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You know what, Chinatown is not a great place to be after midnight. The shops are almost all closed by now, and well these days there is something of a turf war going on. There was a vietnamese gang, the triads, the Yakuza and the Italians currently fighting for distribution rights. There had already been a few murders linked over the dispute, and well rumor on the street was there was going to be more of the same tonight. Truth is a few shady looking cars -had- infact prowled through Chinatown in the last hour, but everything seemed quiet enough.
It's not -actually- why Eito is in the neighborhood, the whole hero thing isn't really his thing anyway. No he's got mail to deliver, of the strictly celestial sort to be specific. So he follows his usual route, over AC units and across roof tops. Hell he's as confused as anyone when the shot rings out, enough so that he slows to a stop to peer down into the alleyway below. Peering after the still form layed out in the pavement below. "Well shit."
Tommy Cho, known heavy hitter in the Triads and a wanted felon. Layed out in the alleyway with most of his skull above the jawline turned to hamburger. That expensive suit ruined with a mixture of gore and the filthy greasy water pooling in that alleyway. Theres a revolver not far, glittering in the unnatural pink neon glow. This is, well it's got to be a mob hit right? That's Tommy fucking Cho after all, what else could it be?
The fox gives a huff, peering skyward for a moment as if his boss is going to reach down just to let him off the hook. "Well shit."He rests a hand on the swords on his hip, before dropping down into the alleyway before. He slips back into the shadows cast by a conviently located dumpster for the moment, pulling that SMG around to rest against his hip as he waits and listens. They couldn't have gotten far, right?
*
Danny, on the other hand, is all about the whole hero thing. She visited Hell's Kitchen earlier in the day, but while she'd like to go and get a first-hand view of things there, she's smart enough to know she wants more research on the topic before she goes in fists blazing. So instead, she took her high spirits into Chinatown, where she's a little more familiar with the local criminal landscape.
The green outfit and the yellow mask tied over her head aren't exactly subtle. Then again, she's not really going for stealth. The rooftops are her street as well, leaping from one to the other until she reaches one that overlooks the scene of the crime. "Dammit," she sighs from the edge of the roof. "Always the guns."
*
Ororo is a thief, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have standards: she doesn't steal from places like Chinatown, where most of the people are just getting by. Instead, she finds herself wandering. Exploring. She's trying to find herself, find a place for herself, find a way to be: but first she has to decide what to be. That's the hard one.
Who is she, really? Ororo stands atop a building across the street and a couple buildings down from the place that will become interesting, staring down at the streets below, watching the odd car move along the mostly deserted street, and considers this question. In the light of day, her outfit would stand out, but at night it conceals her. A form fitting suit of leather and armor, it covers her nearly completely, neck to ankle and wrist. Her hair, that shock of white, is bound in a headwrap, its colors red, green and gold. Being a shadow with hair that nearly luminisces is hard, so for now she has hidden it away.
The shot rings out and it catches her attention, and immediately her dark blue eyes shine, eyes going white and seeming to be filled with lightning. The wind touches her with barely a thought, lifting her and carrying her across the street towards the sound, so she descends into the alley. She could probably think of being covert, but having spent years reveling in her power in an open show to her faithful, it doesn't really occur to her at the moment. So she touches down to the ground with a graceful ease without noticing if anyone else is nearby to see.
*
Danny has reconnected.
*
"Did you two ladies see the shooter?"The voice is, well not quite human but the english is plain enough. Eito bleeds from the shadows a moment later, and yeah ok he's a little out there. First off, that's not human. Six foot tall, fuzzy, twin tailed and yeah thats a fox walking around on two legs ladies and gentlemen. Neat dark red Kimono worn over all that silky white fur, The armor he wears atop is identifiable as classical for certain at least in the broad strokes. Theres a row of narrow magazine pouches across his chestplate, and a little hand painted graffiti of Kanji's script above his heart. Theres a fox shaped mask atop that fox shaped face, and well that's kind of the main event here. It's a flawless white affair with it's feature's set in a distinct frown, made more apparent with scarlet paint eyebrows above the eye holes to set it off. Incidentally he's also strapping heat.
Theres a Walther SMG held low and down in one hand, a pistol on one hip and a pair of swords on the other. Not that he seems terribly amped up at the moment, and well there is no empty holster to be found and there -is- a literal smoking gun on the ground over there. "I didn't hear anyone running, so barring high strangeness the shooter may be hiding very near."Says the fox, with a machinegun.
*
"No such luck," Danny calls down from the rooftop, crouching to get a better look. That's…yep, that's a fox. All right, sure. Why not? She's seen stranger things. Should he be able to see well enough in the darkness, the uniform is a recognizable one to celestial sorts. That's an Immortal Weapon: the Iron Fist.
One hand on the edge of the roof, she jumps down to hang before jumping over to a fire escape and sliding down the ladder. "Hell of a shot, to do that sort of damage."
*
Danny has partially disconnected.
*
When the fox reveals … itself? She completely fails at an attempt to determine the gender of a fox in a kimono and armor. Storm is visibly taken back by this, but if its the fur and tails or the machine gun, it's anyone's guess. She takes a step back, her eyes remaining luminescent, and high in the sky the clouds of the night churn. There's the flash of lightning dancing through those clouds and seconds later thunder shakes the heavens. It stops there, though. She hesitates for a long moment there: she has seen some odd things, but a talking fox on two legs? Then Danny arrives, and she turns and considers the other woman for a long moment, "I have no experience with guns. But no. I did not see the shooter." This is said with a glance to the fox, to show she's responding to him. The white fire in her eyes fades into her natural deep blue, "I was… absorbed in thought." She looks around then, and finally comes back to looking at the fox, and frowning, "Though only one of us appears to have a gun." Above, a low rolling quake of thunder rumbles again.
*
"Oh neat, the Iron fist. I don't know if you've ever met any of my lot, but I've heard of you."Not that Eito bothers introducing itself right away. Peering skyward, before leveling that gaze across after Storm. "Two guns, actually but no dice sister."The fox finally steps foreward, circling around the body to peer after the dropped revolver for a moment. "That is a Colt New service, fourty five long colt would be enough."Masked gaze sweeping the alley for a moment "Anyway no, not my work. I'm just a messenger, I don't really do much of the hero thing unless I have to. You know how it is, sacred duties and so fourth."
*
"I don't think taking half the head off a guy in an alley counts as hero stuff," Danny muses, getting a look at the corpse. "Then again, I could be wrong. Sort of depends on what he was doing at the time, I guess." She gives the fox another look at his recognition, running through a few possibilities in her mind.
"I haven't met any, but I'm pretty sure some of us have. I feel like there's a really bad joke about this certainly sending a message, but something tells me that wouldn't be appropriate," she muses, standing over the body. She looks up toward Storm, head tilting as her gaze flickers between the woman and the sky. "Not looking like the weather's going to cooperate with evidence, either."
*
"I am not your sister." Storm's expression hardens a bit as she regards Eito, though the sky does not respond; the surprise having been handled, she has a better grip on her emotions at the moment. "Since when are sacred duties and being a 'hero' not compatible? A hero is a servant of the people, is she not? Ngai judges our works, good or ill, in service to the heavens and earth alike. To serve the people is to serve god." She turns her eyes to regard Danny for a long moment and shakes her head, "The storm will not come, and even if it does, it will not touch this place as long as I do not wish it to. Do you wish to… gather evidence? I know nothing of investigation. Should we call the authorities?"
*
"Your god, not mine."Eito offers as he eyes a divot in the brick wall, before peering around for a moment. "Anyway, I suppose I'm being impolite aren't I?"Lifting a hand to untie a simple ribbon keeping that mask on, before pulling it free to expose. Well it's a fox, so it's not terribly great at concealing his identity. "I am the 87nth Kitsune, divine messenger of the Honored High Goddess Inari and humble servant to The Divine Court of the East. I serve the will of heaven, not people. I have little interest in playing rough with common thugs, that is work better suited for others."And a pause there as he waves casually towards the brick wall and proceeds to replace that mask. "Anyway, pretty sure this idiot shot himself. Looks like a ricochet to me."
*
Danny blinks at Storm, though the rise of her brows is hidden behind her mask as she looks between the woman and the sky once more. "Huh. That's a neat trick." Turning back to the fox, she nods slowly. It seems she's at least heard of the Kitsune and Inari. Slightly different pantheons, but a lesser distance breeds some familiarity.
"Personally, I kind of like knocking around the common thugs," she says lightly. "Keeps the streets clean. Sort of. Sometimes. Before they refresh the cannon fodder. Not the point." Stepping back from the corpse, she tilts her head back to look at the surrounding area. "Wasn't far to run before we showed up. So if it wasn't a ricochet, whoever it was was probably already inside when they took the shot, or ran inside."
*
"Ngai is the god, the creator and giver of all things: blessings and punishments alike." Storm says with a simple, idle confidence as a counter. She does frown and look to the wall, then to the victim, "A ricochet? So he shot the wall— why?— and it happened just so, to strike him in the head and blow his head off?" Since they are introducing eachother, after a fashion, she says simply, "I am the storm." Which might amount to Storm, but might not. She could be a little crazy. Her attention does shift over towards Danny then, "I… do not tolerate what you call thugs imposing themselves over the people. Where I see them, where I find them, but here in America, it is so … odd. How do you tell? In Kenya it was so much easier. The british imperialists were the oppressors, the instigators, the wrong-doers. Here it is not so easy."
*
"Your god, not mine."Eito corrects, again. "Look I don't know a Ngai, but whomever they are one of my siblings probably works with them. That whole one true anything, is the work of man not any divine I know of. "Pausing to finally just resling that SMG across his back, before he peers back towards the nearest door. "Well I think it's pretty probable this dude was shooting at a cat or something, and the gods deemed him a worthless dipshit."Theres a little shrug there, as he finally just picks up that revolver and swings open the cylinder to dump out the ammo. "If you want to go fight ruffians, by all means. I'm obligated if it's right infront of me, protect the innocent and all. I don't go looking for that stuff though, and I doubt most capes want me doing that anyway really. Wave a gun in my direction, I'm gonna cut you down. I don't do that knock out stuff, not my job."
*
"It's pretty easy to tell when people are being jerks," Danny points out to Storm. "You see a guy picking on a granny, it doesn't really matter if he's the guy in charge or just some guy who's trouble. He's picking on a granny, that's objectively bad. Purse-snatching. Objectively bad. No matter how good your reasons for it might be, it's bad. Shooting people, objectively bad." That last might include a brief look toward Eito. "I mostly stick to the basics there. Anyhow."
She eyes the corpse one more time, then shakes her head. "Whether he did it or someone else did it, doesn't look like there's much of anything to fight here and now. Which means I should get moving back to people who can still be helped."
*
Ororo regards Eito for a long moment, "Ngai is my father; he is lord and creator of all." That's her position, and she's keeping to it. But then she regards the body again, and wrinkles her nose, "People assume too much is the will of the god when things just— happen. Does the god look at every coin I flip? Surely not. He is busy paying attention to more meaningful things. If this man is a fool and died a fool's death, easier to ascribe it to foolishness paying itself back then decide the god has made a decree. Of course, it may be that the god did make the decree: but he does not order all things in all times."
Then she turns and regards Danny a moment, frowning, "If a child hungers, if a child knows that if she does not bring back to her den a certain catch, she will not fed: and she will be beaten for her lack. This child who knows nothing but survival and hunger and fear, you say she is wrong to steal that purse? Objectively?" Storm shakes her head slowly, "The world that I know is not so simple as the one you do."
*
"Good and bad are subjective, I'd agree. The gods see more than we think they do, this I know. It's not our place to question the will of heaven, nor it's methods."He offers a nod towards Danny, before extending a hand to shake. "If you're off, then so be it. I'll keep an eye out for you, we get another quiet evening I'd love a spar sometime. My empty hand work could always use the practice and there are very few around capable of teaching me anything new."
*
"Stealing's wrong," Danny confirms. "Stealing doesn't solve the problem. Not in a real way. Puts things off, maybe. But if a child has to steal to eat, or else get beaten? It's the whole damned system that's broken. Systems are harder to change than people, though. They take a different sort of touch. That's the day job. Nights…" She takes the kitsune's hand in a brief, firm grip then backs away, raising her hands with a wry smile. "Nights I do things the easy way. Another night, Kitsune. Another day, storm lady." With those words, she takes a leap for the fire escape, climbing back up to the roofs.
*
Almost as soon as Danny confirms that stealing is wrong, thunder rolls in the sky. Ororo frowns. "Your idea of right and wrong does not apply: stealing doesn't solve problems. Stealing is simply a necessary fact. So many have so much, the child seeks only survival: survival is never wrong. Never." But the lady is leaping away, and Ororo looks to the fox for a wary, lingering moment, "The god sees everything and nothing can be hidden from him, that is the nature of being god. It is dangerous to think you understand your place in the will of heaven, though. This I know. Questioning… Questioning is the greatest gift the god ever gave, save for the rain." With that, she looks to the sky, and her eyes turn from blue to white and glowing, and a gust of wind runs through the alley. There's enough time for a response, but then the wind embraces her and lifts her gracefully to the sky.
*
"Women."Is all Eito can manage as he's left alone, tossing that revolver into a nearby dumpster before digging out his pocket watch to check the time. Then in a sudden explosion of cherry Blossoms, because well he's got mail to deliver.