2013.08.31 - Fresh is the Night

On a corner, even at this time of evening, there's clearly something going on. Getting closer, there's a pretty amazing variety of people here, crowded in a wide circle around something or someone. They're certainly enthusiastic about whatever they're watching.

And when someone can get a glimpse to the middle there, pressed between shoulders and arms, it's a boom box either designed to be retro or hanging onto life from over twenty years ago, pumping tunes like a champ from a mix tape. And it sets on a spread refrigerator box, upon which an extremely fit, lithe man in flashy clothes spins and does acrobatics. It's breakdance! Or breaking, as he would call it. Paco Ramone is one of the best. Maybe THE best in this part of the world.

As a native of Gotham City, Stephanie Brown is used to... well, generally far drearier places than the Bronx, even those poorer neighborhoods. Not that she comes here very often. Why go to the Bronx? Yankee Stadium? Steph is a Knights fan. Crimefighting? Plenty of that to do at home.

No, tonight she's got errands to run -- yes, even at this time of night. The blonde girl in an unzipped Gotham High hoodie exits a nearby apartment building grumbling under her breath. Her mother couldn't have brought soup to a sick friend on her own? Stephanie has RESPONSIBILITIES! Like making sure her dad doesn't get away with things! And stuff! While, at the same time, making sure that none of Gotham's OTHER vigilantes don't beat up the man TOO badly. He's her dad, after all.

But the music attracts her attention, because at seventeen she is very aware of music -- even if it's old school stuff, even if the dance being performed is dated. The girl approaches the crowd to watch, ducking around a much taller fellow to get a good look at Paco 'breaking'. It's been nearly thirty years since break dancing was a thing, from Steph's admittedly not-so-complete knowledge of the topic, but she must admit, the guy's good.

After the song ends, freestyle as it is, Paco does a last pose gleaming with sweat. Which probably isn't too surprising given what a huge amount of work dancing is, and especially breakdancing. Roars of cheering and clapping, whooping and whistling go up, and he rolls up to his feet and starts passing out cards. That's definitely a more modern addition. Once they're distributed, he waves to the last lingering people and picks up the money they left, still breathing a little faster than relaxed.

The boom box clicks stopped as the mix tape runs out. He must have planned it that way: a full routine lasting the side of the tape, and then ending by the time it's done with that side. Which means he's probably been dancing for at least half an hour, maybe forty-five minutes, solid. That's some impressive stamina. First he grabs the towel off the top of the machine and wipes his face and arms down, then he hangs it around his neck. "Man." Behind the boom box, which appears to be the nexus of supply, he takes a full thermos of water and gulps from the spout, then just pours the rest over his head, shaking his hair out and sparkling in the street light. It's not a cool night, even though summer's almost over.

Sometimes the hottest days of summer are toward the end anyway. Stephanie is certainly sweating a little under her hoodie. She wouldn't have worn it, but it's easier to smuggle around the implements of her trade if she's wearing bulky clothing. Still, she lingers as the rest of the crowd disperses. She doesn't have a lot of money to spare, but she digs up a lone buck from her pocket and drops it for the dancer. "Pretty awesome moves, dude," she observes.

"Ey, thanks!" Paco turns, and when he does, his whole body moves with the gesture. Some people will just turn their head, but when Paco moves, it's a full motion. "Chu get to see all you wanted? I been tryin' to do something every week...get the name out, chu know. Oh yeah." Something occurs to him in the speaking, and he pats his waist and pulls out one of his cards, presenting it to Stephanie with a grin. On it is "VIBE" and a phone number and email address. "Tryin' to make a name for myself. I take down the bad guys! Affordable rates."

The blonde raises an eyebrow at this as she reaches out a hand to accept the card. "'Vibe', huh?" she says, the corner of her mouth turning upward in amusement. There are so many dirty jokes to be made. But she is seventeen and has the whole blonde-haired, blue-eyed innocence thing going on. She only makes those jokes in her head.

"I'll have to come back and watch again. I only caught the end of your show. You take down the bad guys, huh? A superhero AND a break-dancer?"

Paco sees the amusement. Maybe he's assuming too much, but he laughs a little bit, smile turning into a grin. "Yeah, yeah. I got a buncha settings before you ask." Apparently she isn't the only one who's had certain thoughts about his choice of name. "Chu bet! I used to stomp around in the D before I came here. So far I stopped a few robberies...took down a couple bounties...no SUPER villain types yet, but it's gonna happen! Ain't nobody in this place like Vibe." It's probably true. Certainly no one who breakdances at night in the Bronx.

"I said nothing," says Stephanie, making a gesture in the air before her like Yoda doing a Jedi mind control trick. "I am totally innocent. You did not even see me think less than pure thoughts." This turns into an extended hand. "Stephanie Brown," she says. "My dad's a bad guy."

The mind trick thing makes Paco laugh even harder and louder, the sound echoing down the mostly empty streets. Sure, he's seen Star Wars! The dancer takes the outstretched hand with both of his own, squeezing with the one and patting the back of it with the other. "Ey, good to meetchu! Paco Ramone, or chu can call me Vibe! So...chu dad a bad guy, or like...a REALLY bad guy?" Once the handshaking is done, he motions before himself with both hands, in a kind of illustrative way. "Like...he send chu to chu room without food...or he try to taint the food supply of the Big Apple with blood worms and dress up in a giant evil worm costume?"

Stephanie waggles a hand and shrugs. "He thinks he's the Riddler," she says. "Except he's not obsessive compulsive nuts -- he only leaves clues as a schtick. Mostly he deals in guns and drugs. So BAD GUY. But not KILL EVERYBODY BECAUSE I AM POWERMAD bad guy. Somewhere in the middle." She smiles wryly. "You can look him up. He goes by 'Cluemaster' -- he's on Wikipedia. Edits his own page."

Paco's eyebrows lift, only partially obscured by his sunglasses. And yeah, he wears his sunglasses at night. "Man. I guess chu could have worse role models, like?!" It kind of makes Paco think. After all, he's a superhero whose brother edits his Wikipedia page. In fact, he's the one that suggested having a page there in the first place. "I uh..." For a moment he just looks so distant. It's a change from his usual boisterous personality. But eventually he starts grinning to Stephanie again. "Yeah well, if he try to start anything witchu, chu call me up a'right?"

So he can, so he can keep track of the visions in his eyes?

"My dad is nobody's role model," says Stephanie with a sigh, shifting to lean against the building. "Anyway, he doesn't, like, really mistreat me. Kind of a bastard to mom, though." Her nose wrinkles. She genuinely dislikes her dad... but he's still her dad. "Don't worry too much about me, but... if I find out he's planning something, I might email you."

Paco's expression goes serious, really serious, for the first time since the conversation's started. "Hey. Chu sure chu wanna give me this money, amiga? Chu sure chu okay? I don't want nothin' to happen to my new friend. I know how it can be, in a place where maybe there's a lotta..." he pauses and frowns, and for a moment he seems at a loss for words, uniquely. "That. I mean I love my mama, but..."

"Hey, your dancing rocks -- and I'm not hurting for money. Mom's a nurse. Dad... well." She shrugs. "Like I said. Don't worry about me. And the stuff he does hasn't been working out for him so well lately. His men keep getting their butts kicked." She smiles. "Take the two bucks. If I can't give an ARTIST two bucks, I am in a very sad place."

An artist! Of all the times Paco has said it, it never quite has the impact of someone else saying it unsolicited. An artist...he's been dancing all his life, and it's always been well-received, well-supported by the people who see it. In a pinch, it's kept him and his brother, even his family, eating for another day. He lifts his glasses and pulls them off. Is that a blush on his face? It's kind of hard to see, in the low light. "Thanks...uh...really. Thanks. That means a lot to me. You gotta be the first person in this city's called me that."

"Then you're dancing in the wrong places," Stephanie observes. "Nothing against the Bronx -- there's a lot of awesome stuff around here. Not just, like, Yankee Stadium, but just the community. You never find stuff like that in Gotham." She glances westward, toward her hometown on the Jersey Shore. The stinking, littered, ugly Jersey Shore. "But wouldn't you make more money in Times Square or the Village? And I doubt I'd be the last person to call you an artist in the Village."

Paco rolls his shoulders, a kind of half-shrug. "Dunno mang. Gotta go where the man ain't gonna chase chu out or someone gonna call the cops cuz chu makin' a lotta noise. I thought about it, I just...thought maybe it'd be more trouble'n I want right now. Chu know? But if you say maybe it's a good idea...maybe I oughta try it anyway."

Stephanie considers this for a moment or two. "I think you can get a license to do this kinda stuff. I know if you're not amplifying your music you can do pretty much whatever you want wherever you want -- but your dancing sort of requires the amplified music so..." She trails off, shrugs again. "Hey, that's what Google's for, right? Figuring this kinda stuff out!"

"Right. Right!" Paco perks up a bit. It won't be him that searches it, though. No, he'll be looking over his brother's shoulder as he does it, because he's the tech dude and that's just how it goes. Paco is decidedly a back seat driver when it comes to the internet. He could do it...it's not that hard to learn, and he knows the basics...it's just that he likes to leave it all neatly compartmentalized between him and Armando. "Yeah. Thanks. Really! Thanks!" Bouncing on his feet, he keeps moving. It seems like he's never really still, not entirely anyway. "Uh...I got a website, but it's kinda little at the moment. 'm gonna try to get some stuff on it soon."

A pen appears from one of her pockets, along with Paco's card. "What's the addy?" she asks. "I'll take a look -- you should get some dancing videos up there. I mean, hey, anything to get a gig, right? Either dancing or heroics." She pauses. "Probably harder to get videos up of the crime-fighting, I s'pose."

All the gears are turning now in Paco's head. "Hey...hey, chu right. Maybe I should get someone...to take some videos. Like, phones got cameras now!" It wouldn't be so difficult. Armando could even stay at a safe distance...not that he can't take care of himself. He snaps back to reality as it occurs to him he was asked a question. "Oh, it's bust a vibe dot com I think? I, uh...I'm not really great at this kinda stuff, but I'm tryin' to learn. Kinda whole different world out here in this city."

Stephanie smiles. "Paco, haven't you figured it out yet? This city is the world." She winks at the young man. "I've gotta get myself home -- but I will totally be back to see you dance again." She pauses a moment, then extends a hand. "Gimme another card."

Paco laughs, but he scrambles to find the cards again. It takes less time at least, this time, and he hands one over. "Yeah, I gotta run too. Take care chuself amiga -- chu need a ride? I got a scooter. Prob'ly not too safe for a l'il sister, this time of night, by chuself." He motions to somewhere nearby, and at first the shadows have kind of hidden the bike, but then it's revealed. It's kind of like a vespa, but not exactly, and it's got a custom paint job that is clearly designed to advertise Paco's heroic identity.

Steph smiles. "I learned a few things about taking care of myself, being my dad's daughter," she says as she takes the card, scribbles on the back and flips it toward Vibe. It's got her cell number and email address on it now. "Not that it wouldn't be awesome to ride back into Gotham on the back of a big-time hero's scooter, but what would dad think?" A wink, and she starts toward the nearest subway station. "I'll see you soon, Paco!"

Paco grins and waves to Steph, collecting all his stuff to take and pack into the scooter. "Take care chuself amiga!" It's been a good night. So he tries to go over his mental list: the Village, Google, videos, website, Cluemaster. Maybe it'll all start coming together a little better.