2012-12-25 The Old Chair Trick

The chains are almost a joke really, when you think about it.

But that's always the problem with Federalism. Sure, they yell and they scream about it throughout the last couple hundred years, but most people rarely come into contact with this abstract idea. Where the rubber meets the road? Law enforcement. The lack of communication is the real downfall. Feds want a guy, this guy, but failed to really give the local PD any information. So when a Fuzzman got lucky with a tranqdart, they thought they had just bagged a steroid infused crook. They didn't realize they had a fullfledged international terrorist brick meta on their hands.

BOOM!

The SWAT team's roof breaks away and the chained foe bursts out, the chains follow him like loose spaghetti straps only to be flung away with disdain. The bald headed behemoth smashes onto a red SUV, crunching it downward and stopping it immediately. Most of the chains fall harmlessly off the side of the road, but one smashes through the windshield of a canary colored taxi cab, sending it careening into a black sedan.

The evildoer's muscles bulge as he cracks his neck, intent on doing some serious damage.

A few days ago, Hellboy was in Latveria. Kicking Doombot ass and taking a vicious blast that was meant for Dazzler. She was too pretty to die that day.

Turns out, so was Hellboy.

He got back three days ago. He's only been sober since this morning. He's out for a walk, and with his dufflebag slung over one shoulder that probably means he's headed towards Chinatown or Greenwich Village for herbal components for his rounds. They make the best stuff, and that's where he goes. He's a few blocks over when he first hears the sirens, and only a couple when he hears the unmistakable sound of crunching cars. He debates changing his route, but his higher moral center is functioning today and he decides to see what the fuss is about. But first? Stogie. He lights one in the middle of the street before continuing on towards the ruckus. Who knows what he's going to find.

New York City was a constant maelstrom of emotions. There was no 'safe haven' from them. The rich districts, the poor ones, all had their joy and their sadness, their pain, fear, and happiness mixture that was as exhausting as it was overwhelming. She vastly preferred working at night, as it didn't take quite as much energy and concentration to avoid feeling the things the crowds during the day felt. Or to avoid absorbing the emotions of those close to her person.

It also made it easier to pick out and stop crimes. Emotions were always high, peaked during them. And if that failed, there was also the sound of crashing and shattering concrete, breaking glass, or the screech of tires on pavement as vehicle operators slam on the breaks to draw one's ear.

Raven usually worked in a group, and as she frowns from her place atop a squat four-story building and turns to face the sound of the ruckus, she kind of wished she'd had a few members of the Titans along now. But not even a total recluse could remain in seclusion forever, she reminds herself as she reaches up and back, fingers closing on the soft blue cloth of her hood and pulling it up and over her head. Her face shrouded in darkness, the teenaged superheroine's physical form envelopes in a wreathe of darkness and then simply... melts away.

She reapparates mere moments later at street level less than a half block from the disturbance, seeming to fade into view from the very concrete around her. The smashed SUV, the emotions of the possibly-injured motorist within it reaching out to her, Raven's cloak parts as her hand lifts and she struggles to reach out telekineticly towards the broken sports utility vehicle. Her power attempts to seize the automotive and violently slide it abruptly out from under (and AWAY) from the hulking behemoth standing atop it.

"You need to stop now." Raven's chill voice carries easily, though whether the big lout can even hear it over the breaking of chains is debateable. "...Or I'll make you stop."

Paris, France

"Mousse au chocolat, les biscuits, et le bonbons. Merci."

The waitress goes wide eyed at the young man with red hair as he makes his order.

"What?" he asks.

She does not reply, but simply looks over the table at the many dishes already piled up at the cafe table before heading back indoors.

"Oh la-la," Wally says as he reaches down to check his phone. Boom. Double-take. Not good. Reaches into his pocket now to drop money for the food plus tip. A generous tip, of course. He tries not to be an ugly American when he travels.

"Tally Isham in five," he says to the waitress who is just now re-exiting the cafe with a plate full of dessert.

"See ya when I sees ya."

A FEW MINUTES LATER

The new screeching sounds is not actually coming from tires, not this time. It's coming from the rubber yellow soles on Kid Flash's feet. He's eating a carrot. "Yeah. What she said...Wait..." He looks Raven up and down. "Who are you?" Seeming convinced he reiterates. "Yeah. What she said."

The automotive that Raven pulls out from under the evildoer slides by and leaves him tumbling toward the ground unceremoniously. Perhaps embarassment would be enough...but no, of course not. The bystanders are not that lucky. "You dare threaten me, /girl/?"

From Hellboy's vantage point he can see it, for certain. One big dude against two teens. Two of about the most opposite looking teens imagineable.

Hellboy makes his way to the block where the action is a few seconds after Wally shows up. Two teenagers in costumes, versus what looks like a juiced up mook.

Hellboy just /smiles./

Big Red unshoulders his duffle and dumps it by the hydrant at his end of the block where he can pick it up easily when this is all over. Then he walks up slowly, more of a saunter. The smell of his cigar reaching the kids before he does, actually. "Hey guys," he says, voice deep and rumbly and friendly sounding, "I don't wanna intrude, but you guys mind if I get in on this too? I've had an interesting couple of days and helping to rough this guy up is definitely in my alley." he calls out to the steakhead, "Hey yo! Wait a minute - we're getting introduced here before we threaten ya!"

"Guh..." The sudden appearance of Kid Flash (probably showing up even more quickly than she'd be able to teleport!) and his emotions causes the pale-skinned teenager to start and take a half-step to the side as her hood shifts when her head whips in his direction. With the (trapped?) motorist at least out of immediate danger of being further crushed to death, the Witch In Blue flicks her eyes back onto the rising meatblock growling out his standard villainy line at her. But then, most villains weren't all that impressed by a creepy blue cowl.

C'est la vie.

"...Just call me Raven." The blue-clad teenager takes a step forward, her arm falling back to her side as her cloak rustles back into place, making her look more like a cloaked, shorter spectre of Slenderman than a superheroine. "I will distract him." She mutters quietly for Kid Flash's benefit. Saying it loudly enough for the red guy with sawed-off horns would only alert the bad guy to The Plan, too, sadly. But he'd probably catch on quick enough.

"If that is how it must be, then prepare..." Raven begins leeching the emotions from those nearby, feeding them to herself. But only one specific emotion: fear. She takes it from any and all frightened bystanders, sadly making them LESS terrified and therefore prone to fleeing, forces it into herself, and then back out again. Her arms fling out wide to the side as darkness grows around her and takes the form of a colossal, two-story black bird, wings outstretched as she attempts to funnel every bit of fear and terror and force it into the hulking vandal, her own eyes glowing a bright white.

"//TO SCREAM//!"

Well, even if it doesn't work, he's probably still looking at her.

Kid Flash gives Hellboy and upwards nod, "Yeah, sure dude. Go for it." He turns to the baddie and shifts, arrogantly. "Dude, you're so screwed here. Broski, you should totes give up now." But he doesn't of course, and then Raven starts doing her thing. To be honest, Kid Flash is kind of scared too. Who is this chick? But now isn't a time for curiousity. Now is a time for action!

Meanwhile, Baddie dude is totally over the moon scared. He shrieks madly and nearly goes into shock. Kid Flash zips behind him and goes down and crouches on all fours. "Seriously," he says to Hellboy. "Do it. Push him. I always wanted to try this in a real life fight."

Hellboy isn't scared - he's seen for too much nasty Supernatural stuff to be scared - but he is definitely intrigued. "Now then," he says curiously, "What the hell are /you/?" as he watches Raven shift her form into that of a huge black, shadowy bird. Before he knows what's going on, Wally's crouched behind him urging Big Red to give the baddie a push. He smirks. What the hell. He gives the baddie the bum's rush before he can react, and stops just in front of him grinning wildly, "Boo." is all he says before using the Right Hand of Doom to give him a gentle shove over Kid Flash.

Were these two even taking this fight seriously? But, well, maybe if they push him into a manhole or something. Given that the big, ugly brute (not the red one) seemed susceptible to her form of psionic persuasion, maybe she could just render him catatonic enough to be slapped into meta-tested handcuffs by the NYPD. But even as what appeared to be the Flash's little brother and a guy who looked a little too much like Trigon do their physical song-and-dance with the pumped-up ne'er-do-well, Raven's giant evil crow shrinks back inside of her slender frame.

The girls hands fall and she ceases forcing emotions into the other person, and leeching them from others. The good news is that her display probably scared the peopel all anew! The downside is that the other hero's reaction to it kind of made her feel like a freak. Her cloak falls back into place as her feet leave the ground and she levitates herself a few inches off of the ground.

"I'm just... different." She mutters in response to Hellboy's question, though he may or may not hear her over the possible tumbling of the baddie. She floats like a silent spectre several feet closer, watching, waiting. If they got him to the ground, her intervention may not be needed again. Her mild frown is troubled, she didn't enjoy forcing any emotions on others, especially negative ones. But some people just had it coming.

CRASH!

The big baddie goes down as he backs over Kid Flash. Almost immediately the teenager is on his feet taunting down at him. "Dude, you totally suck. I can't believe you fell for that one. You're a flat out scrub." He reaches over to try and give Hellboy a high five before moving over to Raven and trying to do the same, "Cheer up, Gothika, the good guys totally one."

Except the bad guy isn't really down for the count, and as he reaches for Kid Flash's twig-like leg, he seems intent on snapping it into two!

The skinny boy zips around with a speed Raven can't even come close to keeping up with. To her field of vision, it's like he's just teleporting all over the place! But it's the emotions of the villain behind them that tips her off to the danger that 'stick-like' leg was in. When Kid Flash reaches out with a hand to give her a high-five, she stares at the upheld palm quizzically. Then her eyes widen as she steps forward, her arms widening up, fingers gripping the hem of her cloak as she casts it wide and steps forward. The blue fabric comes down almost like a net or trap door meant to catch the other teen. Of course, he's probably fast enough to dodge it if she didn't catch him by total surprise.

As if intent on hugging, or swallowing, the other hero, her cloak would envelope him completely and the two would simply... vanish into shadows, leaving that big, meaty hand grabbing at nothing.

Time ceases to pass, and the absence of everything is prevalent. There is no darkness, because there is no sight to see with. No silence, because hearing cannot be done. Nothing to smell, taste, not even touch, except for a vague feeling of being cold without actually being such. How long has this state existed is nearly impossible to say, but it ends very, very abruptly.

Raven's cloaked and cowled form reappear on the other side of the street, on the sidewalk next to a mini-mart. In the next instant her arms lift up the 'wings' of her blue covering and reveal Kid Flash (if he had made the journey with her), with the sudden reappearance of sight, sound, and touch being an almost painful experience.

"I believe we should try to restrain him." She says mildly.

Hellboy looks over at Raven and nods with a smile, stogie smouldering out of the corner of a clenched doll. "Different.." he says, knowing the word well, "aren't we all?" he says and goes to highfive Kid Flash with his non-stony hand.

Except Kid Flash isn't there anymore. Bad Guy still is, though, and he looks like he's trying to get back up again. Like he's some walking Chumbawumba lyric or something. Hellboy shakes his head as he puffs the cigar clenched in his teeth, "Nuh-uh. No way, buddy. You're cut off." he stands over the big guy, "..and stay down!" he says sharply, only lightly jacking him in the jaw with the right hand. He knows what it can do, best be careful how it's applied. He looks around though, making sure the yellow and red clad kid is okay or if something had happened to him.

Kid Flash looks dazed and confused as he's pulled somewhere through the space-time-continuum or something..Whatever..He has no idea what happened, only that he was pulled out of danger. "Different as in awesome, right?" he says a little goofily, but regains his composure enough to give a wink.

The villain was about to get up again, but unfortunately for him, the red crunch of Hellboy's hand catches him right in the Mellencamp and knocks that fool out cold.

"...Sorry." It's hard to tell, but the pale-skinned teenager might be a bit embarassed by the display of her powers. But the sudden ceasing of angry emotions seems to indicate the the cretin had already had his clock thoroughly cleaned by a deft hook from the red demon guy thing standing over him. Well, if anyone knew not to judge a book by its cover, it was Raven. She motions towards a nearby streetlight, dark energy appearing both around her hand and the object in question. The lamp creaks, groans, and then rips out of the sidewalk, floating casually toward the unconscious crook.

Unless impeded, it bends itself into a u-shape and then crashes down either end into the rough cement, the bar laying across the prone male's torso. Given the state of the chains he'd cast off, she wasn't about to try using THEM. And the police could cut him out of that thing when they got here. So long as he didn't get back up again.

The single limb withdraws back into the seemingly protective embrace of her cloak as Raven takes a step backwards. "Well... that was easy." Her eyes flick uncertainly between Hellboy and Kid Flash. With the adrenal rush of combat out of the way, all that was left was awkward social situations. She takes another step back. "I need to get back to the tower."

Without another word, the demon-born girl turns around and shuffles silently away from the scene, not even waiting to give the police a statement!

Hellboy watches the girl make the street light into a temporary harness, and then just shine it all off like it's no big thing. "Well, hey, wait a second..Who are you guys? I haven't seen you around before!" he says, turning towards the two teenagers satisfied that big, dumb, and ugly back there isn't gonna be stirring anytime in the next few minutes. He sees Wally, and snaps his fingers in front of him, "You okay, kid?" he asks.

"Me?" Kid Flash sort of comes out of a daze and turns halfway towards Hellboy, "Yeah. I'm alright...Just...who was /that?/" Finally he looks over to Hellboy with a shrug of the shoulders. "Kid Flash...I'm like the other Flash, but younger and more sidekickery. You?"

The teenaged girl pauses at the mouth of the alley she was about to duck into. She stands there for a few heartbeats, not bothering to turn around, other than the slight shifting of the back of her hood. After a moment, she simply says, "...I'm Raven. I'm with the Titans." And then she begins walking forward again.

As the shadows of the alley envelope her, she quite literally disappears, appearing a few seconds later at the Titans base in the common room. Breathing a sigh of relief at finding it deserted, she pulls down her hood, picks up her book from the coffee table, and heads towards her room for some serious destressing.

"I need to get out less."

Hellboy glances back to Raven, watches her disappear. "Hmm. Raven. Titans. Have to remember that when I get back to the Argus." he then to turns to Kid Flash. "I'm Hellboy, BP..er.." he points to a patch on the upper arm of his trench, "SHIELD." he glances back to the alley again then back to Wally. "Kid Flash, eh? I've heard of the Flash..so you're like the mini me version?"

Kid Flash stares, "Mini-me? Come on man. That's harsh stuff." He stops. "Harsh. Fair maybe, but harsh." He gives an upwards nod to Hellboy as the 5-0 lights start their blazing and sirens are heard bouncin' off the buildings. "Well, Hellboy, thanks for the assist. Funny stuff man, the old "chair" move. Never thought that'd actually work. Did. Like a beaut." He looks over to the approaching squadcars, "Well that's my cue. Unlike Gothika, I'm not paid up with the right folks. Not yet anyways. Nice seein' ya. SHIELD is okay by me, broskis. Be seein' ya." After a response of any sort, Kid Flash gives a wave and bolts to the northwest, zigzagging down the roads in no particular order.