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Summary: While delivering a box to a church, Hosea encounters the mindbended Patches, and has to defend himself against her.
Date: Monday, August 1, 2011. 2:34pm
Log Title: The Teleporter Shuffle
Rating: R
NYC - Outside the Holy Ghost Church
The Holy Ghost Church is small chapel located on the West Side of New York City. It looks like the church was sort of squashed between the buildings. Lines of pews sit in front of a small alter, cardboard collection boxes for clothing and food sit at the back of the church. This church is obviously graced by the lower class of Manhattan, but the priest cares for those that step foot in here.
The warm air and scattered clouds move across the city, enough that it keeps the sun from being too unbearable. Hosea has been asked to bring some supplies to the Holy Ghost Church in this poorer part of town, which he does happily. A large box in his arms, the Nigerian suddenly appears in front of the church. He glances around, and looks up at the entrance. Another teleportation, and the mountainous man appears at the front door. He reaches out with his foot, and gives the door a few kicks to let the church know that he has arrived. He is dressed for the weather. A plain white t-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts that look like they have seen better days.
The streets of Hell's Kitchen still bear the scars of the attack from several weeks ago, wherein Tabitha Jones assaulted a bank and set fire to nearly an entire block, using borrowed powers; though things are slowly being cleaned up and rebuilt, even in this less than affluent place. Now, the rat girl is out and about again, though she keeps to the back alleys. While Hosea waits at the front door to the church, she creeps up along the side; the observant might spot her peering in through the windows along the side, or trying her best to at least, as she stands on tip-toes to reach.
Hosea hasn't kept up on the happenings of the banks in the area, only those events at the school. Now, it's true that Hosea has never met Tabitha, but then there aren't a lot of people who look like a rat, even in New York City. At least, not like a literal rat. The door is answered, and the priest takes the box from Hosea, thanking him for the canned food that he brought over. After a few pleasant words are exchanged, Hosea notices Tabitha peering in the windows. he knits his brow, and studies her as the priest heads back inside. "You," he calls out in a deep voice. "Is der something you are looking for?" Knowing that it was a girl who looked like a rat that was part of the assault on the school, Hosea is suspicious.
The rat girl whirls to face the person advancing on her, and spots the tall Nigerian; and in the nightmare that Mindbender has planted in her mind, she sees a massive wall of a monstrous zombie bearing down on her. She gasps out loud, and takes a rapid step back. "What? What are you?" She plants her feet and grits her teeth. "I just wanted to go to the church. But you… you just… you're with Marvin, aren't you? You just back off. Back off Now." She pauses, and balls her hands up into fists. "Or it's going to hurt."
"Who is Marvin?" Hosea asks, his brow knit. "You can go to da church, no one shall stop you." He doesn't move toward her, but instead takes a step away from the door so that she can go past him if she likes. "My name is Hosea Ikbuku. What is your name?" His tone isn't the most friendly, but he is trying to restrain any aggression, since he doesn't know who this girl is yet.
Tabitha takes another step backwards, and clenches her jaw. "The name is Patches," she spits out at last. "Just… Patches. Don't fucking laugh either." She scowls, as she hunches down lower to the ground. "Perhaps you've heard of me? I've been taking apart your installations once piece at a time, and you can tell Marvin that I said hi, if you leave here with your jaw not broken. I just wanted to go to the Church, for once, but I should've known I'd run into you bunch here. Can't I go anywhere anymore? Apparently not."
"Der is only one of me, I am not a bunch. What installations have you been taking apart? I do not think dat I need to worry about my jaw being broken by da likes of you. Did you attack da school?" Now he takes a few steps forward. It seems that she's who he thought she was. "You know dat you hurt innocent people, why would you do dat? Dey have done nothing to you!" He clenches his jaw.
The rat's eyes narrow, and she shakes her head as she backs off another step. "ALl the places Marvin is using to turn people into zombies," she spits. "The whole city is… and he's trying to do it to the whole world! I'm trying to save the world! I have to do it, Timeslip saved me so I could do it!" As she speaks, the ground to either side of her breaks and ruptures, and from teh fragments a pair of giant rats emerge, made from gravel and sand and bits of rubble. "Now turn tail and run!" She points sharply at Hosea, and the two rats leap forwards, snarling and snapping as they rush the Nigerian.
The son of Ikbuku watches the gravel rats make a run for him, and he does just that, turn tail and run. But then he vanishes. Hosea, however, didn't go far, because he is directly behind Tabitha at the next moment. He reaches out with his right hand, making a grab for her neck. It isn't a choking hold, though. Instead, he is aiming to throw her head first into the wall of the church.
"What..?" Tabitha squints as Hosea disappears, and then abruptly feels his grip around her neck. She squeaks loudly as she hurtles towards the wall, raising her hands to protet her face. Just before hitting the wall, she abruptly vanishes; though a clatter can be heard from above, as she sprawls out across the roof of the church. The rat slides down to the edge, and her legs kick in open space before she recovers herself. The rat girl gets to her feet, and stands on the edge of the roof, looking down; her gravel rats wheel about, and dash back the way they came, heading straight for Hosea once more.
The Nigerian is taken by surprise by Tabitha's disappearing act. He hadn't heard that she could do that. He hears the clatter on the roof, and quickly assesses what happened. Through the ground he falls, not wishing to fight the rats that are coming back toward him. He drops in front of Tabitha and makes a motion like a pike dive, flipping to face down toward the ground. But then he disappears again, and reappears in roughly the same place, however, now he's facing her, flying at the girl with all of his 240 pounds.
The dog-sized rats leap at the spot where Hosea had been standing moments before; and when they land, they shatter, leaving two heaps out gravel that lie intert, as Tabitha devotes all her attention to the large man now attacking her on the rooftop. As Hosea dives, Tabitha is already preparing an attack of her own; but seeing him flying towards her, she vanishes instead, just a hair's breadth ahead of feeling the impact, and reappears on the next rooftop over. "I see it's going ot be one of those fights," she observes. She sets herself in a proper Kung Fu stance, and raises her voice to shout. "I'm over here now!"
Hosea lands in an army roll across the roof, planting his arm behind him hard to keep him from rolling off. He spots Tabitha as she calls out to him. He teleports again, not directly next to her. "You are vedy arrogant," the large man says. "You do not have da ability to defeat me, not wit da rats or with teleporting. You must answer for da crimes you have committed. Dere are no zombies but you. Da Mindbender has clouded you thoughts! He walks steadily toward her, not seeming to be in a combat stance at all.
Tabitha lances her arm forwards and jabs a finger out to point at Hosea. "No!" she shouts, "No, it is *you* who has to answer for *your* crimes! Don't you see what you've done? Don't you know what you've helped Marvin do?" She cracks her knuckles, and starts advancing towards Hosea. Her walk becomes a jog, and then a run; and then she leaps, throwing her legs out in front of her in an airborn kick; while in flight she vanishes, teleporting to reappear behind her opponent, aiming for the spot between his shoulder blades.
Hosea doesn't seem to budge as Tabitha makes the kick for him, and as she vanishes he seems to have been preparing to turn around already. Was he ready for her exact move? Not exactly. He spins around, and the kick seems to come straight for his chest, and Tabitha passes through him to the other side. Hosea suddenly tries to snap back around and grab at Tabitha, but isn't quite fast enough to grab her. "Foolish girl, Dere is no Marvin!" he barks. "You do not know what you are talking about."
Tabitha goes flying straight through the intangible Hosea, and skids across the roof upon landing. She rolls, and comes up in a crouch, facing her opponent once more. "Bullshit!" she sputters. "Bullshit! I saw him, I fought him!" Her eyes narrow, and she grits her teeth as she stands. "And maybe he's mind controlling you, I don't know. You might not be helping him willingly. But you're still helping him, so either way." She teleports, reappearing behind Hosea; and then she teleports to his side, and then to his other side, then once more back behind him. Her hands shoot out and she attacks with a flurry of light, fast punches, going for the chest and lower back (or stomach, or whatever.) "Just… give up already!"
Hosea doesn't dodge or go intangible this time. Instead he waits until she strikes, the blows land square on his back at first, and then his side as he turns and responds with a crashing left cross toward her jaw. "You are delusional, you attacked innocent women and children! I cannot allow you to continue to behave like dis!"
Tabitha gasps, and brings up her arm to ward off the blow aimed at her face; but against Hosea's bulk and power, she manages only to lessen the blow, and even that only a little. Her head snaps to the side, and there's a sound of something cracking as her feet leave the ground, and she rolls across the rooftop. She finishes up sprawled out on her side, and shakes her head, blinking rapidly. She coughs, and opens her mouth, spitting out a wad of blood and a tooth. "No," she gasps, as she struggles to get past the ringing in her head and draw herself up to a crouch. "No. I can't… can't give up… have to save everyone." She grits her teeth in spite of the pain in her jaw, and concentrates; the building she and Hosea stand on top of quivers, and then it and the church and several other buildings all around start to shake and sway. "Back… off," she gasps once more.
Hosea's eyes go wide as the buildings start to shake. Now there is a serious problem. If he doesn't do something fast, she could take out these buildings, and people beneath could be hurt. He takes the opportunity while Patches is concentrating to try to advance again, this time with a kick aimed for her head. He needs to get her unconscious as fast as possible.
Tabitha is watching Hosea, and that gives her just barely enough warning to go intangible just as the kick reaches her head, and passes straight through her. She pulls herself up to her feet, and the building goes through a violent shudder; the sound of shattering is heard, and a couple of the church's stained glass windows explode into shards, while cracks spiderweb another one. "Should've eaten more sprouts," she mumbles. She wipes the back of her hand across her jaw, wiping away a trickle of blood. She looks up, and vanishes, making for the rooftop of a much taller building across the street; as she disappears, the buildings stop shuddering, and all is peaceful once more.
Hosea has never fought himself, but he understands the principles of his powers. He leaps into the air, teleporting next to Tabitha again. He advertises his attack this time, rearing back for a strong kick. "I am sorry it will end like dis for you." The difference this time is that he is already phased. He hopes for the girl to phase to avoid his kick, which should phase her into the same dimensional frequency with him. If she takes the bait.
The kick connects with Tabitha's belly, after the rat girl indeed takes the bait and phases straight into the correct frequency. She finds herself flying through the air; and she hurtles into space, over the side of the building and quickly out of reach. She gathers her breath and lets out an ear-piercing shriek of terror, as she plummets downwards two full stories; and then she vanishes, and the sound of her scream is abruptly cut off. Where she reappears isn't immediately apparent; but for the sound of a loud crash somewhere inside the building.
Hosea rushes to the edge of the building, watching her disappear into the air. He quickly teleports to an opposing fire escape, and then into the building at his best guess toward the sound. Wherever she is, he needs to find her before she has time to recover.
The rat girl is lieing in the middle of an office, atop a damaged desk and a smashed computer. She shakes her head to clear the cobwebs, just as Hosea is appearing in the hall, just on the other side of the door. She pulls herself to the edge of the desk and tumbles off it, landing in an unceremonious heap on the floor. She doesn't bother to get up; instead she grabs the power cord for the computer, puts it to her lips, and bites down hard, sinking her teeth straight into the electricity. She clenches her eyes shut and grits her teeth, forcing her body to absorb and store the energy that arcs visibly across her body, and sets fire to the desk.
Hosea dares not to approach Tabitha with electricity coursing through her body. "What is wrong with you, is dis place part of Marvin's plans to? What about da church you almost destroyed, is dat with Marvin too?" the Nigerian orders. "You must be responsible for your own actions, now you burn dis place to da ground because Marvin told you to?" He glances around, there has to be a fire extinguisher in here somewhere…
Tabitha gasps as she spits out the power cord and yanks it out of the wall, though electricity can still be seen flickering aross her body. She sits up, and swats her hand down on the flames, patting out the desk until it is only smoking, and not in danger of bursting into flames again. "Have to fight," she gasps, as she hauls herself back to her feet, though she's hunched over and clutching her belly. "No matter… no matter what. That's what… Iron Man said to me." She holds out her hand, and a bolt of electricity arks into the metal door-jam, where it sparks angrily but thankfully doesn't start any more fires. "Don't follow me," she adds, in a tired, haggard sounding voice. She glances over her shoulder, keeping an eye on Hosea as best she can, before teleporting out to the fire escape on the opposite building.
Hosea grits his teeth. He could chase after her, but if he does that, this fire will quickly get out of control. The safety of the people here are more important. The Nigerian rushes down the hall, finding a fire extinguisher and returning through the smoke to douse the fire. He sprays the extinguisher thoroughly, discharging it liberally to make certain that the fire is out, and then drops it to the ground, and steps out of the room, coughing from the smoke. This will probably require him to give a police report.
