we're all young and naive still

[futurebatwoman]

WHO: Max as Batwoman and YOU
WHERE: City streets.
WHEN: January 3rd-10th
WARNINGS: Violence.
SUMMARY: Max patrols. Possibly she runs into people! All kinds of people. Possibly people she's been avoiding, or people she's technically supposed to meet.
FORMAT: Para, then up to you.

Comments

[remarkablyspry]

Steve felt his back bump up against the brick wall behind him, giving him a little start. He certainly had gotten himself into a pinch, hadn't he?

"N...No, I'm afraid I don--"

"Can it!" the scraggly, painted man snapped. He certainly was making quite a display at aggressiveness! Steve hadn't seen so many skulls on one person since Juriaka (though those had been actual skulls, not elaborate tattoos).

The man continued, waving his (unimpressive, frankly, but no doubt lethal) gun in Steve's face.

"Just empty your pockets and give up the goods!"

Steve grimaced, waving his hands best he could with them pressed so closed to his body. Why wouldn't he understand?

"Sir, please...I told you already, I don't have anything of value to you! You mus--"

The hooligan clicked the hammer back practically pressing the muzzle against Steve's forehead.

Oh, dear...I'm in a great deal of danger, aren't I?!

[futurebatwoman]

She heard the commotion from a block away and made her way closer, crouched in a windowsill as she watched.

Gun to forehead, ready to fire. The situation was bad and only getting worse, and she scowled, trying to determine how to deal with it. A batarang, if thrown precisely, could possibly get the gun away before the man fired. Could she take the risk it wouldn't? He was so close, there would be no time to push the stranger out of the line of fire if the gun went off.

She would have to. There wasn't any time. She let herself down to the street and moved quietly, throwing the batarang when she was close enough to follow it up with a rushed spin kick at the man who had been holding the gun, aiming to put him down and out as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The gun hadn't fired, and was now lying on the pavement several feet off.

[remarkablyspry]

There wasn't a great deal Steve could decipher properly in that short window. A clang, part of what was probably an expletive, shuffling and a thud, the skittering of metal on concrete...

Human eyes were certainly not the best at collecting data like that, so sudden and so fast. He let out an involuntary yelp, like some unintelligible reply to the probable expletive, his body jerking against the wall and drawing his arms up to his face.

What he couldn't see what his assailant being assailed himself, groaning and clutching his head as he rolled, making a wild flail at whoever had nailed him from behind. He apparently knew better than to stay down and make an easy time of being taken by surprise...

[futurebatwoman]

She blocks his attempted blows, thankful for the discombulation her first attack had inflicted on him, and punches him in the face before grabbing his shoulders and kneeing him in the gut. And there's someone who's going to be regretting sticking a gun in someone else's face for a few days at least.

She takes the time to secure his hands firmly before turning to his intended victim.

"Are you all right?" she asks calmly. "It's over now. You shouldn't be in this section of town at night."

[remarkablyspry]

Steve peeked between fingers to see the last vestiges of the scuffle, dropping his hands to the collar of his shirt and letting the fingers curl around it mindlessly. There was much more to focus on, after all.

"Goodness," he marveled, eyes agape. "You certainly took care of that hooligan with no trouble at all! Or, or it certainly looked like no trouble at all. Regardless!" His hands clasped, one pinky still stuck under the collar and tugging a bit of shirt with the gesture. "Thank you very much! I'm sure it would've been quite dicey had you not arrived!"

[futurebatwoman]

"I wouldn't say no trouble at all," she says, "but he was easier than New Year's." He doesn't seem to be harmed, if his enthusiasm is anything to go by.

She presses the button that will call the police for her and looks him over. "Anything hurt? Do you want to call someone to come take you home?"

[remarkablyspry]

The New Year's remark had Steve's head tilting with curiosity painted blatantly on his face. His mouth opened to question about it, but shut as she carried on. He'd have to put it aside and ponder later, if it was at all important to ponder on.

Mimicking her gaze, he, too, glanced himself over, holding out his arms, pressing a pair of fingers on the spot the gun had been ready to fire at. No holes or indents to speak of, thank goodness. He was sure he would've known right away, given his early but telling adventures with pain, but one never knew!

"I seem to be quite well," he reported brightly, looking at his hands and pressing his thumb to each finger in turn - a trick of dexterity he found rather entertaining, if not a bit challenging. His hands were still awfully shaky, it seemed...

He looked up, his expression starting to turn slightly sheepish at his realization. "Ah, though I do seem to be experiencing the remaining effects of adrenaline. Given the circumstances, I believe that to be quite a normal thing - do you agree?"

[futurebatwoman]

She can't hold back her smile at his enthusiasm. An outlook this optimistic is rare in the City, and she welcomes it, though keeping him on track is probably going to be pretty difficult.

"That's good. Adrenaline, yeah, that's pretty normal." Her own heart is still pumping faster than normal, not settled back down yet, and she's done this before. Someone comes on the line, and she gives her location and a brief explanation before hanging up and bending to secure the thug's feet as well.

"The police will be here soon," she explains, looking up. "You can stay and press charges and they'll give you a ride to the police station. Or you can call someone and just go home. Your choice."

[remarkablyspry]

"Press charges...?" He blinked, the notion not clicking right away. Having been a pirate, he had little experience with true due process in his own galaxy, but it wasn't utterly alien...it appeared to click very quickly. "Oh! I see. Er, well..."

Even if he knew what it meant, he wasn't quite sure the implications in the City. Earth was quite different from Zerard, and he'd not yet heard of any places like the notorious Rosencraster prisons...He scratched the back of his head, looking down at the captured attacker.

"I'm not quite sure!" He looked up at his rescuer for guidance. "What do you think would be best in this situation?"

[futurebatwoman]

Possibly alien, she thinks, considering his reactions, but he looks pretty human. Still. So does Superman. She shrugs in response to his question.

"I recommend pressing charges, but that's because it'll hopefully get him out of the streets at least temporarily. Might keep him away from someone."

Might stop him from being a repeat customer of her and the other heroes, too, though that's only a hopeful guess.

[remarkablyspry]

"Ah, yes!" Steve nodded. "That certainly does make sense. Then I will do that, and hopefully no one else will have such a nasty surprise."

Yes, that sounded very good. Even as part of law-ducking pirates, Steve hardly ever wanted to cause innocent people harm. Though...he half-squinted, thinking about it...that would mean having to get tangled up with authorities.

Oh, well. Hopefully nothing would get too tricky! And then he could return to the MAC and be warm again. My, but it is chilly...! He would have to put his search for weather-appropriate attire on hold.

But wait a second...! He blinked, double-taking at Max. "Ermh...wait...So, you're not one of the law enforcers? Does that make you...one of the porter-related heroes or...perhaps a bounty hunter?"

[futurebatwoman]

"Right," Max says, and smiles. "The police will be here any minute now." She pauses. This is normally the part where she goes 'I AM THE NIGHT' and heads back up to the rooftops (well, okay, minus the night part however much she's tempted sometimes), but she's not sure leaving this guy by himself on the streets is a wise idea. He seems the sort to manage to get into more trouble just waiting for the police.

Anyways, he'd asked a question. It was only polite to answer, and it would provide a reason to stick around and make sure he was safely in the care of the police.

"Not a bounty hunter, no," she says. "I'm - well, yes, a hero." Still feels weird saying that. "I help the police in an unofficial capacity. Roam the streets at night looking for evildoers, etc. etc."

[remarkablyspry]

"Really, now!" Steve seemed to really perk up at the notion, a crooked grin tilting on his lank face. It was a kind of aha! moment, another dot connected successfully in his adventure. "I'd been reading a great deal about the hero phenomenon here, thanks to the City handbook. I find it very peculiar! But not utterly without merit." There came a chuckle in his voice, shaking his head with it. "Definitely not in my case, obviously!" He would've been Swiss cheese had heroes like her not been around.

"Does it pay well, heroing? I've been meaning to find some form of lucrative work in the stead of my old occupation." And he did sportingly offer the Porter the title Superhero Steve for its records; wouldn't it be nice to follow through out of happy circumstance?

[futurebatwoman]

"It's normal back home for me," she says. "Superheroes have been around for all my life." He's pretty unconcerned about his near miss. It's a little impressive and unusual - first person she's rescued whose first reaction was to ask her about heroing instead of scream or cry or call home and ask for help.

Does it pay well? She laughs and shakes her head. "It doesn't pay at all. I keep a day job too for money purposes, and then there's the stipend. If you want money, you'll need to be finding a job. Are you new here, then?"

[remarkablyspry]

Steve, though smiling, sighed at the revelation, head drooping just a moment. "Ah, I see," he sighed. "Well, that's quite a shame! Good deeds deserve great rewards, I would think. Though I suppose heroics are rather out of my league for the time being..."

He lifted his hands, flexing them, turning them palm face-out, then in. "No more combat hands, now that I'm organic, you see? Unfortunate in its own way, yes, but..." He beamed. "I don't mind that so much as the perks of being human now."

No, not at all. He was still a kid in a candy store in that regard - a dream come true, really. If androids could dream at all, that is.

His happy thought bubble popped with a sudden fresh thought.

"Oh, dear! I've been rude, haven't I?" One of the hands he'd had on display stretched out toward her. Hand-shaking. It was so much more fun with warm-blooded hands!

"My name is Steve. What's yours?"

[futurebatwoman]

"Well, that's a nice theory, but it doesn't tend to work out like that," Max says. "I generally take saving people and or the day as the reward, and it's a pretty great one."

Yeah, it was looking more and more like not leaving him on his own was a good idea. He was the sort of person muggers were attracted to like bees to honey.

"You were... what, a robot before you came here?" she asks, curious. The porter could switch from inorganic to organic flesh? It could give people essentially new bodies? That was a level of power she hadn't been aware of. It'll have to go in her files.

"Oh," she says, and slowly takes his hand and shakes it briefly. "I'm Batwoman. It's nice to meet you."