meet you, Tabitha. Some people where I live call me Prophet. I think maybe because I talk about Jesus a lot, though, more den because of my powers!" He gives a chuckle at the thought. A happy guy, he is. "So how did you become interested in motorcycles?"
The dude behind the counter returns, handing over a body kit for Tabitha to look at. The rat girl oohs, and turns it over in her hands. "Oh, I can repair most of the damage with this. Awesome." She flashes a grin. "It's good to meet you too, Hosea. And… motorcycles? My Dad bought me one, when we were still together." She points outside. "That one, in fact. And I love it, it's a blast to ride it."
"Da motorcycles I have ridden were not so fancy," Hosea admits. "It does look like it would be a fun thing to ride." He shrugs, "It is good to have a hobby dat you can enjoy. But it can be dangerous. I do not think I would want to drive anything in dis city. Though people drive bettah heah den dey do in Nigeria, I can say dat!" He laughs. "In Nigeria, no one pays attention to traffic laws."
"I have far greater reflexes than any normal person," Tabitha responds. "Just… one of the perks of being a rat, apparently. I can pull through things that would wipe out most people." She chuckles softly. "I love motorcycles, and cars, and all that stuff. I know, total tomboy. But I'm allowed." She looks up at the guy behind the counter, and nods. "Yeah, I'll take it… I've saved up enough, and I gotta get my bike in shape." She tilts her gaze back towards Hosea. "So, what's your hobby?"
"Hmm, I know dis may be a surprise," Hosea prefixes, "But I vedy much enjoy reading da Scriptures." He gives a wink. "But I also enjoy other things, to play drums. Though I find little time to do it now dat I can have an education. It is vedy difficult to catch up after missing many years of school."
Tabitha mmms softly. "Yeah, I bet. I'm having enough trouble just having missed most of a year, myself. I'm… pretty caught up, but not enough to be where I want to be. But I'll get there." She manages a smile, as she tucks the body kit under har arm. "Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?"
Hosea grins, "I'm sure you shall," he says. "I am from Nigeria, and I now go to a school in Westchester." He looks at the clock on the wall. "Hah, I should be going though, it is good to see you in a more friendly state, Miss Tabitha. I hope to see you again, and maybe we can learn more of each other." And with that, he is gone, teleporting out and presumably back to whoever needs the muffler.
