2014.02.09 - Stray Cat Strut

South Gotham. What a mess. It's one of those areas that is difficult to get under control due to the sheer vastness and proliferation of the underground, not even the Dark Knight has been able to completely extinguish the trace of gangs here. Not yet, at least.

Keith has done some work in this area - trying to stay out of Batman's way - as Vorpal, often tracking drug dealer chains to some distant areas such as Bludhaven. South Gotham was one of the smaller playgrounds for these crooks.

Tonight, Vorpal is doing his customary patrol through the rooftops, the feline darting from shadow to shadow and roof to roof, until his ears perk to some potential fighting... "Hmmm, curioser and curioser..."

Gotham is someplace that Tigra doesn't often venture into. This is Batman's territory, after all. Those are toes that she does not want to step on, to put it mildly. That being said, she -is- feline, and if a feline is made to feel unwelcome somewhere, well, you know that's like inviting them in, and so she's gone on patrol, of sorts, venturing into the urban battlefield wearing a wide brimmed hat and trenchcoat, carrying a heavy purse and glancing around nervously.

Needless to say, the act attracted the sort of attention a woman in her apparent situation should never want, and she was accosted by gangers who thought they had easy pickings. The thug who is just now thrown out of an alley to loudly land against derelict trash cans is proof of their mistake.

The Cheshire cat winces in sympathy. He's been thrown against trash cans, lately by Electro. It took six hours to get the smell out of his fur.

Leaning over the edge, he raises his eyebrows- it was heartening to see someone who knew how to take care of themselves. Often it was defenseless people running from shadow to shadow to get home, preyed upon by the vultures of South Gotham. The Cheshire cat crouches low and leaps, to land in a crouch behind one of the goons who is charging towards the sole figure.

" Don't you mooks ever learn? This is MY territory! " He says in his resonant, Cheshire voice. " I guess I'll just have to have you for tea. "

The cheshire manifests a long, glowing purple cane- the kind Vaudeville stagehands often had to yank unflattering acts offstage. He wraps the crook of the cane around the neck of the thug and swings, using his own body as the gravitational anchor and trying to throw one thug into another

The figure half turns at that resonant voice. "I certainly hope that -I'm- not intruding," Tigra says in her own, somewhat husky voice. Her coat swirls about as she drops and spins under the slashing attack of one thug, and then she slams her fist into his gut, driving the air from his lungs and setting him on the ground. Hard. Cheshire's projectile windmills through the air to collide against his comrade in a tangle of limbs and chorus of groans.

"Hardly! It's good to see someone who knows all the local dances." Vorpal says, using his crook to hook the leg of one of the few remaining thugs and drop him, bringing the cane around to smack him over the head with it. "-something tells me you're not just a martial arts enthusiast."

"Oh, you put it like that," Tigra says, and then decides to show off a bit. She has an audience now, after all. The thugs didn't count. The last thug turns to run, and she leaps into the air after him, twisting midair to let her coat fall off and onto him, then landing in front of him while he stumbles, momentarily blinded. Her landing is almost perfectly silent, giving him no warning that she's in front of him, until she claps him on both his ears with her hands, stunning him. He sways, wobbles, and then slowly collapses like a flan in a cupboard.

A low whistle and a slow clap, and Vorpal's eyebrows shoot up again. "... oh my goodness." It's impossible not to recognize her. "It's you! Er, I mean, of course it's you. I just wasn't expecting an Avenger all the way over here. Wow." He says, absentmindedly reaching into his jacket to pull out several pairs of handcuffs.

Tigra steps over to pick up her coat, shaking it out to get thug cooties off of it, then folds it over her arm. "It's just me," she says with a friendly smile. She keeps an eye on the thugs as Vorpal gets out the handcuffs. "I've heard about you, I think. Wasn't sure how true the stories were or not. Shall we do the formal introductions, then?"

"Gah, where are my manners..." he mutters and offers a handcuff-free hand. "I'm Vorpal... Keith O'Neil. I've no secret identity so to speak."

He wondered where Tigra would have heard of him... "I"ve been to the Stark building a couple of times. I don't know Mr. Stark well at all but Miss Potts and I get along very well. I bribe her with cannoli someties." He grins.

Tigra approaches to take the hand in a friendly grip, her fur warm. "Tigra," she says. "And that's pretty much who I am," she adds. She has a secret identity for convenience, but this is who she is. "Give you a hint, Pepper's also got a fine taste for tea. Try bringing her some tea that's a bit out of the ordinary." One of the thugs tries to slowly crawl away, hoping their discussion is distraction enough. She quiets him by sitting on his back. Heavily. "So," she begins. "Purple?"

The cat chuckles and kneels to start cuffing the thug. "Actually I was trying to find some tea for her at the fair a couple of months ago... but Thor and I got ambushed by the Mad Hatter..." a pause. "I guess I should explain. I'm a Cheshire cat. That's where the purple comes from, you see. I wasn't born this way though."

Tigra crosses her legs, putting more of her weight on the thug, earning a groan from him, which makes her tail twitch in satisfaction. "From Mad Hatter to Cheshire Cat. Curiouser and curiouser," she murmurs. "You don't -have- to explain. Your story's your own, but if you'd -like- to explain, I'd love to hear it," she says with a smile.

Vorpal grins at that, cuffing two thugs together, playing at making them into a pretzel to prevent escape. "--there's not much to tell. I grew up in Morrisania. The guys and I heard about something fishy going on in a warehouse and found some crazy cult trying to sacrifice local girls. We raided the place and got the girls out, but they got a hold of me and slit my throat open..." he does the motion and the 'gggggggkt' sound effect. "Next thing I know I'm dying, there's a portal opening, and all I see is a big grin. Long story short -too late- is that I died, the Cheshire Cat brought me back somehow... and the warehouse exploded. When I woke up I looked like this..." he gestures to his body " ... and I knew I couldn't go back to my old life. So I decided to follow the people I admired and do something worthwhile with the box full of crazy I was handed. I have no idea why I was saved, nor why I was turned into this." he shrugs.

The were-woman winces at the throat cutting, and the sound effect. An eyebrow goes up as he talks of dying and coming back, and then she looks him over as he gestures to himself, enjoying the sight, even with the coloring. "Might be that's why you were saved," Tigra suggests. "Because you were meant to do all this," she adds, gesturing to the thugs secured somewhat less than respectfully. "My story has some similar elements, though I didn't -quite- die. Definitely have to say, being like this is far better than being dead," she says with a wide grin before leaping lightly to her feet and posing shamelessly.

"I'd have to agree with that," Vorpal chuckles, "Though it's hard sometimes. Being stared at is kind of difficult- I'm always seen as a bit of a monster at times... heh, Gar Logan suggested I go to Looker Inc. for some modeling shots, and she told me that all she could sign me for was the one art shot." The Cheshire tilts his head and grins. "You came out quite well, though. My boyfriend's brother is totally smitten with you... so... what's your story if you want to tell it?"

"The stares take getting used to," Tigra agrees with a nod. "I found it gets easier if I try to drink them in. Let them stare. I'm stare -worthy-," she sas with a flash of teeth. She bows gracefully at being told she came out quite well, and then her tail gives a slightly disappointed flick at his mention of a boyfriend. Ah well. "Can't go into all the details of it, since there's other people's secrets involved," she begins by way of apology, "but the short form is I was nearly killed myself, and some friends saved my life, by changing me from human to cat."

"Isn't it amazing how many stories like ours have near-death experiences? We should start a club called The Returners or something like that," he chuckles, tying up the last pair of goons as he runs out of handcuffs. He takes out his phone and activates the BSA app to schedule a police pickup for the thugs. "Though you're the first feline I've had a chance to interact with. Truthfully... outside of the looks issue, I don't really find much to complain about. Except the shedding. I have to buy formal clothes in my shade of color-- purple hairs are hard to hide. And the fact that clothes become ten times hotter when you're basically wearing your own fur coat day and and day out!"

"The shedding can be awkward," Tigra has to agree, stepping over to pick up her hat where it had flown off in the fight. "And the clothes thing, that's why I wear so little," she says, plucking the string of her bikini bottom. "It was really hard for me to put on clothes at all, at first. It just didn't -feel- right. Cat was too strong." She shrugs a little bit, then swirls the coat about and drapes it over her shoulders. "I'm better now. I do..." she waggles a hand, "okay...ish with warm weather. I wouldn't want to know what it'd be like if I were a more arctic cat, though."

This gets a chuckle from Keith. "Oh god... you'd have no idea the amount of ribbing I'd get if I wore something like that...." he pauses. "... although Iceman gets away with wearing almost nothing. Hm. Maybe I'll have to design something like that for when the summer hits full swing here, or I'll pass out from sunstroke. But I agree-- I hate it when you put something on and it makes your fur go the wrong way..." he shudders. "So how come you're on this side of town? The Angry One doesn't like it when other people step into his territory. My excuse is that I live just a few blocks further down, so he can't exactly kick me out"

A sly grin from Tigra at Vorpal's talk of wearing 'something like that.' Sure, he has a boyfriend, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't be able to enjy the view at least. "How long have you been like this?" she asks. "Maybe I can help with some tips for dealing with the heat. There's a few things that can help." At the mention of the Angry One, she makes a show of glancing around to make sure he's not nearby. "Oh I was just traveling through was all," she says, and it doesn't take the vigorous movement of her tail to tell that's a blatant lie. "Not like he can object to my defending myself, after all. Besides, cats walk where we want."

"We do indeed. Just gotta warn you- getting screamed at by him is one hell of an experience. You don't forget it that easily..." he says, pausing. "The other Bats aren't bad-- Nightwing and I did some stuff in Bludhaven and it was fun..." he drops his voice "... and oh my god, he has the most perfect backside in the history of humanity." he coughs. "-- Robin... I wouldn't say I've interacted with him outside of him coming to our rescue and leaving me deaf for about an hour and a half when he set off explosives as a distraction. Huntress is... pretty cool, actually. If you can get past the barbed sarcasm." He looks around to make sure all of the goons are properly tied before saying, "I've been like this about... ten months or so. Give or take a month. I'd appreciate any tips you've got!"

A small shrug from Tigra, though also an uneasy flick of her tail, at the mention of Batman screaming. And then a speculative look at mention of Nightwing's backside. "I haven't crossed paths with any of them so far. And that's probably for the best," she admits. "Everything i said before is true, but I also understand the concept of territory." She does the math of ten months. "So you've been through one summer here already," she half hasks, half states. "If you don't have one yet, get a camelback for under that vest, or whatever you use in the summertime. Having something cool to drink whenever you want it does -wonders- for dealing with the heat." She looks at his outfit thoughtfully a moment. "No promises, but maybe Pepper and I can talk to Tony. Maybe there's some way of getting a little bit of a coolant system going in there."

"That'd be great... I spent most of the summer hiding in an abandoned warehouse during the daytime and patrolling during the night-time. It made sense at the time," he says. "That's how I met Huntress, during one of my nightly romps. I got shot in the shoulder and she took me to get patched up."

"I'm sure it still makes sense. Night isn't as safe for normal people as the daytime is." Tigra looks at him curiously now, then taps her head near her eyes. "How's your nightvision?" she asks. "For me, night's pretty much as clear as the daytime."

"Oh, I've got the night vision too," he points to his eyes. "All regular cat senses... except smell. My nose was damaged in the warehouse fire... but I make do." He nods.

Sirens start approaching their location. "Aaah, the cavalry is here. Say... I don't feel like doing a report just yet. Wanna go grab a hamburger and let the boys in blue take care of these kids? I'll let them know I'll make my report after I finish my 'patrol', which at this point feels like it should end in a nice bit of meat."

Tigra winces in sympathy at the damaged nose. She starts to say something about it, but catches herself. "Nothing wrong with sleeping by day, prowling at night, then," she suggests. She pulls her coat on more fully, but doesn't tie it off. "A burger sounds great to me. Wouldn't mind having a...bit of meat." No way she can pass up a hanging curveball like that.

Keith laughs at the inflection. "Bad, bad." He wags a finger, "I'm afraid I bat for the wrong team... but c'mon, I know this place that's to die for. Then you can tell me about some of your awesome adventures." He grins and starts levitating off the ground, offering a hand to her. "I can take the scenic route."

"Might be on the other team, but I can still be an appreciative spectator," Tigra answers with a shameless grin. She looks amused and intrigued as he begins levitating, and then reaches up to take the offered hand. "Does Gotham have a scenic route?"

Keith pulls her up and puts his arms around her to give her a good hold. "... not really, but if you look up at the sky it looks pretty. You know... without looking at the actual city."

Pretty soon they're clearing the rooftops. "Although if you wish really hard by the evening star, you sometimes get a glimpse of Nightwing's butt." he laughs.