Summary:Vixen and Black Panther patrol in the Disaster Zone and find more clues. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
  |
The Black Panther prowls through the streets of the Disaster Zone, silent as the shadow he appears to be. It's night. It's dark. And the Panther long ago learned that things come out at night that fear to be seen during the day. At particular issue for him is a man who he knows. A rather bad man. A man who seemed to be interested in some totems that have great bearing on that of a friend of his.
The hunt, thus far, has been rather fruitless.
"There is nothing down here." He says into a communication device.
"Nothing up here, either." Vixen answers as she parallels the Panthers path on the roof tops. "I still say we have to go into the subway, Panther. He has his operation down there."
That Klaue might surface is a possibility but Mari, well Vixen, prefers a more direct approach.
"Wait, there's something moving, one street over from you. Take the next left and the first right. And becareful."
"Understood." The Panther takes the turn and breaks into a run. No longer prowling though he is still rather quiet. He keeps to the shadows of the rubble as he slips down the side street and then takes the next turn to come out onto the next main street. Main is a bit of a misnomer here. It's choked with rubble, pitted and there's a fair amount of grass growing in the cracks in the pavement.
"I am here. Looking." 'Something' is moving, though that is fairly vague. Could be a person. Could be a ghost. Could be a mutant.
Who knows?
It's easier for Vixen to move over the rooftops but not quite a stealthy. The glowing silhouette of the spirit she's mimicking is a bit of a giveaway.
"There's an entry to the subway on that street, it might be one of Klaues people. The shape is humanoid but it's hard to tell from this distance - even with the animal senses I'm using."
As the Panther turns the corner, he can see the person shaped shadow moving towards him. They seem to be stumbling or limping as they do.
Through the communicator, he can hear Vixen hiss. "My pendant. It's burning again…." The last time it did that was related to the totems.
"I don't think it's one of Klaus' people." Panther says. Limping. Injured. Probably not one of the mercenaries that man is prone to employ.
"Come down. Quickly." If it's burning he doesn't want her flying. Because if she goes splat, well. She's oh so very human.
"You there. Stop. Who are you?"
There's always the old fashioned way of figuring out who it is.
"Yes, Sir. On my way." Comes Mari's cheeky response.
The figure stumbles and trips, nearly landing at the Panthers feet. "Oh thank Anansi, The Black Panther." The accent is a little familiar, it's African but not Wakandan or Mohanndan, something else. In what light there is, Panther can see his skin is dark and it's possible his face is bruised and battered.
"… am Tionge …." There's the sound of feet coming up from the subway as the man pants and tries to get his bearings.
"He came this way, we've got to get him back …" Two large men exit the subway just as Vixen lands behind the Panther.
This could easily be a set up. However in this suit the Panther is fairly difficult to harm using conventional means. So he steps up between the man and the subway and takes up stance.
"Take cover. Vixen, are you able to fight?" Whatever is coming he doubts they'll talk the people down.
"Don't let them take me back…" Tionge wheezes a little and stares at Vixen. "You … it's you. The soul stone bearer."
"Vixen, at your service." Mari answers, frowning a little as the man recognises the pendant. "I'm fine, Black Panther. The pendant is warm but it's not danger. In fact … it seems happy that I joined you here." That's an interesting thing to say.
"Oh look. It's the cat guy and his pet fox." These are some of the bruisers that got away with Klaue the last time. There weren't many but there were some. Pulling hand cannons, they don't hesitate and just fire. A wall of sonic energy aimed right at the cat suited man.
Panther leaps. Well, he leaps and spins midair, in a maneuver that's generally only possible if you're wearing wires. When he lands again his suit is glowing with purple veins underneath the outer covering.
"Maybe I'm the pet cat. Did you ever stop to think about that?" He's totally not. But hey, they don't knwo that and it should give Mari a chuckle.
Dipping right to pick up a table sized chunk of concrete, he spins around once and then hefts it in the direction of his attackers. Really… this isn't very smart on their part.
"You'd make a lovely pet, Panther." Vixen quips. She did appreciate the joke immensely as she dives to the side, rolling to bring herself closer to the two.
Panthers throw wings one as the two thugs seperate, on focussing on him and one on Mari.
"Here kitty, kitty…. " the thug taunts the Panther. This time the sonic blast, hits the ground behind him.
The Panther flicks his claws out and begins to advance at a walk. "As a warning, you probably should not shoot me. In fact I would leave now." He doesn't expect to be listened to, really. For some reason these people never do. Klaue himself would know better. But then Klaue himself - while insufferable - wouldn't just stand there while a man in a panther habit approached him.
With claws out.
Black Panther has much better protection than Vixen. The other thugs weapon shatters the wall right by her head as she rolls again. The glowing silhouettes of a silverbacked ape and a panther forming behind her - her nails grow into talons as she throws herself at her attacker. The weapon discharges again.
As for Panthers guy, he's not just standing there. He's seen what the Black Panther can do. He's moving as he rolls a grenade to the feet of the cat-suited man. "That sounds like good advice." He says, turning and stopping to blow the wall to T'Challa's left away.
The grenade hasn't gone off yet, but it can't be long before it does - and the wall is coming down on his head.
The Panther moves suddenly and very quickly. He scoops up the grenade and chucks against the wall so it can be buried by the collapsing rubble. Then he takes a leap off the same wall - albeit an unblasted part - and launches himself at his attacker. The claws lash out at the legs, precise and razor sharp. He carries through his leap with a roll to knock the man off his feet and turns with feline agility back on him to grab his weapon. Vibranium powered, no doubt.
"That was a mistake friend. And here I had hoped we could talk about this."
"Ack…." The thug tries to throw himself clear as Black Panther launches at him. Blood blossoms from the clawing and tendons are torn. He spins, bringing the weapon up and discharging it at close quarters as the Panther grabs.
"Get off …. " the guys voice is getting higher with the stress and he's now seriously trying to get away.
As for Mari, the wall near her is just rubble now. Her attackers face a bloody mess of scratches. Vixen is scrapping with the thug, kiting him as he tries to aim at her. Then she drops and sweeps a leg out, tripping him over. The weapon discharges again.
T'Challa is winged by the blast and his suit starts to glow a bit more. He grabs the man by the leg and tosses him out at an odd angle. After a moment it becomes apparent he was throwing him into the line of fire for the other guy and as Mari trips him, the discharge blasts the first thug down the street.
The Panther smirks inside his habit. "Tionge?" Where'd he go? Hopefully he wasn't hit by any of the collateral damage.
Those two are done for and Vixen stands, rolling her shoulder and stretching a bit. The glowing silhouettes of the creatures fade away as she moves towards Black Panther. "I don't suppose I have to ask if you're ok…" She says, poking at the glowing purple parts on his suit.
"Here, Black Panther." Tionge staggers towards them. Vixen immediately helps the man to a spot he can sit. "And the spirit stone holder. Anansi has indeed blessed me today."
"Who are you and why were they looking for you." Vixen asks, the pendant on her neck seems to be swinging towards Tionge.
"I … am like you, Vixen. One of Anansi's blessed. How is it another of his blessed is working with Black Panther?"
"Good Fortune. Or the blessing of the Gods. Take it as you will." The Black Panther says. "You appear to be injured." He does. He's staggering now, he was limping earlier. The stone was warm. He wonders if that means just that the other bearer was close or that the other bearer was in trouble.
He can ask later. When he's not in the suit.
"What are you doing here? And why were they chasing you?"
"I … was travelling here and came to help with the Disaster Zone. We found a … a collapsed … laboratory. I was helping to investigate when we were attacked." Tionge shakes his head as he lets Mari help him.
"They wanted my pendant. I don't know how they knew about it but they did. I lost it when I was trying to escape."
"Hurt? A little. Nothing that won't heal. But they've been holding me for … I don't know how long."
T'Challa shoots Mari a look. All of that is AWFUL convenient. The labs. The losing the stone. The knowing about them. Well okay they are public personalities but still. "You are not from around here then?" His accent is a bit difficult to place.
"You came to help with the disaster zone?" That's odd. That had gotten some international attention of course but this is the US. It's not like there's foreign aid just pouring in. All of this seems just a little bit convenient.
Vixen looks at the Black Panther as he gives her that look and touches her pendant. It's warm and still swinging slightly towards to Tionge.
"I am not, no. I am from Djanda." Which neighbours Mohanda but not Wakanda. "I was traveling. A vacation you might say. Why America, I don't know, perhaps Anansi was guiding me to be here. Someone I met on a tour encouraged me to come and help out here. It seemed like the right thing to do, so I did." Tionge shakes his head "They … were part of a gang that operates here."
Ah. It's not overly convenient. Tionge is just an idiot. Not that T'Challa says that out loud, it wouldn't be polite and it's not in character for the Black Panther anyway. So instead he just nods.
"They had already discovered your totem and wished to lure you. It is fortunate that you escaped. Less fortunate that they have your pendant though. Do you know what they did with it?"
They seem to want to collect all six so he'd bet on them keeping all the ones they have in one place.
An idiot or naive. One or the other. Vixen looks at Black Panther carefully. "The knew of my pendant, yes." Tionge answers. "They were not happy when I lost it and they couldn't find it."
There had been the pendant that Vixen and Panther found when they examined the lab they'd found. That one and the other one.
"They held me and tried to make me find it. I couldn't find it … the trail I followed … went dead." That would be because it's in a safe at T'Challa's. "I got away today when they took me out again."
"They were talking about the one that they have and how it was safe with the claw."
"Klaue." It still sounds like Claw. T'Challa blows out a sigh. "It's a person not a thing. A rather unpleasant person. We may know what happened to your pendent. The Vixen can sense the bearers of the other pendants and the stones themselves." He will leave her to explain more of that if she likes.
"For now though we should not stay here. You may want medical attention and in any case these streets are not safe."
"Claw… The Claw…" Tionge shakes his head. "They talk of it … them … as something to be feared. I can show you where they held me … I think. But I don't think this is where they hold the totem they have."
How many totems do they have? One, at least.
"I need rest and perhaps medical attention. I … will find a hotel. My room will have expired by now." the man from Djanda says.
"Let us help you. We'll find you accomodation and get you care." Vixen murmurs, watching the Black Panther. Tionge can probably stay at her place. It should be safe, shouldn't it?
"I can't sense the bearers but my Pendant can. It … reacts … in your presence."
"What do you think, a hotel or my place?" She asks Black Panther as she moves to help Tionge up.
"Your place for now." The Panther says. "You can call your friend and it's less likely to have been followed." T'Challa may be able to pull more strings and can probably talk to the man in a more relaxed fashion.
"Later we will take you up on your offer to show us where you were held. For now we should go. One of us can carry you if you need that." Both he and Mari are easily strong enough.
Vixen nods. It's interesting that she asked and deferred to that judgement. There's a lot of trust she has in Panther.
"I can walk, slowly, if that's ok." Tionge answers, standing painfully and starting to move. "And I … thank you for your hospitality, Vixen. I … shouldn't impose on you but …" It's not safe.
"I'll call my friend to come over." Mari agrees She wouldn't put his place at risk like this. "Let's go."
It's going to take them a while to get out of the DZ and longer still to get Tionge safe in her home.