Summary:Hanako comes across her demonic foe harassing another mutant… right? Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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The harassment of Mutant Town was getting out of hand lately. The mysterious assailant had been apparently stepping up his aggression against mutants, though the number of kidnappings seemed to be getting more selective. And now, folks were whispering that some who had survived their encounter with him claim he was asking where to locate the Morlocks. For what reason, nobody seemed able to divine out of him. Only that he was looking for the sewer treading mutants. Possibly for further kidnappings.
Much like the last time Hanako was called into action, the streets were quiet and the night air still. Some poor sod hurrying quickly down the road, rounding a corner, before bumping into seemingly nothing. After a moment of surprise, the reason for the invisible blockade made himself very visible. Hanako's curious, casual, black magic wielding friend had evidently found himself another victim. Who was so spooked, he stumbled back, scurrying backwards as he panicked at the sight of the aggressor.
"I'll make this easy for you. You tell me where the Morlocks are, and I don't twist you in half. Got it?" he growled, stepping forward and glowering down at the terrified mutant.
Technically speaking Hanako wasn't a mutant, at least as far as she knew. More likely, she was…well, she didn't know. 'Shrine Maiden' was what she'd been called, but the empowered Ballerina didn't really have any answers or guides to call upon. She was busy just working things out as she went.
What she -did- know, was there was a big bad still out there, and it was only a matter of time before he made himself known again.
Sure enough, there he was.
Hanako's powers? They weren't subtle. The girl was basically a beacon of magic even before she 'activated' and a fireworks display after she did, but a surge of heat and 'electricity' to the air announced her about a moment before she appeared behind the 'black magic' user, already hurtling through the air to try and plant both her feet in the monster's back.
It wasn't sporting, but it was probably one hell of a distraction!
The curious character Hanako had targetted seemed to have some sense about himself. He caught wind of the transformation behind him, turning just in time to see her approach, but not enough to actually do anything about her attack. Her feet connected and struck him hard, sending him flying forward and skidding along the sidewalk. The mutant she had rescued stared awestruck for a moment, before turning to Hanako and nodding his head. "Bless you, whoever you are!" he let out, before scrambling to his feet and dashing away as fast as he could.
Rubbing his head and groaning, her demonic foe stood up and snarled back at Hanako. "Of course someone would come along to be the hero. Stupid jackasses." he grumbled, before straightening up and clenching his fists. He looked like Kido, though his eyes weren't glowing yellow this time, and his hair looked a several shades lighter. He sounded just like Kido. This HAD to be Kido. "Listen, sweetheart, I haven't got time for your crap. I don't like hitting ladies, but I've had it up to my eyeballs with 'heroes'. So unless you can point me to the Morlocks, you need to get out of my way."
A frown, a serious one. He looked the same, or similar enough. The lack of recognition from the 'Oni' however was puzzling to say the least. Either she hadn't been memorable, or the much more problematic likelihood was that there were more than one of the demons out there. Crap.
"Well, I aim to please…" she speaks, tilting her head to the side and lifting her hand as it pulses with glowing light. "Do you really think people are just going to stand for thugs and monsters attacking innocent people in the streets?"
That energy pulses, pooling around her fingertips as if it were straining to be released while she narrows her eyes. She'd gotten dangerously low last time, but at least she -knew- a little more about what she was up against after she'd been thrown around last time. "Surrender, tell me why you're hunting mutants…or we do this all over again."
That seemed to catch him offguard slightly. He blinked a bit, a look of confusion on his face for a moment, before huffing and scowling again. "I am hunting mutants because the bastards took something from me. And, shock of shocks, when I needed some 'daring heroes' to come to my aid? Nobody showed up. But now that I'm trying to get something important to me back from them? Suddenly /I'm/ the asshole."
He reached over, grabbing hold of a street sign he landed near and straining a bit, before yanking the whole thing, a little bit of concrete still on the end, out of the street. "So, no, I think I'll pass on surrendering. If there's one thing I've learned, it's this: heroes are just people with power to do whatever the hell they want. And if you aren't in their good graces, or disagree with them? You're hosed." He grasped the sign in his hands, crouching a bit. "But guess what? I'm willing to bet I have a lot more power than most of the 'heroes' in this city. So I guess that means, I get to do what I want too."
Clearly done talking, he launched himself forward, swinging the stop sign wildly at Hanako, hoping to bat her off to one side.
She actually looks…confused. Hesitant. This was clearly not the same guy…was it somewhat rasist on some level to assume two identical looking demons were the same? Was that a thi-Crap! She sweeps backwards, all that energy turned from attack to defense as she summons up a brilliant barrier with a little -too- much 'juice', likely enough to damage the stop sign more than it would the magical 'bubble', but she was already backing up. Truth be told, Hanako didn't really 'know' most heroes in the city, but she'd had mostly positive assumptions. This guy was very clearly more than a little jaded by things.
"You're not…"
The 'magical girl' begins to speak, only to duck down, twist and try to come up behind the wild-striking 'Oni' with her arms still glowing bright, ready for more manifesting. "What was taken from you?"
The stop sign stands no chance against the magical energy barrier it collides with, partially disintegrating as it crashed harmlessly into her powers. But that didn't stop Ford, trying hard as he could to pierce her parrier with what was left of the sign, only to see it sheer off further. Flipping it around and turning the chunk of concrete into a makeshift club, he advanced on Hanako. Thankfully, her quick moves put her swiftly behind the half-oni as he shuddered to a stop, spinning around.
"My sister! They took my SISTER!" he snarled back, his eyes suddenly glowing slightly yellow. "All mutants have ever done is take all the good things in my life! And now, they want to take the last thing that matters to me! And not a single #$@^ing so-called 'superhero' could be assed to stop it! To help me! Well, guess what? I'm done holding back. Trying to play by the rules. If the only way to get anything done is to use my powers, so be it! And not you, nor any other spandex-clad lunatic in this city is gonna stop me! Now either tell me where the Morlocks are, leave, or hold still so I can clobber you!"
His eyes flashed yellow again as he charged forward once more, swinging his concrete club at Hanako. And once it undoubtedly failed against her magical prowess, he'd just start smashing with his fists. A distinct lack of a black aura on his hands, unlike her prior engagement.
The magic made her strong, physically more powerful than she ever could be naturally, but Hanako knew better than to assume that she was stronger than the other supernatural entities out there. She was moving, dodging and twisting rather than trying to go toe-to-toe with Ford's strikes. She couldn't keep it up for ever though, this needed to come to an end.
A blast, more 'force' than heat extends outwards from her, trying to shove him back heavily before she lowers her hands, shaking her head.
"Stop. Just stop and talk…"
The glow begins to fade as the accented girl speaks, still having not placed the figure she'd fought alongside (at a significant distance!) in the park, but recognizing enough this was not the same monster she'd fought earlier.
"If you're truely the victim, not the…other that had been praying on people here, I want to help you. But you need to stop…"
The strikes miss, though they certainly leave their mark. A dent in the sidewalk here, a broken portion of a building wall there. He's definitely going for more power over finesse. But when she steps back and blasts her magical force over him, it knocks him back… and has him yelling in distinct pain. Evidently, he wasn't quite expecting it to hurt as much as it did. Whatever he was, her magic was clearly hurting him in a more potent way than it did with Kido.
"No… no. I don't trust you. I don't trust anybody who plays the hero anymore. Time and again, you've all proven that to be a mistake. Not this time. Time is of the essence. No more games." Ford clenched his fist, pounding it into the sidewalk before looking up at her and vanishing from sight. For a few moments, he seemed to be gone from the area… but after a hot minute, a grunt from behind was Hanako's only warning, before an invisible haymaker swung for her shoulder, aiming to slam her into a nearby wall.
Ah Cra- *thud*
The impact sucks, even as her passive barrier takes a fair chunk of it in a flash of sparks and she's left to slide down to her feet at a crouch. What was it with people throwing her into walls?! "You're being stupid!" she calls back, hands sparking with crackling energy that was probably too much for a 'taser' but certainly enough to make a dramatic 'effect'. "Isn't your 'one man crusade' to rescue someone 'playing hero' anyway?" she questions, advancing forwards slowly.
That arcane voltage was hopefully a deterant for anyone trying to strike her up close again, but she didn't cast it forward yet. "Stop brooding and talk, or else you'll waste more time fighting here and getting your butt kicked." Yep, that's it Hanako! Confidence was half the battle, right?
"No, it isn't. I'm not deluding myself into thinking it is." Ford responded evenly, his disembodied voice likely making it hard to discern where precisely he was. He was coming from Hanako's left… but a moment of silence and he was now to her sharp right. "You know what's funny? Any earlier, and I might agree with you. I tried so hard to be a normal person. Even as I was getting my ass kicked, I told myself not to go postal on those mutants. Because I told myself if I did, I'd hurt someone. Cause damage. That's what happens every time I use my powers… and I seemed to be the person who really got how dangerous folks with powers are."
Another moment of silence, and his voice shifted locations again. "Now I don't care. I just want my sister back. And I don't care who gets hurt. That seems to be the modus operandi for superpowered people in this city anyways. Screw the law. Screw safety. So long as it gets results, right?"
Another moment of silence, another direction. Not quite as different this time. Hanako would have a clean shot to him, if she wanted to. Straight ahead, ironically. "You really want to help me? Find out where the Morlocks are, and tell me. The sooner I get my sister back, the sooner I can just slip back into the crowd… I don't like doing any of this."
"That's not how -I- do things!" she protests, turning on her heel over and over towards the source of the voice as she protests. "I won't let innocent people be caught in the wake of recklessness!"
Hanako's glow? It finally fades. She doesn't 'change back', but for the moment she just looked like a young woman in a slightly ornate 'combat skirt'. Arms fold, a dangerous dropping of her guard perhaps as she crosses them under her bust.
"I don't know who the 'Morlocks' are, but I'll help you find them if you cease these attacks on innocent mutants."
That actually seems to make Ford stop for a bit. No quips. No retorts. No counters. And probably the one Hanako is most thankful for, no attacks. Her behavior clearly got to Ford a bit, even if she couldn't see it. He was dead silent for a while. Evidently mulling over this turn of events a bit. Finally, after taking so long to think of a good reply to the scenario, he spoke up, though still not revealing himself. "…wish there were more like you in this city, then. Not enough of them. They'll certainly say they are, but watch them for any length of time and you'll see they can't back up what they preach… you evidently take it seriously… that's all I can ask."
The shift in tone seemed to indicate he was done with all this. Just ready to quit the scene. And from his lack of a follow up, one could be forgiven for thinking he'd simply walked off. Which Ford had. Slightly. He had clearly crossed into the street once he spoke again. "You want a measure of the heroes in this city, try this: ask Dr. Hank McCoy how Lelend Hadrick is doing… and if he had to break the law to get him convicted. And as for whoever else you're looking for… I don't know them. Whatever they're up to, I'm not part of it. Not that I think anyone will believe that."
Finally, this time, he didn't add on to anything. It was dead silent. Wherever Ford was, it certainly wasn't here anymore.