White Knight vs. The Ex: Part 1

Participants:

elaine_icon.gif nelson_icon.gif magnes_icon.gif sable_icon.gif

Scene Title White Knight vs. The Ex: Part 1
Synopsis Elaine and Sable are going on an innocent lunch, which quickly spawns into an epic battle between ex and costumed boyfriend.
Date July 21, 2010

Greenwich Village


Wednesday

Noon

People are having lunch, Magnes with his erratic work hours is free for a while. He knows Sable and Elaine are going out, and with them walking the streets below, Magnes has taken to the rooftops.

Or at least, Elaine knows this him, a secret he has to let Sable in on later. Right now he's the White Knight, wearing all white clothing without a hint of skin showing, not even holes in his mask that's zipped to his long-sleeved shirt, and his white cargo pants tucked in and laced into his boots. The only change in his costume since leaving Messiah is the scarf. Instead of a long red flowing scarf, he wears a carf designed to be the American flag around his neck, flowing dramatically in the breeze behind him.

So now all he does is follow… and wait.

Greenwich village is quite active at this time of the day. The outdoor seating draws the cool, tan conscious hipsters sip at their smoothies or eat chicken and waffles or whatever the hell else Village bohos do lately. Sable sure as hell doesn't care. Hip is passing. Rock is forever.

Noon is anxiously anticipated, because Sable isn't eating alone. She's expecting company. This will be the first time Elaine sees her place of work, 'Black Dog Records', a craphole to be sure but one with enough shady indie cred and rare vinyl and bootlegs to gather a certain reliable clientele. Sable has been permitted to wear her usual outfit, tanktop and cargo pants, when it became clear that asking to any of the three other outfits she owns will lead to grime problems if told to wear the same thing regularly. She's a decent employee, and some of the clients enjoy her occasional rant. Those that don't, well… that's when her boss sends her out to get him coffee.

She waits outside, leaning against a wall with the optimized comfort/weight distribution angle of the veteran loiterer.

The door to a taxi opens and out steps Elaine. She leans down, waving at a friend who had offered to share the taxi with her, and then steps back onto the curb, turning to head over towards Sable. "I'm paying, so no arguments." There's a slight pause. "Ever been to a buffet? All-you-can-eat."

Unfortunately for the two of them, they have a stalker. Sadly, he had to stay even farther away than before, as their scuffle did reveal himself to the injured Sable. As he walked, he did his best to hide his limp as he watches Sable wait outside. Luck was on his side today once more; days of following the girl lead her hear, but never did he see Elaine. Until today. He smiled to himself as he watched the duo interact with the same interest as a hobo would look at onlookers wanting some change.

Sable's face lights up as soon as Elaine steps into view. She bounds over and scoops the (much) taller girl into a one armed hug. She steps back and grins up at her. "Y' kiddin'? I'm th' bane 'f all y' c'n eat. Jesus, I know what it's like t' eat like y' mayn't see yer next meal. Ain't just a turn 'f fuckin' phrase. What sort we talkin', darlin'? Chinese? Indian?" her brows waggle, "Tell me is Barbeque!" She wrinkles her nose, "But who 'm I kiddin', whatever it's gonna be it's gonna be fine, what with you bein' here," she gets up on tiptoes to peck Elaine on the cheek, "Let's get goin'. Boss has me on th' fuckin' clock," she rolls her eyes, "Like Wednesday is the fuckin' height 'f all business days."

"Okay, okay. We'll hurry. I was gonna go with Chinese." Elaine leans in against Sable, hugging her back tightly. "Can't believe I didn't think to take you for BBQ in the first place. Next time I'll find us one! Maybe we should make this a Wednesday sorta thing… stuff-yourself-Wednesday or something. Gonna try to come up with something better than that. Probably something catchier."

"Naw, hon, trust me," Sable says, "Ain't no one does decent BBQ this far north," the trust of this is a matter of adamant faith - even presented with superb BBQ, she would invariably insists in its inferiority, "Chinese is just what we need. Ain't nothin' better t' eat all y' can 'f. So much 'f it, so many kinds, 'n' so much 'f it a damned mystery." Inscrutable cuisine of the East. "Let's get a movin'. Where's this place at?"

"Uh.." Elaine reaches in her pocket, pulling out the directions that she had scrawled on a piece of paper. "We're going… that way." The redhead proceeds to point down the sidewalk, hooking her arm with Sable's as she begins to lead the way. "Fried rice is filling, too, and I'm starved."

James felt a bit of panic as the two drew nearer to him. He leaned back, and tries to breathe a sigh of calm about him as his elation almost gets the better of him. He seems to be asleep to all who look at him, his hat-worn head hiding his darting eyes. His legs are carelessly sprawled across the pavement, acting perfectly in character. His hand loosely holds his styrofoam change cup.

Sable falls in step, her near limitless energy coming in handy since Elaine's strides have a fair bit of natural extension beyond Sable's own. Damned eleven inch height difference! Ain't nobody gonna see eye to eye with a girl who's only gonna stand collarbone high, to quote the Old 97's. The contentious little critter starts to chatter as they stroll, recounting instances of idiotic customers, customers with bad taste, badly dressed customers, and the occasional statement of high regard for the occasional customer who 'knows what's what'. Which probably just means they agree with Sable on all points.

As they pass the homeless man (James), Sable halts in place and looses her arm from Elaine's, slipping her hand into her pocket and pulling out a trio of dollar bills. She leans over and drops them in James' change cup. "Clean up 'r get fucked up, m' man. Whatever'll improve yer fuckin' day," is her advice. She keeps her voice low, so as not to wake him if he's really sleeping.

Elaine isn't startled by the homeless man. Having just enough experience on the streets, she knows the level of desperation and when people want to be left alone, so the man doesn't register as much other than a sleeping man on the sidewalk. Once Sable's arm is free once more, she latches onto it again, continuing to lead the way. "Should be a few more blocks this way and then we'll have to turn right and go down about two and it'll be there… internet says it has a red awning. Good reviews, too. Apparently they've got some sort of duck recipe that's pretty famous."

Still in character, James acts like someone stirring from his sleep, looking down at the cup. You know, she's not too bad for a thief. I'll have to make sure to thank her for that. His head rolls as he side-glances at the duo, waiting until they're out of sight before moving to his feet to move in the same direction, still putting on that homeless facade. His eyes remain locked on Sable and Elaine while his head seems to bobble and move about, giving the impression of wanting more change and possibly slight insanity. Then again, this isn't too far off from his mental state.

Magnes has his eyes on the homeless man, not because he suspects him of being James, but because some can get violent, so he continues walking, being on the roof crouched down across the street from them. Monica can say what she will about wearing all white, but this is certainly good camo for the middle of the day. He's a day hero, like, Spider-Man!

"Y' ever eat pigeon?" Sable inquires, "City pigeon's godawful, but sometimes y' gotta do… assumin' y' c'n make a proper fire. Which, like no one oughta eat undercooked city pigeon. That'll take out th' stomach 'f the toughest son of a bitch on th' street." She peers, searching the rows of buildings for the red awning. Her eyes cut over to Elaine. "Oughta see a film again, eh?" she suggests, grinning, "Now that I c'n afford it 'n' all. This time you pick, though. Unfair y' put it on me."

"Hey, you don't have to treat me. Save it for some treats for Dee. Besides, I know I make more than you, Sable, and I'd rather you save yours for something important. But… we'll go to a movie again, I think. Maybe another action film… or I could be horrid and drag you to a chick flick. Oh, Quinn and I were thinking we could get a bunch of us in a group to go see 'whateverhisface versus the world' or whatever that one's called." Elaine shakes her head. "But Sable, you are never eating pigeon again. Do you know how dirty those things are? You're gonna stick to the duck in this chinese place." She pauses. "Should be right around here…"

James smiles as he drops his homeless facade, his feet moving straight towards the duo. He throws his cup, change still contained within, to the ground as he moves a bit closer. He is close. He can take her now. He can smell her. Finally, after so long, she would finally be his.

Finally.

Magnes squints. He's not sure what James looks like, but this guy seems to fit some similar description. It's not until he's suddenly approaching the girls and dropping his cup that it all clicks in his head.

Hobos always need more change.

He takes a leap from the roof as James gets closer and closer, a few people gasp, possibly expecting a suicidal splat, but instead he goes to extend a leg for an incredibly hard kick into his arm, enough force to dislocate a normal man's limb. He's most notably in the midst of a Viewtiful Joe pose in mid air, fingers in Devil horns and all, and the first thing he says with the modulator making his voice sound like three mixed together is, "Henshin a go-go, Baby!" with his scarf flying dramatically behind him, despite the lack of any strong breeze.

What the fuuuck?

The freakishly warped voice with its bizarre battle cry hooks Sable's never terribly reliable attention span and yanks her head around and up. She gets an eyeful of scarfed, heavy metal kung-fu kick. The gravity that is suspended to permit the flow of the scarf seems to transfer to Sable's jaw, which drops like it's had weights attached to it. She instinctively steps in between Elaine and the unfolding scene, her available arm spreading defensively. Of course, she's looking at the White Knight. She has no inclination yet to look at his target, despite his being the actual threat.

But Elaine's seen the White Knight. And she sort happens to know his identity. Which means, of course, that when she sees him she knows exactly who's on the other end of that kick. Her eyes go wide as she reaches to touch Sable's shoulder. "We need to go!"
Everything would have been going to plan. The two seem unaware of the incominging threat James poses. And even if they did know he was there, he could easily overpower them, with Sable having been injured in their previous bout and Elaine being easily frightened into submission. Everything would have been going according to plan.

That is, until this joker came along.

He saw the white-clothed figure jump at him out of his peripheral vision. His head turns to watch him come. Though he is in awe at the sight, he does realize that the dramatic kick was aimed for him. He jumps backwards, a good distance more than able to dodge that red hot kick.

People are already starting to gather, though keeping their distance, raising cellphones up to start recording.

"Did you really think I'd let you hurt those girls?" Magnes asks once he lands, standing up straight with his finger dramatically pointing, head bobbing up and down as he emotes physically. When your face can't be seen at all, you have to rely on physically emoting to get your point across. "So come on, you wanted to hit someone, right? Come hit me, then we can take a walk to the local police station."

There is a deep and stupid part of Sable that resents being defended. One that makes her feel an insane urge to march up and argue that she wasn't the kind of person to fall under the heading of 'those girls', that she can handle her own fucking problems. It is exactly the sort of asinine thing she might well do, broken arm or no. Elaine saves her from making this idiotic gesture. Sable's head twists at the touch and she catches glimpse of Elaine's wide eyes.

This reminds her of various things, not least that she said she wasn't going to get into further fights. Sable finds it much easier to avoid conflict in the name of honoring a promise. She chooses the smarter of gallantries. "Sure, hon," she says, quick, low, "Where d' we go?"

"I don't know, but we need to get away." Elaine murmurs, fingers staying clamped on Sable's shoulder for a moment before she starts to move, keeping a careful eye on the two behind them.

James simply stares at the White Knight, flabbergasted. "…You supposed to be a superhero or something? Dressed like that, you look gayer than the population of San Francisco." He shakes his head begrudgingly. "Look, just head back to where you came from, man, and you won't get hurt. I'm just trying to get what's mine.

"You don't own a woman, a relationship is a partnership. And that last comment was probably very offensive to a lot of people." Magnes' persona is very PC, and a good role model! He has to be. He crosses his arms, standing there with his scarf still blowing as he waits. "You're not getting to those girls, so we can do this the easy way or the hard way. You turn yourself in, or I take you in."

James simply stares at the White Knight, flabbergasted. "…You supposed to be a superhero or something? Dressed like that, you look gayer than the population of San Francisco." He shakes his head begrudgingly. "Look, just head back to where you came from, man, and you won't get hurt. I'm just trying to get what's mine.

"You don't own a woman, a relationship is a partnership. And that last comment was probably very offensive to a lot of people." Magnes' persona is very PC, and a good role model! He has to be. He crosses his arms, standing there with his scarf still blowing as he waits. "You're not getting to those girls, so we can do this the easy way or the hard way. You turn yourself in, or I take you in."

Sable's gaze wanders back to the… conversation? going on between…

Motherfucker. Sable recognizes one of those voices. Her eyes narrow on James. She gave him three dollars. She's got half a mind to let the oddly dressed, socially conscious dude know, so maybe he can get that back for her. But Elaine is insistent. And Sable maybe doesn't want to get involved. Better reason maybe should prevail just this once.

She turns and nods, taking Elaine's hand, "Let's get th' fuck outta here."

The voices are making Elaine nervous. She grips Sable's hand tightly. "J-Just keep walking, okay?" She moves, headed to try and find their original destination, the buffet. "He'll take care of it."

James continues to stare at the white night. Slowly, his lips curl into a grin, then into a full smile. A chuckle escapes his lips. "Oh dear god, you're serious, aren't you? What are you, insane? Dressed like a goddamned comic book guy, waltzing around acting like you're the fucking king of the world?" He moves towards him, actually intending to move past him. "I don't got time for you, kid, but thanks for the laugh."

Magnes stands there, his arms suddenly going to the side as he stands with his back completely straight, fists balled. "You're not getting to them, and you're not hurting anyone. I'll hold you here until the cops come, someone's likely called them by now." But that's when he turns it on, gravity. Once James approaches to around five feet from him, he can feel everything suddenly getting heavy, like some invisible force is trying to pull him down with ropes.

With Sable's hand in hers, Elaine spots the red awning, quickly ducking inside and tugging the other girl with her

James grin fades into a grimace as his whole body slouches over, every part of his body heavy and weighed down. What…what is this? Is he really a superhero? The man took a few very heavy steps, his feet literally pounding the pavement. He can feel his latent power surging with each press. He smiles very shallowly as he raises his fist and slowly lurches it forward, pumping his stored energy into his little enemy.

Magnes' eyes widen. He can feel the force of that fist coming through the air. What the hell is that? Either way, he knows that anyone that can strike in this kind of gravity must have some sort of strength power, or… something. "So you're Evolved." is all he says as he slams his fist forward as well, trying to meet it with equal force, though instead of raw kinetic energy powering his attack, it's a great deal of weight moving to clash against James'.

Their fists clash in the air, the weight easing up as the invisible energy from both of them combined wildly moves through the ground in a low rumble. He steps back quite a few feet, holding his leather gloved hand up to open and close it. "Shaking… what was that?" he asks as he stares at the low vibration that's gradually dying down in his bones. He knows now that he can't hold back, holding back would be deadly, but the ground shake that resulted is a dire warning. "This is dangerous, I have to stop you before someone gets hurt."

Feeling the weight lighten off him, James flexes. It's odd how someone of such an average look could look intimidating, but the look in his eyes was one of madness. "Funny, I don't give two damns what happens, as long as I get my Elaine back. And if I have to stomp you down, I will." He takes a step forward, bounding slightly into the air and landing both feet poised. With the second breath-taking leap seen today, he rockets forward at Magnes, a menacing grin growing in his face. What speed! Just what kind of power was he toting around?

People have definitely called the cops by now, but plenty of people are still filming from the perceived safety of hiding behind cars or in shops.

"Shit!" Magnes exclaims, then suddenly crouches and extends his hand, quickly extending a wave of gravity to slam into James and slow his rocketing speed just enough to avoid a set of broken ribs, but he still gets slammed into, and that's gonna bruise as they both go flying down the street.

"What kind of ability is this?" he asks with clear surprise, suddenly realizing what some people probably think when they first encounter his own ability. This very much reminds him of Jake, but this will not be another Shibuya Incident.

His ribs are hurting from the impact, but finally he decides to do something. Gravity turns in quite a few directions for the both of them as he moves to try and wrap an arm around James' neck and grab the back of his shirt, attempting to lift him a good ten feet into the air, then pull him down to the ground into a suplex when he sees no one standing immediately behind him. But he's trying hard, very hard, to make sure he's controlling his ability enough to not destroy the sheet, or smash what he thinks is a physically breakable man. "You don't own women."

Even in a suplex, a man's arms are still available. Using the last of his stored up force, gained from the impact with Magnes, his elbow arches behind him, attempting to stop the so-called superhero in his tracks. "Elaine belongs to me. You know nothing of the relationship we had!" Maybe further explanation is needed?

"Crap!" Magnes is forced to release him, unless he wants to get a broken limb, quickly landing with his knees crouched slightly as he leaves James in the air to do as he likes. "It doesn't matter how you put it, you do not own women!" he yells up at the man in the midst of his quick descent. "I will not fight you with all these people around to get hurt, the cops will be here soon, I just have to beat you fast enough for them to be able to take you away. Or worse, FRONTLINE might come, then what will you do? You're not getting out of this!"

James turned like a cat in the air, scarmbling to hit the ground with his front. His hands and legs hit the pavement, absorbing the impact. He quickly grows to his feet. "You don't get it, man. She owes me for the love I gave her. She owes me for giving her shelter for all those months." His face grew angered. "And I'm not gonna have some hero-wannabe act all high and mighty and deny me what's rightfully mine. Now piss off before I break you and everyone here in two." His threat is suddenly very real as he turns to look at everyone around him.

One should ask himself though: does he really know where Elaine was?

"I won't let you lay one damned finger on anyone here!" Magnes exclaims as some store clerks start locking their doors, and he finally decides to go on the offensive first. "This ends now." He starts charging at James, not telegraphing what he intends to do until the last moment when he suddenly stops, pulls his right arm toward him as if he had a rope, and tries to jerk James forward with gravity and slam a gravity-enhanced foot squarely at his gut. He's serious now, having realized what a threat this particularly evil ex is.

James takes a reflexive step back from Magnes' charge. He is caught unexpected as he suddenly is jerked forward and is met by Magnes' powerful foot, leaving him breathless for a second. However, his hands move to grab Magnes' leg and, with the power given to him by his foe, attempts to toss the man away, throwing towards a building like an Olympian in a hammer throw.

He's practiced this, he's practiced. He's run this scenario through his head a thousand times, if he had a second chance in Shibuya. He goes flying through the air, almost slamming into a building before he shifts his gravity up slightly, which only manages to line him up with a billboard on what he assumed was an empty roof, and he smashes right into it.

He groans, since gravity can only do so much to break an unexpected high speed collision. Thank god this isn't an electric billboard. He flexes in a few spots to test possible injuries, then a wave of gravity rushes through his body to wiggle his bones. Nothing's broken, possibly some hair fractures due to how a few of his bones have a persistent pain, but he can keep going, he has to protect those people.

He carefully descends to the edge of the roof, crouched carefully as he scouts the man's movements. That kick should have broken James' ribs, and he seems to be showing some form of super strength. Whatever his ability is, it's something similar to Jake's, and this fight has to be taken up a few notches.

The police are taking forever, he just has to keep James busy for a little longer, so he pulls two metallic poles from compartments in his pants, then screws them together to form a five foot staff. Immediately after, he reaches into his pocket and tosses one of his weaker smoke bombs right near him, which covers around a five foot radius of thick chemical smoke.

All he has to do is watch and wait for him to step from the smoke.

Let's get dangerous.

After the throw, James hugs his ribs tenderly. Hm. That migt've done more damage than he expected. Still, he was still able to press on. He looked up at the building, watching as Magnes carefully descended. He was in pain he could tell that much. Why continue this any longer? James began to turn as he saw the foe put together a staff. This was taking too long. Elaine was probably—

And then smoke happened.

James was suddenly enveloped in a cloud of smoke, his senses obscured. His lungs began to breath heavily, heaving against his bruised ribs, letting him reel in minor pain. Clumsily, he stumbles out of the smoke field at an angle, not quite an angle that Magnes might've been hoping for, i.e. straight at him.

He'll take it.

Police are close, but the sirens can't be heard quite yet. Magnes jumps down at the moment James starts running, swooping down to try and swing the staff into James' arm. But it doesn't stop there, he keeps swinging, and swinging, and swinging. Arms, legs, knees, even trying to hit him in the face, he's not letting up, whatever this ability is, he knows he can't let up. He has to wait for the sweet sound of those sirens, and hope this is enough to somehow put the man down. "You're going to jail! These witnesses all heard and recorded you threaten their lives, when the police get here, that's the end for you! Just give up!"

It doesn't quite click with Magnes yet. Good. Now James can finish this. His hand moves to grab the swinging pole, and in one swift motion, bringing it (and the White Knight) down to meet his thrusting fist powered by most of the hits that Magnes had hit him with. Granted, the hits to his ribs were dazing, but nothing brute force couldn't handle, letting his fist drive Magnes back into a building and far away from here.

There's very little Magnes can do to stop this from hurting like hell. The most he avoids are broken ribs and a fist through his entire body, now that this is much different. That fist digs into his gut, almost causing him to throw up as he goes flying, gripping the staff as tightly as he can. He can fell himself starting to pass out, but he has to keep himself awake, he has to do the only safety measure he can think of.

Shift his weight so he's flying at a perpetually upward angle so he doesn't go splat into a building, and press one of the bluetooth buttons on the belt hidden under his shirt he was hoping he wouldn't have to.

West Rosen.

He can only hope the lame ex of his amnesiac ex will figure out where the hell he is before he flies unconsciously into the sun.

And it's about that time that sirens can be heard from the distance, and with neither Elaine or the 'White Knight in sight, there's not much of a reason to stick around.

Police, however, will find a White Knight chess piece laying on the scene around where he threw the smoke bomb.

James is exhausted of his stamina, succumbing to the bruising all over his chest. Sirins. He can hear the sound of sirens. Fuck. Not again. The people around him begin to scatter as he dispatches the White Knight. They'd be there when the police arrived. Not James. Another show of impressive strength lets him bound to the top of a building, albeit with great strain. From here, he scrambles across the rooftops and makeshift catwalks to safety, away from the battle zone.

A costume, huh? You know, that's not too bad an idea…


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