Summary:T'Challa goes looking for a sparkly ghost in the Disaster Zone. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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The Disaster Zone is aptly named. It's a large swath of rubble and tumbled down buildings left over from the Brooklyn Blitz. Mostly it is quarantined and fenced off but people still get in there to thrill seek, treasure hunt or even live. A chunk of the city's homeless - a number that got much larger in the immediate aftermath of the Blitz - lives here. And then there are those who simply wish to be off the grid.
It's also an unquiet place for those who know. Ghosts and spirits are restless here, which is unsurprising with all the death that occurred. But recently something has been catching their attention. The word spreads, whispers of rainbow lights seen at night, of a specter bathed in a prismatic glow flying over the zone.
Some say that it's a protector of the weak. Others that it's a vengeful spirit that destroys and kills clothed in stolen flesh before vanishing to find a new 'costume'. Whatever the case, it's got a lot of things and people seriously spooked.
And that's why the Black Panther is here. Running across the tops of the ruined buildings and rubble piles, searching for that rainbow glow. Had he been seen going out? He doesn't think so, but he might be wrong. Or… someone else might have come here, hearing the same whispers.
Vixen doesn't get out much or at least, she's not seen often. The Disaster Zone though often gets her attention and the swathe of reports about killings and lights are enough to get her attention. Coupled with the fact that Mari had seen the Black Panther leave the hotel she'd been watching …
Vixen is here as well. The dark skinned woman is dressed in her mustard and black leathers, keeping her distance from the other dark clad hero and following.
Is he to blame for all this? She has to wonder. The timing … is convenient, after all.
Gabrielle Doe has only been around for a few months. As in, she literally didn't exist as she is. In that time she's been taken in by some of those unable to leave the Disaster zone for anything better and through that, she's sort of learned from the best of people. Those down on their luck and still willing to help out others. Which is one of the reasons that Gabrielle helps out where she can as well.
In the dark, the purple glow of Gabrielle's halo can be seen at some distance. One thing she's not, is subtle. She floats a dozen or so feet off the ground, extending her halo out to move rubble that's been blocking a building that otherwise seems mostly intact. There are some other Zone-dwellers with her, looking on and occasionally calling out directions.
The dark clad, feline themed man stops on a crumbling wall across the street from Gabrielle. Or, well, it used to be across the street. The notion of street now is somewhat laughable. They're just wider piles of debris with some clear spaces.
"Well. This doesn't exactly seem sinister." He says to himself, quietly. Mari will see him halt. And she'll see what he sees. Is this his doing? Certainly doesn't look like it but then appearances can be deceiving, can't they?
The Panther leaps off his perch and drops down, still unaware that Mari is following him. Damn, she's good.
"They said that a ghost haunts these ruins bathed in the light of the rainbow." He calls out, walking toward the group of zone dwellers that the glowing blonde woman is hovering above.
"But you do not look like a ghost to me." The inflection, the cadence, they speak to an accent. The voice of a man who did not grow up 'around these parts.'
"Why would you help them live here when they might be helped to live somewhere else?"
From up high only Mari and Gabrielle (if she's not suddenly distracted) can see, the last piece of rubble she moved exposed metal. Something that had once been painted deep purple, apparently laying hidden under that pile of concrete. Of the two up there, only Mari might have any clue what that is. Not all ghosts are mystical, after all.
Mari is good. She's been Vixen for a while and her connection with the foxheaded pendant she wears is good. Skipping lightly over the rooftops, sometimes a glowing silhouette of an animal appears behind her and sometimes on appears on her shoulder, she watches.
When the Panther drops to the ground, she stops on the roofs edge, in a three point crouch, to observe. Maybe he's not connected - she's still not sure though. Gabrielle - at least she's seem to be helping. Doesn't she?
The talk of ghosts, the familiarity in his tone with the subject brings a frown. Not as bigger frown as that metal though.
She hisses to herself and drops to the ground behind them. "Where would you put them?" She asks the Black Panther with a nod to the blonde onhigh. "Be careful, you've unearthed something …" she nods to the metal.
That's … well, it's something she hoped to never to see.
The Panther's voice startles Gabrielle, and she 'drops' the rubble she was moving. As in, her halo around it fades and it falls the half dozen feet back to the ground with a THUMP. A lean of her shoulder and her hovering transitions into movement, sliding over to interpose herself between the Panther and the trio of people with her who all scramble back a bit to find cover.
Gabrielle is dressed in a black skintight outfit with white boots. A waist cincher of shifting rainbow light encircles her waist and there's a keyhole cutout in the center of her chest filled with white light that matches a pair of diamonds on the back of her wrists.
"I'm not a ghost." Gabrielle says, hands held before her in a defensive posture as her aura shifts from violet to orange. The question has her glancing back towards those she's with and then back to the Panther. "There's no help for them. Everything they had was here."
As Mari joins them, Gabrielle's hovering position shifts, still keeping herself between them and the people she's with. Protective. Her gaze flicks over to the metal Mari's pointing out briefly. While Gabrielle might mean well, she doesn't have the training a fighter would to not look away from a potential enemy.
The fall has the Panther wincing. That he had not meant to do, but it's good to see anyway. Her ability to fly, or use her powers, is concentration dependent. Startle her and she might make a mistake.
Mari's arrival has the cat-suited man shifting so he can keep an eye on her as well. Clearly he wasn't expecting her. He halts his advance about twenty feet from the little group that Gabrielle is now protecting with more enthusiasm than skill.
This is what would be called a Mexican standoff though it's a rather relaxed one at the moment. Well, except on Gabrielle's part.
"Surely, there must be those outside this ruin who would take pity on their fellow Americans." That's mostly to Mari though possibly to Gabrielle as well. "These streets are not safe, or so I have heard. Though the tales of a rainbow ghost seem somewhat exaggerated."
There's a pause. "If they have nothing left then what keeps them here, I must wonder?"
Did anyone hear something? Something like a high pitched whine of a turbine spinning up. It starts faint but over the course of about ten seconds it becomes VERY noticeable. The rock that Gabrielle just dropped starts to glow. Yellow. Then red. Then white. White hot, that is.
That can't be good.
"I won't hurt them." Mari says to Gabrielle. She positions herself to watch the other two, relaxed but still vigilant. Her eyes flick to the little group, but her attention never really leaves Gabrielle or Panther. "I'm Vixen." she adds by way of introduction.
Of course, Black Panther will recognise her and she … might recognise him. By smell and by voice possibly.
"There are but not enough and those who are in here … often feel more comfortable to stay here. Not *all* Americans are as welcoming of strays and waifs, though we might wish it to be true."
Her head cocks at the whine as it starts, causing her to gesture to the woman. "Get your people back… It's not depleted."
Those damn machines. They should never have been made.
Gabrielle Doe's gaze goes back and forth between the pair, as though watching a tennis match. While rumors of her might have brought them here, she's obviously not as exotic as the tales may have painted her.
The blonde is still definitely paying attention, and when Mari says to get back her aura shifts back to purple. A gesture of her hand picks up the trio while her other hand stretches out toward the suddenly glowing rock and a purple wall appears as she backs herself and the trio of Zone-dwellers away from the rock.
That was a good idea, the shield. Half a second after it goes up the rock explodes, sending heated shards everywhere and a bright white energy beam slams into it. It only lasts for a couple of seconds but that might have killed them all.
Rocks shift as something moves. A torso appears. Then part of a head. There's a third of a giant robot here. It's in TERRIBLE shape. It has exposed everything. The processor core is clearly damaged and it's got to be running on the dregs of whatever power it has left. It only has one arm but it reaches forward anyway to drag itself toward Gabrielle. Slowly. Awkwardly.
"Anomaly d-" Static and distortion ruin its speech. This thing won't be hard at all to shut down given how damaged it is, but they'd better deal with it now or someone might get hurt before it's taken out again.
The Panther is already running. Claws flick out from his gloves and he leaps to gouge the barrel of that energy blaster in the hand. Then he has to dodge it slapping at him. But at least that's the Zone Dwellers out of immediate danger for a few seconds while it's occupied.
"Shut that thing off!" He shouts.
There's about a dozen ways to do that. But all that flailing around has unbalanced the rubble pile it was in and is threatening to start a small avalanche on top of all the trouble with the mostly destroyed robot itself.
"Impressive…" Mari watches as Gabrielle moves the group and puts up the shield. Yes, she's noticed the colours but they don't mean anything to her. "And just in time… These damn things."
Within moments, the twin glows of an ape and a puma appear at Vixens back. She's a step behind the Black Panther as she grabs the other arm and tries to topple the robot. "Power it off? You're the damn engineer. I'm just the bruiser." She snarks.
No, she hasn't seen the other danger - she's fairly focussed on getting this thing away from the innocents.
The debris slam into Gabrielle's shield, knocking her backwards and shattering the shield she put up, but she manages to stop the bulk of the rock-turned-shrapnel. A few of the chips do get close, slicing at her costume and leaving a bloody track along one cheek.
Gabrielle turns towards the Zonies, setting them down and yelling at them to run before turning back towards the hulking remains of the robot that Mari and the Panther are engaging. "DOWN!" She yells as her halo shifts over to orange. She brings up both arms, hands curled into fists and a blast of light a good six feet wide matching her halo slams into the robot's head.
T'Challa just glances behind him as Mari intercepts the bot's one good arm, preventing it from continuing to slap at him and pulling the thing off balance. "You have some funny ideas about me, Vixen."
And then there's someone glowing and yelling at them to get down and damn it, T'Challa gets down. Or rather he dives rather acrobatically out of the way as some kind of blast goes through where he used to be and strikes the thing's head just as Mari pulls it such that the computer core is exposed. Almost like that was timed by the Vixen.
The blast blows out the backside of the bot and it IMMEDIATELY powers down and beings to topple forward. ONTO where Mari is.
"Look out!"
She can get away, can't she?
Either way when it lands it kicks up a huge cloud of dust and momentarily obscures sight though as it settles the profile of the panther suited man can still be seen.
"Just the bruiser…" Mari grunts as she holds that arm. And she is. For a woman of her size, she's tanking a lot of strength. When Gabrielle yells down, Vixen scrunches herself up but still holds on.
"Oh great …" she grumbles, calling on the puma she's channelling to leap to that pile of rubble and then tha—-
CRASH
She's knocked off balance and goes skidding along the ground, coming to rest against the pile of rubble she was going to use. "Owwwww." she mutters. Give her a moment to catch her breath.
Gabrielle Doe is still floating there, surrounded by that nimbus of energy though as the dust rises and obscures vision it shifts from orange to a pale yellow. It lights up the area like daytime, making it a bit easier to see what's going on even through all that dust. "Is everyone OK?" Gabrielle's voice carries over the area.
"I am unhurt. Though I do not think the same can be said for Vixen." There's a short pause. "Or you."
Yes. He can see that Gabrielle has been cut and that her suit has been torn. But she's floating and Mari isn't so he heads on over to Mari and reaches out a now declawed hand to her to help her up.
"I am called the Black Panther." That is to both women. "And as you may have already deduced, I am not from this place, but I shall be staying for a time. Perhaps quite a long time."
There's another short pause, and it's hard to see what the man is thinking behind that mask. "I have to wonder again about the suitability of this place for living. How could it possibly be better here than…" He gestures vaguely toward the undestroyed parts of New York. You know. Most of it.
"Owwww." Mari manages to get her breathing back as the area grows light. Light but hazy. "Did I go to heaven?" She quips, taking the Panthers hand and hauling herself up. "I'm alright. A few bruises, including my ego." It's no wonder her Board gets tetchy.
"But you aren't …." That's to Gabrielle as Mari looks at the floating woman. "Do you need medical attention? I have my phone … " maybe it's not busted up from the fall.
"Black Panther." The man gets a look that says sure you are. "Thank you for the help, both of you. That could have got nasty. I suppose we should call SHIELD or something to come pick that up." That don't want it salvaged, after all.
As to the vagaries of living in here? What can she say - he's right. But it is what it is.
The Zonies have made themselves scarce, so the only one that can answer Panther's question of those that live there is Gabrielle. "To live out there you need things. Papers. Money. Jobs. If you don't…" She shrugs as she comes to land lightly near them and her aura dies out. "There are stories. Of families broken up. Of being put in awful places. It's not great here, but at least we know what it's like. At least we get to choose." There's an earnestness to Gabrielle, and a definite innocence as well. Something in the brightness of her eyes.
As the pair note she's not alright, she reaches up to her cheek, wincing a bit as her fingers come away bloody. It's a shallow cut, but it's messy. Mari gets a look of confusion. "Your phone can treat injuries?" Hey, Outside the Zone has a lot of tech you can't get in here.
Almost belatedly she offers them a smile, that comes with a small wince. "I'm Gabrielle."
"She's offering to call the medical authorities, as it were." The Black Panther says. He considers. There might be things he can do to help. But not in this particular outfit. Papers. Money. Jobs. These are not things that can be just hand waved. Sure between him and Vixen they could probably just dump a lot of money and resources on this problem but he knows that odds are REALLY good that it would only make things worse.
This needs some careful consideration. The ID's are one thing. But there's also the matter of food. Clothing. Potable water.
Jobs. What are these people's skills, he wonders?
"Gabrielle. May I ask, why are you helping these people?" It's a good thing and there's a wholesomeness to her, but he still wonders.
"If you went to Heaven, Vixen, it looks a lot like New York. We should call SHIELD yes. Leaving something like this laying around is asking for someone to be killed. And who knows what else is buried beneath this rubble."
Not many more of those likely, they'll have mostly been picked over and cleaned up by now. But this area saw a lot of fighting and conflicts - even short ones - tend to leave nasty surprises.
"My phone can't heal, no…" Mari smiles faintly at Gabrielle. "And nice to meet you. Sort of. It would have been better under other circumstances. That was a colourful display you gave, by the way. Very impressive." She'd noticed.
"She's right, though, Black Panther. All of those things and then confronting the fear and bigotry of some out there." Mari gets it and she's thinking. There's not just McCabe Industries, there's also Maria Stark Foundation that an acquaintance of hers is involved with.
At the very least it will be helpful to those in here. How much, she's not sure.
"Let me call SHIELD and get someone down here to see to your injuries, Gabrielle." As for Black Panther? "New York as Heaven, sounds like my kind of paradise." That's so very dry.
Oh hey. Her phone works. It didn't get busted in that fall.