ArchivedLogs:Birds and Knives

Birds and Knives
Dramatis Personae Ducky, Peter, Dante
In Absentia	2013-04-20 '
Location Rooftop
ROOFTOP! There are many of them in New York City; this is one of them. Up fairly high, shoved in a congested part of the city - wedged between several higher buildings - it comes complete with the backend of a billboard jutting out the side of it (one for the Daily Bugle - Jonah Jameson's scowling face projected outward, his arms folded, with the logo 'DAILY BUGLE: ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT'). There's also a carrier pigeon coop up here - the birds are preening and cooing and shuffling within their respective pens, with - a considerable amount of /bird poop/ staining the concrete. It's a nice, quiet place - well, if you can ignore the constant thrumming rhythm of cars moving (and occasionally honking!) that emerge from below. That, and if you don't mind the stink of smoke and exhaust and hot dogs. Peter doesn't. Clad in his black hoodie (hood up!) - gray slacks - gray tabi socks - and a black mouthless ski-mask with buggy yellow-tinted goggles over the eyeholes - he looks remarkably /bizarre/, almost like some urbanized alien. What looks even more bizarre is what he is doing - charging, headlong, with all the brazen grace of a lemming, /straight/ for the edge of a roof two buildings over from this one - and JUMPING. OhGod-- THUD. He jumps /good/ - far enough to get him to the rooftop next to this one! And without even missing a beat after he drops, he rolls and springs to his feet - and is moving straight for the /next/ edge - aiming, in a moment, to land on this very rooftop! Like it ain't no big thing. Y'know, just roof-hopping, STANDARD PETER BEHAVIOR. New York is a big city, and the streets are crowded and busy, and people are kind of pushy, so Ducky has been in search of quiet retreats within the city since her arrival. The rooftop pidgeon roost is one of her most recent discoveries, thanks to a slightly lost carrier pidgeon who she had helped find his way home. She had gotten terribly lost in the process, and now finds herself seated atop the edge of the roof, next to the formerly lost pidgeon, talking to what appears to be thin air. Wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and an oversized faded gray hoody with OLD NAVY scrawled across the front in cracked letters, Ducky doesn't exactly look particularly out of place in the city, and would easily disappear into the crowd. Were she in a crowd, instead of the edge of the rooftop overlooking a grungy area of the city, that is. As the man in the black hoodie lands with a heavy THUD on the roof behind her, Ducky yelps slightly, and scrambles off the ledge she was sitting on, her pidgeon friend taking flight and returning to his roost at the commotion. Looking around for a moment in panic, the mousy young woman is obviously trying to plan out an escape route, or even a place to hide, but for the time being, she is frozen in place, unsure of how to respond to the jumping person. "Hey, buddy, you're in my spot. Get outa here..." A stout, but well built man with buzzed blonde hair shouted directly into Dante's ear. The young man turns to look at this roudy patron...it was obvious he had already started drinking elsewhere, as he smelled of booze even upon entering the bar. Dante smirks slightly, then turns back to the bar, ignoring the man. "HEY! Don't make me TAKE ya outa that stool!" the man yells. "Don't try it..." Dante replies, taking another sip of his drink. He knew all he did was bat the beehive...but at this point, who cares. He didn't really mind causing commotion...which was thankful for him, as the man put his hand on Dante's shoulder and attempted to yank him out of the barstool. Key word: Attempted... Dante let the man's force pull him back ever so slightly, but he used the momentum to shift around in his seat, sending a punch directly into the thicker man's chest. The impact sent the man stumbling back a few feet, until he fell hard on the wooden floor, grasping in pain. "I told you not to try it..." Dante says, before taking his glass and finishing his drink. Before the bartender could tell him off, he pulled out a crisp 50 from his pocket, and placed it on the bar. "I know...don't want that kinda thing in your establishment. Hope he enjoys the seat i've warmed up for him..." Dante steps out into an alleyway a few buildings down from the bar, the crisp air catching his face. He pulls a pack of cigaretts from his leather jacket pocket, and a lighter from the pocket in his jeans, takes out a stick and lights it. He replaces his effects to their respective pockets, and takes a long drag, leaning against the wall of the alley, looking up to the sky, expecting to view the LOVELY fire escape and the clear evening sky... What he didn't expect to see, however, was a figure nearly flying acros the gap between the rooftops. "The hell?" he says to himself, keeping his gaze fixed on the roof on which the figure just landed... WHUMP. Peter lands, quite promptly, on the very /edge/ of the rooftop; hands gripping it with a tight little /squeeze/, knees thrust out - looking a little froggish, actually. He /peers/ at Ducky - mask-clad head quirking to the side. Rotating a little bit, like an inquisitive bird. And then: "Oh, jeez, oh, /jeez/ I'm sorry I scared you sorry sorry," and Peter's hands are flying up, as if to wave off any apprehension Ducky might be feeling at the moment. "I totally didn't see you - over here - I would have went for a different rooftop --" Peter is wearing crude-looking wrist-watches. Big, clunky things. They look like they were soldered together by himself. He also /sounds/ a little squeaky. Recovering from the initial panic attack that came from a strange man lunging onto the rooftop from seemingly nowhere at all, Ducky is now looking more than just a little bit wary as she regards Peter. The flailing initially doesn't seem to do much to allay the young girl's fright as she cowers slightly from the odd looking person - she seems to be shaking ever so slightly at this point, although it may be a bit difficult to see from further away. One of the pidgeons, possibly the one she had been sitting beside, comes over and lands in her hand - absentmindedly, Ducky pets it for a few moments before looking down and smiling. "It's ok. He scared me too. I don't think he's supposed to be up here anymore than I am though," she coos softly at the pidgeon, who looks at Peter curiously. "It's, um, it's ok. I'm, well, not exactly normally up here. So, um, if you usually jump onto this roof, I suppose I'm sorry I threw off your groove?" Ducky says with a head tilt, her voice still a bit wavering as she speaks. "Where is he? Where is that bastard!? I'm gonna kill him!" The booming voice could be heard, getting louder as the man ran down the street towards the alleyway. Dante looks down from his curiosity, and shrugs slightly. Guess it was time to move. Quickly, he ashes his cigarette, and leaps into the air. His hardened muscles, aided by his knowledge of Chi, propel him higher than what the average human could achieve, able to grab onto the fire escape's ledge 12 feet above him. He pulls himself up, climbing the escape as quickly as he could, while still attempting to be silent. The man turns the corner, looking left, then right. Though he doesn't think to look up, until Dante was safely out of sight, climbing quickly towards the top of the fire escape.. If Ducky wasn't startled before, perhaps she might have been by yet another person making their way onto the rooftop. Dante raises an eyebrow as he climbs up the roof, expecting to MAYBE see the figure that had jumped between buildings...but not expecting to see two people upon the top of the roof. As he stands, he looks at both the girl, and the masked man..."Mighty popular rooftop, this is...Throwin' a party up here, or something?" When the bird lands on Ducky's hand, /Peter/ gives a jump. Not a very high one! But a jump nevertheless. "...are you - wha - WHOA," Peter says, and when Ducky starts /talking/ to the bird: "Waaaaait. You aren't - like, are those birds your /pets/ or something? How'd you get them to do that?! Birds /never/ perch on me. Do you train /pigeons/? Oh, and no, don't worry, I just - jump everywhere, it's like my thing," Peter explains, waving his hand dismissively. "I'm basically /redonkular/, I can jump like--AUGH." Peter proceeds to demonstrate his 'redonkular' jumping skillz when Dante pops up from on top of the fire escape. Now, Peter's jumping /off/ the roof-top edge - and slapping roughly against the wall of the building directly behind him. He's upside down - feet and hands gripping brick - his head peering up at the two. Somehow /clinging/ to the surface. "What the /heck/?!" Peter asks. Ducky looks confusedly between Peter and the pidgeon, standing up a bit straighter and calming down visibly. "I, um, I can talk to them? These aren't mine, my parents took my birds away on my birthday," she says softly with a grin. The mousy young girl looks sad for a moment, but then continues talking quietly, "But these aren't mine. Their owner only comes around after work, and he's still at work for a while, so this one told me it was okay to come and visit, since they get lonely when he isn't around. So I came up to say hi." She holds up the pidgeon in her hand a little bit to indicate that this was in fact the little bird that told her she should be here. And then Dante pops onto the roof, startling Ducky into another crouched pose, protecting the pidgeon in her hands from whatever had suddenly startled her. A bit of a wince crosses Ducky's face as the pidgeon coup on the other sude of the roof breaks into a chorus of startled coos and ruffling feathers, "I know, I know. Calm down, it's crowded. I'm sorry," Ducky says, somewhat to the pidgeon in her hands, somewhat to herself. "It's, um, not a party, I don't think. I didn't mean to throw a party. I just wanted to see the birds." Dante jumps slightly along with everyone else, partially from the chaos from the pidgeon coup, but namely at the masked man taking a leap and sticking to the wall opposite their building...he readies himself to leap after the man to grab him, until he realizes he's...stuck...to the wall... /I see...they're like me.../ he thinks to himself. Regaining his compusure, he holds his hand out gently, "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to scare everyone. Just not every day you see such a crowded rooftop... "There he is! That must be him!" Can be heard from the alleyway below. Dante jumps agains slightly, looking down at ground level, to see the bar patron, along with three of his...friends...and all of them holding some sort of weapon; a knife, a crobar, a bat...Dante rolls his eyes slightly "Jeez, really? New York gangs? With different weapons for each person? Like the /Comics?!/" he says to himself. His amusement, however, is stayed slightly as one of the thugs climbs to the top of a dumpster, using his crobar to pull down the fire escape laddar, and following the other two thugs up it, towards the rooftop... "Great...Uh...I wanna apologize in advance...I think it's about to get a little bit MORE crowded in a moment..." "Bu-huh?" The Peter-on-a-wall shifts, and /kicks/ - knees propelling him forward back to the ledge he had been on previously, 'hupping' as he pulls himself back into a perch. And then - hop, hop, JUMP - he's on the opposite side of the building, right next to Dante - peering down the fire escape. At the clamboring people. And /then/... Hop! Next to Ducky. Peter's /fast/, and a little hyper; he tries not to frighten her, but the fact is that he's bouncing around the rooftop like a pinball. "Hi," he tells her. "Um, so, I have /no/ idea what's going on, and you don't really know me, and I guess you might not /trust/ me, but - if it's okay? I can take you to the next rooftop over because yeah those people down there look a little angry." He offers Ducky his hand! Apparently, he thinks Dante will be /fine/; well, it might have to do with the fact that Dante looks like an adult. Ducky looks completely terrified as the angry men start appearing on the rooftop, like something out of a 90s cartoon. She tosses the pidgeon in her hands away from her, letting him fly off to safety. There's a decided jump from the girl as Peter is suddenly beside her, and she blinks in confusion, reassessing the scene as quickly as she can. When he offers her a hand, she looks at him hesitantly, glancing between the angry men with the weapons, and the stranger. Grimacing a bit, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, "O... okay. Please don't drop me." Her voice wavers a bit, and she takes Peter's offered hand, although she is trembling again. "I'm not so good with people. So getting out of here is good." The thugs catch sight of Peter as they make their way onto the roof, unaware of his intentions to flee. "Take care of the little jumping bean!" the leader yells at the knife-wielder, who makes his way quickly, yet slightly clumsily, towards the two kids, knife raised at neck-height. The remaining two turn towards Dante, who has taken a few steps back from the edge of the roof. He rolls his eyes slightly, looking directly at the original bar patron. "Seriously? You got your seat back! Or did i wound your pride?" he asks, egging the man on slightly...again, batting the beehive. Something he was good at. The man's face wrinkles into an angry frown, and he growls slightly. "Think you're funny, kid? You won't be crackin wise when we're through with you..." /Ugh...even the comic book cliche's with these guys.../ he thought to himself. With a look that said 'suit yourself,' Dante steps back into a fighting stance, arms up to his chest, elbows in...a very Chinese-inspired style, seemingly leaving nothing unguarded. He stands motionless, allowing the thugs to make their first move... "I will /absolutely/ not drop you," Peter reassures her, and - for whatever it's worth - amidst the sudden confusion of angry men emerging, Peter sounds /completely/ calm. Like this is just a normal day for Peter Benjamin Parker. "But, uh. This next part? Might be kinda scary. So /maybe/ you should close your eyes." Peter squeezes her hand - and then his arm is winding, tightly, around her waist. He is slightly shorter than Ducky; he certainly doesn't look very stocky. But the arm around her waist has an unusual strength to it - and then, her feet are no longer on the ground. Peter is actually lifting her /up/! Knife-dude, as he moves toward Peter Parker, would find himself confronted with a magic trick. Now you see them - poof! - now they're gone. Peter runs, then /jumps/ - right off the edge of that roof - and suddenly he is /flinging/ through the air, the rush of wind briefly buffeting him and Ducky as he pulls her head slightly over his shoulder - and then he's hitting the ground a second later, landing in a /run/ on the higher roof-top, bleeding off the excess momentum through his socks. When he comes to a stop, he sets her down on her feet. Last time he did a snatch-and-jump, the poor girl ended up biting her tongue and getting a few bruises - but Peter's been /practicing/ this since then! Unless Ducky squirms or otherwise kicks, he'll probably manage to transport her from one roof to the other with nary a scuff! Assuming so, upon setting her down, he'll mention: "Oh you can open your eyes now," and then turn to make sure Dante isn't getting /knifed/. Rather than kick, flail, or make any sort of movement, Ducky does as Peter suggests and closes her eyes tightly, scrunching her body up and and doing her best not to whimper. For someone who talks to birds all day, she sure seems to have a bit of a nervous reaction to the thought of flight. She manages to remain completely still whil they are airborn, and even after Peter sets her down safely, the girl seems reluctant to move too much. It is only a few moments after he says she can open her eyes again that she nervously peeks to see that they're safe. "Th...th... thank you," she finally manages to stutter out quietly, looking around to see where she is now, and how she could possibly get down to go home. A pidgeon, quite probably the same one she had been talking to before, flutters down to land on her head, cooing comfortingly at the shaking girl, and bobbing its head to Peter. "Um - it was nice to meet you? Uh, good luck if you are going back down there to help that guy... those thug types were, um, interesting looking." She tilts her head slightly, looking back towards the other rooftop and the coming battle. "I'm glad I'm over here," she nods emphatically, the pidgeon ruffling in protest. "What're you waiting for! Get him!" The original man yells at the crobar-weilding man. The second man steps forward, crowbar raised above his head, which he brings down in an arcing swing at Dante's face. Again rolling his eyes, Dante steps forward lazily...this is a walk in the park...He bring his hands up, meeting the man's forearm mid-air with incredible strength. The impact throws the man's arm back, and he stumbles slightly. Like lightning, Dante's fists swing back to his center line, and drive directly into the man's chest, much like he did to the original patron in the bar. This time, however, to anyone paying close enough attention, a flash of sky blue light could be seen emanating from the point of impact. The man is thrown backwards a good few feet, landing hard on his back. He probably would have screamed in pain from the impact on the rooftop, had he not been knocked out cold before he even lifted into the air. The original fighter looks on, less frightened at Dante's skill and power, and more annoyed at his cohort not lasting more than one hit. He steps forward, is bat held down at his waist. This man's style and stance seemed much more refined than the others, looking much like a man trained in some form of military. He also takes a swing at Dante, but much faster and more controlled. The man's skill forces Dante to block and dodge accordingly, although even this seemed like child's play for the young man... "Wheredya think you're going, coward!" The knife wielder screams as Peter carries the girl to an adjacent rooftop. He runs to the edge of his own roof, shaking his head slightly. "Fine...you don't have to come to me..." he says to himself, before pulling a second knife from his back pocket. This one is much more agile, without a serrated edge...perfect for throwing. And throwing, unbeknownst to others, was this man's specialty. He took aim, and chucked it skillfully towards Peter and Ducky, it's trajectory aimed straight at Peter's ribs... Peter /blinks/ back at Ducky from behind those goggles, briefly turning to face her: "Are you /kidding/?!" he immediately replies. "Those guys - they've got /knives/ and stuff ohGod I'm not gonna /fight/ them--I'm like--fifteen! Besides, uh--" Back to the fight Peter looks! "...I think he's okay? I mean, I could just - from here, I probably could just..." He begins adjusting one of those weird-looking watches on his wrist. "Anyway, um, there's a fire-escape over there. I'm just gonna, um, watch in case someone gets--" Oh. The knife. Peter's head snaps back as it hurtles toward him, and - without even realizing he's /doing/ it - his hand has already snapped out and /caught/ it. Like he's merely plucking the thing right out of air - knife, SNATCH, inspect. Beneath the mask, Peter's skin goes /pale/ - and then: "...holycrap. I just - DUDE holy CRAP. HEY! HEY YOU GUYS!" Peter shouts to the people fighting on the rooftop, waving his arms. "HEY! Did you guys /SEE/ that I totally just caught that knife that was frigging awesome hey LADY did you--" He turns to look behind him, but Ducky is gone. Peter awwws. :/ Dante could hear a slight "HEY!" in the background, which catches his attention. Thinking it's the third thug coming for a sneak attack, he whips his head around, searching for an attack that isn't there...which gives the original thug the opening he needs. with a /CRACK,/ the baseball bat connects with dante's ribs, causing him to bend and buckle slightly, grunting loudly as the dull pain shoots through his abdomen...it was worse that it hit a previous injury that had not yet fully healed. Dante slides back, creating as much distance as he can, before the man charges head on, wanting to follow up. Luckily for Dante, this was the dumbest thing the man could have done...In one swift motion, Dante sticks both arms out, one blocking the swinging bat and knocking it out of the man's hand, the other driving yet again into the man's chest. All the while this happened, Dante also sticks his leg out, less of a kick and more of an obstacle for the man's kneecap to run directly into. All three moves hitting simultaneously, the man staggars and trips, stumbling backwards. Enough time for Dante to shift behind the man, land an elbow into his back...and as Dante turns to face the man's profile, that strange blue light could be seen again...this time, it pulsed around Dante's body slightly...as if it were...charging him...Throwing one hand underneath his arm, Dante merely places his hand on the man's ribcage. The blue light travels from around Dante's whole body, channelling into his open palm, creating a bright ray of light between his hand and the man's side. The light grows brighter and brighter, until it seemingly explodes into the man, shooting him off his feet, and sending him flying a couple of yards through the air, before landing on the ground in a crumpled heap...completely knocked out... The knife-weilder's eyes grow wide in amazement when Peter catches his knife from mid air...But he quickly composes himself "Try again, lightning doesnt strike twice, kid." With that, the man sheathes his large knife, and pulls two more from hip holsters, twirling them before throwing one after the other. Two more blades gleam in the setting sunlight, making their way towards Peter's head and leg, respectively. As they fly through the air, the man re-draws his larger Bowie, ready for anything. The knives SHOULD hit this kid...but if for SOME reason they didnt...he'd be ready... "Oh dude that was so /wicked/ cool," Peter says, down to the knife-thrower. "YOU saw that right? I totally caught--" Uh. /CRAP/ more knife. Peter drops the first knife to the ground with a clatter - takes a step back - and - apparently lightning /does/ strike twice. Because when that second knife goes for Peter's face - his hand snaps up yet /again/ -- this time, /swatting/ it out of the air. The one for his leg, though - that one actually manages to slip in, thunking into thigh-meat. There's a sharp, boyish /squawk/, followed by a yelp; Peter drops to a crouch. "Augh - augh holy /CRAP/ I've been - holy /CRAP/ are you /KIDDING/ me what the /HELL/--" THWP THWP THWP THWP THWP THWP - suddenly, both his hands are launching a /barrage/ of glue-balls out for knife-thrower. Some of them fired chaotically, unlikely to hit; a few, though, have more than just a bit of aim to them. Aiming for his hands - his shoes - his feet. Anything they hit gets *SPLTD* and promptly glued. The glue will dissolve after about an hour - but until then, it firmly refuses to yield. "What the hell?" Knife exclaims, watching as a few chaotic glue-balls fly past him. Apparently, he WASNT ready for anything, as these strange globs catch him off guard. He takes a step back, putting his arms up in front of his face, as a few glue-balls catch his shoes, pinning him to the ground. Others pelt his clothing, and a few hit his forearms. He tries shaking them off his arms, not wanting to touch the sticky substance with his hands...but to no avail, the substance remains on his skin, unshakable. He continues to attempt, however fruitlessly, to remove his foot from the ground...until he feels a tap on his shoulder. Dante waits until the man attempts to turn, before checking his forearm directly into the side of the man's neck, knocking him out cold, leaving Knife also a crumpled mess on the ground...sans feet, which were still stuck awkwardly to the rooftop ground.. With a pained grunt, Dante makes his way to the edge of the rooftop, the thugs now completely dispatched. He doesnt bother asking if Peter is hurt...most likely the whole block knows he's hurt, with his screaming about it..."Hey, you there...hang out for a second. Where did you get hit?" Dante takes a moment to gague the distance between the two buildings...No way he could jump the distance, even uninjured and with his Chi Enhancement... "Gotta take the long way round, kid! Stay calm, and hang out for a second... "He /stabbed/ me holy crap he /stabbed/ me in the /leg/ what the /hell/ I don't even /know/ that dude what the /hell/--" Peter's still going. But at the sound of Dante's voice, he straightens - and then, suddenly, there's a *SPLT*. Peter just glued his own leg. "I'm FINE!" he shouts, and then - wobble, step, wobble. "I'm getting the heck out of here!" Wobble, step, wobble - he's readjusting those wrist-watches of his, again. Until suddenly, he lifts a wrist over his head, and... THWP. With a tiny 'hop', Peter's airborne - and swinging off the rooftop, away. Apparently to deal with this on his own. The whole way, Dante can hear him yelling: "What the /hell/ dude that is /so/ uncool!"