2013-02-21 Bump In The Night

It's well into Thursday evening and the streets of the Theater District are packed. Like all of New York, this area has it's less than savory parts as well. They're only noticeable by the way people rush past them. Normally, it's dark alleys or old side streets.

It has taken several days but eventually Marco's men had gotten word of where Risque had last been seen and tracked her to New York. From there, it was just a matter of figuring out where she was in the area. A few well placed questions and she has been 'sniffed out' to an area right on the outskirts of the district. An area where streets and lamps aren't as well maintained and people are cautioned about traveling it in the dark.

Five men, spaced just enough apart not to draw attention, make their way down the sidewalk here. They seem normal enough and are good at blending in. The woman they are following though... the 'tanned' skinned and black haired woman dressed in all leather with her midriff exposed... She doesn't blend in as well. If only because she's obviously not homeless but seems to be lacking a coat and the weather is rather chilly!

It was a long day at a probably unsuccessful audition, and Fern left a short while ago with the usual empty promise of 'We'll be in touch'. Payday is still a day away, and even if she had the money Fern wouldn't likely spend it on a cab when she's got two perfectly good legs. Had she thought about it a bit more, she may not have been so eager to head out by herself to the subway station.

Hunched into a tatty blue bomber jacket that looks like it's seen better days, the small woman is nothing remarkable, unless one happens to be sensitive to patterns. Then they would likely take offense to her printed, brightly colored tights. The jacket is large enough on her that elastic that should fit snugly at the hips just hangs around her, like an odd dress.

Despite her expected failure at the audition, she's still practicing lines as she walks, muttering to herself several times in different variations of tone and inflection, "But no! He would never be so cruel!" One particularly dramatic version even warrants a lift of one gloved hand, so the back rests briefly against her forehead. She notes the woman walking toward her, curious at her bare stomach in such chilling cold. Brrr.

A more discrete person - for both the district and the climate -, is the guy dressing in denim pants, with a leather jacket and hoodie, hands tucked inside its pockets. He's slowly walking the street on the opposite side of the road to Fern and Risque. He doesn't seem to have noticed the two women - or at least, has made no indication to have noticed them...

If Risque knows she's being followed, the woman hasn't shown any signs of it. She walks with a smooth grace and confidence that can almost be seen.

The five men behind her pick up their pace a little and two of them come up to her, one on each side. A tall blonde tosses his arm around her and grins. "Ris, baby... We've missed you." His tone is entirely too friendly.

There's a split second of tension and then the woman relaxes again. "Yeah? Your brother's with you?" She looks over her shoulder and gives a wave before motioning for them to come forward with her hand. "Lets step in there," she point to an alley, "to talk. Ya know, outta the wind."

As the others come up on her, one is bumped into and his coat briefly knocked aside, flashing the gun his has holstered and the sheathed knife on his hip.

Fern has stopped muttering to herself, and has let her imagination immediately wander to puzzle out where the brunette could be going. Probably to a club, because they're always warm, and it would make sense to wear something like that, and gawd, just look at her, so glad she wasn't at the audition today the competition is tough enough, and wouldn't it be nice to have straight, dark hair and not this....

She cuts the thought off abruptly, ready to offer a smile to a stranger (she's not from around here) when the two men step it up and flank the woman. She can hear voices, but not the words clearly, and steps aside to let them pass, nearly stepping off the curb into the street. The quick approach of a few more men gets a mild frown, and as they're passing as well light glints off something metal as one man's coat shifts, and she catches a glimpse of.... a gun? Fern's frown deepens and her step falters as she glances back.

The glint of the gun does not go unnoticed by the hooded guy from across the street, although he's definetely not one to show he noticed. In fact, his senses have enabled him to hear the entire conversation from across the street, a conversation hinting at trouble brewing. So, the first chance he gets, Jacob walks into the nearest dark alley, then he jumps towards the top of the building. The following jump has him land on the building across, with a straight down path to the alley Risque is luring the group of men into.

The man whose coat got pushed aside flashes a leering smile at Fern as he passes as well as a wink.

It's only a few seconds later that Risque and all five men have ducked out of sight and into the dark alley where they promptly surround her.

The dark haired woman crosses her arms over her chest, one hip cocked to the side and a stoic look on her features.

The blonde eyes her a moment. "Marco ain't too happy with you, baby. You were hired to do a job and backed out. Boss don't like that" -- "No money exchanged hands so it doesn't matter. Run back and tell your Master to find someone else. The contract is void," she replies. "He ain't gonna like that. We was sent to bring ya back," another man answers in return.

Fern manages to suppress her shudder at the wink, going on walking after that falter, until the group have turned the corner. Then she stops, holding her place, but looking uneasily back toward the mouth of the alley. One woman and five men. She seemed to go down the alley of her own accord, but.... gun! She's not a particularly brave sort of young woman, but sometimes her good intentions and faith that things will be fine over-ride the part of her brain that actually *thinks*.

Still looking toward the alley, Fern's lips purse, quirking to one side as she nervously chews her lip. One step is taken back toward the alley, then another. Thankfully her shoes don't squeak here like they do at work, and she can make her way pretty stealthily back, hugging the side of the building, pausing, and then peeking around the corner.

She has no idea there was anyone on the other side of the street, let alone being aware that anyone is now atop the building against which she leans.

That's why they call it stealth, now isn't it? For the moment, Jacob remains perched in darkness, above what dim, flickering lights would shine upon that alley, keeping his senses focused upon that conversation.

There's too many people outside that alley for Risque to use her gravitational fields... A sigh is given. Damnit! "I don't think so boys. If I decide to meet with him, I'll call or drop by."

From here, two things happen at once. One of the men turns towards the alley opening. "Might as well come in now, sweetie," is sneers at the girl peeking around the edge.

At the same time, The blonde pulls his gun and levels it as Risque. "You're going back now one way or the other, baby."

Fight or flight. Does she look like a fighter? Fern's relatively quick on her feet, and surely being smaller than any of those guys should give her some speed on them, so she spins as soon as she is addressed. She gets a step, and then her arms flail as she gets her feet caught up in a black garbage bag she hadn't seen in the building's shadow.

"Crap!"

She sprawls over the bag, giving an involuntary yelp as her hands hit, and pain flairs from her stitched up hand all the way up her left arm.

That conversation does not sit well with Jacob at all, who's reminded of times... much darker times. Quickly, his arm shapeshifts into a sort of whiplash with a clawed tip at the end, which he throws down at superhuman speeds to descend upon the blond guy's weapon, a blow that if it connects will crush the gun to pieces... and tear the guy's arm along for the ride!

Risque's eyes narrow, her left hand curling into a fist and beginning to glow in a pinkish-purple. Without a word, she lunges at the man who spoke to Fern. "Run!," is directed at the girl who has fallen. The scream from Risque is enough to cause the man who called Fern out to turn just as she reaches him. He has just enough time to pull his knife and embed it in her side.

A howl of pain suddenly pierces the air as the blonde is suddenly missing an arm and writhing on the ground in pain as he bleeds. This, of course, sends the others into a frenzy.

The energy around Risque's hand releases, sending one back into the wall, another reaches down to grab Fern by the air and the last trains his own gun on Risque.

Trying to scramble up with the dark haired woman's yell, Fern is blessedly oblivious, at least for now, to someone losing an arm aside from his howl registering dimly on her brain. She turns, attempting to look back, and sees a giant hand descending toward her head. At least it looks giant from this angle.

Now, Fern is the youngest and the only girl. She didn't learn how to fight fair, she learned how to fight for her fair share. And sometimes that required some pretty underhanded tactics. Without thinking twice, her head tilts, mouth opening with the intent of sinking into the reaching hand, into the webbing between thumb and finger, catching the knuckle and biting as hard as she can. Her hands swing up at the same time, seeking, most unfairly, the man's most delicate bits with a swooping momentum.

From his vantage point, Jacob sees that Risque has her own set of powers, so she could handle herself. Fern, however, he can already see she's no fighter, or at least has no apparent training. Jumping off the building, he lands with a sound *THUD!* behind the man grabbing her by the hair, and he moves to press the nerves on the sides of the man's neck, right where it makes it hurt. "Release the woman." A 'gentle' squeeze. "Now."

The newest arrival has the man holding the gun rather nervous, the jump making him squeeze. The gun goes off, the bullet a clean throguh and through to to Risque's right shoulder. Said gun is immediately dropped and the punk takes off running.

The guy who is holding Fern screams as he's bitten and draws back to backhand her only for Jacob to make his sudden appearance and squeeze. Another howl of pain and he release the woman to struggle against the hold on him.

The blonde is dead from blood loss. One is unconscious from Risque's own abilities. One has taken off. Another struggles in Jacob's hold. The fifth? He's attempting to come up behind Jake.

The knife is yanked out of her side and dropped to the ground, a cry of pain coming from Risque as the bullet passes through her. She can't rest though, despite her own rapid loss of blood. Her head lifts to see the one trying to sneak up on Jacob and her hand glows again. "I wouldn't... Run along and tell Marco he made a mistake. Do NOT come after me again!"

And run along he does.

Fern instinctively tries to fall back from the imminent backhand, twisting to roll away, and she's surprised as she actually *can* roll away. Why didn't he grab her again? She scrambles to get her feet under her, the throb in her left arm gone with the rush of adrenalin, blue eyes wide and wild as she crouches and looks around. Where the blond man's scream didn't register, Risque's does, and Fern can already see the crimson staining the woman. "Shit," she hisses under her breath.

Jacob looks to have one guy under control, but she pushes herself up, cocks one leg back, and aims all her force at the struggling man's leg, yelling belatedly, "Don't touch me!" Then she moves to skitter into the alley, heading for Risque.

"Good", Jacob replies without any sign of emotion in his voice. Then, he effortlessly throws the man at the wall, where he lands flat. There's the awful sound of... yeah, a few bones broken. That guy, while not dead, is not gonna look pretty when he wakes up. Then, he paces towards the two women, calmly.

Risque grunts, one hand coming around to cover the deep wound in her side. Of course, it's the arm with the shot up shoulder. "Shit..." She sways slightly and fumbles for the phone in her back pocket. A ragged breath is given as she pushes in a number. A moment of waiting before she gives an address just a block away.

She then looks back at Fern and Jake. "You need to get out of here. The police will be here soon..." And she has no intentions of sticking around for it! She's already heading towards the back of the alley to scale the fence and be on her way. She can't go to a regular hospital. "Go get medical attention!," is called back over her shoulder before she disappears.

Fern jerks to a stop as Risque yells for them to get out, and mentions police. She looks to the woman, already moving to scale the fence, then turns to look at Jacob. Her eyes are still wide and panicked, and she doesn't move, stuck like an animal in headlights.

Jacob looks on as the two women split. Or rather, as Fern stays behind to look at him. His features, mostly covered by the hoodie he's wearing, added to the fact that it's the cover of darkness, make him virtually impossible to describe if Fern ever feels like she needs to let off some steam. As he continues to look, his eyes flash eerie red for a brief moment - or was it all just in Fern's head? With the eerie glow gone, his shadowed silhouette, shakes his head. A clear warning she's not to linger any further...

Fern stumbles backward a step with the flash of red in Jacob's eyes, her paralysis broken by a jolt of fear. She doesn't look back into the alley, and never sees the body of the blond man left behind by his cronies. That bare shake of his head is all she needs to further spur her to movement, and Fern flees, feet pounding the pavement, never daring to look back.

Looking at the scene, Jacob now looms over the body of the fallen blonde goon, preparing to do what he wouldn't want someone like Fern see he can do. He effortlessly shoves a hand through his ribcage. The next process, an unseen one at first, Jacob's biomass spreads through the corpse's, taking notes on size, weight, bone structure, brain mapping... DNA... And then, absorbs the corpse, ripping and tearing flesh off bone, draining fluids and fat... everything, including bone... right down to the very DNA structure, and memories of the guy's life! The job done, he listens, way far off, the police sirens.

When they arrive at the scene, everyone is still down... Only the one missing an arm is missing. Maybe the guy escaped...