Summary:Beast and Anon stop tech-robbers. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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With the night she's had, Anon just needs to do something. To clear her mind through simple action. Her interventions are quick, done without slowing. Here, she runs up a tree to rescue a cat; there, she yanks pedestrians away from a speeding car; now, a few quick clothesline punches to deal with a mugger; then, drawing civilians out of a flaming building. She never slows enough for people to see her face, to see the redness around her mask's eyeholes.
But she still leaves a trail. Reports of that golden blur, matching the M.O. of a street heroine called 'Anon'. And now she's coming to something that will take a bit more than just raw speed. Members of the red-costumed Secret Empire breaking into a high-tech business to make off with high-tech prototypes. Whatever those devices are, it can't be good to let a criminal organisation get away with them.
As for Hank he's just, walking to get some air. Eyes of blue are bright, massive hands in pockets as he does. His own night has been much quieter, but good. Still, the break in does get his attention. He pauses a moment to slip into costume, or a visual facsimile of such, no time for the quick change - image inducer will have to do.
Dressed now in an X-Men uniform in the distinctive blue and gold, he moves towards the fray in a series of bounds that ends with him perched atop a streetlight in a crouch. "Excuse me gentlemen, ladies if any present, I really can't advise you continue with your planned extracting of goods that you're attempting to purloin."
And then one of the more impetuous Secret Empire agents, mighty Number Nine, decides to see just what his bit of swag actually does. It's a long tube, with straps to brace it along his forearm… and it fires out pellets of energy that look fit for Mega Man's buster cannon. Too bad the rest of the man is just the same red costume as every other member of the Secret Empire.
Anon rushes by, to strike at one of the other agents… and finds herself bounced off by a force field. Jeez, this lab must be up to all kinds of strange things.
Beast actually /sighs/. "Why do they never listen?" Even as the weapon is raised, he leaps a good thirty feet, bounces off the wall behind the Mighty Number Nine, and tries to snatch the weapon from the man's hands as he lands. "You really shouldn't play with such toys, sir. High energy particle projection guns are not for the untrained or morally corrupt."
He definitely notices the other super on the scene, the gold trails are distinctive, even if he doesn't get a good look. "Hello there! I'm Beast." It is noteworthy that he's not the furry fellow that she might have heard of, though the rest of the description fits.
It's not so much gold trails — Anon doesn't leave a literal streak in the air. It's more that when she's going at high speed, she is a golden blur. Having bounced off the force field, she comes to a crash landing on a wall across the street. That's the first time she's stopped since she'd slipped out her room's window. "A-Anon," she manages. "I'm Anon."
Number Nine is, in the end, a man with a costume and a weapon he'd been in the process of stealing. He doesn't have the speed of reflex needed to keep up with Beast's leaping and diving, and the blaster leaves his hand in short order. The Secret Empire aren't special because they're empowered.
They're special because there's a lot of them. Out come the guns, at least trying to distract the pair and cover the escape of those who still have their 'winnings'. Anon recovers enough to evade the gunfire, and dashes past to knock out a few of the gunmen, keeping away from the man with the force field.
Blur-lines then. Not like Beast has the visual acuity to see the difference, sure, he can keep up with fast opponents, he's trained to do so and he has some extraordinary reflexes and reaction times. He's not a high speed camera with the ability to slow motion replay!
"Well, lets join forces and continue our efforts to deal with these assorted ne'erdowells, Anon!" Name and word usage both apply.
Having disarmed Number Nine, he bounds towards another, feet slapping the man he just disarmed hard enough to fell him, and the pounced fellow, he's thumped but good, the Beast striking much like a great ape, one-two, thump thump with mighty forearms. He's careful not to injure too badly, but he's making sure that the men he hits stay down.
"Sounds good!" Anon's voice sounds strange, dopplering far more than you'd usually encounter, pitch seeming to change just based on which way she's running. High-pitched like a chipmunk when Anon is moving towards Beast, lower and deeper when moving away. And he and that beastly big brain would have an especial appreciation for just why that is.
There had been a dozen of them to start with; between them, they've already taken out half. The man with the force field slips away into a car, however, which starts to peel away. All while more gunshots rain around them… but for that to work, the Empire would need to actually hit either of them.
Beast is a big guy, for all that he's agile as a great ape, and a supernally skilled leaper, he's still big. He DOES take a couple grazes, though the injuries are not immediately obvious thanks to the Image Induced costume. Still, there's a few drops of red when he stops. "Agreed then." Hank quips to the super heroine.
He notes the fleeing car, and bounces over to a manhole cover, landing so his feet can sort of flip it up like a tiddly-wink, a massive hand grabbing it and then the man spinning in place to hurl it like skipping-stone at the car. If he times it right the intent is to have it skip up under the car to flip it.
Anon runs interference, keeping the Empire off him while he lines up his shot. She does steal a spare millisecond or two to watch his form; she's done enough track and field to know a good discus throw when she sees it, even if it's not exactly a regulation discus.
With that time to line up, the shot skips just right, striking the car's undercarriage. The manhole cover bites hard into the engine's under workings, severing lines and killing the motor, even aside from sending the vehicle skyward. Force field or no, shaking him around like that knocks out Number Five With The Force Field, along with the driver. That just leaves those who hadn't grabbed any special tech of their own, and Anon zips from one to the next, taking them down before they can line up a shot on Beast.
The Beast is a very gifted athlete and clearly VERY strong to skip a manhole cover like that with such devastating results. "Well, I guess he doesn't get to skip town." Hank can't resist the opportunity to toss in a little one-liner.
He does move to the car and makes sure the man isn't badly injured, stripping the force field device away, and taking him to the others, and smiling to the woman speedster. "Thank you for your cover, it is much appreciated, well fought, madame." He offers a hand capable of palming someone's HEAD. "Beast, nice to meet you, Anon."
Anon finally does properly stop, for the first time since she left. She's worked out what she'd needed to work out. That lets Beast get a better look at her. She's a 'woman' speedster only in the barest sense of the word, probably still in her late teens. When he returns, he finds her on her phone, calling the police. This bunch will need to be picked up.
Her eyes go wide when she sees the size of his hand, but she places hers in it anyway. "Anon," she says. "I, uh, think we introduced ourselves before. That costume… are you with the X-Men? Are the X-Men really a thing?" You see things about them on the internet, but you can't always trust the internet.
The Beast is not a small guy, he's probably three or four times Anon's mass, very muscular and with the body layout of a great ape. He's not surprised by the wide eyes, but counters that with a broad smile and a very gentle handshake, supremely mindful of his size and strength. He nods approval of the speedstress calling for the police, that was next on his to do list, but as she's doing so, he secures the captured prisoners and then fetches the car so it isn't going to block any traffic, hefting it like one might a sack of groceries as he moves it out of the way.
"We did, but the intro wasn't formal, and the handshake was meant as thanks, young lady." Not that 23 makes him wizened!
"So you've heard of us? Yes, I'm an X-Man, one of the founding members, actually."
Anon blinks, surprised by the gentleness. That's a man who does know his own strength and exactly how to control it. She fidgets, looking around at the group. Okay, the prisoners are all secured, the police will be here any minute now. She gets that tension in her ankles, the urge to run, to get away before she's roped into more of this.
But… here's a person who's been around this particular block, who knows things. She nods to him. "I've heard a little. Is it true you're all… mutants?" There's a certain kind of hesitation and interest in her tone. That curiosity only really has one source. She has a vested interest; she's a mutant, too.
Hank's ever mindful of his physical power, sure, some people are tough enough to deal - Speedsters are not exactly legend for their durability. Granted, there's a lot of durability NEEDED for super speed movement, he knows this better than most from his studies, even so he's careful. Even with people he knows are durable enough, he's gentle. He's Codenamed 'Beast', he's not an /actual/ beast.
He can sense her impatience. "I can stay if you'd like to bail, Anon." He offers. And then he nods in answer to her question. "We're all of us mutants, yes." He studies her reaction. "Is this a problem for you?" He's not judging, not yet anyway.
Anon shakes her head, fast enough that it blurs. How does she not have whiplash from doing that. "No! No, that's not a problem. I'm a mutant, or… I think I am. Haven't exactly gone for a blood test or anything, you know?" She sighs, shaking her head. "I-I should get out of here. I'm kind of vigilante, you know? Don't think the police would be too happy about me."
"Sadly I cannot confirm your status as mutant, I don't have the right gear with me, today." Beast looks thoughtful. "Hrmph. We can meet up another time? Tell me a time and a place, we can find out for sure." Less invasive than asking for her digits or giving her his. Simpler and leaves her in control of the next steps. That's actually a fairly thoughtful way to do things.
Anon laughs, actually laughs. "There's specific gear for it? I bet my HMO doesn't have that." She takes a breath, shaking her head. "Um. What would you need, for a… a check like that? Would you need some kind of facility, or could we just meet up anywhere?"
"I have a handheld scanner, actually. It detects certain unique 'signature' emanations all mutants have in common. It is non-invasive, will not sample your DNA, nor do I have it on hand or I could answer in more detail." Hank laughs. "Fortunately my co-pay consists of 'show up and be willing for the scan', so your HMO won't need to be involved"
Anon blinks. "It's… that simple, huh?" She considers, chewing her lip. Eventually, she nods. "Greenwich Village. East 5th Avenue — there's a rooftop there I like to go to sometimes. I can be there tomorrow at five o'clock." After class is done. She doesn't actually say it, but it's in the vicinity of New York University, and she's at that age.
"Simple? In execution, yes. The technology itself is far from simple, however." Beast smiles and nods then. "Excellent, I have a speaking engagement at the university tomorrow as it happens, so I'll still be in the city." Hey, not like the Furry Beast could have a secret identity, in fact…his build is so unique even non-Furry Beast can't really hide his identity. "Five o'clock, rooftop on East 5th Avenue, I used to live in Greenwich Village, I know the area well."
Anon nods. Phone still in hand, she checks the time. Jeez, she'd better get home if she wants to get any appreciable amount of sleep before class. "I'll see you then. And…" She offers him a brief, small smile. "Thank you, Beast." She turns, and then she's off like a shot. Including breaking the sound barrier.
"Very good, I'll see you…Anon." Yes, Hank's going to enjoy that wordplay it would seem. He watches the Gilden Speedstress blur off, and then chuckles to himself as he waits for the police. While he waits he make sure there's no serious injuries, including his own, fortunately he heals very quickly. He'll be fine by morning.
