2019-05-27 - Clowning Around

Summary:

Memorial Day shenanigans are interrupted by explosive shenanigans

Log Info:

Storyteller: n/a
Date: 2019-05-27
Location: Wall Street

Related Logs

None

Theme Song

Send In the Clowns

dinah-lancealison-blairkoriandr

Monday morning. Memorial Day. So Wall Street is a little less crowded than normal. There are tourists taking pictures of the bull on the street, and a couple of suits who have chosen this day to try and get ahead of vacationing rivals, but nowhere near the teeming crowds of a normal day. Alison is taking advantage of this quiet by rollerskating on the concrete around the bull, singing to the music booming in her headphones. It's so loud she'll be deaf before too long - if she wasn't a mutant who lapped noise up. Dressed in fishnets, short shorts, and a sleeveless t-shirt, she ignores any stares as she weaves, sings and dances.

Another group of people have decided to use this quieter day for more nefarious purposes. A van is parked opposite the stock exchange. On the side is emblazoned 'Emily's Flower Shop: From Cradle to Grave'. Obviously here to deliver flowers to people at work…who aren't at work. The engine idling quietly.


Kori is skating along with Alison, and perhaps unfairly, is a little too good at it.

Alison had pitched it as a good way to build 'core strength' and 'dancer's balance'. And it probably would be for most people. Skating's far less easy than it looks. But Kori seems to have the sort of unstoppable balance that one usually associates with gyroscopes. As comfortable backwards as forwards, doing intricate footwork and turns with an effortless grace. She grinds past Alison against the edge of a low concrete riser for five feet, kicks off, and lands in a spinning pirouette that sends her inertia flying upwards. Pretty as a ballerina, she holds her arms aloft and then lets them drop to the sides. "This is the fun!" Kori squeals. "No, wait, it is 'the yeet'!" she amends. Kori's learning slang!

"Wait, is this 'yeet' or 'lit'?"


Dinah was certainly one big on fitness, but today? Well…she was out for a walk. Of course, with her jacket zipped up and her riding pants she looked like she should be on a bike, but it was nowhere to be found. The downside of daring chases through the streets when you weren't a billionaire vigilante? Repairs were a pain in the butt. Hmming along to herself as she walks, the blonde singer turned 'heroine' continues on her path, only to spot the rather stylish works of the orange-skinned alien skating and her friend. "Huh…don't see that every day."


Alison giggles with Koriandr rather than at her, applauding the skating prowess. "'Yeet' will be fine" she laughs, "Though what you were doing was also 'lit'. And 'bitchin'. And 'rad'. And so many other things. Hey, do you think you could do all that on a skateboard too? You could be a professional skater. They make heaps of money. No need for you to sell your body then." She may have said that last bit loudly and when Dinah was close by. And, being the pair they are, of course Dinah is going to be dragged into the conversation. "Hi! Beautiful day."

The back door of the florist van opens and out pops two men carries boxes of flowers. Nothing suspicious there. That they're using rollerskates to get across the road to the exchange isn't odd…it's efficient. And the clown masks could just be part of the service. Nothing to worry about here.


Kori's in indecently tight grey workout shorts and a loose-fitting white tee proclaiming 'Patriots v Seahawks, Superbowl LXIII'. It looks like something she bought at a thrift store, probably because she did buy it there.

"I have never tried skateboarding, but it does not seem as if it would be difficult," the Tamaranean-in-hiding assures Alison. "But I do not think it would be honorable to be a professional skater," she informs the woman. "In matters of physical competition, it would be very difficult for someone to match me. If there's no honor in victory, then it is without value, and I would be little better than a… a /thief/," she says, looking appalled at the very notion.

Kori rolls backwards a pace and nimbly moves in a circle around Dinah. "Hello, fellow person! I hope you are having a wonderful day!" she informs the blonde vigilante with a cheery, beaming disposition.


Weather? Right. "Sure, it's sunny enough and…excuse me." Sure it was probably flowers, probably just some weird delivery thing…this was New York after all. But then, Dinah had been to the outskirts and she'd seen the 'clown prince' in all his glory, along with his sales pitch to the downtrodden and mentally ill. And…she kinda didn't like clowns.

“Are uh..they with you?" she gestures towards the skating clowns. "Because otherwise this day might be about to get a little less wonderful."


"Skateboarding is not about speed, it's about tricks. It might not be as easy as you think" Alison grins. "You're good on skates, but why do you think no one could compete with you? Is it the Maltese national sport or something?" she giggles. "Why don't you give it a try? But, you know, if you'd prefer to sell your body." She looks at who Dinah is indicating, and Alison shakes her head. "Nope, not with me. Cool delivery service though. Not sure it's very respectful for Memorial Day though."

The skating clowns head into the stock exchange. Everything is quiet for a few moments. And then an explosion! Glass shatters over the street outside and then the clowns are back, skating towards the open rear van doors. Rather than flower boxes in their hands, the clowns now have strangely shaped bulbous guns. The van itself revving loudly now. People are screaming. Running. Seeking cover.


"…Yes. It is the sport of Malta," Kori says. She's a bit distracted as well; her instincts are twigging to the fellows, but she responds warily to their actions. It'd be a little embarrassing if she just clotheslined a couple of kids running a perfectly normal errand.

Her eyes go wide when the explosion shatters glass but unlike everyone else, she doesn't cringe or flinch away from it. It just blows her hair back in a straight line for a half second. Kori makes the connection between the explosion, the robbers, and the van, and elects to disable their getaway vehicle. She skates over to the van, stoops near a tire, and braces her skates against the curb. Shoulders set, twist, and then with a *crunch* the tire just… comes off, sheared lugnuts skittering across the asphalt.

"Oh no! The tire came off, for… no reason!" Kori says, dropping the heavy rubber tread.


Explosions, clowns and flying glass. It really was like the Joker himself was causing hell for her again. She actually makes to dive forwards, intending to pull both Kori and Alison into cover out of danger's way…but Kori's already moving…and then breaking a tire clean off. Holy crap.

There's a blink, a tilt of her head for a moment before the sonic siren shrugs her shoulders. She'll roll with it. Instead she simply steps out from behind the van herself and takes a deep breath. "Alright clowns, drop the…ah hell with it." She'd get better with the one-liners some day. For now she simple opens her mouth and lets out a high-pitches sonic shriek that rips through the air, intended to throw the thugs back and take the wind out of their sails.


At the explosion there is a sudden bright aura around Alison that quickly disappears when she realises there is no shrapnel reaching her. People will just think it was something to do with the explosion…right? "Kori!" she cries out in alarm as the tall redhead goes charging towards the danger. Then she just stares as the woman rips off a tire. They breed them strong in Malta.

And then their new friend…did Alison get her name…is screaming like a banshee and throwing the rollerskating clowns off their feet and onto the road. A scream that is charging Alison up as she takes in the sound and converts it deep inside her; she is quite invigorated by this new energy.

The van drops down to one side thanks to the absence of a wheel. The driver, also in a clown mask, rather surprised at this turn of events. His window slides down and he points his strange gun at the orange Amazon. It fires…and a pink bubble appears from the barrel, floating towards Kori and growing larger and larger as it does. It looks like it will envelope her like a hamster ball…until it is shattered by a blast of light shooting out from Alison's outstretched hand.

The two clowns on the road stagger to their feet, shaking their heads as they try to hear again. They're disorientated. Not sure where they should be shooting so they fire blindly. The pink expanding bubbles floating towards terrified onlookers.
Dinah's screech breaks windows, knocks people down, and makes Kori's hair dance. The orange-skinned girl looks as unflapped about it as Dazzler is, at least at this level of intensity. She looks back at the man in the van, just in time for him to aim a gun at her.


Kori ducks sideways. 'Ducks' might not be the right verb— she simply shifts laterally three feet. No skating, no flinching or diving. Just movement along a single axis with no visible telegraphing of her intention, or even motion from her legs.
Alison's brilliant lightshow interdicts the blast aimed at the redheaded woman, but her face is set in anger at the ambush. "Honorless rogues!" she cries at the masked men. She's facing the sidepanel of the van, so she stoops next to it, grabs the frame, and stands quickly. The van goes up and over, far enough past a quarter turn that it *crunches* on the edge of the roof and sidewall on the driver's side.


Man in the van was at her back, she needed to deal with that before she could deal with the threat in front of her or else-…Whoa. Okay, Kori had it covered. Working with others was new, but damn if it didn't have its advantages! A shrug, her attention goes towards those bubbles for a moment before she looks back over her shoulder at Dazzler. "Can you do that again? Clear me a path?"

Here's hoping there was a yes to follow, because the blonde charges forwards, weaving and twisting her way till she can leap into the mix of the clowns and bring her boot towards the nearest masked thug. A blur of leather, blonde hair and fists, clearly the Canary had some training.


Alison stares as Kori overturns a car without breaking a sweat much less an arm. Maybe it would be best not to put her in a skateboarding competition. She looks up to hear Dinah's request and is all set to go into her 'I didn't do anything, miss. It wasn't me. I'm just a simple mortal' routine but then decides that she has to do the right thing. Her own safety doesn't matter. Multiple beams of light flashing from her fingertips to slice through the expanding bubbles, burning them, making them shrivel to the road as Dinah leaps and ducks.

The clowns try to track Dinah as she charges at them but they don't have a hope. The onslaught of kicks and punches buffeting them before they have a chance to defend themselves. In mere moments they are once more prone on the road. Groaning in agony.

Onlookers start to get braver as everything seems to go quiet. Approaching with some trepidation to the scene, though soon the camera phones are out and movies are being shot. And pictures of the three seeming heroines are already making their way online.


Kori skates backwards, smoothly pivots so she's facing Alison. More importantly, she's watching Alison's back while Alison is watching hers. "I think… we should leave, urgently," she murmurs. Kori knows what happens with cell phones and the internet videos. People are struggling to get their phones up and running, so the first few seconds of footage are going to be a lot of shaky, blurry nonsense where the most that can be made out is hair color.

Abruptly she steps into Alison's personal space and wraps an arm around the woman, belly to belly. "Please hang on, friend!" Kori abruptly whips around on her skates and they fairly *fly* towards a nearby alleyway as if Kori's been loosed from a slingshot. She reaches out as they pass Dinah, extending a hand to the blonde biker chick. This train's pulling out of station and heading to the safety of the nearby alley— get on board or get out of the way!


Alright, so there was a little satisfaction in standing among the fallen clowns she'd just beaten down for Dinah. The Canary actually gives a little crack of her knuckles and a joyful exhalation of satisfaction…then there's camera phones coming out. Crap. She didn't wear a mask! Time to start running…or flying? Kori's passing has her eyes boggling in disbelief before she shrugs her shoulders. What did she have to lose?

Lifting her arm and making to grab the offered hand, seems she's coming along for the ride!


"Yep, we should leave" Alison nods, spotting the phones. If this was a concert, no issue. But this morning she showed something the world shouldn't know about. Though she wasn't expecting to be grabbed by Kori and old a rather cryptic message. "Hang on? What…" A cry of surprise as they go shooting towards the blonde fighter. Alison manages to come to her senses enough to yell out. "Close your eyes". To both Kori and Dinah now that she's on board the Koriandr Express. A bright blast of light floods the area, causing heads to turn, phones to drop, maybe even some cameras to fry. Witnesses will say it was another explosion but there's no damage. Not even any heat.


Bang! Zoom! The three women zip around the corner with enough momentum that Dinah and Alison might have whiplash the next day. Kori is, at this point, *literally* flying, not even pretending to keep her skates on the ground as she gains lift to keep Dinah from scraping her boots on the gravel.

A hundred yards and four alleys away, she finally stops and sets them down. Flickering green energy coruscates over her skin like a nimbus and fades as her skates hit the gravel.

"I am sorry for handling you so rudely," she tells both women, and offers a contrite little bow with her palms resting on her thighs. "But I am trying to remain the incognito, and camera phones are a distinct challenge in that way."


It was certainly neater than Dinah trying to shatter their phones too…that would have been some serious hearing loss. Finally dropped, Dinah lands on wobbling legs for a moment before straitening up and shaking her head. "This Canary is not used to flying…" she murmers, shaking her head. It wasn't so much 'airsick' as 'could have fallen to my death' sick.
Straightening up, she clears her throat and looks between the pair. "So uh…nice tricks all round."


Wait. Were they flying? Alison still looks a little stunned as she is placed gently onto the ground. "Is everyone from Malta like you?" she asks with a nervous laugh before shakign her head at the apology. "It's fine. I understand the need to hide things." A wince as she looks from Kori to Dinah. "Guess the…umm…cats out of the bag." She nods to Dinah. "Yeah, learned a few things today, that's for sure." A smile for the blonde. "I'm Alison. This is Kori."


Kori nods along with Alison when she's introduced to Dinah and flashes a dazzling smile at the blonde. "I am indeed the Kori," she acknowledges. "And no," she asides to Alison. "I'm… somewhat exceptional."

She looks back to Dinah. "You handled those villains quite skillfully," she compliments the vigilante. "I have never heard someone make such extraordinary noises from the mouth orifice! Where did you learn this talent?" she inquires, marveling at Dinah's competence.


"Dinah," Well, real names were being thrown around already. Plus there were already a few rumors putting her stage performances and her late-night exploits together. It worked for the Four right? …maybe she should get a mask just in case. "I've had a little practice," she offers with a little chuckle, looking down at her hands. The knuckles were bruised, she hadn't been wearing her gloves, but they'd heal. The voice however? That makes her laugh a little. "I'm a heavy metal fan?" she offers with a wink.


"Yeah, you sure know how to fight" Alison smiles to Dinah. "I found a guy who is willing to teach me martials arts. Maybe I should just ask you? And your voice…wow. Makes me feel a little inferior" she giggles. "Do you sing for a living? Heavy metal?" Alison is not surprised to hear this, smiling in understanding. A playful pout at Kori. "Hey, I thought you liked the noises coming from my mouth orifice."


"Oh yes!" Kori looks startled and apologetic at Alison's teasing tone— clearly she suspects she might have dented her friend's ego. A palm lays against Alison's arm, physical reassurance to go with the concern in her wide green eyes. "You make the superior mouth sounds to anyone! Friend Alison is a popular performer for adults," Kori tells Dinah. Honestly, she's just trying to help cheer Dazzler up at this point. "I very much like what she does with her orifices! And she can make extraordinary noises, they are very loud and bring everyone great pleasure."

She looks back at Alison, chin wagging. "You do have superior oral skills," she insists.


"A living," Dinah nods giving a little laugh and shrugging, "but beyond that is a work in progress." Mention of the martial arts training brings a smile, she might even be tempted to agree to such a thing, but Kori's sudden rush of 'praise' has the blonde putting a hand to her mouth to suppress a giggle and then clear her throat. "Sorry those uh…clowns ruined your Skating date."


Alison's eyes narrow as she tries to step through the minefield of Kori's words. She is pretty sure there was a compliment in there…but possibly also something about all her orifices making noises. Kori has been spending too much time at that strip club again. Alison's mouth is open as she struggles to think of what to say so she will settle on a "Thanks?" A confused smile for Dinah. "I'm a singer too. I'd love to see one of your shows. Maybe we could even work together? Yeah, those damn clowns. Who likes clowns any…wait…oh, no, it was a skating date but not a skating date."


Hell of a way to meet someone else in the business…either business really. Giving a little grin at that hasty correction Dinah nods her head before shrugging. "Sure. We should talk some time, about this or 'that'," she adds with a gesture towards the vague direction of the robbery. "Canary Cry," she adds with smile. "That's the name of the band. Easy enough to google and look me up at my next show," a little sheepish grin follows with a shrug. "I'm kinda easier to find than I probably should be."


"Cool name" Alison nods. "I don't really have a band, but I go by the name 'Dazzler'. I've been playing 'Tavern on the Green' recently. And I even did some nights at Coney Island. So far down the billing they had to write my name on the boardwalk instead of the poster. But, hey, we all have to start somewhere." And now Dinah is even getting a quick hug. "Sisters in rock" she grins before a hug for Kori too. "I have to get going but maybe consider demonstration skateboarding. You don't compete against anyone but still get paid well. Give me a call soon and we'll hang out. Okay?" She blows a kiss to them both before looking around the alleyway. "Where the heck am I?"


Kori's an enthusiastic hugger, and squeezes Alison tight. No quick hugs here! "I will consider the demonstrations of the skateboarding," Kori tells her. "The next time I am at the Army of Salvation, I will see if they will sell me a board for skating upon." She blows a kiss back at Alison with a beaming smile as Dazzler starts to walk off, then turns and looks at Dinah for a few beats.

"Oh!" She replicates the gesture again, carefully. It'd look mocking if she wasn't trying so very hard to do it Properly. "It was good to make the meeting of you, friend Dinah. I hope to see one of your amazing concerts soon!" Because clearly, anyone who's a musician is famous in Kori's eyes!

Kori turns and levitates off the ground then swoops up behind Alison, hands under her armpits. "I will return you to the bus station. Do not fall, friend!" And with that, they go up, up and away!

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