capitalh | i have no song lyrics for this post. oh well.

Who: The Hunter and You! (The Hunter is Aña. Not that she'll tell you that.)
Where: Some alleyway somewhere in a bad part of town
When: 1 or 2 AM, 3/12
What: Araña's stopping a mugging! Or just stopped a mugging. Your choice. She's on the prowl tonight.
Warnings: Stupid unregistered teen paranoia?

Araña isn't one to fully give up the life of fighting evil. Granted, muggers used to be more what she used to warm up, not her endgame, but when one is in a new town with no team, one shouldn't go looking for secret societies and supervillains right away. Plus, y'know, muggings are a good way to stay in shape, as a crime-fighter.

None of the muggings she stops are very complicated. Drop in, scare the guy, kick his ass a bit, zip-tie him to a lightpost and call the cops from the nearest pay phone before taking off. But of course, there's always the chance that someone else will have the same idea she does...

((Feel free to jump in mid-mugging or run into her in a dark alleyway/on a rooftop somewhere. She's on patrol tonight, so she'll be a little bit of all over. :3 ))

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Rikki lowers her shield a little, eyes still narrowed. This is one of the good guys. One of the unregistered good guys, which she's never really understood, but still...

"You're that girl from the Watch, aren't you?"

She'd actually thought it was a guy, at the time, but... the general outline of her body looks female, even with the armor-plated whatever. Her voice sounds vaguely female. She's going to guess girl and hope she's right.

There's a pause, as Araña processes that comment. "Dios, you're Nomad. You're. Uh." Cuter than the pictures she found on the internet would've made her believe.

Shit.

"Um, I was. You're. Well, like I said, stopping a mugging. And... stuff..."

Araña: much less cool and suave offline.

Rikki's eyebrows shoot up. Wow, that response... sure was something. She's not really sure what to make of it, but she's not attacking her or anything...

"Yeah. I'm Nomad. Hi." She lowers her shield entirely, though she doesn't turn it off. "I heard the shouting and I thought..."

She glances back to the guy tied to the lightpost, frowns. She doesn't actually know this girl. She could be lying, but... Rikki trusts her.

"You don't have to run."

Araña doesn't scuff her toe against the pavement, but everything else about her posture says that it's a force of will not to do so.

"Look, I don't know how they do it out here, but back home we stayed the hell away from anybody official." She tilts her head a little. "You're not gonna report me or anything, are you?"

What does out here even mean? Where's back home? Rikki figure those questions are better left for later, maybe...

"I, uh... Well, I have to tell the cops something." She tilts her head, almost in echo of what's-her-name's movement. "But like I said... you don't have to run. I know people who can protect you, if you want to... you know... come out or whatever."

Araña almost laughs. Almost. The "come out" comment is just... both so ridiculous and so accurate for her. Not that she's ever felt the need to announce her sexual preferences to anyone, but stil.

"Yeah, I really don't think coming out would be a good plan," she says dryly. "All it would do would make me and anyone who was a known associate of me a target of an organization I can't fight effectively anymore."

"Why?" She steps forward, just a half-step, everything in her posture friendly, non-threatening. "You'd be safer with CONDOR than you would be out here on your own. They could give you a new identity, they could make it so the people you're hiding from wouldn't be able to find you. It'll be okay, I swear."

She doesn't pull her exo back, not entirely. But she does, extra effort involved and all, pull it back enough that Nomad can see her mouth. Hear her voice. Her real voice, not the vaguely alien thing that poses as her voice when she's in the exo.

"You're super sweet," she says, with complete honesty. "The problem is that my powerset is known by the people who have it out for me. My powerset and face are known by the people I technically work for. There's no way to completely erase somebody, and unless you wanna give me a whole new set of powers, and new DNA, they'll know it's me."

She shrugs a little, and takes a risk by jumping up to the fire escape above her head - easier to run from without notice, still close enough to keep chatting - and smiles faintly. "It's kinda cute you still think it's that easy, girl scout. Hang on to that, ok?"

"So you don't go public, you can just..."

Rikki growls softly under her breath as she jumps for the fire escape, and launches after her, catching the ladder and sliding to the ground with it. This is familiar at least, one of the rare buildings in LA that has a fire escape like she's used to. As soon as the ladder hits the ground, she's climbing it, stubborn as ever.

"Who are you afraid of, anyway? Pretty sure we can take them."

It is maybe telling that she refers to CONDOR as we. Rikki doesn't even notice.

She can follow. That's a good sign. Or a bad sign, depending on your point of view.

"Maybe," she says. "But since it's ultimately the fate of the world at stake, I'm so not going to risk it." She smirks a little, almost-sadly. "Face it, chica, you ain't gettin' me in youre little club."

"So what, you just run away?"

Rikki hauls herself off the latter at the landing of the fire escape, acutely aware of how easily Araña could take her down if she wanted as she come up. She doesn't, so that's a good sign.

"You know that's not how a hero acts, right?"

"Who's running away?" Araña laughs, and there's a bitter tinge to the sound. "I mean, okay, I'm running away from this foiled mugging, but as much as I wish I was home free when it comes to secret societies and all that crap, the minute I'm going to be useful to them again, they'll pick me up."

She sighs, looks up at the sky, trying to pick out a few stars. "I even am okay with that, mostly. Like I said, it's the fate of the world we're talking about. When they find me a new partner, I'll be back in New York doing the same shit I was before, and not complaining about it, because I have a responsibility. And sure, maybe if we got CONDOR in on it, we could fight the Sisterhood better, but maybe not. Or maybe CONDOR doesn't see them as a real threat and would just get in the way. Or maybe something else. I don't have enough information to make that call in good conscience."

It's a lot to think about, for a kid her age. She's turned it over and over in her head since heading out here especially, and her position is basically "I don't know enough about what's going on to try to change what's working."

Rikki narrows her eyes, but doesn't argue, for the moment. The police sirens are getting closer, and she's not about to run away. In fact...

She leans out from the fire escape, looking down the street at the approaching flashing lights.

"Fine. I need to stay. It's easier to convict if the capturing hero gives a report. If you wanna stick around and help a little... you can tell them you're a Trailblazer and they won't question it. I won't say a word - promise."

i have no song lyrics for this post. oh well.

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