The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is geographically south of Westchester County; north and east of the island and borough of Manhattan to the south and west across the Harlem River; and north of the borough of Queens, across the East River. Of the five boroughs, the Bronx is the only one that has the majority of its area on the U.S. mainland. About a quarter of the Bronx's area is open space, including Woodlawn Cemetery, Van Cortlandt Park, Pelham Bay Park, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Bronx Zoo in the borough's north and center. These open spaces are situated primarily on land deliberately reserved in the late 19th century as urban development progressed north and east from Manhattan.
Territory Owner: Government Territory Base Income: $5000 Sub Areas: Bronx County Courthouse
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 9:53 pm
NO MARKS HERE NOPE
A quick trip to a Chop Shop had seen her handsomely paid for her trouble of stealing the car the previous night, as had dropping off what she had stolen in her home. Now, carying the same backpack from the night before, the girl was out and ready to get to a special mission she had been notified to by the Red Hand themselves. So there was a relic of the old times found and being put on display, huh? Interesting. Apparently it was some very old but very shiney gem of some kind on display in the Museum in the Bronx. Kozi couldn't help herself as she approached the Museum. Looked like the building was guarded, but not too heavily. Should prove to be a simple enough job. Alarm system likely around the actual gem itself would be tricky, and the whole business of getting in and out quickly was going to make this job particularly difficult to do. As she got within two blocks she broke the heels off of her shoes, frustrated that she'd not be using this pair anymore but glad the clacking and knocking against the floor would no longer be an issue. She rolled her neck, stretched her body out as best she could and adjusted her mask. Her tongue ran over her teeth as she began her approach to the three story museum.
Now in the allyway to the opposite side of the building, she peaked around the front of it, narrowing her eyes at the man behind a desk at the front behind a pair of doubtlessly locked doors, the kind you only had to push the long bar to make open up. Couldn't pick the lock to it while the man was sitting at the desk, and he didn't look like he was going to be moving any time soon. There was the back, but there would likely be cameras. Not that there wouldn't have been cameras in the front too. She scanned the roof of the building and the sides, seeing that there were indeed a few cameras. She knew from previous heists that hadn't panned out that knocking out all of the cameras was a quick way to alert everyone inside that there was something going on. With a flared nostril she began to think about what she could do. The directions these cameras were moving, she figuered she had a fifteen second window where she could cross the building and get under the camera at the eastern most corner of the building without being seen, and then be in a blindspot to move around the back and take her chances with a back entrance.
She made it with three seconds to spare, planting against the wall after her quick sprint. The guard at the front door hadn't seen her either, which was good. He was looking at the screen in front of him, probably at the very cameras she was trying to avoid. She walked along the wall to the back of the building, seeing that the parkinglot did have cameras but most of them were facing the cars, and the ones she did see probably couldn't see her very well in the darkness. She wasted no time maneuvering to the loading dock where it appeared things probably got brought in for events and the like. There was a door there, a normal looking one with a lock on it. So far as she could tell there was no alarm, but she wasn't sure. It was a gamble, but she doubted that the loading bay door would have an alarm attached since they would likely have guards in the area anyway. All the mroe reason to be quick. Her lock picks and deft fingers maneuvered the easy set of tumblers into position and she pulled open the door slowly. No alarm sounded, and the inside was what she expected. Empty space with a few doors, some flatbeds and carts. She let the door quietly close behind her, looking to see if there was a keypad. Narrowed eyes noted that there was not. So far so good. She moved fast and quiet to the the end of the hallway, where there was a freight elevator. Beside it, a staircase. Obviously, she took the stairs, silently jumping over the banisters and skipping two and three steps with each leap. If a silent alarm was going off right now, she didn't have long before she was going to need to get out of dodge. The third floor was locked. ******** this one took a bit more time fiddling to get open, but once it was she peeked in to see that a single guard was watching the opposite end of the hallway. He had a baton and a flashlight. She smirked, reminding herself of her own martial skills as she slid inside. She closed the distance fast, and he didn't hear the practiced, silent steps she'd taught herself how to make. She looked out ahead of him, seeing only one other guard was walking past. When his back was turned, in one deft motion that was common among pickpockets, she unsheathed his baton and then spun before he could make a sound and wopped him over the head with it. He hit the ground, hard and out like a light, and she saw the other guard turn to see the noise. Before he could flicker on his flash light she had clsoed the distance and driven her knee into his temple. He hit the wall, almost into a painting on the wall, and fell to the floor. She landed, dusting off her body and taking his flashlight. She put it through a belt loop on hier pants as she walked, twirling the baton as she made a B line for the special exhibit. If there were cameras, she wasn't stopping to look. Let em watch, she didn't mind.
When she reached the room with the gem, she was greeted by a couple of guards who had probably been alerted, via the very cameras she was disregarding. Whatever, she was more than a match for the men. When they came at her, there was almost like a sixth and seventh sense telling her how to handle everything. One that corrected her improper movements and one that directed her on what she should be doing. It was surreal the first few months but now it was just like seeing and hearing for her. She hadn't had to fight in a few weeks, but that was nowhere near long enough for basic muscle memory to fade. She had far better than basic memory. Her knee drove into the first man's chin, followed by her body ducking, weaving to the side of a punch from the first man. She whipped the baton into his hand, then brought it up to his temple. They stumbled away from her as she brought her leg up to kick them both over. They didn't get up immediately, and two solid punches put them to sleep against the ground. She stood and turned, hearing a man coming down the hall. She saw him, and slung the baton across the room directly into his skull. He too, hit the floor. She turned to her prize, encased in a glass box. She quietly raised the box after feeling around for sensors, and thenset it down by the mooks she'd knocked out. She was out like a cheetah once the gem was in hand. She would be sliding back down the stairs, up and over banisters to get down much faster than she ascended them. She burst out the back door, seeing no opposition to run across the parking lot. Before she broke into a sprint, however, she took a red marker and outlined her hand. As she ran, she removed yet another burner phone from her pocket and took a picture of the diamond. Captionless, she posted it to parahumans online and dropped the phone through a sewere grate after tearing it in half. The Diamond itself would be fenced in a few hours when she was sufficiently far away from the scene of the crime. In ten minutes she would have disappeared into the night through the allyways and side streets.
It was a fair assessment that Liana felt in a little over her head here. From the moment her girlfriend shoved a mask in her hand to when she stripped down and pulled on a skin-tight costume and bolted out the door she had felt strange. Firstly, Lilith looked damned good all in black, a second layer of clothing so fitting and revealing all of her best curves. The subject of porn and cosplay came to mind, but after your significant other reveals they're a cape to you just as the two of you are about to embark on a journey to counter-mug some hooligans it wasn't the first thing to bring up. Instead, the question that was burning in Liana's mind was what kind of cape Lilith actually was. A thinker, who apparently could just learn anything they saw, was about to commit an actual crime. It wasn't the morality of it all that was nagging at her, it was the unknowing. Liana was a small time thief herself whenever the need arose. But just how did Lilith spend her free time? Liana wracked her brain for any recent headlines involving a black-dressed vixen hitting up high profile places. Did she steal diamonds? Maybe she ran weapons?
The anxiety was getting to her. Liana had in fact not shut up since they left the house, a nervous habit of hers. "...but I mean with people like...well like you running around is it really a stretch to thing big foot exists? What if he just happened to be on Earth B or something and we missed it?" Her words were constantly interrupted with her having to suck in a huge breath to keep up the stream of thought. She picked at the mask as well, wiping away the sweat that built up just along the edges.
Liana wasn't just concerned for their safety. She was also testing herself. The girl was extending the range at which she felt comfortable calling to these creatures. Gradually the number was growing. It wasn't just the singular rat on the balcony following now, but so many more. With each alleyway or subway entrance they past more would join her throng of rodents. Liana tried to keep them at a safe distance though, attempting to have them stick to the shadows and maneuver through whatever was in their way instead of just letting them scurry down the street with her. It was a lot harder than she would have expected. Maybe she was pushing herself too far, maybe this whole thing should have just been left alone.
But maybe Liana could be a cape too.
The idea thrilled her really, probably more than it should. She was picturing herself in full costume, standing with Lilith on top of a building with the city at their feet. With their powers combined they could do so freaking much. They could have whatever they wanted and get away with it. No more heating up hot pockets in a crappy microwave for them. Liana could see herself really making a difference for the people like her. She could go so far with this ability. When Lilith slowed to a halt and crouched down Liana almost barreled in to her. Hopefully there would be a little leeway for mistakes here. After all it was her very first 'mission'. Right now would probably be a good time for a field test. Liana grabbed Lilith's shoulder and leaned close to whisper to her. "Lily, I'll check it out first. Just give me a second." Looking both ways before crossing the street Liana darted as fast as she could with how battered her body was to the side alley lining the building that apparently held the maniacs who stole her damn phone.
Kneeling to the ground, she closed her eyes and mentally tugged at one of the rats under her control. It was a larger one than her first, probably because it lived in the sewers and had a much larger diet than the other. It felt so weird, so disturbing at first. Rats weren't exactly the cutest and cuddliest, especially the ones that plagued New York. Especially here in the dingy side of the Bronx. Eugh. In another life Liana would have been too grossed out to reach out and offer her hand. This life? She had seen way worse things. The rat bound forth and entered her hand calmly. It made no noises when she lifted it up and held it close to her chest. "Okay little dude, I know this is our first time and this is ******** crazy but we got this, alright? Just go in there and scope it out. Find those pricks!" It was a hushed whisper to the rat that sniffed at her briefly before scampering away and under the door frame.
Liana tapped at that barrier she had been mentally keeping between herself and the rats. Their senses felt so foreign, too sharp for a human. She slowly dropped her guard and sank in to it fully, embracing all of the changes. First things first, this city smelled so much worse than regularly. Liana grimaced and refocused on the rat who was moving down hallways. The building was incredibly rundown, more akin to a crack den than an actual apartment. Graffiti of all kinds layered the walls where flaking pain had mostly chipped away. Most of the apartments were quiet or even empty. First floor, second floor, third floor; no sign of the people she had met earlier.
The rat squeezed itself underneath a door and beheld what was on the other side. Someone was laying on a disgusting mattress, head lolled to the side with a needle nearby. Liana urged her creature forth slowly, not wanting to risk getting noticed. What she found was that she probably could have literally had the rat make a home in this guy's lap because he was too far gone to notice its presence. Heroin. She found herself shaking her head, sympathizing with this poor soul who felt the need to do something so shitty. Then she heard it. Her ring tone. The rat's ears twitched and its tail flickered with momentary indecision. Liana repeated her command and it followed the sound. In the next room over there were three people sitting at a table. One of them was holding Liana's phone, flipping through the pictures she had kept. Liana flushed, knowing a lot of them were fairly inappropriate ones of her girlfriend. Oh man was Lilith going to be pissed. Sending the rat to the corner of the room to keep watch, Liana motioned to Lilith so she could pass the information on. "Fourth floor, apartment 411. I think they're all druggies. I uh, guess you take the lead here? Not really sure how to go about this. Do we play good cop/bad cop? Bust in all Charlie's Angel's like? Kick a** and chew bubble gum? Liana was nervous again. She fiddled with the mask. "Wait, what's your codename?
Posted: Tue May 09, 2017 8:04 pm
NO MARKS HERE NOPE
The most notable skill Kozi had properly appropriated from Liana was being able to just prattle on and on and on without taking a breath. Lucky for her, Kozi was easily able to both listen and ignore noise simultaneously somehow. She had rotten nerves when her powers first activated, which stacked onto a short fuse when she was still a lil normie. It took years of practice for her to learn to focus on the world at large, to not see every little thing as something she could snatch from the person doing it. That was step one. Second she had to learn to live step by step instead of thinking on a macro scale. Tends to make menial things and conversations difficult to sit through> And then she met liana a year and a half ago... or was it that long? Eh didn't matter, the point was she had taught herself things to keep from getting frustrated, like tapping, or multitasking. Turns out multitasking is a skill you can actually properly learn, and she was a master of it.
All this to say, that as Liana massaged Lilith's temporal lobe with unending noise she was mostly content to humor her. Until she, again, mentioned bigfoot. Kozi stopped and looked at her, luckily at their location. "Lilac. You do know that bigfoot was identified as a cape not long after it was discovered that we actually do exist right? Like... it's not so far fetched anymore. His name was Feliz, he was a changer. He was also El Chupacabra's brother." With that she would smile and then speak again. "I'm kidding." She looked across the street at the very tall building, rubbing her chin. Five stories. Annoying... she'd have to check every single room wouldn't she.
With Liana with her, the chances they would get into trouble was much higher. The girl was exciteable and untrained. And then there was the fact that she likely couldn't fight. Not in her state. Damn why had she brought her along anyway? Reclaiming herself from them or something? Whatever the reason this was going to be tough. She ran a hand on the baton she picked up from a guard earlier in that day, wondering how hard she'd have to throw it to topple a thug. If they were as tough as Museum guards, not extremely. But more than one thug could be coming at her, like with the museum. If they didn't have guns, they'd be floored before they could do any real harm to her, but Liana wasn't special like Kozi was.
As if challenging her thoughts, she turned to see Liana popping across the lightless-street. Kozi meandered across, wondering why she was kneeling to the floor like she was. When she reached where she'd stopped, Lilith paused as a Rat bounded into Lilac's hand. Her eyes narrowed as she spoke to it, keeping herself from moving too fast and spook it. She was quiet as the thing scampered off, at a loss for words. Had she been out here taming rats? There was a significant portion of the day, of a week, when they didn't see each other. Kozi "worked" at a coffee shop, and when she wasn't there she was studying. Both of these things were a cover, somewhat, for her practicing her martial arts, her workouts, and time spent learning new things. She studied, sure, but not as much as she claimed. She spent 16 hours of her day with that and school total. What Liana was doing was beyond her.
But... how had the girl known what apartment they were in? Kozi was silent after she asked the codename. "Wanna... explain this rat thing?" Kozi asked tilting her head to the side with a furrowed brow.
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Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 8:26 pm
Liana was feeling sheepish. It wasn't even that she felt like a secret of hers had been revealed when she hadn't been ready to tell. It was more that there was really nothing to explain just yet. Plus, her power was low key gross compared to something so freaking technical and cool that Lilith managed to acquire. She really didn't want her girlfriend to get weirded out by this. "Uh, I don't really have an explanation. It just kind of happened. I haven't had time to process this so I'm pretty much just rolling with it for the time being. I'll let you know when I do?" Liana straightened out her back and tilted her head to the left like if she was a dog who heard something approaching. It was still pretty confusing, trying to decipher the way a rat interpreted the world. "They're on the move! We can head them off at the stair well. Just ah, you know...don't mind the rats. They're friendly...?" Liana seemed pretty unsure of that really. Like how exactly her power worked was a bit beyond her. So far the first furry friend had done its job excellently but there were so many circumstances she knew that could affect a cape and their powers.
Fourty one rats. For most people even one of them was more than enough to give them the creeps and set them running for the nearest high ground. Liana had stopped talking and tried not to worry what Lilith thought of her at the moment. She busied herself directing all of the rats to her location and trying not to lose control over the situation. Her directions were clear almost to a fault. Aid Lilith, don't lose any of the four thugs, and try not to get crushed. She flooded the first floor with them filing up the stairwell in one solid stream of creatures. They'd come in just behind Lilith, with Liana behind the swarm. From there, she would let her counterpart handle the talking or fisting. Whichever came first. Liana was there for back up and a first row seat at sweet revenge.
Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 9:28 pm
NO MARKS HERE NOPE
Kozi raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms as the girl before her seemed put off. Was she embarrassed? Was she a cape?! Had... had the trigger event literally happened today? Oh dear lord this was becoming something straight out of a story book. Here she was surprising the girl with the knowledge that she, too, was a cape! Whatever these people had done to her had been so bad that she... she'd triggered as some kind of master!? Lilith felt a deep rooted anger, expression hidden behind her mask thankfully. Not to Liana, but to the men she wa sabout to go and hurt. "My mask name is Kozi. Till we get you a better one... we will call you Scamper." Her smirk was visible then at the very least. She turned the corner, noting the gathering rats as she walked in the front door of the apartment. She couldn't count how many were assembled here... but she definitely could guess that without a weapon of some kind capable of widespread destruction... she couldn't kill all of them if they attacked her. Damn if her boothang wasn't just about the strongest thing she'd ever encountered...
She walked up the stairs as the rats formed a defensive line behind her, which was a bit unsettling but... you know what... it wasn't that they were rats. Just that... they were a mass of rats, all acting like a hive mind. She didn't visibly shudder. Not really. The four were on the move as she said, and they stopped when they saw Kozi. Her body kicked into overdrive as she pulled the baton free and slammed it against the banister, making a loud sound that caused them to jump. "I heard you like picking on little girls. Why don't you all show me," She started up the stairs deliberately slowly, still whacking the banister. To her annoyance, one of them drew a knife, waving it at her. "Oh now you shouldn't have done that," She closed the distance much quicker than before, jumping and somehow sticking to a wall before leaping off and driving her knee into that one's head, crashing it into the wall beside her. She grabbed the next guy before she even landed and gave a yank, causing him to fall to the waiting collection of rats below. She drove a heeled foot into the groin of the man she'd fallen on, as his friend stumbled down to his fate. This was just as much for Liana as it was for Lilith, after all. With one down, one falling, and two ahead she decided to even the odds a bit more, throwing the baton up the stairs and causing another of the aggressors to start tumbling down. She jumped over as he pulled his friend down with him in an impressive shove of foolishness. The last one realized he was outmatched as Kozi started up the stairs and, predictably, he bolted too. It'd only be a matter of time before she hounded him and caught his foot, tripping her prey and climbing over him, rearing back and driving a fist right into his nose. She pulled back and did it again. Then again. Then once more and she felt a crack and blood covered her knuckles.
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Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 9:58 pm
Wow. Like seriously wow. All Liana could do while Lilith - no, Kozi - beat the ever loving crap out of these guys like she did this every day was stand there in complete ******** awe. The whole scene was like a well choreographed action shot but without any pulled punches and sweet camera tricks. This was so incredibly hot that Liana had to lick her lips and swallow hard past the lump that had formed in her throat. And she ended up with rats. Like wow world, thanks for the bad roll of the dice. She tried to keep pace with Lilith, having to step over fallen bodies and a contingent of rats crawling over them. "Search for my s**t little dudes!" Liana shouted before darting up the stairs. At the landing she had to stop, doubling over half in pain and half in exhaustion. The adrenaline rush had done wonders for her at the start of things but her body had still gotten trashed just a few hours beforehand.
By the time she made it to the adjoining hallway Lilith was already slamming her fist into this guy's face. And again. And again. Liana felt a thrum of fear in her body. She shot forward like an arrow and grabbed Kozi's forearm with both hands before another blow was dealt. "Li- Kozi! Enough! I think you made your point." The guy at her feet groaned in agony, not even bothering to try and fight back. It made it easy to pull Lilith off of his body and push her gently back to the far wall. Liana stood there for a moment, caught in between these two opposing forces. She stared down at the guy and studied his face. Beneath the now broken nose and smattering of blood this guy could have been handsome. Well, maybe before the oceans of heroin he had pumped in to his body. Now he looked gaunt, decayed and half dead. Liana could so vividly remember him and his fists. The way his knuckles cut against her cheek , how his boot had felt grinding against her ribs with each kick. Anger flooded her, sheer irrational anger. Her little hands balled in to fists so tight her knuckles went white. She kicked at him, relishing the feeling of his head snapping back and banging against the wall. "a*****e." Liana's heart was hammering in her chest. She felt so alive, so charged with a foreign energy in her. God, this felt so good. She seized Kozi then, putting her hands on either side of her head and pulling her in for a hard, sloppy kiss. "That was so ******** hot." Liana let her boothang go and turned back to the stairwell, taking them two at a time to find her things.
Like obedient little soldiers the rats had fulfilled her latest request. There in a haphazard pile lay the things that smelled most like Liana; backpack, cellphone, laptop, rent money. Awesome. She collected her things in the bag and slung it over one of her shoulders. Liana clapped her hands once and turned to address her minions. "Alright guys. Uh, that was some solid group marching. We'll work on it, thanks for your time. Disperse? Dismissed? Goodbye?" She threw her arms out theatrically and wiggled her fingers, nudging with her head for the rats to get out and go do whatever rats do in their free time. A silly idea hit her just then. Reaching in to her bag and grabbing her phone out, she sprinted back up the stairs and pulled Lilith in to view for the front facing camera. "Smile big Lily! This is our first caped adventure! " She smiled real big like, overly toothy and all too cute. Bunny ears were added over Lilith's head of course.
Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 11:02 pm
NO MARKS HERE NOPE
A hand caught Kozi's and she consciously had to stop from continuing to punch anyway what with the situation. The hand was soft, familiar and in a place like this that could only mean it was Liana. She relaxed her hand and allowed the girl to think she was doing something, pushing her against the wall like she had. For a second, Kozi considered what the girl might do. No sooner did she get beyond her first thought did the girl bring it to life, and she kicked the man's consciousness right on out of him. Kozi smirked, seeing the meanstreak in Lilac. It was pretty attractive, not that she wasn't attractive all the time. When the girl kissed her, Kozi pressed into it for a second, then stopped and looked to see the rats moving past, brain turning to mush as it always did.
Man, those damn rats were just downright odd to see working as well as they did. They got an order and they... well... they carried it out? Is that how that worked. And then she... dismissed them. Just like that. And they were off squeaking and squealing like they all had places to be. She mouthed a simple, familiar phrase. "What the ********, Li." At least they hadn't ate her or something, like 41 rats probably could. When she took out her phone, Lilith looked the girl in her eyes and shook her head. Awful idea. If someone were to come across the picture, steal her phone after seeing her face? If someone were to hack her phone and post the picture to parahumans O? It'd be a pretty big deal. But seeing how excited she was, Lilith could let her have that massive security breach, and so she made a smirk, angling her head to show off her good side and formed a wink. When she took the pick, Kozi looked her in the eyes. "Ok Scamper, let's scram before someone finds these mooks?" She left first, making sure the road was clear and wiping her bloody knuckles off on the door before she left.
Naomi Tenkou
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Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 8:32 pm
After wandering in from the mountainous areas surrounding the city, Peace found herself in a much less stereotypically "city" portion of the city on a quest to find the ultimate martial arts school. Failing that, she'd take a decent one too. Clad like a cosplaying hobo with a bindle on her back and what appeared to be a horribly dirtied shrine maiden outfit, people tended to give her a wide berth as she strolled about the city. That, combined with the magnificence of Gil's hat, must have given people a very strange impression.
There were a great deal of stores, ranging from convenience, to hobby, to restaurant, to services like tax filing, but finding a martial arts studio was proving difficult. She eventually stumbled upon an area in the city that had a few such places, but of them, only one taught martial arts; the others offered classes in such things as dance and whatever the newest workout trend was that was destroying people's bodies. After wandering around the city with Gil for just over four hours, she found a place that not only caught her attention, but held it. She stared in through the windows, practically drooling at the sight of all the well-formed punches, solid stances, and so on. Of course, that class was for children. The adults came out not too long thereafter, and after watching them spar for a few minutes in full padding due to the opportunistic strikes being employed, she turned to Gil and gave him the thumbs-up. Then she swiftly inserted herself into the building and took a seat near the reception desk. She nodded to affirm that she wanted to sign up, then would wave Gil over to deal with the paperwork.
Incidentally, the name of the school was printed in a heavily stylized east Asian script on the front door, not that Peace noticed. It read "Nippon Kempo". Despite the decent location, it didn't have more than a dozen people in attendance between the junior and adult classes, which probably explained why they didn't throw her out despite her very obvious homelessness.
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Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 9:13 pm
Gil spent the first two hours of their trip attempting to adjust his new bear pelt. It was surprisingly difficult with his dominant arm in a sling. Eventually he brought himself to pay attention to his surroundings... for about five seconds. Damn this pelt and its constant slipping off! The nest time Gil was actively cognizant of his surroundings, Peace was watching some children through a window with a look on her face that made him think she was attempting to lure them to her house made of candy. Just as he was about to step in (hopefully before an overzealous Warden did, damn them) she bolted into the building, sat down and nodded towards some paperwork.
Gil made certain to seek out and then fill out any paperwork that may have been needed over the course of the class, and filled in Peace's information. He also made sure the instructor was aware of her... unique characteristics, and greased the wheels a bit to make sure she would get the most out of the class that she could despite that. Once he was done, he stayed shortly to make sure everything was on track, he left for his own territory to nurse his wounds. And find an at least semi-permanent solution for the bear pelt.
-$100
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Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 9:55 pm
Peace waved goodbye to her comrade as he left, then set about paying for the class. It was slightly confusing to her that the instructors looked so strange about taking the full $400, but she wrote that off as some strange quirk of city life. She was then informed she would get six weeks of training at the dojo, and that she would be provided with a locker and workout attire for the class. She nodded along eagerly and went into the back room to change when directed to do so. She left her usual outfit in a locker along with the rest of her things and adjusted her hair tie to be a bit tighter before rejoining her classmates.
Including her, there were a total of eight students in the class, all adults of varying ages and proficiency levels. The instructor--an elderly lady the others addressed as "Kimura-sensei"--introduced her to the class as Peace and told them she was unable to speak, but that they should treat her just as they would anyone else while on the mat. She also reiterated a warning that had been in the paperwork, just to make sure the new attendee was aware: there were to be no powers used within the studio, as doing so would defeat the purpose of training one's body and potentially lead to greater damage. Peace nodded eagerly and made a note not to use her abilities, something which had become second nature to her.
The first class primarily consisted of her watching the others, though she was allowed to throw a few punches and kicks near the end so she could show off her base level of skill. As it turned out, her form was absolutely abysmal for both punches and kicks. She was surprisingly good at the stances she was asked to perform, but she figured that was only because she had good balance as a result of climbing mountains so much. By the end of the class, her punching form had only improved ever so slightly, whereas she was throwing remarkably improved kicks. Her stance work remained about the same in quality.
After changing back into her normal clothes, she stopped by the water fountain near the restrooms. It had been a long time since she'd used one, and as a result she almost balked when it first passed over her tongue. It was so different from the river water she usually drank. She wasn't sure she liked it. On her way out, the instructor stopped her, asked if she would be back--of course she would--and then asked her to at least bow while leaving. When Peace looked confused, she got a quick lesson on how to properly bow, and then was sent on her way. Classes were Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday in the late afternoon, it seemed, so she would have to stay relatively close to the city. No more long hikes for her, at least not while she was learning how to slay her opponents with nothing but her bare hands.
Martial Arts Training: Purchased. Nippon Kempo: 1/18 classes attended.
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93!
Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 10:57 pm
Peace wasn't entirely sure how she was supposed to play poker, but she was having a good time anyway. On her way back from her martial arts lesson she'd stopped by a street stall to ogle the food, whereupon she was called out to by a small group of men playing a game of cards at a small table near the alley. They offered to buy her a meal if she could win one round, and she figured she might as well. It took five rounds, but she eventually won with one pair on a hand where no one else drew even the lowest scoring hand, whereupon they bought her a fat sandwich and a bottle of juice. After she wolfed that down, they offered to buy her a dessert if she won again. Two rounds later, she played a hand that was apparently amazing, and they bought her a bag of pretzels from a nearby convenience store. She munched on them and watched the others play a game that she hadn't ever heard of while listening to a nearby radio.
Then, all of a sudden, an emergency broadcast came over the airwaves. It spoke of a pair of parahumans, one of whom had assaulted a cashier and robbed the store afterward, and the other of whom picked a fight with the first one and injured some bystanders in the process. Both were on the run, to be presumed dangerous, and wanted by the police. They were known as "Air Soldier" and "Mage Rot" and apparently had some history with local law enforcement. As soon as the broadcast ended, Peace's compatriots started packing up, evidently not wanting to get caught up in the feud between these two small-time parahumans.
Not too long later a green-masked man with a perpetual scowl sprinted down the alleyway and ran straight into Peace. He was clutching a plastic bag stuffed with bills, which splashed out quite dramatically across the ground when he fell. He was quick to rebound, though, and began threatening Peace, talking about how she tripped the wrong person, etc., etc. She didn't really care about who he thought he was or what he was doing; she just wanted to wait for the conflict to pass so her card buddies would come back out. And then he said he was Air Soldier.
That proclamation changed a few things in her mental math. Now she had half of the equation right there in front of her, where she could reach out and render it completely passive with a good hit or two. She stood up, brushed herself off, and then assumed a fighting stance. He immediately backed away, pointed a finger at her, and fired a bullet of air straight for her. It did practically no damage, but it did knock her back several feet. Not wanting to let him drive her off, Peace hunkered down and broke into a dead sprint toward him, dukes raised. He let off another blast of air toward her, but it barely knocked her back a step this time. She reached him before he could get off another good blast at her, then swung at him. He crumpled like a sheet under the weight of her fist... or so she thought. Instead, she whiffed through him as his torso turned gaseous. It seemed he was immobile in that form, though, and couldn't use his air blaster, both of which she realized as she stared confusedly at him. As soon as he reconstituted, she smacked him in the chest, immediately knocking him out.
Next was that "Mage Rot" character.
D-List Bounty: Complete.
Ergo War
Enduring Guildsman
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Ergo War generated a random number between
50 and 100 ...
88!
Ergo War
Enduring Guildsman
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Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 12:12 am
Mage Rot, as it turned out, was the sort of person whose anger burned long and slow, more of a bed of coals than a raging wildfire. Then, at the right moment, they would let their anger flare up and get revenge for all the grievances they had toward their unlucky target. Peace learned this the hard way after spotting the robe-wearing, masked figure with a severe villainous presence at the other end of the street. With Air Soldier out cold on the ground, Mage Rot had initially demanded his body, but when Peace didn't respond to the authoritative tone they were using, things got ugly. At first they tried to bargain with her, their aggression gradually increasing in the face of her continued silence.
With a wave of their hand, Peace felt her wounds reopening. When she looked, she saw them too. They slowly peeled apart as though they were un-healing, though no blood seeped from them. Across her body, the shadows of old injuries and bruises faded into view. Somewhere deep inside her mind, she felt a gnawing darkness swelling up, a dam of negativity filled to the breaking point. She knew what lay beyond there and she didn't want to revisit that day.
She looked up, her eyes wide, and saw the twisted smile of Mage Rot. There was only one way forward in Peace's mind, and that was to take out the cause of all this discomfort. She could feel her nerves slowly start to scream at her as her body cut itself to ribbons. Mage Rot's eyes grew wide as she approached. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. Any longer and she would stop.
She raised her fist as time slowed to a crawl, each second spanning an eternity. It had to go. Her first inched toward Mage Rot's torso as she choked on her wounds. It had to hit them. This needed to end. It had to stop. Stop. Stop.
The bear lashed out at her. The gashes on her shoulder sprayed blood. Muscles slipped out of her leg. The weight of a swan's wing beat crushed down on her arm with the weight of a car.
Stop...!
A fox's teeth flayed the skin from her calves. A welt swelled up and burst on the side of her head after it hit a rock. Her fists ached from the beatings she had given. Darkness crept up as she saw a familiar house looming behind her antagonist.
Stopstopstopstopstop!
Her fist connected. Something in Mage Rot's sternum cracked. Time returned to normal. The weight of the impact seemed to jam her wounds closed again and drive away the images. Mage Rot hit the ground hard and didn't move. She collapsed, and it took a moment for her to realize she wasn't breathing. That first, deep breath she took brought her back into the real world. She was fine. Everything was fine. She wasn't hurt any more than she had been earlier. The light of the evening sun still illuminated the buildings as it had before that villainous character had shown up.
Someone approached her from behind, taking steps that sounded deliberately loud. They called out to her softly, but cautiously. It was the street vendor who had made her sandwich earlier. The man approached slowly, kneeled down beside Peace, and put a hand on her shoulder. He held her firmly, but not in a controlling way, instead just letting her feel the weight of his arm.
Mage Rot, he explained softly, was someone who would pick at the holes in your mind and make you think about all your old wounds. He mentioned that she must have been quite simple-minded for it to have had such an effect on her, but he was impressed with her willpower to push through nonetheless. He pointed out random parts of the street to her and told her short, pointless stories about them--like a kid dropping a toy by that lamp post over there, or some teenagers throwing rocks at a can they'd put on a bench--until she had calmed down.
When the fuzz arrived and cuffed the two unconscious villains, the sandwich man and a few others offered testimony as to what had happened. At some point, one of them mentioned that Peace had been attacked by Mage Rot, at which point she was asked for her testimony. She just shook her head and placed one finger across her lips to indicate silence. Eventually they managed to parse that clue and asked if she was mute, to which she nodded. Their attempts to get her to write ended up with a form covered in the word "PEACE" over every inch, a practice which seemed to bring her back to normal.
After the usual song and dance with the police, she was directed to the station, where she collected a sizable reward for her role in capturing the two small-time criminals. She took it and headed back out toward the wilderness.
D-List Bounty: Complete.
Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 11:13 pm
Peace arrived to the dojo only a few minutes early and was scolded for coming in covered in dirt and also not bowing to show respect. She was directed to the back of the building, where she rinsed her hands and feet off with a spigot. By the time she had dried from that adventure, class was already starting and she had to quickly change into her training outfit and join the others for warm-up exercises.
In this, Peace's second class, they continued to drill her on the basics. Her stances continued to be much better than any other aspect of her training except perhaps her flexibility, as revealed by the warm-up exercises. She was rock steady on her feet, though her endurance and form both needed work. Her kicking was improving slowly but surely, but her punching continued to lack the appropriate form. Overuse of her powers for years had ingrained a very specific set of poor habits unique to her, and it was taking quite a while to wipe them out. Ironically, this meant that the thing she was perhaps best known for was one of the things she was the worst at. How embarrassing.
At one point she was asked to sit out while the other students sparred, so she held a horse stance next to Kimura-sensei while watching her classmates execute techniques she hadn't the pleasure of learning yet. Whenever she would start to waver in her form, Kimura-sensei would smack her with a stick and then correct her form. The whole endeavor was quite exhausting, and after all was said and done she was absolutely dripping with sweat. The walk back to the wilderness after that class was difficult.
Notes for myself:
Punching: +0 Kicking: +1 Stances: +2 Flexibility: +2 A note on the above: These are the aspects of her fighting style Peace is currently training as an amateur. 1d20, DC 15 increases the bonus by +1, natural 20 grants +2. Reaching 10 means mastery of a certain area for the current training level. After one reaches +10, its roll is transferred to a reroll for another to signify a shift in focus. After every 5 classes, anything with a +10 can be transferred out for something else. Sparring allows for a second roll for the class and occurs on a roll of 5 or 6 for colored belts below green, 3-6 for green to brown, and 2-6 above that. Belt order at this dojo: White, white-yellow, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown, brown-red, red, black (1st dan). Nippon Kempo: 2/18 classes attended.
Ergo War
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Ergo War
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Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 8:42 pm
Peace arrived only a few minutes early to her class and managed to get changed and participate in the entirety of the class for the first time since starting. The warm-ups went quickly, the stretches in particular seeming to fly by much too quickly. After her skirmish the previous day it seemed Peace had gotten a bit stiff, to the point where the stretches felt absolutely rapturous.
They say that three points define a line, and while Peace was no math whiz, she did notice a trend in how she was being treated. While the others were busy sparring or engaging in other, funner activities, she was relegated to one side to work on the absolute basics by herself. Sure, she was a bit of a blockhead and was new to this, but making her practice alone made her feel excluded. Of course, she didn't think any of these things during class, as Kimura-sensei had the eyes of a hawk and would immediately notice if her attention was wavering.
She was still making no progress on her punching. In fact, it seemed as though she'd gotten worse since the events of the previous day, though it could have been that Kimura-sensei was being harder on her because she saw the bruises Peace had accumulated during the brawl. The severe drilling did actually help in the other areas, though, as the homeless scrapper was starting to get used to the way she was supposed to throw kicks. The instructor even commended her on the progress she was making in between criticisms of her form and other such things. At one point, Peace even got to kick at a padded shield wielded by one of the larger students, and while there was a nice weight behind her blows, her shoddy form meant that the kicks just rolled right off the bag.
As in the previous class, Peace had to hold stances while the rest of the class sparred. She knew that this was a good way to build up endurance and help her form, but every single time she had to sit around and watch the others spar while remaining essentially static she felt put-out. Of course, hard-headed as she was, she managed to turn that feeling into one of motivation, using her negativity as fuel to drive herself. This was a good workout that resulted in good sweat and near-total exhaustion, but she was improving, and she could feel it.
Notes for myself:
Punching: +0 Kicking: +2 Stances: +3 Flexibility: +3 A note on the above: These are the aspects of her fighting style Peace is currently training as an amateur. 1d20, DC 15 increases the bonus by +1, natural 20 grants +2. Reaching 10 means mastery of a certain area for the current training level. After one reaches +10, its roll is transferred to a reroll for another to signify a shift in focus. After every 5 classes, anything with a +10 can be transferred out for something else. Sparring allows for a second roll for the class and occurs on a roll of 5 or 6 for colored belts below green, 3-6 for green to brown, and 2-6 above that. Belt order at this dojo: White, white-yellow, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown, brown-red, red, black (1st-10th dan). Nippon Kempo: 3/18 classes attended.
