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The day is pretty nice. It's a bit on the cloudy side, maybe a little bit cool, but overall it's a pretty pleasant time to go for a stroll and enjoy the sights. As on any given day, there's a few tourists out and about, going for a stroll, taking pictures, seeing all there is to see in the Park. Walking all by himself is a fellow that's big enough to stand out somewhat.
Tony Masters is a fairly tall, muscular fellow with chiseled features and light brown wavy hair, parted on the side and just long enough on top to catch in a breeze. He's got a symmetrical face with a distinct jawbone, bright brown eyes, straight white teeth and a nose slightly on the small side, not to mention the hint of dimples should one see him smile.
He's dressed fairly casually, but still good enough to be acceptable in most situations. A navy blue sport coat is worn open over a white dress shirt with the top button left undone. That, in turn, is tucked into khaki trousers with a leather belt that matches his leather low boots.
His actions might be a little on the strange side, as he seems to not be using the rather high end camera on a strap around his neck, at least for taking pictures. Occasionally he brings it to his eye, but it's pretty easy to tell that it's more for the purpose of using the big lens on the front to get a better look at something far away. And perhaps he's oblivious, but he doesn't seem hesitant about passing anybody, even spooky hobos, after giving them a quick glance.
*
"C'mon, sweetheart." A lanky man with a scurrilous beard and a bad coat is in pursuit of a very thin blonde girl. "We'll get a bed for you, feed you up. You can't be out on your own. What if you fell in that thing?" He points at the Hellmouth looming in the heart of Central Park.
"I'd rather fall in," Lucy snaps, rounding on him with whatever menace she can summon up. "I told you yesterday, and I told you last week…" She steps back again quickly as he reaches for her. "I don't need saving. Especially not your sort. Don't make me hurt you." She says it as though she thinks she could, for all that a strong wind might blow her right away.
For her part, Lucy is not in the mood for this nonsense. This guy just does not give up. She's about to brain him with his own tambourine. After fighting hellhounds and other demons, the idea of punching a human irritant in the face seems more than a little dull. Still. It might need doing, especially when he steps closer yet again.
CRACK. If nothing else, she can throw a punch. Blood streams from the man's nose and into that terrible beard. "I'd rather starve," Lucy yells at him as he stumbles back. "Asshole!"
*
The little conflict attracts Masters' attention and he finds himself watching intently, studying the participants closely. When the blow is thrown he nods his head, almost approvingly, and approaches the confrontational pair, a broad, almost too broad smile on his face. He looks at the young woman and comments happily, "Well done. You telegraphed it a little, might not want to lower your shoulder so much next time around, but you know what you're doing." The bleeding dude is just about ignored, as who cares about the loser? Masters doesn't get too close to the lady, as apparently he doesn't want to spook her, but conversation is clearly his intent.
*
"I'm learning, okay?" New York has made Lucy tougher than she was when she left California. And ruder.
"You little…" The man lunges for her and Lucy, almost without thinking about it, kicks him solidly in the groin. "…urk!" The man goes down in a heap and Lucy snorts at him. She's definitely better when she's acting on straight instinct.
"I only had a couple lessons," Lucy says to her newest critic, tugging her coat around her defensively. "Why, you some kind of expert?" She eyes her would-be-assailant, considering whether or not to kick him in the head. Better safe than sorry. It's a pretty good kick, lays the man out cold. She's strong for someone so skinny. "Critique that."
*
"I am an expert, actually," Masters replies, grinning as he watches her finish off her opponent, completely unbothered by her attitude. "Kick was solid, be better off trying to kick forward from a raised knee and hitting with the ball of your foot, but you've got a knack and you don't hold back." Despite the smile his appraisal is professional and quick and he's amazingly undisturbed by the violence. "With your body type you'd be a great candidate to study Wing Chun."
*
Lucy assesses the scene. Yelling at the guy who's been harassing her for weeks would feel pretty good but she'd look like an idiot. Yelling is for people who can hear. She exhales sharply. Get it together, Lucy.
"I don't usually go around kicking people," she says a little miserably. "I also don't swear. Or I didn't. Some people have been trying to teach me to look out for myself — if I don't, someone else will get in trouble trying to do it for me." She looks Masters over. "If I looked like you, I could do it. What's this Wing… Chung? Sounds like lunch. Everything sounds like lunch, though." If there were any carriage horses still around right now, she'd give serious thought to eating one.
*
"You don't need to swear to be tough. It doesn't matter if you have to fight a lot, if you do it ever it's good to make sure you do it right," Masters offers an explanation as he lets his camera hang on it's strap. "But your friends are right. If someone has to watch you in a scrap they'll be less able to take care of themselves." Still pretty chill he walks closer and offers his right hand for a shake, "I'm Tony Masters. I gotta remember I'm not working all the time and be polite once in a while." And then an explanation, "Wing Chun's a Chinese combat system that focuses on balance and striking with lots of punches and low kicks, with some grappling thrown in to set up for more punching." The lunch comment doesn't go unnoticed, "If you want I'll treat you for a bite to eat if you help me out."
*
"Lucy West." Lucy remembers her manners. She straightens, shoulders back, and shakes Masters' hand. She's got a strong grip for such a little thing and her knuckles, for all that she just punched a man in the face, are unmarked. "What do you need help with?"
She's hungry but she's not going to agree to just anything. Not even for a meal. If she's desperate, she can find Laura's safehouse again, but she'd have to be pretty desperate for that. Easier to endanger a stranger than a friend.
*
"Good to meet you," Masters says, his own grip firm and professional, not bone grinding or any other weird attempt to be intimidating. "I'm trying to find superheroes," He offers as an explanation as he takes his hand back and waves in the direction of the hellmouth. "I was hoping to find some running around because of the thing over there, but I ain't having any luck right now and I figure if you're around a lot you've got a better chance of running into one than most people."
*
"Like those guys in the news?" Lucy narrows her eyes. "Well. I guess I could give you some ideas. And I'm kind of hungry." Kind of.
"Most of the food carts are down here — " Lucy points, then gestures for Masters to follow her. " — Cops keep kicking 'em out of the usual places because of the whole… Hell thingie. Is that even really a thing?" She stops, as though Masters, being older and wiser and bigger, is going to have an answer for her. "Hell. That thing doesn't actually go to H - E - Double-hockey-sticks for real right? I mean there were some weird dog things that came out of it and nearly ate me and a friend. When they got cut up there was all this black bloopy stuff that came out and was all over the place. And then this guy who had weird writing on him did all this fire stuff and with the air and the knives and the whooshing…" Lucy waves her hands vaguely. "And then the street got lit on fire and melted and a lady with a sword was there and she was riding a really big dog thing but she had her sword stuck in it and then she cut its head off."
Lucy and Laura don't fall into the category of superhero as far as she's concerned. They're just a couple girls who…do things. Sometimes.
*
"Yeah, the guys from the news. Cameramen never seem to get a good angle on the fights and I was hoping to sneak a peak in person," Masters confirms with another smile, seemingly amused easily, or just enjoying the day, as he follows towards the food carts. "You got me. I only know what the news says about it. It could go to Mars for all I know," And he shrugs a kind of dismissive shrug at that, but the idea of dog things trying to eat Lucy have gotten him to focus on her quite closely. "I think I found the right person to talk to about super crap, though. What'd you do about the dog? And you see much of the sword lady?"
*
"Me? I hid under a car." Lucy is not admitting to more than that. Anything else that happened was purely an accident. "The lady with the sword, you couldn't miss her. Ever. She was the most beautiful lady I ever saw, really." Lucy bounces a little, then beams up at Masters. "She was like — tall, tall. Like a man. And big shoulders. And her hair was blonder than mine. She looked like she knew how to ride a horse. And she was a really good fighter. Smart."
Lucy's ponytail frisks across her shoulder as she all but skips off to the food carts. Hot dogs are always a good idea. "Not that I know about fighting but you could see that she was thinking about it. I didn't know anyone still used swords but she did. It was amazing. And the guy with the writing, it was on his skin but then it burned through his clothes like: psssssh! And it was like neon lighting, like a sign, glowing."
*
"Huh." Masters absorbs the info about the sword lady as closely as he can, nodding just a little bit at it before his lips press together in thought. "I'd love to get a look at her some time. Or that writing guy, too, but the sword lady." He shakes his head a little bit and his grin reappears, obviously thinking strongly about her. Lucy's evident happiness keeps Masters' own mood up easily enough. "I know a guy who can teach you to swordfight if you want to learn, but he ain't cheap. He's actually why I'm out looking for costumes, trying to get a discount on his next training class if I can get some good photos."
*
"You should try the Kitchen, too." Lucy waits for him to get their lunch, wracking her brain for more ideas. "I heard there were a few things going down over there. But out here, I heard there was a weird guy in red pyjamas and a sword running around. You couldn't miss him. Some people said he was Spider-Man but last I heard, Spider-Man does not use one of those skinny kung-fu swords. Why do people wear those pyjama things? They look pretty weird. Especially on guys. Ladies look kind of pretty in them, but guys?" She makes a face at Masters that looks like she bit into a lemon. Men are just weird.
*
Approaching the cart Lucy seemed like she was angling towards, Masters looks at the hot dog guy and says, "Four dogs, everything on two." And a glance at Lucy, "What do you want on yours?" And he fishes some money out of his pocket as he keeps on with the earlier conversation, "They wear them so there's less for bad guys to grab onto, I guess. But you say the Kitchen's got some, too." A couple of little nods to himself, "I'll check that out tonight, probably. Unless I think something's going on elsewhere."
*
"Everything, thanks." Lucy gives Masters a brilliant smile. "It's weird, still. Very Hollywood. Like they think they're in a drama. I don't know if I envy them or not. You're not one of them, are you? A 'cape'? Is that rude to ask? Probably. If you were one of them — if you had those kinds of cool powers — would you use them?"
A frown comes over her like a shadow. "Do you think a person should? And if they don't, is it their fault if things go wrong?"
*
"I'd use the heck out of them, Ms. West," Masters say with a big grin as he pays for the dogs and then doles them out. After taking a swallowing a bite of the first one he goes on again, "I think a person should do what they want to do. If they're not the one making things go wrong then how is it their fault?" A deep shrug and then another bite. "You might be the kind of person if you had magic powers and thought you needed to step in and do something, then you should do something. Otherwise you'll be second guessing yourself forever."
*
"Did you ever see something terrible and then not do anything?" Lucy plunks down on the nearest bench to eat her hot dogs. "Sometimes you have to be smart, right? Not do something. Hide under a car. Things like that. I don't really believe that superheroes are a thing. Just people who do something when they can — maybe they have some kind of powers that makes it look impressive or they put on some stupid pyjamas or wear a mask but I bet most of them would do something anyway, even if it was only little thing." She munches a hot dog, looking thoughtful even though she's managed to get mustard on her nose.
*
"I've seen some terrible stuff, but that's a professional thing," Masters explains between munches, going through that first hot dog quite fast. "You do what you gotta do. If something bad happens the safest thing to do is run away, usually, you just don't seem like the type that it'll sit right with." And then he chuckles, "Yeah. I think they just lucked out being the right kinda' people to get powers. You see a lot of bad eggs goin' ape with theirs, too." When Lucy deposits mustard on her nose he taps his own and then makes a rubbing motion.
*
"Oh. Seriously? Oops. My mother would…" Let's not think about these things. Lucy trails off and then wipes her nose with a napkin. Not remotely ladylike, Miss Dean. "You're a photographer? What are you going to do when you track down these people? Just take their pictures? Did you read in the paper that some government thing was stealing people like that? With powers. It was in the Bulletin. I read a lot. You get bored out here, even with the creepers and the demons."
*
"I'm a soldier, just taking my leave in the city," Masters explains with a smile, gesticulating in manner to take in the park around them. "I mostly just take photos for fun, but I want to take as many as I can for that guy I was telling you about. He can look at someone fight one time and then do everything they can do." He grins and comment, "Wears a mask and a cape and one of those tight pyjama outfits, too. Not scrawny like Spiderman's supposed to be, though." The idea of stealing powered people has him frowning, "Yeah. I read about that, too. Not surprising or anything, but it's disappointing."
*
"Seriously, he can do anything? I bet those government people would love to get their hands on him. Good thing they didn't. Imagine if you could do that." Lucy looks wistful. "You'd never fuck u — oops. Screw up," she corrects herself. She finally polishes off her first hot dog. How she's going to fit two in is a mystery but she seems to be finding room for it all.
"Is he a hero guy, your friend? Does he give lessons? Is there, like, a school for this stuff?" She shouldn't seem too eager to learn this kind of thing but she is endlessly curious about it. Everyone else seems kind of good at it where she can't even keep her feet on the ground when she's got her bracelet off.
*
"I don't think he can do the powers, but he wants to see how the super folks fight se he can learn from them," Masters offers an explanation easily enough. When she curses he grins at her, then his shoulders shrug. "He's mostly like a drill instructor, but he can teach anything from fist fighting to sword fighting or shooting. I'd bet he could teach someone super hero crap, even, or maybe figure out how to use their powers better when they're in a brawl." Then he lifts his jaw at her with a slicker looking smile and asks, "Why? You know someone?"
*
"Maybe." Lucy gives him a challenging look. "Or maybe I just want someone to teach me how to look after myself better out here. Do you know how hard it is to find work in this city? They say that this is the city that never sleeps and I'll tell you why it is that it never sleeps — because some creeper is gonna creep on you when your eyes are closed. It's disgusting." She takes an angry bite of her hot dog.
"No offense," she says, around the hot dog. "But men are gross. I haven't had a good night's rest since last time I crashed with a friend. I could use someone to show me how to use a knife."
*
"I bet if you give him a good tip on where to see some supers in action he'll hook you up with some very valuable skills," offers Masters as he tosses the wrappers from his lunch into a garbage can. "Next creeper that messes with you can get sliced up pretty good." At the comment about men being gross he lets out a laugh, good natured and hearty, "I feel the same way about guys, myself, but they don't try to crawl all over me." And then a question, "You have a blade yet, or you need one of them, too?"
*
"I didn't think to grab one from the kitchen on my way out," Lucy says dryly. "You know, I thought I'd just come here and get a job and be a normal person. Guess a lot of people thought that, once upon a time. But. You gotta make do." She takes another bite of hot dog. "I could call your friend and let him know if I see anything cool. So long as he's not going to make people into experiments. I don't know what people who'd do that look like but I figure they're probably laying low with the news and everything. Don't think you'd be going around asking the public questions if you were involved in the shit that just hit the international fan."
*
"Alright, I'll get you one for when and if you meet Taskmaster," Is the offer Masters gives with a smile. "If I can spot the sword guy in Hell's Kitchen or somebody out here messing with the hell hole." He pulls a business card holder out of the inner pocket of his sport coat and looks through them before pulling one out, then going back for a pen to scribble something on the back of it. "Tell him I sent you and you want to work out a deal about the super people spotting." As he offers her the card, "I don't think he's catching anybody and I'd feel sorry for whoever decided to go after him. He usually starts every seminar by beating up everyone in it, often at the same time. Makes it easier for know it alls to learn what he's got to teach."
*
Lucy takes the card and can't help giggling at the idea of someone starting a class by beating everyone up. That'd be a way to learn.
"Thanks. And thanks for lunch. And for not being a creep like the rest. You're an okay guy, Masters. In case anyone ever tells you different."
*
Taskmaster says, "My wife'd kick my ass if I were any different," The older guy replies with his big smile. "And thank you for providing me with some good intel. From where I'm at it's more than I've gotten all day aside from some nutjobs on the corner selling fake photos."
*
"Any time, big guy. Deffo check out the Kitchen. I heard stuff about vampires going on down there. And some lady got scooped up by a big bat a few weeks ago." Lucy looks thoughtful. "Not that I'm recommending it, but if you ever worked out a way to get some demon things out here? You could just hang out and watch." She shrugs one shoulder. "Just saying."
*
"Kitchen it is. I'll bring my wooden stakes, just in case," Masters nods, still smiling but not entirely clear on if he's joking or not. Probably better safe than sorry. And then her other comment has him raising his eyebrows, "Sounds dangerous. Good idea, but I don't think folks would like having monsters running around the park any more than they already are." Though he does look strangely thoughtful at the idea.
*
"Monster…it's just a random classification." Lucy finishes her second hot dog. "Seriously. Who's worse? Some mindless demon thing that comes out of there?" She points at the Hellmouth. "A vampire or whatever they are, if they're even real? Or some guy who experiments on real people. Who makes babies and trains them up to be weapons?"
Lucy gets up to put her trash in the garbage bin. "So you call a few of the obvious ones out so you can get a look at the good guys who come to stop them… who cares? There's already monsters among us, mister."
*
"I'd say the guy who makes people into weapons, at least the monsters are just animals doin' what animals do," Masters replies as he watches his new acquaintance dispose of her waste, leaning back a bit. "I like the way you think. Taskmaster might like it to, he's the guy who really wants to see the show." A quick lift of his chin, "You know how to get crap to come out of the hole?"
*
"Not me. But I bet, if I watch long enough, someone will come along and show me how. People can't stay away from this thing." Lucy puts her hands in her pockets, wanders away a little, toward the Hellmouth. "You know, I'm sure there's people around who know magic and shit. I hear stuff, people talk. One of those magic dudes would know, if this is magic. If I see that sword lady again, I could ask her. She looks like she knows things. If I find out, I'll call someone. It's something to do, right?" She looks over her shoulder and gives Masters a smile. "'Least I won't be as bored."
*
"Yeah. It'll keep you busy when you don't have good reading material," Masters says with a return grin as he gets to his feet and looks around once more, getting a good feel for his location. "And if I see some help wanted signs or somethin' I'll swing back and with an address. The stronger your allies the stronger you are, right?"
*
"That's a good point." Lucy looks as though she's just realized something. She smiles, bounces on her toes. "Get enough friends and even the devil is gonna have a hard time coming after you. Thanks."
*
"You're welcome," she's told with a tip of Masters' imaginary hat and yet one more smile, almost like a compulsion. "You take care out here, my number's on the back of the card if you can't get ahold of Taskmaster and you see something." His attitude looks pretty relaxed still, that hasn't changed much, but he seems even more amused than before.
*