2019-07-25 - A Spot Of Sheeran

Summary:

A 'hospital facility' is uncovered in the Disaster Zone.

Log Info:

Storyteller: None
Date: Thu Jul 25 08:28:24 2019
Location: The Disaster Zone

Related Logs

None

Theme Song

None

tchallagabrielle-doemari-mccabe

It is evening in the Disaster Zone and the Black Panther has been stalking through it quietly. He's actually been here several evenings, searching slowly through the wreckage though for what is not quite clear. Occasionally he moves large pieces of rubble to look underneath them but always moves on.

Tonight his wanderings have taken him deep, deep inside the zone.

He dropped down into what had previously been a large plaza between towers. People might be living in some of them but this space is wide open and mostly clear of rubble. The remains of a large fountain are still here, though it hasn't had water in forever. The suited figure slows and begins to look around. "This place feels unsettled…" He says to no one in particular.


It's evening and Mari is hunting. Hunting fashion designers.

The dark skinned woman had caught sight of the Black Panther as he'd made his way into the Disaster Zone. That had been enough to distract her and she'd followed, stopping as he drops to the ground. "It should be feel unsettled." Her voice comes from the shadows as she reveals herself.

"There were a lot of people who died here. Some say their spirits linger."

Like T'Challa.


It starts soft, and if there was the background sound of the city around them it would surely go unnoticed. But here, even with the city surrounding the Zone, it's hushed and the hard surfaces of the buildings that still stand bounce the sound along and make it echo. The sound of singing.

The song can't be made out at first, just that it's a lone voice calling out amidst the silence. No instruments, no support. It grows louder, the singer closer, at a noticeable rate and in the darkness there is the flicker of an orange glow. But this is definitely not a candle.

Gabrielle emerges into the plaza, her voice loosing the eerie echo-y quality as she joins them, her body angled with one shoulder towards the ground as she turns the corner around a building, soaring through the air and hits the chorus. "I'm on my way, driving at ninety down those country lanes…"

Despite the desolation around her, there's a joy to her that's clear in her movement. In her voice. As though the light she radiates comes from within.


"Yes, that would make an area unsettling, I do suppose." The masked figure says, peering at Mari as she arrives. "You would not happen to be following me, would you? I am speaking more of a forest having gone quiet when a predator is about. And I do not think that predator is m-"

He holds up a hand. "Hush a moment. Listen. Do you hear…"

It IS hard to make out at first. "Ed Sheeran?" That is said in genuine bemusement. Ed Sheeran is not something you expect to see in a place like this.

"Well. Look who it is." The feline like figure waves to hail the flyer as she comes through like a shooting star.

"I'd ask if she was following me, but I rather doubt it." He asides to Mari.

"Hello! Gabrielle, was it not?"


"Not tonight, no." Mari answers with a smirk. "I was hunting other prey, someone who tried to harm my business. That I saw you was circumstance, but not an unhappy one really." She's curious about the Panther man and his appearance. "Ah well, you are the right person to be speaking of predators, I think." Because it couldn't be her, right?

The music has her turning, eyebrows rising as it draws it nearer. "A regular music concert, don't you think?" The music, the colour, the apparent joy from the woman isn't at all what the spirit caller was expecting.

"Hello Gabrielle. On your own tonight and not digging out any buildings I see." Just, you know, a one man dance show.


Gabrielle Doe pulls up and into a hover as the pair come into view and call out to her, moving as easily in air as a mermaid might in water. The smile she gives them in return as she recognizes them is as bright as her glow and she waves back before floating over towards them.

"Gabrielle, yes. And no one needed my help tonight, so I had the time to myself." And her idea of 'an evening out' seems to entail flying through the skeleton of the once populated area of Manhattan and singing.

The blonde's brow furrows then as she looks between them, belatedly remembering they're not from 'round these here parts. "Is something wrong?" She asks, looking between them.


"And you decided to spend it flying around and singing Castle on the Hill." The amusement is clear in the cat-suited man's voice. "I suppose I can think of worse ways to spend an evening. As for something being wrong…"

He looks over to Mari. Something very clearly HAS been wrong or she wouldn't be hunting in here. But he doesn't have the full story on that. Or rather, he's not going to let on that he has.

"I came here because of what I saw the last time. This is clearly a place that needs help, with people that need help. Though I thought that Mari here had other ways to do that, given that she was seen by a few people coming in to distribute food and blankets with a, what was he? A Nigerian Prince?"

Wakandan, but who is counting?

"In any case yes." He says as he turns to start walking towards the flyer. "This place feel-WOAH!"

The ground beneath the panther gives way and he has to flip - rather acrobatically it must be said - backward to avoid falling into a sudden sinkhole that turns very quickly into a thirty foot wide divot in the plaza. Beneath? Well, beneath is something that shouldn't be there. A sleek, shiny lab space. With lights, and medical beds and operating theaters that can be seen from above, even if they are all now covered in brickwork and, from the smell of things, slightly moldy.

"What in the name of the Panther…"


"I can't think of a better way to spend an evening if you can do it." Mari smiles at Gabrielle. "Maybe I'll try it sometime, though I won't sing. That would be a cruel and unusual punishment, I think. I'm Vixen." she introduces herself again, just in case, snorting softly when the Panther uses her other name. "Or Mari. In this outfit, I prefer Vixen. Call it branding."

"A Wakandan Prince. Not Nigerian. And yes, I was. We're trying to make a difference without fuss." Certainly there'd been no fanfair or publicity from it. Not organised publicity. But people like Mari and T'Challa have their … fans.

As the ground gives way, Mari slides a bit before the glowing silhouette of an eagle forms behind her. The wings beat down, lifting her slightly and letting her feet find purchase on more solid ground.

The lab space draws a growl from her. "That better not be what I think it is."


Gabrielle Doe's smile broadens, and with it her aura seems to brighten. "I don't understand all of the words, but I like the music. The energy of it." And she's got an exceptional voice to go with a complete lack of self consciousness that might steal from her enthusiasm.

Comments on the charity work gets aborted as the ground starts to give way. Gabrielle's aura shifts to purple, about grab the pair of them as the ground gives way beneath their feet but both Panther and Vixen manage to get out of the way.

Slowly, the blonde woman drifts over the center of the sinkhole, her aura shifting over to a pale yellow to illuminate the lab below. Mari's growl pulls Halo's attention over to her. "It looks like a hospital?" She seems a bit puzzled, but her memory is too lacking to point out that hospitals are not generally hidden underground.


"It does, yes. But why here." T'Challa follows that spotlight up to Gabrielle's hand. Interesting set of powers she has but he doesn't comment on it. Not quite yet. Instead he hops down, rather graceful and lands on his feet. But, cats always do, don't they?

"There's water damage, look. Water damage in the roof. That's why it collapsed. How long was this here?"

He turns and sees something. "Gabrielle. Shine your light over there…"

There's a person on the operating table. Pale. Eyes closed. They look quite a bit like one of the zoneies just in general appearance.

But Gabrielle knows this one. And more than that, she knows that this woman was on the surface, talking and being relatively normal not a week ago.

The Panther walks up to her and places two fingers on her throat. "She's alive… barely. She's… oh my goodness…"

Mari and Gabrielle can both see silvery lines running down her throat on both sides. The look like cables or conduit. Someone has REPLACED large parts of her throat. And possibly recently though it looks like she's been left here the last day or possibly two. Unconscious, possibly, just as she is now.


"It's a lab space." Mari's eyes flash a little as she follows the Black Panther down. No less gracefully as the wings of the eagle bouy her. "There have been rumours in the city for years about experimentation. People going missing, mostly mutants. But they were rumours until now."

Stalking around the area, a smaller silhouette appears on her shoulder - it might not be possible to tell what it is, but light shines from her so she can investigate the fixtures. Cabinets, drawers, computers etc.

"What is it?" She turns to look at the figure, eyes widening at the sight. "She's alive and that work looks … new."


Gabrielle Doe drops down like a dandelion on the wind as Panther moves deeper in, her aura brightening until it chases the shadows into the corners.

As that light reveals the pale form on the table, Gabrielle's blue eyes go wide. "Charm!" Clearly, she knows her. Feet never touching the floor, she darts over and takes the woman's hand. Gabrielle's concern is writ clear on her face, and tears start to well up. There isn't the immediate 'let's get this woman to help' sort of reaction that most would have. Here in the Zone, when you get this close to death… It usually takes you. There aren't any other options.


The Black Panther pulls out a small bead which glows with a blue light. "Her vitals are very weak and if she does not get help she does not have long. I am not sure she will be safe to transport. If I were to pick her up, she might fall apart."

This is bad. This woman is in a lot of trouble. "There is a hospital not far from the south end of the disaster zone. And a man in the city I know of who would help this woman if called. His name is T'Challa of Wakanda." The trouble is GETTING her there.

Mari's observation gets a nod. "It looks recent. But it seems that she was abandoned here. She is nearly dehydrated and her breathing is very shallow. Something must have gone wrong."

"How do you know her, Gabrielle?" That may or may not be relevant. Certainly it isn't if there is a way to get her out of here and to help.

"If only there were more time…" The panther mutters.


Mari doesn't have any healing arts but she knows the Black Panther is correct just by looking at her. "We could get a team in here and try to stabilise her. I want to tear this place apart and find out what we can. There must be records … a paper trail or something."

Mari knows this. It's business. And business is traceable.

The mention of T'Challa gets a look from the dark skinned woman "You know him, do you?" Strange how she saw the Panther emerging from T'Challas' lodgings the last time. "Shall I call him?"

"We'll help your friend, Gabrielle." She's not thinking that the woman might be able to help. Maybe she should, but she's not.


Gabrielle Doe looks at the pair, surprised and a bit confused. "There's… somewhere we can take her?" Like in her world, that's Not A Thing. Because it isn't. The mention of a hospital gets a shake of her head. "They usually don't help us…"

But as to moving her? Gabrielle's aura shifts from pale yellow to green and she lets go of the woman's hand. Extending her arms, that green glow encompasses Charm so Gabby can put her in stasis as she rises upwards, bringing the woman with her. "I've got her." She assures Mari. "She'll be fine until we get there."

She worries her lower lip. "I can't carry you with me while I've got her though. If you can show me where to go? I can keep up."


"They will make an exception. And yes, Mari, if you know him call him." He doesn't address whether HE knows him. "Mari can keep up with you I believe. As for me, they do not typically like people in armored cat suits in hospitals. But call T'Challa, if you wish. He has some influence and I believe he may be willing to spend it."

It's a good thing they can't see him slightly smile under that mask. Mari will get the answering service at this hour, which will of course promise to wake him straight away.

"Good luck with your friend. I do hope she recovers and we might again under better circumstances."

And with that the Black Panther flips back and up unto the street level and disappears out of view of the hole in the roof.


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