Lovely Weather We're Having [Open]

Ares successfully grabbed Alicia but she remained unconscious, her ice shard wound starting to bleed out messily.   The cold weather was preventing her blood from clotting and exasperating the wound.  The amount of blood she was loosing made a strong case for the “she isn’t a metahuman” theory.    

Alicia’s possessions remained strewn about the light barrier, including several false IDs, a smartphone, some bags of crisps, a flashlight and a now rather soggy wad of cash.  Everything inside the Van, including the rest of Alicia’s possessions and important things like the steering wheel, had been pummelled into oblivion.  If the van had any value now, it was as scrap.

Ares stood on the construct over the girl who was unconscious. The other girl wanted to take her to a "friend" who could give her medical attention. He squinted, not sure if he trusted this girl, who was trying to immobilize the injured woman. Ares ruffled through her positions, and picked up the smartphone.  He examined it but put it down sense he didn't know her code.

He rifled through her stuff, trying to find something to identify her by. He turned to the other girl. "Fine, but I'm coming." he said, then ran his hand along his knife, "Don't try anything stupid." He said menacingly.

"Well then." Danny eyed the knife being stroked gently. "We need to get her somewhere so she won't bleed out, otherwise I would not respond well to that little knife thing you're doing." While the blood continued to pour onto the street, Danny made good use of some first aid to apply pressure to the wound with a turquoise construct. At least the blood couldn't get out and the icicle would melt. "Maybe the icicle is the best and worst murder weapon. Okay, so you're big. Can you carry her without dropping her or do I need to?"

Even thought the blizzard stopped, the path to safety would be less than a walk in the park. Danny needed nothing from the van, so leaving it behind meant nothing to her. In the end it would just be something she would need to carry. The travel would take a few blocks, but Danny called ahead, so Mitsuko should be just about ready to see the patient.

The clothing boutique remained fully stocked with the latest fashions Mitsuko made, but it also held one very important piece element to the survival of Alicia: Mitsuko. When Danny found the door locked, she merely pried the door open with a turquoise bar. A key would suffice too, but this sent a better message to why Mitsuko should unlock the door when Danny said she was on her way ASAP. "Mitsy, do you have bandages made!"

"Hold on. I just got here and its cold outside." The low whine of Mitsuko's voice traveled from the back room. "I had to drive and I just got back from Italy and-"

"Mitsy, someone is bleeding out here."

"Not on the clothes I hope!" Appearing out of the backroom stepped a small Okinawan carry a bolt of specialty clothing. After Mitsuko wrapped the leg, the healing property of the material would begin to close the wound and mend the torn ligaments and damaged bone. How long it would take Alicia to regain consciousness still remained up in the air, but Danny kept the bindings on Alicia's feet just in case she repaid the medical expenses with running away.

Mitsuko looked up and down Ares and his apparel. "I carry men's clothes."

Ares found four separate driving licences all with Alicia’s photo on them.  Two licenses were for the UK and had the names Alicia Coale and Sara Stevens respectively.  The other two licenses were for the US and bore the names Rebecca Hyde and Whitney Parker.

Alicia remained unconscious for the duration of the trip and through the bandaging but stirred slightly following it.  She was still unconscious, but the colour had returned to her cheeks and it now seemed more like she was sleeping.   Not that anyone could see her cheeks with the gas mask in the way.

Ares chuckled at the womans response. She clearly didn't like him and the feeling was mutual, but as much as he wanted to put her powers to the test, they had more pressing matters at the moment. He followed along to the little shop full of clothers, while the woman called out her friend, a short asian woman from some back room.

He continued to look through the unconcious ones belongings, trying to identify real from fake when the asian woman addressed his attire. He sneered, but it couldn't be seen from under the mask. "I'll..keep that in mind.." he muttered, casting a withering glance around the shop before placing the various ID's next to the unconcious girl. She was a mystery. A stolen weather machine, a gas mask, various ID's...he didn't know what to think of her.

"So.." He began, addressing magic girl, "Gas masks, weather machines, and fake ID's... what do you think she's hiding?"

"I'm going to chalk it to 'bad'. At least we have a full name for her. Too bad there's no telling if it's her real name. I think I'll stick with Alicia for now, but let's pull this mask off." Danny reached down to pry the mask off, hoping no booby trap would spring as she began to pull it off. The sound of her new partner remained close to her. "I think she's in good condition. Just sleeping this cold off. Can you go get a blanket? Let's warm her up and maybe she'll wake up. I can decide what we do with her next." Keeping Alicia away from the new comer bounty hunter remained high on Danny's priorities, but she also needed to know more about this corporation Alicia got herself mixed up with.

The weather outside did not feel as dreadful as before. Rain water still filled most of the gutters in a deluge, but when you summon the wrath of a weather machine, that will happen. The heater inside continued to work on full blast to help thaw the frozen popsicles who made their way in from outside. All Danny needed was a small show of life from Alicia before she would explain why she tied her legs up.

Ares couldn’t get a whole lot more out of examining Alicia’s possessions, apart from the fact that this girl clearly liked crisps. Nevertheless having brought them along would probably score him some brownie points. Nobody likes having their stuff left abandoned outside in the snow.

As Danny attempted to remove the gas mask it quickly became obvious that it wasn’t booby trapped at all. In fact it was quite boring and normal. It looked like it might have a little bit of extra tech fitted to the lenses but simple leather straps were all that was keeping it on her face. Unfortunately those straps were fiddly and excessively numerous so removing the mask was taking longer then expected. In fact it looked like some of the straps had been added post-manufacture, apparently whoever altered it really didn’t want it easily removed.

Alicia roused startled as Danny was fiddling with the straps, but quickly calmed down. She helped Danny finish removing the mask.

“My leg, is it…?” She quickly looked down to her leg, surprised to see it in such a good state. She let out a sigh of relief… then looked a little concerned.

“Not really getting good vibes from the whole being restrained thing… But I guess I do owe you an explanation” she admitted, still getting her bearings.

She pushed herself back a bit where she lay so she could be upright.

“I can’t believe I fainted, what a wimp, still not used to blood. Hey my leg actually feels really good all things considered… What was I saying? Oh right, explanation...”

“Ok so I may have… drugged you, a little bit… I’m really sorry about it! You seem really nice, but I really don’t want to go to jail. Though, given we’re in a… is this a clothes shop? Anyway given I’m not in a hospital right now I guess I misjudged you. So I’ll level with you. Yes, I’ve broken a lot of laws. But everything I’ve done I’ve done for the right reasons; the law doesn’t work, not for us little people. All I’ve done is stolen from a bunch of companies that frankly deserve it through affiliation. Sure I drugged a few people doing it… all right a lot of people. But there are no long-term side effects, they were fine. And it sure beats violence if you ask me.” She glanced over to Ares and his many weapons as she finished speaking.

Ares listened to the woman, whom they were calling Alicia, and shrugged at the final comment. He could understand having a vendetta, and it's not like he was a model citizen by any stretch of the imagination.  Besides, he knew a killer, he was one after all, and this woman was no killer.

He turned to the other woman. "Seems...honest enough. But," he turned back to her "Who'd you steal from?" He asked, before looking outside. "The weathers calmed now, those cops should be out again soon."

"So you aren't going to jail." While starting with the good news worked, the realization Alicia would not lose her leg probably kept her pretty warm inside. "But, I do need to take a record of what happened and will need to look into this corporation you stole from." Once the heater kicked in and everyone stopped looking at each other like a deathmatch, the tension really just melted away. Or maybe Danny was just warm for the first time in three hours. "Yeah, the police will probably be after you, so we might need to hide you under identity protection- not because I condone stealing." Coming to a store full of clothing did a very good job of putting a new disguise front and center. "Mitsy can get you a new outfit, probably something that isn't your style to throw people off. Mitsy, where-"

"Here." The small frame of Mitsuko peeked around Ares with her measuring tape around her neck, pushing a few articles of clothing into his arms. Mitsuko prepared a nice assortment of skirts, scarves, and jackets for Ares to try on. "I took your measurements when you weren't watching."

"Mitsy, she's nice to not look like herself so the cops don't recognize her."

"Tell me what you don't like and I'll get it for you."

Alicia addressed Ares and Danny’s queries simultaneously.

“I stole from the Makeli group which is a fortune five-hundred conglomerate, so a corporation made out of a whole bunch of corporations. Well technically I stole from Bronze electronics, a subsidiary, but the leaves don’t fall too far from the tree.”

She took a breath “Long story short, Makeli have abducted my father but I can’t prove it. They’re developing some, technically legal to research, but nevertheless shady things and they think he can help. So I’m breaking in one R&D department at a time to track him down. And if I can set their progress back a little whilst I’m there by nabbing things and selling them for a tidy profit, well it would be criminal not to. This little war of mine isn’t cheap to run.” She says with a smirk.

Alicia jumped as Mitsuko re-emerged, having somehow not noticed her presence up until this point.

“Oh and thanks, all of you...” She said awkwardly, figuring it was overdue. Before the matter of her clothes was raised.

“Well I was wearing my mask the whole chase so I wouldn’t worry too much but I guess you’re right, I should at least change clothes.“ She sighs at the last question/statement “I’ve never been keen on pastel or bright colours or anything too loud and I’m more of a trousers kind of girl. I don’t have a lot of money for new clothes… but I had a wad of cash somewhere if one of you picked it up.”

He listened to the woman's story, which was interesting to say the least. He looked to the other woman, to see how she was reacting to this. He couldn't help but wonder how long this woman would survive like this. She seemed relatively unarmed, and what she did have didn't seem lethal, and from what he could tell from the way she carried herself, she couldn't be too experienced at this.

Ares looked annoyed, at the girl offering him clothes., not liking the interruption. But he figured the cops would recognize him like this (he was a wanted mercenary after all) so he decided to change. "So you're trying to take down a big corporation, because they kidnapped your dad.." he said out loud, thinking it over. He finally shrugged and nodded. "Seems..plausible..but if you've been doing this, going around breaking into their departments, they've probably caught on, and are running you in circles." he said, "Take it from someone who'd know, wanna stick it to the big guys, don't leave anything they've built standing.." This was more than he'd talked the entire time, but he could understand the woman's vendetta, it was similar to his own in some ways.

"Trust me, it's kill or be killed." he said, before walking towards the backroom the Asian woman had come from, to change out of his suit. He put her things on the table first, and gave a quick glance out of the window before heading to change.

Once the starting of an outfit began to come together, Danny picked up on the advice Ares passed on to Alicia. "Or, instead of what he's saying, you could try to do this the right way. Have you found any information in hard detail about their wrong doing to bring to light?" It was worth a shot. Before burning everything to the ground became an option, better to try and use finesse.

"I got you a pink wool hat, a green sweater, black tights and a pink skirt." Mitsuko shoved the stack of clothing into Alicia. "It feels like you would never want to wear this."

"That's a pretty interesting way of dealing with staying incognito." Danny let Alicia have her clothes while watching as Ares left. "I think a more subtle approach is better, especially since I don't think you're really a 'kill or be killed' looking girl. By the way, what was that thing you drugged me with." Danny let the bindings around Alicia's legs dissipate. "And you're still in my custody by the way."

Alicia considers what Ares is saying but her interest turns dismissive towards his closing statements.

“I’m all for property damage but I won’t blow up buildings, largely because it would kill people, which is another thing I won’t do. The people in my way are mostly just security personnel, people just doing their job; they don’t deserve to die just because they want to feed their families. Most of them probably think their employer is 100% legit, hell, my dad certainly did.” Alicia retorts, a little offended by any implication that she should be killing.

She turns her attention back to Danny.

“I’ve got no evidence or concrete information or I would have used it by now, just theories, I’ve been looking out for something solid but they’re smart. Even that weather machine was perfectly legal if you think about it, after all I’m the one who set it loose on New York not them…. Huh…” She pauses to think back to what Ares said.

“Maybe they wanted me to take that, so they could field test without blame.” Her thoughts are interrupted by Mitsuko’s gift. She examines the outfit, her distaste visible. She continues to stare it down as her legs are freed, as if she could somehow coerce it into being less pink.

“Yeah, your right, I would never want to wear this.” She says with a resigned sigh as she carries the clothing off to a changing room.

She shouts back to Danny from the changing room.
“Just something my dad came up with, synthesised by yours truly. Don’t worry you’ll be clear of any effects by now. How long are you planning on keeping me captive? Not that I’m complaining: I was living in that now wrecked Van and you guys apparently left all my cash in the snow. So I’d welcome a place to stay, optional or not.“

Ares returned, dressed in his jeans, a gray shirt, and a leather jacket. He shrugged "I've been to war before. Killed many soldiers who were just," he gave air quotes "Doing their jobs. . He returned his costume to his bag and flung it over his shoulder. "Wasn't fun. But it was necessary to keep the people I "was responsible for safe. He looked at both of them seriously. "See people like you, the clean ones who got no blood in your hands, judge. But when the time comes when it's someone you love, and the guy who's just doing his job, I'll bet your morals and self righteousness get pretty flexible."

Ares thought the situation over. "So say you find something illegal, something big. And you report it to the police. 1. You're a wanted thief now it seems, that's gotta hurt credibility. 2. It's s major corporation with major corporations money. Legal trouble isn't much when you can afford the lawyers." looking at them skeptically.

"So you don't like killing? Good. You and me will work out just fine." The assortment of clothes Mitsuko picked out would draw attention to Alicia, but not in a good way. "Don't think of it as captive. Think of it like a partnership but one of us is forced to be there, kinda like one of those cop movies where the criminal is handcuffed to the cop and they have to solve a mystery or something. Hopefully it won't be so literal, but I can't let you get out of my sight or it will look really bad, and I'm pretty sure cops will leave you alone, but I'm not wanting to test that hypothesis if I don't need to."

A newly dressed Ares reached the rest of the group in their discussion. "Well, I helped diffuse a hostile civil war in Belarus without breaking morals, so maybe you just weren't looking hard enough." Once Alicia returned, Danny could begin to formulate what her next course of action would be, but for now, she needed more help with getting inside this corporation. "Lawyers aren't exclusive to one set of rich people and it isn't always the end of the fight going to court. A lot of times it's just the first portion of gathering information."

"Do you need to look different Danny?" Mitsuko began to put her tools up, assuming Danny would be fine.

"Nope, unlike these two, I'm actually a hero, but I do want that skirt you have displayed." The snow began to melt along the sidewalks, turning the weather back into a brisk Winter day instead of a snowglobe. "Alicia, you and me may be going to California for a bit. We will need a little more help to really unravel what companies we need to investigate and which ones are harmless."

There’s an unusual amount of metallic noises and adjustment noises from the changing room before Alicia returns changed.

“Not a word.” She says to everyone, clearly a little embarrassed by her new attire.  

Having heard whilst changing, she promptly addresses Ares’ statement.  “Maybe your right.  But fortunately I’ve put myself in a position where incapacitating is physically easier then killing.  You see I intend to avoid that choice.  As for finding something to use against Makeli, that’s a constellation prize, if I can’t use it against them then I’ll get over it.  I’ll settle for just getting my dad back.”  

She raises her brows at Danny’s final statement. “Wow, didn’t really expect a stranger to be rushing into my battles like this.  I’ll need to make some stops on the way, but sure, tell me more.”  

She pokes curiously at her dressed wound, visibly perplexed to why its healing so fast.  She then looks up having realised something.

"Shit, I never even asked your names."