Dojo & Orochimaru
Nimodes
Weary Worldwalker
- Location
- Arizona
Dojo & Orochimaru
* Medhall *
* 9/22/2009, 2130 hours *
Max Anders had checked but still no word from Victor. He looked out into the night, sipping a very expensive whiskey, as he tried to analyze this situation.
This was very much atypical of the skill thief, he'd be late for a check in on a rare occasion, but missing them entirely was out of character.
He'd gone out on the 18th to look into this 'ninja training' in the Docks area. It was now late night on the 22nd.
No word from the ABB, who would surely brag about taking down one of his capes.
No word from his agents and sympathizers within the PRT, so that was unlikely as well.
The only word he'd gotten was that Skidmark and a group of his little degenerates had attacked the ninja class and had been routed by Zenko and some new cape named Sub-Zero. In fact, from what he'd learned, Sub-Zero's cryokinesis power had been a hard counter to Skidmark's kinetic redirection power.
There was an opportunity here, he had people looking for the last member of that little (almost inconsequential even when they'd been active) group of druggies. She was supposed to be some sort of vehicle Tinker from the reports. That would be very useful if they could acquire her, no matter her own feelings on the matter.
The problem was that Zenko and Sub-Zero meant that a new faction might upset the mostly-stable balance of power. The real problem was that one of his own capes was missing and absolutely no one knew what had happened to him.
With the possible exception of Coil, whose mercenaries could well have done something. Though trying to confront Coil or even find him was like grasping smoke.
Still, he had to do something.
Turning from the window, he jabbed down on a button on his phone. "Brad. Get Cricket and group of the normals who are spoiling for some action. We need to stir the pot and see what floats to the top."
"Are we talking weed or..."
"It's a metaphor, Mister Meadows."
"Oh. Right."
Max Anders rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Victor is still missing. Othala is quite worried. If you cause enough of a disturbance it might help determine what happened."
"Where you want us to start breaking things?"
"ABB territory, then head towards the Dockworkers area," ordered Max. "Make an obvious trail and then vanish into the shadows. Lung will have no choice but to respond."
* Coil's base *
The number of steps to get control of this asset and save the Earths were both affected by her actions now.
Even though a lot of things were unpredictable regarding this individual in front of her, getting this person on board with their long-term goals caused a massive shift in the percentages for success AND reduced the number of steps involved.
As in, whatever this person was, saving all the Earth variants was a lot more likely if they were cooperating with Cauldron.
All of that, she'd been prepared for but not sure what exactly was involved. She followed the Path, that was all that was required.
"None of you are actually scientists, are you?" asked Orochimaru. "Reminds me of when I was much younger."
"Eh?" asked Contessa as her Path kept giving her odd answers and glitching.
"When I was younger I was quite a bit more impetuous," admitted Orochimaru.
"Why were you supporting the DockWorkers Union?" asked Contessa.
"When I make deals I keep them unless the other party changes the deal," said Orochimaru. "They benefitted me, I pay them back."
* Oni Lee *
That pretend-ninja false-kitsune had been just running from rooftop to rooftop. Lung wanted her tested. It was not his place to question Great Lung, merely to obey.
Appearing behind her, he threw a handful of knives at her back before reappearing in another location to observe.
Without looking, she twisted and avoided the attack.
Slightly annoyed, Lee began using grenades. Since his duplicates had all of his equipment, leaving a double behind as a suicide bomber was his usual tactic when area effect damage was not something to be avoided.
Again, this odd awareness that no matter what angle he came in from - she immediately responded.
More irritating, but illuminating, was that she was faster than him and the ability to stick to walls and jump in excess of 20ft made her very hard to pin down.
Perhaps she was a wannabe-ninja hero, but at least she was not a lame wannabe-ninja hero.
Very flexible and able to ignore the effects of rapid position changes and being upside down for a good portion of the time.
If she survived the testing, perhaps she would make a good recruit for Lung. Perhaps.
* Zenko *
"Bad day, bad day, really bad day!" exclaimed Zenko as she leapt, hit a wall with one foot to leap from higher up, and outpace another explosion.
Oni Lee said nothing, just continued to pop into being and then leave clones behind.
Clones with grenades going off three seconds after he appeared.
She somersaulted, twisted, jumped, and made every effort not to be exploded.
Substitution jutsu instead of shunshin because the tunnel vision thing was deemed to be not a good thing. Even if her danger sense still worked when using it.
"Okay then, Explody-Oni" said Zenko, after dodging another attempt at blowing her up, making a hand-sign. "Two can play at this game. FOX SWARM!"
Foxes appeared and scattered in all directions as Zenko leapt, went through a high speed rotation, and then substituted with a fox that was in the right position.
"Hiding In Mist Technique!" was followed by another substitution which then went with a silent renewal of the mist to make it even thicker than the usual fog. It would continue to thicken, drawing on the local moisture without further input from her as long as she paid the chakra cost to keep it going.
Closing her eyes and focused on her Danger Sense, she tried to make sense of all the little flashes of danger before settling on a rapidly teleporting main source.
Zenko briefly wondered if Oni Lee would be flattered to know that this was exactly how she'd gotten to kick the Joker in the face. She put that out of mind as Oni Lee stopped momentarily.
If Emma could have seen the smile crossing Taylor's face, it would quite possibly have sent the redhead looking for a hiding spot.
She put a fox behind him, substituted with THAT fox, and a quick burst of wood release to form the pillory and an encasing helmet.
The decision to carry a phone, despite her mother's death, was a necessity as a Protectorate-aligned hero. It came with a PRT preset because apparently that saved time when seconds were precious. Go figure, sometimes the good guys did have good ideas.
"PRT Console, hello Zenko."
"Hello, Console. I'm at Broadway and Baxter Street. I have no idea why but Oni Lee attacked me and is currently restrained. Need a pickup."
"Dispatching a transport now."
There were a few other things, including the day's Master/Stranger code which also served as a check for less-Power-related means of coercion but that was all done quickly and the call concluded.
There was silence for awhile, Zenko trying to figure things out, before speaking. "This isn't ABB-held territory."
Oni Lee tested his bonds for what seemed to be the seventh time.
Zenko continued to think. "It wasn't just Lung wanting my measure or something because I'm technically sort of being a kitsune-ninja-themed hero. Right?"
Silence.
"Got to admit you got the silent ninja servant thing down better than I do," admitted Zenko.
Oni Lee made a slight gesture with his head that Zenko took as acknowledgement.
"You went straight to attempts to blow me up, no warning or anything..." Zenko let her voice trail off in a questioning prompt.
More silence from the bound Oni Lee.
"It wasn't anything one of my students did, was it?" asked Zenko.
Still more silence from Oni Lee.
"Will you tell me if I'm getting warm?" asked Zenko.
A very long unbroken silence as they waited for a transport to get through traffic.
"So, do you have any hobbies? I understand if you're dedicated to the ninja arts and yakuza enforcer kind of thing, but you should have a few hobbies, right?"
Oni Lee remained silent, but she could swear he was glaring at her despite having his head mostly encased in thick wood.
Deciding to have her fox clones start pulling off various weapons and making a pile of them, Zenko sat a few feet away and considered her prisoner.
"Maybe it's because I'm training ninja? You guys left me alone up until I got into that agreement to train a couple of guys from the PRT, so I'm thinking it's that because of the timing?"
More silence.
"You really do need a hobby. How about shibari?"
Oni Lee's head oriented on her.
"I've heard some Asian guys talking about that before. That's where you make those itty bitty trees in a pot, right? That looks kind of peaceful and I could see some Asian criminal overlord tending his garden as his minions report on his businesses."
Zenko was rewarded with seeing the assassin droop his head in the stocks, but wasn't sure why. Maybe he DID do this shibari stuff?
Well, at least it was some info she'd gotten for all the dang reports she'd have to file.
"Do you guys have to fill out a lot of paperwork whenever something happens? I could kind of see the appeal for villains if that's the case. 'Cause trust me - the PRT has LOTS of paperwork."
Oni Lee let out a deep breath but remained silent.
Zenko briefly wondered why she hadn't gotten any points for the fight.
[Defeated Oni Lee. +100 CP. Roll deferred due to active situation.]
"Oh crap," realized Zenko aloud.
Flame erupted nearby.
* Lung *
* 30 minutes previously *
He was quite aware of what was going on, thank you very much. For all that he was "rawr dragon" and used the image of a raging inferno who only needed an excuse to rampage - he couldn't control his holdings if that was all that he was.
Still, there were images that needed to be maintained. So when some group started probing at his businesses and attacking within his territory - consequences had to occur.
Especially when his legitimate businesses were threatened. Just the laundry businesses he maintained in Brockton Bay (and he was quite aware of the humor involved in that) brought in more money than most of his less-legitimate dealings.
Two coin-op laundries and a dry cleaner had been hit. So had a check-cashing business, three restaurants, and a mobile pet groomer. By obvious skinheads and what seemed to be three capes from the Empire.
He was being lured into an area because the Nazis had known he would have to respond. Obvious.
Why? What would be the gain for Kaiser to prod him like this? That part he was trying to figure out. He had discarded the usual territory feint as those were typically a single Empire cape and a group of the Nazi non-cape grunts. The purpose of those were apparently the same as his own little stabs - keep their minions riled up and the local citizens would keep their heads down. Terror kept people in place, after all. Or they'd leave the area.
One of his lieutenants, a heavily tattooed individual from a Yakuza clan, had informed him two of his street performers had been attacked. One being a very talented, if eccentric, erhu player.
"Endo, take a message," commanded Lung. "'Kaiser. We had an agreement that street performers are to be left alone, with the exception of mimes. You have broken that agreement. I will give you three days to reply to that. Also, I have no idea why you are goading me into this battle, but I shall reply in kind.' Done. Take the message, scroll it up, and put it in the drop area on Apache Boulevard and Southern. Eriko, gather your forces. We shall take the attack to the Empire proceeding along Bayshore Drive into their territory. Bruce, get Bruce and Bruce - you'll be backing me up."
"Bruce is on vacation, mighty Lung."
"Ah, yes. Well, get Chie and her squad then. She can fill in."
* Zenko *
"PRT Console, be advised - area is compromised, taking prisoner to Southern and Brockton Way near the Tribune offices."
"Zenko, suggest you evacuate area fastest. Reports of Empire and ABB fighting in your vicinity."
"Trust me, I noticed."
Shunshin carrying a bound Oni Lee was going to be a pain. Substitution wasn't going to work with the increased mass, so...
She was pretty sure that Oni Lee was smirking - which just added a layer of irritation to the whole thing.
Well, re-strengthen the fog of the Hiding In Mist technique. Lung's fire kept it away from him but it would still drop his visibility to maybe a dozen feet.
That was the limit though. When she'd learned the technique she'd tried going beyond a point and it had just precipitated out of the air.
* Lung *
Seeing the flitting form of the foxgirl Zenko before a heavy fog had suddenly rolled in, Lung decided his original assessment may have been in error.
He'd originally filed her as being one of those Case 53s, the mysterious "monster capes" with amnesia that showed up from time to time, just more fortunate than most in that she retained a mostly-human appearance. Reports since that initial appearance indicated that might not have been the case.
In the thirteen days between her initial appearance as a mysterious kitsune, she'd been seen around the city displaying a grab bag of powers that fit the image she put forward. Ninja. Kitsune. The more superstitious among the ABB were quite nervous about her, being very familiar with the stories about Tamamo-no-mae and lesser trickster foxes. The more rational or pragmatic were more concerned with all the powers and techniques she displayed when taking down muggers and snatchers and other independent criminals.
He hadn't been concerned with this independent hero even then. Her powers seemed to involve movement, finding fights she could win, avoiding fights she could not, and being a sneaky little fox. She posed no threat or challenge to him though, so it was like a number of irritants like Glory Girl. A gnat or mosquito that if their paths crossed could be swatted away. It wasn't worth taking the risk of burning down your house to immolate a gnat after all.
The "ninja classes" were initially seen as a cash-grab by a new cape. Something for those with the cash to spend it could fritter away for no real benefit.
Then had come the tales of a new cape, one of the students, who took down Skidmark. Sub-Zero. A cryokinetic according to what his sources in the PRT could determine.
If those classes actually gave such benefits, then it was a credible threat or a credible resource. Depending on how it was managed.
Which had been why he'd ordered Lee to test the new hero, and if he found her to have useful skills, to either bring the cape to him or end her threat.
From the explosions, Lee had apparently determined more threat than resource.
* Shadow Stalker *
Target rich environment.
Just how she liked it.
If she had a chance, she was going to sink a bolt or two into that foxgirl.
"What's with this damn fog?" asked Emma in her own costume with her camera. After the first attempt to outfit Emma Barnes with her own crossbow and a hunting expedition... yeah, that hadn't gone well. Kind of hilarious, especially thinking back on it, but not exactly the image either of them wanted to put out.
"Ninja technique," said Shadow Stalker. "Hiding and misdirection."
"What?" asked Emma.
Shadow Stalker sighed. Yeah, Emma was her friend but girl could be dense and really focused on a single subject at a time. "Fox-bimbo calls herself a ninja. Ninja in the stories could do lots of things involving hiding and making you attack one thing while running away in another direction. Sudden fog spreading while the ABB and E88 are shooting at each other? I'm thinking it's that bitch again."
"What? Did she just go to a bin marked powers and upend it? Fog generation too?" asked Emma, sounding petulant about it.
"I don't know," stated Shadow Stalker. "Doesn't matter. If she's over that way, we aren't going to find any crooks to beat on unless we go in a different direction."
That the fog wouldn't give her a clear shot at the vigilante she left unsaid.
Emma took three steps into the fog. "Damn, this is really thick. I literally can't see my hand in front of my face."
"Yeah, but I bet the bitch has a way of seeing in that," said Shadow Stalker, her voice holding a bit of disdain for the cheap tactic. Didn't mean she wouldn't use it herself if she could.
"Yeah, well, we don't need such cheap gim- AAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaah!" (Crash!)
"Emma, did you just walk around on a roof in a dense fog and fall three stories into an open dumpster?" asked Sophia, analyzing the sound and coming up with a Trip to the ER.
"...yes?"
* Medhall *
* 9/22/2009, 2130 hours *
Max Anders had checked but still no word from Victor. He looked out into the night, sipping a very expensive whiskey, as he tried to analyze this situation.
This was very much atypical of the skill thief, he'd be late for a check in on a rare occasion, but missing them entirely was out of character.
He'd gone out on the 18th to look into this 'ninja training' in the Docks area. It was now late night on the 22nd.
No word from the ABB, who would surely brag about taking down one of his capes.
No word from his agents and sympathizers within the PRT, so that was unlikely as well.
The only word he'd gotten was that Skidmark and a group of his little degenerates had attacked the ninja class and had been routed by Zenko and some new cape named Sub-Zero. In fact, from what he'd learned, Sub-Zero's cryokinesis power had been a hard counter to Skidmark's kinetic redirection power.
There was an opportunity here, he had people looking for the last member of that little (almost inconsequential even when they'd been active) group of druggies. She was supposed to be some sort of vehicle Tinker from the reports. That would be very useful if they could acquire her, no matter her own feelings on the matter.
The problem was that Zenko and Sub-Zero meant that a new faction might upset the mostly-stable balance of power. The real problem was that one of his own capes was missing and absolutely no one knew what had happened to him.
With the possible exception of Coil, whose mercenaries could well have done something. Though trying to confront Coil or even find him was like grasping smoke.
Still, he had to do something.
Turning from the window, he jabbed down on a button on his phone. "Brad. Get Cricket and group of the normals who are spoiling for some action. We need to stir the pot and see what floats to the top."
"Are we talking weed or..."
"It's a metaphor, Mister Meadows."
"Oh. Right."
Max Anders rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Victor is still missing. Othala is quite worried. If you cause enough of a disturbance it might help determine what happened."
"Where you want us to start breaking things?"
"ABB territory, then head towards the Dockworkers area," ordered Max. "Make an obvious trail and then vanish into the shadows. Lung will have no choice but to respond."
* Coil's base *
The number of steps to get control of this asset and save the Earths were both affected by her actions now.
Even though a lot of things were unpredictable regarding this individual in front of her, getting this person on board with their long-term goals caused a massive shift in the percentages for success AND reduced the number of steps involved.
As in, whatever this person was, saving all the Earth variants was a lot more likely if they were cooperating with Cauldron.
All of that, she'd been prepared for but not sure what exactly was involved. She followed the Path, that was all that was required.
"None of you are actually scientists, are you?" asked Orochimaru. "Reminds me of when I was much younger."
"Eh?" asked Contessa as her Path kept giving her odd answers and glitching.
"When I was younger I was quite a bit more impetuous," admitted Orochimaru.
"Why were you supporting the DockWorkers Union?" asked Contessa.
"When I make deals I keep them unless the other party changes the deal," said Orochimaru. "They benefitted me, I pay them back."
* Oni Lee *
That pretend-ninja false-kitsune had been just running from rooftop to rooftop. Lung wanted her tested. It was not his place to question Great Lung, merely to obey.
Appearing behind her, he threw a handful of knives at her back before reappearing in another location to observe.
Without looking, she twisted and avoided the attack.
Slightly annoyed, Lee began using grenades. Since his duplicates had all of his equipment, leaving a double behind as a suicide bomber was his usual tactic when area effect damage was not something to be avoided.
Again, this odd awareness that no matter what angle he came in from - she immediately responded.
More irritating, but illuminating, was that she was faster than him and the ability to stick to walls and jump in excess of 20ft made her very hard to pin down.
Perhaps she was a wannabe-ninja hero, but at least she was not a lame wannabe-ninja hero.
Very flexible and able to ignore the effects of rapid position changes and being upside down for a good portion of the time.
If she survived the testing, perhaps she would make a good recruit for Lung. Perhaps.
* Zenko *
"Bad day, bad day, really bad day!" exclaimed Zenko as she leapt, hit a wall with one foot to leap from higher up, and outpace another explosion.
Oni Lee said nothing, just continued to pop into being and then leave clones behind.
Clones with grenades going off three seconds after he appeared.
She somersaulted, twisted, jumped, and made every effort not to be exploded.
Substitution jutsu instead of shunshin because the tunnel vision thing was deemed to be not a good thing. Even if her danger sense still worked when using it.
"Okay then, Explody-Oni" said Zenko, after dodging another attempt at blowing her up, making a hand-sign. "Two can play at this game. FOX SWARM!"
Foxes appeared and scattered in all directions as Zenko leapt, went through a high speed rotation, and then substituted with a fox that was in the right position.
"Hiding In Mist Technique!" was followed by another substitution which then went with a silent renewal of the mist to make it even thicker than the usual fog. It would continue to thicken, drawing on the local moisture without further input from her as long as she paid the chakra cost to keep it going.
Closing her eyes and focused on her Danger Sense, she tried to make sense of all the little flashes of danger before settling on a rapidly teleporting main source.
Zenko briefly wondered if Oni Lee would be flattered to know that this was exactly how she'd gotten to kick the Joker in the face. She put that out of mind as Oni Lee stopped momentarily.
If Emma could have seen the smile crossing Taylor's face, it would quite possibly have sent the redhead looking for a hiding spot.
She put a fox behind him, substituted with THAT fox, and a quick burst of wood release to form the pillory and an encasing helmet.
The decision to carry a phone, despite her mother's death, was a necessity as a Protectorate-aligned hero. It came with a PRT preset because apparently that saved time when seconds were precious. Go figure, sometimes the good guys did have good ideas.
"PRT Console, hello Zenko."
"Hello, Console. I'm at Broadway and Baxter Street. I have no idea why but Oni Lee attacked me and is currently restrained. Need a pickup."
"Dispatching a transport now."
There were a few other things, including the day's Master/Stranger code which also served as a check for less-Power-related means of coercion but that was all done quickly and the call concluded.
There was silence for awhile, Zenko trying to figure things out, before speaking. "This isn't ABB-held territory."
Oni Lee tested his bonds for what seemed to be the seventh time.
Zenko continued to think. "It wasn't just Lung wanting my measure or something because I'm technically sort of being a kitsune-ninja-themed hero. Right?"
Silence.
"Got to admit you got the silent ninja servant thing down better than I do," admitted Zenko.
Oni Lee made a slight gesture with his head that Zenko took as acknowledgement.
"You went straight to attempts to blow me up, no warning or anything..." Zenko let her voice trail off in a questioning prompt.
More silence from the bound Oni Lee.
"It wasn't anything one of my students did, was it?" asked Zenko.
Still more silence from Oni Lee.
"Will you tell me if I'm getting warm?" asked Zenko.
A very long unbroken silence as they waited for a transport to get through traffic.
"So, do you have any hobbies? I understand if you're dedicated to the ninja arts and yakuza enforcer kind of thing, but you should have a few hobbies, right?"
Oni Lee remained silent, but she could swear he was glaring at her despite having his head mostly encased in thick wood.
Deciding to have her fox clones start pulling off various weapons and making a pile of them, Zenko sat a few feet away and considered her prisoner.
"Maybe it's because I'm training ninja? You guys left me alone up until I got into that agreement to train a couple of guys from the PRT, so I'm thinking it's that because of the timing?"
More silence.
"You really do need a hobby. How about shibari?"
Oni Lee's head oriented on her.
"I've heard some Asian guys talking about that before. That's where you make those itty bitty trees in a pot, right? That looks kind of peaceful and I could see some Asian criminal overlord tending his garden as his minions report on his businesses."
Zenko was rewarded with seeing the assassin droop his head in the stocks, but wasn't sure why. Maybe he DID do this shibari stuff?
Well, at least it was some info she'd gotten for all the dang reports she'd have to file.
"Do you guys have to fill out a lot of paperwork whenever something happens? I could kind of see the appeal for villains if that's the case. 'Cause trust me - the PRT has LOTS of paperwork."
Oni Lee let out a deep breath but remained silent.
Zenko briefly wondered why she hadn't gotten any points for the fight.
[Defeated Oni Lee. +100 CP. Roll deferred due to active situation.]
"Oh crap," realized Zenko aloud.
Flame erupted nearby.
* Lung *
* 30 minutes previously *
He was quite aware of what was going on, thank you very much. For all that he was "rawr dragon" and used the image of a raging inferno who only needed an excuse to rampage - he couldn't control his holdings if that was all that he was.
Still, there were images that needed to be maintained. So when some group started probing at his businesses and attacking within his territory - consequences had to occur.
Especially when his legitimate businesses were threatened. Just the laundry businesses he maintained in Brockton Bay (and he was quite aware of the humor involved in that) brought in more money than most of his less-legitimate dealings.
Two coin-op laundries and a dry cleaner had been hit. So had a check-cashing business, three restaurants, and a mobile pet groomer. By obvious skinheads and what seemed to be three capes from the Empire.
He was being lured into an area because the Nazis had known he would have to respond. Obvious.
Why? What would be the gain for Kaiser to prod him like this? That part he was trying to figure out. He had discarded the usual territory feint as those were typically a single Empire cape and a group of the Nazi non-cape grunts. The purpose of those were apparently the same as his own little stabs - keep their minions riled up and the local citizens would keep their heads down. Terror kept people in place, after all. Or they'd leave the area.
One of his lieutenants, a heavily tattooed individual from a Yakuza clan, had informed him two of his street performers had been attacked. One being a very talented, if eccentric, erhu player.
"Endo, take a message," commanded Lung. "'Kaiser. We had an agreement that street performers are to be left alone, with the exception of mimes. You have broken that agreement. I will give you three days to reply to that. Also, I have no idea why you are goading me into this battle, but I shall reply in kind.' Done. Take the message, scroll it up, and put it in the drop area on Apache Boulevard and Southern. Eriko, gather your forces. We shall take the attack to the Empire proceeding along Bayshore Drive into their territory. Bruce, get Bruce and Bruce - you'll be backing me up."
"Bruce is on vacation, mighty Lung."
"Ah, yes. Well, get Chie and her squad then. She can fill in."
* Zenko *
"PRT Console, be advised - area is compromised, taking prisoner to Southern and Brockton Way near the Tribune offices."
"Zenko, suggest you evacuate area fastest. Reports of Empire and ABB fighting in your vicinity."
"Trust me, I noticed."
Shunshin carrying a bound Oni Lee was going to be a pain. Substitution wasn't going to work with the increased mass, so...
She was pretty sure that Oni Lee was smirking - which just added a layer of irritation to the whole thing.
Well, re-strengthen the fog of the Hiding In Mist technique. Lung's fire kept it away from him but it would still drop his visibility to maybe a dozen feet.
That was the limit though. When she'd learned the technique she'd tried going beyond a point and it had just precipitated out of the air.
* Lung *
Seeing the flitting form of the foxgirl Zenko before a heavy fog had suddenly rolled in, Lung decided his original assessment may have been in error.
He'd originally filed her as being one of those Case 53s, the mysterious "monster capes" with amnesia that showed up from time to time, just more fortunate than most in that she retained a mostly-human appearance. Reports since that initial appearance indicated that might not have been the case.
In the thirteen days between her initial appearance as a mysterious kitsune, she'd been seen around the city displaying a grab bag of powers that fit the image she put forward. Ninja. Kitsune. The more superstitious among the ABB were quite nervous about her, being very familiar with the stories about Tamamo-no-mae and lesser trickster foxes. The more rational or pragmatic were more concerned with all the powers and techniques she displayed when taking down muggers and snatchers and other independent criminals.
He hadn't been concerned with this independent hero even then. Her powers seemed to involve movement, finding fights she could win, avoiding fights she could not, and being a sneaky little fox. She posed no threat or challenge to him though, so it was like a number of irritants like Glory Girl. A gnat or mosquito that if their paths crossed could be swatted away. It wasn't worth taking the risk of burning down your house to immolate a gnat after all.
The "ninja classes" were initially seen as a cash-grab by a new cape. Something for those with the cash to spend it could fritter away for no real benefit.
Then had come the tales of a new cape, one of the students, who took down Skidmark. Sub-Zero. A cryokinetic according to what his sources in the PRT could determine.
If those classes actually gave such benefits, then it was a credible threat or a credible resource. Depending on how it was managed.
Which had been why he'd ordered Lee to test the new hero, and if he found her to have useful skills, to either bring the cape to him or end her threat.
From the explosions, Lee had apparently determined more threat than resource.
* Shadow Stalker *
Target rich environment.
Just how she liked it.
If she had a chance, she was going to sink a bolt or two into that foxgirl.
"What's with this damn fog?" asked Emma in her own costume with her camera. After the first attempt to outfit Emma Barnes with her own crossbow and a hunting expedition... yeah, that hadn't gone well. Kind of hilarious, especially thinking back on it, but not exactly the image either of them wanted to put out.
"Ninja technique," said Shadow Stalker. "Hiding and misdirection."
"What?" asked Emma.
Shadow Stalker sighed. Yeah, Emma was her friend but girl could be dense and really focused on a single subject at a time. "Fox-bimbo calls herself a ninja. Ninja in the stories could do lots of things involving hiding and making you attack one thing while running away in another direction. Sudden fog spreading while the ABB and E88 are shooting at each other? I'm thinking it's that bitch again."
"What? Did she just go to a bin marked powers and upend it? Fog generation too?" asked Emma, sounding petulant about it.
"I don't know," stated Shadow Stalker. "Doesn't matter. If she's over that way, we aren't going to find any crooks to beat on unless we go in a different direction."
That the fog wouldn't give her a clear shot at the vigilante she left unsaid.
Emma took three steps into the fog. "Damn, this is really thick. I literally can't see my hand in front of my face."
"Yeah, but I bet the bitch has a way of seeing in that," said Shadow Stalker, her voice holding a bit of disdain for the cheap tactic. Didn't mean she wouldn't use it herself if she could.
"Yeah, well, we don't need such cheap gim- AAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaah!" (Crash!)
"Emma, did you just walk around on a roof in a dense fog and fall three stories into an open dumpster?" asked Sophia, analyzing the sound and coming up with a Trip to the ER.
"...yes?"
Last edited:
