Momentum (Jackie Faulk)

[Shrike7]

Sirens. Jackie groaned and rolled over, glancing at the clock. Six thirty in the morning. She'd slept for three hours. Some part of her pulled at her, to go and investigate, but she forced it back, rolling over and willing the sound to fade...

Alarm clock next. Didn't matter what time, she had to get up now. Groaning, she rolled to the edge of the bed, running a hand through her fiery red hair. Eyes still mostly closed, she got up, walking through her apartment to the bathroom. Shower, dressed, last of the milk on breakfast. She pondered getting more, but the budget was pretty tight till next week, and she was nearly out of cereal anyways. She could have it dry for a few days. Wouldn't be the first time.

Stepping over the broken floorboard, she left her apartment, making sure to lock it after her. Off to work. Jogging the last block, warm up tired muscles. Too many long nights.

She still never knew why her job even existed. People with too much money and a need to be special, maybe. Or maybe digital theft was worse than she thought. Still, she had little reason to complain. Grab package from Person A, deliver to person B. Usually it was an office to office thing, with occasionally a home or warehouse thrown in, as it was today. She loved it, running about the city, wind in her face. Sun too bright, it burns... She ignored the thought with a frown, running a little bit faster.

It was a busy day, one of her coworkers had twisted an ankle, so the rest of them were getting more work than usual. By the end of the day, she was tired, but in a good way. Even had a little more money than she expected. The thought of her empty fridge back home came to her, but she shrugged it off. Can't make good decisions all the time, she mused. So instead, her feet carried her elsewhere, settling on the Broken Shillelagh. Mostly students there, should be a less rowdy crowd. Safer.

The inside of the building was darker, typical pub atmosphere. It settled around her like a blanket, comfortable, almost warm. Jackie bought herself a couple beer, then brought them to an empty table to nurse them a while, watching the rest of the place passively as she let the music draw her attention.

[[Sc8]Hardware]

((Story continues in The Broken Shillelagh thread at 19 April 2038 - 1840 hours))

[[Sc8]Hardware]

Heels clicking on the concrete, Lexie stormed off up the street alone. While unclear, her destination seemed unselected; a random direction with no real aim. However, in rather a cause for concern, she was heading eastward toward the restricted zone...

[Shrike7]

Jackie followed the woman from above. It was simple enough, and even simpler as Nyx, taking her time to remain quiet, and slipping through the shadows of the early evening to save her from the climbing she'd have to do during the day. She was less familiar with this part of town, especially once the woman below turned east. Jackie had no real reason to make deliveries to the restricted zone, and her favourite runs mostly took her around the area occasionally skirting the fringe. She'd have to work harder to keep up...

[[Sc8]Hardware]

Going from bad to worse...it didn't even require superhuman senses to detect the group of thugs ahead. And yet, somehow Lexie didn't seem to notice, or didn't seem to care.

[Shrike7]

Nyx frowned. The girl seemed clueless, and freely wandered into the bad part of town. She had some sort of ability though, so maybe she was doing some baiting on her own. Wanting the thugs to come after her.

Something nagged at her, so she stayed back for now, close enough to jump from a nearby roof, but waiting to see what would happen before she intervened.

[[Sc8]Hardware]

The thugs approached Lexie, and their leader grabbed the lapels of her leather jacket. An odd buzzing and crackling filled the alley, just barely audible to Nyx, but enough to prevent her from hearing what was being said. The same strange blue glow from the bar lit up the edges of the building roofs surrounding the area. Tiny sparks were beginning to glint from the motes of dust near the ground.

The thugs didn't seem to notice for some reason, but they did notice something under the jacket that made two of them look worried and start to back off. From her vantage point, Nyx couldn't see what had disturbed them, but it didn't really matter; not all of them had disengaged...

[Shrike7]

Under the black of her armour, Jackie frowned. Those creeps were going to get what they deserved. The odd glow and crackle made her wonder, but it hardly mattered, the will to fight pushing her.

She jumped, blinking through a shadow as she fell, the soft *Fumph* announcing her reappearance from beside a dumpster in a tight roll to dump her momentum. She lashed out with a foot, aiming for one man's sternum, then turned and attempted to grab another and throw him at the first.

[[Sc8]Hardware]

As she rolled, she suddenly realized that the effects that had puzzled her were due to the fact that the entire alley was now electrified. Not enough to cause serious damage, but enough to sting a bit.

There was a crunch as the kick connected and the first thug flew backward a short distance. The second thug, propelled by her throw, stumbled over his prone companion and fell against the dumpster.

[Shrike7]

It tingled oddly. The thought crossed her mind that if that was the best the girl could do, then it was a good thing she was here.

"Run." She growled in a warped but still feminine voice, the featureless face of her mask directed at the girl, though she hardly minded if any of the thugs decided to do the same. Ducking to avoid an incoming punch, she returned to the fray, trying to draw attention from the girl.

[[Sc8]Hardware]

Slowly she became aware that, although the electrical crackling in the alley had ceased, the air had...changed.

Inside, she could feel herself becoming ever more tenuous, as though being torn in two like a piece of cloth in monstrous hands. At the same time, the air seemed to solidify like amber trapping an insect. It was simultaneously unbearably hot and deadly cold. Overhead, the clouds had become a strange purpleish color as sickly green lightning raced among them.

The air roiled as a sort of wave swept across the city from the east. As it passed, it seemed for a time that the entire world...shifted, like things would fall sideways or up instead of down.

In the distance, an evil green light shot up from around the Chimney into the swirling clouds.

[Shrike7]

Nyx caught a punch to the back of her head, starting to spin with a low kick to sweep the thug's leg out from under him, when she started to slow. It felt like she was moving through molasses. And it -hurt-, like she was being pulled apart. She stifled a scream of pain, coming out as a long grunt instead, shutting her eyes until it has passed.

When she opened them again, It seemed like another world. "What in the blazes..." She muttered, finding herself able to move again. She pounced towards a wall to put her back to it, glancing around and spotting the purple clouds and the green light shooting from the Chimney.

[[Sc8]Hardware]

Upon glancing around the alley, she discovered that, as it turned out, the thugs weren't quite as resilient as she thought.

Oops.

[Shrike7]

(Going to assume whatever other thugs there were, the shift put them out of commission, and that the girl was still around)

Discovering that the fight seemed over and that she was safe enough for the moment, Nyx's gaze turned to the girl she had been defending.

"Did you do this?" She asked in a dark tone. If the faceless mask she wore had an expression, it would have been suspicion.

[[Sc8]Hardware]

She looked up just in time to see Lexie vanish in a bolt of lightning that shot up to the power lines and then raced along them toward the pub.

[Shrike7]

Nyx sighed. "Of [REDACTED] course." She muttered to herself, catching sight of the electric current zipping up and away. Back towards the tavern. She broke into a run, jumping through a shadow to return to a rooftop, and making her own way back in that direction. Something weird was going on, and she had a feeling that girl could tell her what it was.

[[Sc8]Hardware]

Halfway there, it suddenly got much easier to travel...

All the lights abruptly went out.

[Shrike7]

Nyx paused as the city lights flickered and died, standing on the edge of a rooftop and glancing around to try and determine a direction to the blackout, or even luckier, spot a source.

"Can't really complain, I guess." She muttered to herself, stepping through the shadows to cross to the next building, then breaking into a run, making frequent use of her shirt range shadow jaunts, now that the entire city resided in her domain.

[[Sc8]Hardware]

Off to one side, closer to the river, there were flashes of light.

[Shrike7]

She glanced between the flashes of light, and the pub she had been heading towards, and decided on the former, changing direction. It was more likely to be where the action was, and she could always track down the girl for questioning later.

[[Sc8]Hardware]

As she got closer, the flashes started to seem more and more like bursts of flame. An angry orange glow was rising in the distance.

[Shrike7]

Definitely where the action was. Nyx redoubled her pace, having no trouble crossing the rooftops towards the river. Once she got close enough to see the flashes were gouts of flame, she slowed some, taking a time more and attempting to remain hidden. Best not to make a scene of herself before she knew what was going on...

[[Sc8]Hardware]

As she passed into what was the downtown shopping district in the old town, movement to the side caught her attention.

Out in front of a formal-wear store, a young couple who had clearly just run out the door were looking north toward...something.

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