|
Vigilantes on the rooftops of New York City is nothing new. But there are new faces constantly coming into view, if only to the view of those with the chance to be on those rooftops themselves. Very few have actually seen the Black Panther, but thanks to the press garnered by her attack on an Algerian mercenary, many now know she exists.
That circle has expanded by four this evening. A group of young toughs who apparently take exception to recent Civil Rights activities have run afoul of the Black Panther, who objects to things like tearing apart an office in a church currently supporting Dr. King's efforts in New York City. Currently, the Panther has one such ruffian by the scruff, and is forcefully introducing his face to a wall. Repeatedly, just outside the church.
*
Similarly active in the Civil Rights movement of the day, Spider-Girl has found a large portion of her dance card taken up with ignorant, racist jerks needing a personal reeducation plan. She is also similarly acquainted with the city's rooftops.
With the sounds of fighting below, Anya has just arrived on a nearby rooftop and is peering down at the melee below, but it's a little hard to tell who's doing what to whom down there. The softest of sounds accompanies her sailing jump, but the iconic 'thwip' noise of web grabbing brick nearby is hard to miss. Spider-Girl crouches sideways, her fleet flat against the wall just up from where Tchalla is in session.
"Hey, what's go-" she starts, sounding like she might object to someone getting beat up, and then she recognizes Black Panther's costume from the news. "Oh my gosh, oh my GOSH. You're her, aren't you? You have to be her! Oh wow, it is /so/ cool to meet you. Seriously." Idly, she webs the thug who seriously thought he was going to sneak up behind Tchalla with that baseball bat in his hand. No one was going to ruin Anya's fangirl moment.
*
Just as the goon coming up behind her with a baseball bat is falling flat on his face, webbed up solidly, the Black Panther spins around, short claws seeming to glow in the light of the street lamps as they sweep through right where that bat was going to be, until the goon was so rudely interrupted. The black-shrouded figure glances up towards the young woman clinging to the wall up there, and then leaps almost sideways to plant both feet forcefully into the head of the goon trying to make a run for the broken door to the rectory office.. He too goes down hard.
"You wear colors similar to the Spider-Man. And, apparently, you make webs and cling to walls as he does." As the rumors say, the Black Panther's voice is altered and odd, deep and husky, whiskey-toned, and with a precision of diction that belies great education, but an accent that belies identifying to most. 'Foreign', most definitely. "Should I assume you mean as well as the Spider-Man, to help those in need, even be they strangers?"
*
Another bit of web lances out to be a straightjacket for the fourth thug, and Anya returns her attention to Tchalla. She cocks her head slightly when the woman speaks, revealing her curiosity about the accent and inability to place it. "Yeah," she starts, her voice giving away the small embarrassment of looking so similar to the first spider guy. "It's just, you're right. I can do kinda the same stuff. And he's so cool. I couldn't resist the spider thing, you know?"
Anya drops to the ground and gives one of the nearly unconscious men a short kick to the arm that was reaching for her ankle. Perfunctory, not vicious. She talks while she bends to look at the lock on the broken door. "And also try to help, when I can, yeah." She touches the ruined mechanism and sighs. "Shoot. I don't wanna leave the door like this. The church is wide open. I wonder how quick we can get a locksmith here…"
*
Black Panther turns to the black and white-clad diminutive - compared to herself, at least - heroine, and offers her clawed glove. A twist of the wrist in some odd way, and the claws retract, just in case. "It is good to see others who also take action, because they have the ability, and the urge to make the world around them a better place." The accent is funky, to say the last. And she talks like a PhD candidate. Go figure.
"I am called the Black Panther. You are the Spider-Woman, yes?" Because that makes sense, doesn't it? If there is a Spider-Man, there should be a Spider-Woman. That's her logic, anyway. "Stay, watch over these. I will find those who watch over this place, and inform them of the damage. They will know where to find the supplies we require to replace the door." Panther stays long enough to make sure Spider-Girl will do as she asked, and then she disappears on rapidly moving feet around the corner and up the stairs into the main church building, seeking help in the Sanctuary. She shouldn't be long.
*
It's funny how two women, fairly close in age, can be so different. Anya grew up without the resources and the polish of a Wakandan princess, and then queen, and she acts like it. She's eager, not poised, to shake the Black Panther's hand, and definitely would have cut herself on those claws if they hadn't been retracted. "I couldn't agree more. There are a few of us out here, trying to make a difference, but we don't get to partner up too often, so it's nice to meet someone like you when I get that chance."
Anya's body language conveys her awkwardness more than a facial expression ever could, which is lucky with the mask and all. "Oh um… It's… Spider-/Girl/, actually. I think there's a Spider-Woman already? I couldn't find a lot of details, but I knew there wasn't another Spider-Girl. And I was a teenager when I started up. So the name kinda stuck." She laughs at herself. "I'll probably be Spider-Girl when I'm eighty."
Anya agrees to watch over the groaning goons and sets them up in a line against the wall, adding a little extra webbing to keep them there for now. "The cops'll be here soon enough for you four-" One of the goons spits at her and utters an incredibly filthy insult. Anya has webbed his mouth shut before he even finishes the worst of it, and glares at the other three. "Anyone /else/ with extra commentary?" No one had anything else to add while they waited.
*
It is a few minutes later when Black Panther appears again around the corner, accompanied by two men, one an African American priest with the cassock collar to prove it, and the other a slightly older, larger black man in worker's clothes. He, and Black Panther, are each carrying boards and tools. They come around the corner and Panther nods to Spider-Girl, before they step up and start lining up boards, then nailing them into place to cover the ruined door.
"Father Martins, this is Spider-Girl. She happened by and assisted me in stopping these men. I suggest that you call the police, and let them take these men from here." Panther pauses. "As they have committed no crime I can prove beyond their abuse of your office and property, the penalty of their crimes does not rise to death. So I must leave them to your police." She sounds almost regretful, like she would prefer to just end them.
*
Anya greets both of the men politely, and gets out of the way when they set to work on boarding up the door. She also seems much more composed with other people here, rather than just being with Black Panther. (the goons didn't count) "Yeah, the police'll know what to do with these jerks," Anya says, and then she almost chokes at the suggestion of the death penalty. "Uh, right. No death penalty for vandalism here…" Not to mention vigilante justice. "Ok, well. I'm gonna go get those cops!" She stops first though, and reaches to shake hands again. "Thanks, and it was really nice to meet you, Black Panther."
*
Panther shakes Spider-Girl's hand again, after she finishes driving nails through boards with her thumbs! "The Father is calling the police now. I shall wait for them to arrive. They seemed to become quite agitated when the Spider-Man and I left the scene previously. But if you should go, please do." Hopefully they will see each other again.