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Post by dagger on Nov 14, 2007 21:11:14 GMT -5
Tandy Bowen sighed. "No." She stood and walked to the front of the theater. "Hanae, please remember to pivot on three and not on two...if you pivot on two you are too early and it makes the whole line look sloppy."
Hanae rolled her eyes. "It just feels so unnatural-"
"That's the choreography, Hanae." Tandy said and demonstrated. Her black heels clicking against the wooden slatted floor of the stage. She loved dancing but it was even better to see her dances come alive through others. If only this wanna-be Broadway superstar would listen!
"Andy!" The assistant director called from backstage. "Andy Bowen, you have a phone call."
Andy Bowen - a stage name, one more step away from the Paris Hilton brat and the flighty young hero known as Dagger. Tandy was an adult now and she was going to make something of her life. She left Hanae with a stern warning and hurried to the phonebooth. "Hello, Tandy?" A smooth voice, glistening with saccharine familiarity, "This is your second cousin, Dave. You may not remember me but I could never forget you-"
"Excuse me, Dave." Tandy gritted her teeth, she certainly didn't remember any cousins. She'd left her family completely behind years ago. "I'm working right now."
"Listen, I need a favor-"
"Find someone who cares." Tandy hung up. She straightened her suit, pacing back to the stage when she felt a dull twinge in her chest.
Tandy stopped. She'd ignored the ache for a few months now, it seemed to appear out of nowhere. Her chest would hurt and her head would pound and her powers would dull and then everything would be fine...except her light would grow a little grayer. Tandy shook her head, she had too much work to do to visit a doctor and who would know anything about her powers?
She stepped back into the room to see Hanae move on two. "Hanae!" Tandy put her hands on her slim hips, "Three! Turn on Three!"
Tandy finally broke the upstart of the habit. She emerged from the theater into the gloom of the street. Tucking her hands in her coat's oversized pockets, she picked her way through the alleys.
Tandy stepped in a puddle and a splatter of mud arched onto her pantyhose. Fantastic, she thought and bent to brush it off.
Something clattered down the alley, a sharp rattle of metal against cement. Someone had knocked over a garbage can.
Her heart beat a little faster. Her powers weren't what they used to be...after a while, being normal meant that you became normal... She wasn't completely confident of her own self defense. She turned away and began to walk faster.
Tandy recounted every past victory, psyching herself up in case it came to a fight. She heard footsteps. Tandy dropped her purse onto the street and whirled around, calling a glow to her hands. The light sputtered and flared dully.
"Who's there?" Tandy cried.
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Vulcan
Juniour Role-Player
Posts: 63
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Post by Vulcan on Nov 15, 2007 15:55:24 GMT -5
Gabriel looked at the woman and her glowing hand. He could see she was in a defensive stance, ready to attack at a moment. He smiled at her. " My, are you expecting trouble? "
He glanced at her glowing hand. He could feel the energy within her. It was a strong energy, a light energy. There was more to it, almost like a senitent feelign to it.
"That's a nice light you have there. " He said makign it clear he knew she was generating the light.
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Post by dagger on Nov 15, 2007 16:42:11 GMT -5
Tandy took a deep breath. She looked at him, powerfully built and commanding. She was no telepath, but she didn't sense evilness in him.
"I get a little cautious in dark alleys." She flexed her fingers, keeping her glow bright and intense. "Were you the one making all that racket?"
She waited for his reply. This was NY city, anything could and did happen. It paid to stay on your guard.
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Vulcan
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Posts: 63
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Post by Vulcan on Nov 16, 2007 9:10:31 GMT -5
He looked back then toward her again. " Yeah, I landed on a sharp piece of something and in my haste to jump off it, I hit a garbage can. " He grinned a bit, it was stupid ,he knew, but hell, even the best of people screw up once in a while.
His eyes kept looking toward her hand. THen smiled a bit mroe and looked at her. " That's a good amount of power you're holding there. I hope you're not planning to hurt me with it. That might leave a mark. " In actuality, he didn't seem worried, more just playing along.
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Post by dagger on Nov 16, 2007 12:02:37 GMT -5
"I'm not a bad-guy." Dagger smiled slightly. She dimmed her glow and reached for her purse.
She looked back up at him. He was still there. Looking confident and amiable.
"I'm Ta...Andy." She smiled a little brighter.
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Vulcan
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Posts: 63
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Post by Vulcan on Nov 16, 2007 12:43:21 GMT -5
He just continued to look at her. " Well, Ta'Andy, it's nice to meet you. My name's Gabriel." He said and put his hand out. " Would now be a good time to ask you if you'd like ot get some... " He thought for a moment. " thing to eat? "
Yes that was it. He thought. He looked at her and waited for her reply.
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Post by dagger on Nov 16, 2007 13:11:56 GMT -5
"Do you normally ask out strangers in dark alleyways?" She laughed gently. "Okay, just someplace...you know public. Do you like subs? There's a deli not far from here."
She looped her purse over her shoulder and smiled at him. For some reason she was starting to feel more comfortable. A little pin-prick of guilt came. Cloak would not be happy when he found out.
She tossed her head. He wasn't in her life anymore. He didn't have a right to an opinion.
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Vulcan
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Posts: 63
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Post by Vulcan on Nov 16, 2007 13:23:09 GMT -5
" Well, I just tought that getting ot know you in a place where people eat would be better than talking in a dark alleyway. Hear people do bad thigns in dark alleys. " he smiles a bit and shrugs.
" Lead on, Ta'Andy. " he said as he started to walk right beside her. "So, what do you do on a daily basis? " he asked as they walked.
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Post by dagger on Nov 16, 2007 13:32:35 GMT -5
"Well," Dagger said leading him onto a brighter street. "You can just call me Tandy. I've been using Andy as a stage name..."
She paused and glanced over at him. There was something strangely ethereal about him.
"Anyway, I work as a choreographer on Broadway. Right now we're doing an adaptation of Nicholas Nickelby. Then I go home, pay bills, feed cat, pet cat, chase cat...make dinner - usually a microwavable entree - and then I watch ballet and tap videos until it's bedtime."
She took a breath. "So...what do you do on a daily basis?"
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Vulcan
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Posts: 63
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Post by Vulcan on Nov 16, 2007 13:44:45 GMT -5
He thoguht about the actual answer to that and knew he had to change gears on that quickly. " I'm a......... traveller of sorts. I've been ...all around. In fact, I haven't been in New York very long. I'm still kind of new to the way things are around here. Luckily, I don't worry about losing my way. I usually find it again. "
He walked with her staying right beside her. " I'm in New York, on the planet earth today. That's all I need to know, right? " He smiled and looked at her.
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Post by dagger on Nov 16, 2007 17:18:10 GMT -5
"I don't know if that's a refreshing philosophy or just sad." She opened the door to the deli for him. The smells of fresh bread, tomatoes and onions hit them. A older man with a white apron nodded at Tandy in greeting.
"It must be hard...not to have a purpose. I know I was really messed up when I...uh, retired from my last job. I felt like I wasn't me anymore. I guess I had trouble differentiating from the uniform and the girl underneath it." Tandy shook her head, "It's hard to know...what it is you were made for."
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Vulcan
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Posts: 63
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Post by Vulcan on Nov 18, 2007 23:50:17 GMT -5
He smiled a bit. " Who knows why we exist. But we do. Why not enjoy life while we can. You have abilities that set you apart from any human around. You are above them all. Yet you choose to live among them while hiding who you are. Why? "
He sat down as they prepared to order food. He added quietly. " Do you fear what they will do to you if you tell them what you are? " He smirked a bit.
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Post by cloak on Nov 19, 2007 10:22:28 GMT -5
Cloak hadn't meant to spy. He just found her, there, with the man. He watched them from a far roof top. Tandy is flirting, I can tell. Cloak shook his head, she was the brightest light he could sense, she had drawn him to her...but, something about her light was wrong. Cloak couldn't tell what, but, the glow he saw around every person he encountered, was getting closer to what he saw in Tandy. She was dimming. Cloak watched the man talk, Tandy listening with a smile, which grew smaller when the man finished speaking. Cloak wondered what he had said. I'm acting like a jealous boy friend. Dagger and I have no connection anymore. She is free to see who ever she pleases, and I will not be there to protect her from those who have no good in them The man with her was unreadable light wise, Cloak assumed he was a Hero, and so something was messing up Cloak's ability to see his light.
Cloak almost left, but, his darkness was trying to drag him into the little deli and demand Dagger help him. The sudden urge was stong, so Cloak just watched, unable to leave. And worried that she would hate him if he did try to see her again. Because it would be out of His necessity and not that she wanted to see him.
So, he watched.
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Post by dagger on Nov 19, 2007 10:39:31 GMT -5
Tandy's easy smile left her face. She stalked to the counter and ordered , then sinked into a seat by the window. How dare he suggest that she was afraid of these walking black holes?
She clasped her hands in front of her. She had been...once. Back when she was optimisitic and foolish...then after years of saving them and protecting them, healing them, cutting off the supplies for their addictions and yet there was always a demand and always more evil people that sprang up when ever Cloak and Dagger cut the others down.
Cloak thought she wanted a life of her own. That she was afraid of what he was becoming.
It was more selfish than that. She was afraid of what she was becoming.
One day, she'd seen such horror and corruption. She had been startled to discover that not a single human had much light...barely any compared to gaping holes of darkness. They weren't worth risking her life for. They weren't worth saving.
They were only worth a nine-to-five job and a nightly performance on stage. It brought a little light into their miserable lives and made them forget that this world was incredibly dark and depressing.
She scared of them? Humanity was evil and dark but as long as she didn't stick her neck out for them, they left her alone. No matter what preachers and newspapers said, people did not want to be saved.
They didn't want heroes or leaders. They just wanted to creep in the sludge and shadows, content to wallow in their sins and perversions.
Tandy cupped her chin, her head bowed. As long as she was a nobody, another normal worker, they would leave her alone. Mutant scares or not, most were too busy cheating on their spouses and abandoning their children to worry about a nondescript choreographer.
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Vulcan
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Posts: 63
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Post by Vulcan on Nov 19, 2007 12:41:44 GMT -5
He sat across from her and imeedaitely noted her silence. "I have struck a chord with you? " he said as he looked at her.
He ordered something to eat and then continued to look at her for a long moment. " I know our lives are never easy. Tandy. But it looks like you've seen more disappaointment than most. That's a shame too. I see such a bright light burning within you. It is a comfort to me to know that people such as you exist. " he again stopped and looked out the window for a long moment. he was thinking, or so it seemed.
"apathy is such a depressing emotion. It's better to hate something then to not care." It just came out of the blue from him. The strength of his convinction could be heard in his words as he looked back at her.
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