January 08, 2015:
David Ironside ends up in M-Town and surrounded by people on the street.
Mutant Town - New York City
District X, also known as the less politically correct yet more popular coined Mutant Town is a very unique Burroughs located between Alphabet City and the Bowery of Lower Manhattan.
Characters
![class="image1"](http://cmbeta.wdfiles.com/local--resized-images//class="image1"/medium.jpg)
NPCs: None.
Mentions:
Plot:
A Dark Hold
Apocalypse: Only the Strong
Blood versus Family
Bones Of The City
Breaking the Universe
Cyberdata War: First Strike
Dangerous Esterikos Wonderous Mystikos
Dark Gods & Times
De Oppresso Liber
Demon Lord of New York
Diaz de Muertos
Don't Tell Thanos The Babysitter's Dead
Empire of Tears
Escape from Sakaar
From the Ashes
Gateway to the Stars
Genosha: Rebirth
God Of The Dead
Hacker, Sass-Mastah, Engineer, Spy
Himmel und Hölle in Bewegung Setzen
Mood Music: None.
Fade In…
It's like HoboVille, but most of the hobos can kill people without weapons. Or meaning to. Well, not most of them. Really, the majority are probably simply ugly. Still, David Ironheart knows that mutants have a higher potential to be dangerous than humans, which probably explains why he has twice as many knives on him as usual, with a number of them "obvious" to people who actually look for such things while still not technically being obvious. Really, who has narrow shape silhouetted against the pantleg just above the ankle unless it's a knife? In nicer parts of town, that spells trouble. In slums, it means he's less worth hassling than somebody who isn't armed. It also helps that he isn't trying to talk to anybody, isn't carrying anything that looks like it can be pawned for more than 10 bucks, and has the jaded, wary look in his eyes of somebody who has spent plenty of time on the streets.
***
Lunair promised Magneto she'd patrol Mutanttown. She is also a mutant herself, and has a severe case of 'happens to be being followed by HYDRA periodically'. They're like Herpes, but with rifles and ninja assassins. Bet no one makes commercials promises to cure your ninja assassin outbreaks. And frankly, Lunair thinks knives are hilarious. Nevertheless, her errands take her through this part of town. She's likely familiar to a good number of them, due to chillin' with the 'neto sometimes, and also due to her having done stuff around here.
Some parts of Mutant Town are nicer than others. But… it helps her feel just a pinch safer since HYDRA might not know about her stomping ground here. And maybe visiting a few friends. Yes. She carries a rather expensive chocolate pie on her way to - who is she bringing it to? Nevertheless, she is moving towards David, seeming incredibly out of place. But her blank, strange expression gives her away too. Something is off. Someone never learned 'resting face'. Or to emote without working at it. There's the cautious, wary look of a predator. Hmm. Then, she stares evenly at David. Squint. Ponder. Walk.
***
Ah, lovely Mutant Town, with its variety of lovely people, and really, "ugly" is in the eye of the beholder. One of the kids here, in fact, looks a lot like the Beholder from that game.
Mike, on the other hand, has managed to turn a somewhat unpleasant side effect of his mutation into something more or less cool. I mean, what kid doesn't want to grow up to be a car/robot? Seriously. They all do. (Don't they?)
He's carrying a load of junk down the street, something like an ant carrying a giant leaf. Truck must be back at the shop.
***
There's a soft 'pop' sound a young woman, dressed in a sweater dress, leggings and knee high boots steps out of seemingly nowhere, several feet behind David.
The smile on the raven haired womans face fades to a look of bewilderment as she glances around "Huh… I really have to work out how that happens." she murmurs to herself.
***
Melinda May doesn't typically frequent M-Town. But, when SHIELD needs intel from an informant who frequents this area, and they have to send someone who can hold their own if something untoward happens, that limits their choices kind of a lot. This time, May drew the short straw.
Dressed in dark colors like always, with a black leather coat and a metallicky-grey scarf to fend off the winter weather, SHIELD Agent Melinda May is walking along in the opposite direction from David, unintentionally on the way to crossing his path. She's a bit nearly to meeting with the informant, but it never hurts to be prepared.
***
For the most part, Ripper may be a false persona but it allows him to act more naturally than when he's not in disguise. Not simply because David isn't allowed to kill people with impunity. No, David also has to worry about things like not doing something in public that gets him arrested or sent to the loony bin. Like drawing a weapon and threatening anybody who seems even the slightest bit 'off' to him. So when a mentally abnormal young woman comes at him with a pie he is forced to resist the natural instinct to draw one of his more accessable weapons as Ripper would do. No, he just slows his gait and let's one hand drift to his side, a gesture that is obvious to anybody who looks for it yet nonthreatening to people who don't view the world in terms of Who Has Concealed Weapons. Taking another look around for threats, he spots May heading in his general direction. It's not hard to sense even at a distance that she's not a noncombatant, which makes it potentially a pincer attack. The hercules in the distance at least doesn't seem to be coming towards him, so that's good.
And then somebody spontaneously manifests within his personal Back The Off radius. He WHIRLS around to face Zatanna, gripping the hilt of the knife hidden near the waist of his jeans. Now he's got strange and/or dangerous women on three different sides.
"I'm all stocked up on pies," he tells Zatanna as she's the nearest one. His voice is soft and tempered, cool if not cold. Almost the complete opposite of Ripper.
***
Lunair is still terribly abused by Ripper slash David. He's /adorable/. She's warped in her own ways. And maybe a little catlike in her love of just messing with someone. Regardless, today is Lunair civilian day. She stares evenly at him. He seems to be a fighter of some sort. It's like being a fighting dog. Once you become one, you never really turn off that ability. One predator to another. But what defines a sheep dog to a wolf? Only the way they aim, it seems. Nevertheless, it takes her a moment and she smiles politely to him. And then he - Lunair stares at him like he just dropped his trousers and started singing Spice Girls with an octopus on his head. STARE.
Her face is blank, even if her gaze says 'what'. What. Just. What the what. It's what^nth power. "… you're weird," She manages. "You remind me of someone somehow." Squint. But then, someone appears. Eep! She goes stock still for a second. And Mike! Beam! She waves with her free hand (not the pie) to the metallic man. "Hiya! That's neat!" And if she notices beholder kid, he gets a wave, too. Lunair doesn't seem to think it odd at all, which is in itself, odd. She's completely accepting, a blank card. And wait. Is that? Lunair looks troubled as she sees May. "People are but they are not. I can't solve it." Sadface. Mike is probably quite correct in his diagnosis. Lunair is an odd case, and right now, she can't really put a bead on people which is troubling her. She just locks up, staring intently. And holding a pie. "…" Eyebrow furrow. "How are you." To no one in particular.
***
Mike's got a special sensor for magic, since Fenris moved into Mutant Town and brought his own special category of "attractive nuisance" — specifically demon incursions. It's a particularly elegant but not particularly sensitive bit of Mad Science, using talkative bits of random metal. So he notices the sudden teleportation, and has to look over to see what it is.
This means he spots the guy who acts a bit like Barry The Tick vibrating with paranoia, glaring at someone (accessing facial database) Zatanna Zatara? Awesome.
"OK, just jumping in will make him worse. And I have to move this stuff… so." A small gold beetle automaton steps off the back of Mike's hand leaving a temporary hole behind, and flies over while Mike starts moving much more quickly to his parking lot… so he can unload.
***
As the man whirls on her, Zee takes a step back and holds up her hands. "Hey… I didn't offer you any pie." Peering past the angry young man, she spots the locked up woman and she nods "You should be talking to her."
Glancing around again, Zee's brow furrows and she returns her attention to David "So…. where exactly has my teleport bought me to today?"
***
Melinda May notices the man on the sidewalk's reaction to the others around him, how his hand goes to his side, and her own hand does similar. Though, oddly enough, it looks more like she's idly shifting the scarf on her neck a bit. She has every intention of just walking past the tense little group, but a glint of gold in mid-air catches her eye and her hand snaps up at whatever it is. If she catches it, she'll stop to look at whatever it is. A golden snitch?
***
Ok, now they're just mocking him. Good thing he doesn't care what people think of him, or his ego might feel threatened. Instead it's just his survival that feels threatened. Come on, who in the world carries around a pie for strangers and actually has good intentions? Nobody, that's who. Though her eyes do seem a bit familiar now that he's had more than half a second to look back and forth between her and everybody else ganging up on him. At least there's not some flying observation camera or something nearby. Well, none he can see at any rate, but David has to assume that it's there anyways.
"Yeah, like you're not with her." He doesn't /quite/ sneer at the magician, but it's somehow conveyed despite the fact his lips don't change expression. Shifting in place so that he can keep all three women, if not on one side thanks to how they are spread out, at least as easy to keep in view as possible. Who knows what that scarfed woman is doing with her hands: probably signalling somebody. He offers one last remark to Zee, his voice making the exact meaning rather inscrutible, "To the sort of place people dressed like you don't belong."
Then, to Lunair, he follows the teleporter's suggestion. "I don't want any pies. I'm leaving now, and it would be a bad idea to follow me." No gesture is made, nor any threat implied with an omninous voice. If they can't figure out it's a threat, then they're either too stupid to recognize their danger or they're actually just some socially awkward person who wanted to share a pie with somebody. But he's not going to bet on the latter.
***
Waitaminute. Is that Zatanna? "Cool, I saw her on a poster once," wavewave. "And Mike! Hi!" Beam. She recognizes metal guy. She seems to like Mike well enough. Lunair is genuinely friendly when she wants to be. But she seems more curious now. She looks confused. The pie is not for David. "She can be here. Just because people dress one way sometimes…" She peers at David. She is then threatened, staring evenly at him. "I brought this for a friend." She looks a lot less friendly now, eyes cold and expression still - just gone. "Furthermore, if I wished to kill you, I would have already done so. Don't be so rude," She admonishes him. "For someone as jumpy as you, you're really terrible at not making truckloads of enemies, and being obvious," She stares intently. "Try not being a jerk. People stab not-jerks a lot less, you know," She states. Not to mention, friends and allies? Pretty awesome. "This isn't Gotham where they shiv you to say hi," She sighs. "Besides, I think the lady who teleported in is pretty famous." Really.
Lunair is just weird. "For all /you/ know, someone here could belch lightning and fart fire. You're setting up a needlessly hostile situation." Sigh. "… why does this feel familiar," One eye half-closes. "Anyway, don't assume you're so important and be so awful to people. It goes a long way. You're kind of adorable in a weird way. But do simmer down before you do provoke a fight. If you're gonna be paranoid, at least be sensible about it, you know? But are you lost or something? I can give you directions as a sign of good will. Or something," Oh, Lunair. Sadly, she doesn't know about May and her Snitch. But she does answer Zatanna, "This is Mutant Town. People are normally fairly friendly." Fairly. But then, a lot of mutants here can't really pass and get treated as such. "But I was going to bring pie to - I was surprised to see him." Lunair got Mike an expensive chocolate pie. Why not? A point a Mike.
***
Or, a watch-beetle. Tick tick tick. May's grab is adequate, the beetle doesn't dodge, because Mike recognizes her. When she grabs it, though, it says in a voice she's likely to recognize, "Hello, Agent May. I'll be joining you in person in a moment, have to put down this supply stash."
Not a terribly long moment; he does have to avoid hitting anybody, though. Then, he's going to do that trick that bothers people, and use one of his combat chassis — the medium one that looks like a big half-robot guy, that separates into LOTS of small flying bugs. Because you have to be able to make an entrance.
Although, Mike does make the attempt to make his entrance BEHIND the somewhat paranoid man.
"Hello, Lune," Mike says from behind the man. Oh, this should go well.
***
"Well, no I'm not with her." Zee looks down at how shes dressed and shrugs "I suppose, but I wan't aiming on being right here." she sighs and the brightens at Lunairs comments. The appearance of the robot man has her eyes rolling, this is going to go so well.
***
May briefly quirks an eyebrow as the insect in her hand responds, and yes, she recognizes Drakos' voice. Having stopped in the middle of the sidewalk when she caught the gold bug, she opens her hand to let it continue on about its business and then looks at Mike with a particularly unimpressed expression when he chooses to manifest directly behind Mr. Paranoid With a Knife. Great way to make friends. Really. She tucks her hands back into her coat pockets and looks ready to just keep walking past the little group. She does have an informant to meet with, after all.
***
Lunair's emotions and responses are Not Right for the situation. Whether she is exagerating certain aspects of her mental issues - there is no doubt in his mind that she is not at least partially unwell in mind or evem inhuman - it simply doesn't make sense in terms of tactics. It's almost becoming more plausible somehow that one or more of their arrivals really IS a coincidence. Even that new guy's arrival. The guy who… is like a bunch of insects. But also a robot. "I hate Thursdays," he mutters to himself softly. Thankfully Lunair pretty much gives away her identity with the fire farting remark. He releases his grip on the still-sheathed and theoretically-concealed weapon.
Regardless of latest arrival, it only takes a few moments for his brain to seize upon the key information of "This is really Lunair" to reassess the entire situation. He relaxes visibly, albeit with an effort. "I lost my manners in a bet," the scarred young man explains to Lunair, followed by giving a nod to the supposed Celebrity. Mike can just stand there and be weird though all by himself! "I probably should go now, so you can do some pie related things." See? That other combatant is just walking by completely. Coincidences really DO happen afterall. Maybe unicorns exist too.
***
"…" Well, hey, Lunair /is/ right though. She is unwell in her own way, but there's a lot of truth to it. She beams at Mike. And a nod at Zatanna. She seems curious about May, but Lunairs only have so much social processing power and she's occupied. "Simply put, being rude and acting jumpy makes you stand out too much. It makes you a target or at least very suspicious. So chill a little, or hide it better," She waves her free hand. "I brought pie for a friend. I'm not working today. I visit people here," She states to him, likely a gesture of trust in the business. "I'm not really some sort of mindless monster," She promises.
"Also next time, just bet your pants," She states wryly. "Or get better at gambling." She has a sense of humor, even if it's really literal at times. "Just be sensible about it, really." At his offer to go, she looks a little concerned. "Um." What did he think she was gonna do with the pie? This isn't- Oh dear. She gives him a baffled look. "Okay. But hey, say hi sometime? You seem really familiar somehow." She will wave and let him go peacefully before looking back to Mike. "I don't know if you tried pie or met Miss- uh." Oh geez.
***
Mike finishes coalescing… Hey. This is Mutant Town. Far from the weirdest thing you see here. A mere six and a half feet tall, not quite Cable-esque, he looks like just another mutant brick, right? He offers a hand to the guy. "Hey. I'm Mike Drakos. Sorry to sneak up, I saw you and Luna here, and I'm kind of paranoid on behalf of my friends."
A quick glance at the others, confirming that there's nothing going wrong, and a smile to Zatanna, and then he looks at the Pie Lunaire is carrying. "Chocolate cream? Awesome. That's a favorite. I used to get those when I was a kid and just eat the whole thing." Including the tin. It was kind of a problem at the time.
***
Plastering on the smile she uses for stage shows, Zee steps forward and waits for Mikes hand to be taken before offering her own "Zatanna Zatara, or Zee if you like." May gets a nod but as she is moving by, Zee doesn't move to engage her. Mikes smile is returned with a more genuine one and a small nod. "I preferred hot apple pie with a healthy serving of cream, myself"
***
The large man's hand gets extended towards David, who in turn just looks at it briefly. Normally he'd just stand there like a glaring douche and make the person feel incredibly awkward until they regretted ever trying to shake hands in the first place. But he did just insult a woman for the wrong reason, and nearly started a lethal fight on accident, so he decides to supress his jerk nature long enough to tell the muscular man, "I don't shake." See? He can be nice if he tries. If Zatanna still makes the attempt as well, she gets the exact same response.
His attention turning back to Lunair, David briefly considers pointing out that he wouldn't have been so wary if she wasn't Obviously Deranged… but no, it would be seen as trying to sooth his own ego rather than helpful criticism. Alas. Rather, he just tells her, and by extension the other two, "I have things to do." And with that he walks off like nothing happened. He doesn't even give Zatanna or Robo Insect Mike a parting glance!
***
Melinda May nods to Lunair, then Mike and Zatanna as she passes them, headed for the pre-arranged meetingplace. As much as she'd prefer to find out what that was all about, work comes first. One thing is for sure, she is GLAD that Howard Stark isn't the sort to turn down a challenge. This scarf is worth its weight in diamonds.
***
And Lunair would point out that David himself is pretty strange, even in her books. But she tilts her head at him. She nods. "Toodles, noodles." A wave. Hopefully he takes her advice. He seemed like an okay guy, even with the rough start. Nevertheless, she's curious. She beams at Mike, showing /some/ emotion properly now and then. "Awe. Thank you," She's grateful Mike said that. "And yeah, I stopped at the really nice bakery," Smile. "I wanted to say hi. You can have as much as you want." That's probably to Zee, too. She seems curious about May. "Apple pie is nice," She agrees. But Lunair hates bland food, so she might like flavors in general.
"… that was so weird." She only says that once David goes. Is she really that scary? There's a dim concern.
***
Mike watches the paranoid guy leave, still having a bit of that special sensation of awkward, though he attempts to suppress it with machine coolness. Nah. It was still awkward. Oh well.
"May," Mike acknowledges as she walks past. Must be going to her usual contact guy. But first: there is pie.
"Zatanna Zatara. Honor to meet you. I've been to your show twice," the robot-ish guy says. Although really, he hasn't been there in this chassis, it's a bit bulky for public theatre and such.
"We should find a place to sit, if we're going to share pie?" he says to Luna, but with an open expression in case Zatanna wants to join as well.
***
Lunair seems uncertain. She's living awkward in her own right, but at least she's got a generally sociable and impressionable sort of being. Even if she is paranoid in her own right. She waves to May in passing. With her free hand. Not the pie.
"Ooh, really? Wow. I heard the tickets sell out crazy fast," She considers. Lunair doesn't think it odd in the slightest Mike goes to a theatre. "And sure, are there any tables nearby or?" She looks between the two. "Does the chilly bother people?"
***
"They do, I had to get them in advance. Took my folks to one show in Seattle. And I don't feel the cold, really."
He looks over at the one coffee shop that has tables out in this weather, and walks over to reserve one. Coffee or cocoa or tea would go well with chocolate pie, right?
***
"Yeah they do" Zee nods to Mike and Lunair. She follows behind Mike talking to the two. "People seem to like what I do." Looking to the other woman she smiles brightly "I'm not sure I got your name…"
***
"Wow, that's neat," To hang out with his parents and see a show. Lunair is kind of in awe. "And not being cold sounds cool," Really. She follows along behind Mike, pie and all. "I didn't say my name, sorry. I'm Lunair. It's a pleasure to meet you," She remarks. She carefully offers her free hand. "I guess I was kind of scary earlier." She really doesn't seem to grasp how intimidating she can be sometimes. She seems duly impressed though. Meeting someone famous!
***
"If it's too cold for you guys, I can put up a heater," Mike offers. Because, really, he has excess power from this chassis.
***
"I don't think you were scary" Zee takes Lunairs hand when offered. "I think he was kind of paranoid to be honest." Mike gets a smile as Zee slips into a seat "I think I'm fine for heat right now, but thanks for the offer…. I'm still a bit bemused as to where exactly I am though."
***
"I'd feel bad making you go to that work, but thank you. You can cut the pie since I brought it for you," Lunair remarks. And she did bundle up pretty well. She did walk here. "He's odd. I get the feeling he's familiar somehow, but I'm not sure," She furrows her eyebrows in thought. She shakes it off. "Well, you're on… this street, in Mutant Town, New York City. Unless you mean something else and I don't know coordinates off-hand." She's literal. So literal.
***
"Mutant Town, New York," and Mike pauses, shifting around some mass to present a set of bat-like wings. They start blowing a gentle warm breeze toward the others. Coffee should be here shortly; Mike cuts the pie. With a laser because when you have a laser, and you can use it to cut pie, you do.
***
"Mutant Town" Zee looks mildly impressed as she shrugs "Oh well… my teleports seem to bring me places I need to be when they fritz." As Mikes wings appear and the breeze starts flowing, Zee smiles and cocks her head "That's a pretty neat trick, thank you."
***
Lunair smiles, then pauses. "When they fritz?" She looks confused. She watches Mike. "That is neat," Smile. He does have a laser! Lunair seems quieter and well behaved for now, at least. "That is cool." She always seems to see something new around Mike. "How has your day gone then?" She is asking both of them, really.
***
"Fairly well. I'll be making another car next week, if you want to watch," Mike says. He tilts his head to Zatanna. "Are your magical abilities Chaos flavored? I don't know how to interpret being sent to places you need to be."
***
Smiling kindly at Lunair, Zee nods "Malfunction, I guess. Lately, my teleports have been off… but I'm using them a lot more too so maybe it's just that I'm noticing the failures more." Tilting her slightly she nods "My days been great, and getting better, I've made new friends." Mike gets a considered look, with a patented Zee smile "No, not Chaos… I think it's more that I'm using it more but I'm not complaining, the glitch has come in handy a few times."
***
"Sometimes powers get out of hand," Lunair agrees quietly. "I'm glad to hear that," She offers to them. "And sure! I'd love to. Do you want me to bring any metal or anything?" She remarks. She settles quiet to eat pie, before she has to go … back home. Lunair seems reluctant to disclose why she can't stay long. Even kind of uneasy.
***
"Ah. I'm told that my technomancy is slightly Orderish, so I was afraid I had somehow interfered by standing on the ley line you were following with your teleport."
Coffee arrives, pie is served. Mike gets to fanboy a bit.