Whistling in the Dark (IC)

[rpgronin]

Shuffling awkwardly in place, Noah eyeballed the unconscious thug just a little longer before pulling his own phone out, flipping it open to examine the time. The digital display remained as faithful as ever, and with ample time to spare before he felt it too risky to be out, Momentum stuffed the device right back into his jean pocket before returning to the odd-ball assemblage present atop the shoe store's roof.

"If that's, like, an open invitation or whatever, I'd be game I guess." the boy spurts out, fidgeting slightly as he does so. "I mean, if you guys don't mind me tagging along and stuff. Not like I have anything better to do, y'know?"

[tryrar]

After a quick call to the cops, sirens could be heard a couple minutes later, and a patrol car not long after. It didn't take long for the officers to spot the moaning man of the ground. "Well, I think that is that. I sure hope he enjoys 5 to 9."

He turns to the group. "Sure, I wouldn't mind a tour. It is always good to get to know an area you don't visit often, since you would never know when you might need to come back here..."

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel nodded as each person affirmed their desire for a "tour". He rose a bit higher into the air, and began to move fairly slowly towards the next building.

"This is actually one of the more active streets in Southside; we're currently on Shelly Street. Plenty of shops up and down this street. We'll go for a few blocks before we take any turns. Keep your eyes open for anything suspicious, and take note of some of the side streets."

With that, he increased his speed a bit, still making sure the others can keep up.

[Electra]

Erin lingered on the first roof till she was sure that Momentum was going to be able to keep up and hadn't climbed up to this roof from the ground or something like that, then leapt after him and the others from rooftop to rooftop as they crossed the district. She listened carefully to what Gabriel was saying, not actually taking notes, but making mental notes for things to write down later. At this point, it would've been a little embarrassing to take out the maps she had stashed in her pocket. She'd remember the high points, she was sure. And with as many heroes as Southside appeared to have guarding it, she might not have to visit often anyway.

[rpgronin]

With the tour under way, Momentum sprung along with the white-clad aficionado, lingering only slightly longer than was probably necessary as he soared gently through the crisp autumn air. This was kind of nice, the boy thought, simply following along with the trio of more experienced heroes, careful to keep his pace somewhere between that of the leading man and the girl who couldn't be much older than he himself way behind. If nothing else, it was at least a pleasant change of pace from the terrible dinosaur-and-inferno filled week he'd been having thus far, and - in some sense - was wholly willing to submit to the authority of the adult figures... at least temporarily.

He wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings, however, as he'd so plainly been instructed to do, only occasionally glancing down some deserted alleyway or side-street as he rose and fell with each leap.The boy in the red hoodie seemed perfectly fine to just bounce along and play follow-the-leader, taking the opportunity to idly observe the ensemble cast as they went curiously on how they carried themselves.

[tryrar]

As Dyne floated beside Gabriel he made a note to get a PDA specifically for this: taking notes of crime areas he needed to be aware about. For now, though, he made mental notes of what the man was saying, and would write them down later.

As they continued down the block, he noticed Momentum being rather quiet. He slowed his pace to bring him even with the speedster. "So, has your week gotten any better? I know it has been a pretty interesting one, what with an inferno man and a clutch of prehistoric raptors."

[rpgronin]

"Dude, no!" Momentum retorted sharply as the question escaped the inky shadow's mouth, still at the crest of his rise. "After you've been beaten up and bitten by things you didn't know could even exist, your week really doesn't get better." He wasn't angry at the inquiry, but was still a little flustered by all the hullabaloo that had transpired in such a short stint of time. Touching down on another building and bouncing skywards again to keep up with Gabriel

"I've still got bruises and stuff, y'know? My week's totally sucked. Hard." Noah sighed, hood whipping gently as he coasted aerially. "How you guys can, like, deal with all these strange things and stuff totally blows my mind. It's like Freedom City's some kind of giant weirdo-magnet." he prattled on, practically calling the kettle black as he continued along.

[KnightDisciple]

The group hit the street where Gabriel had said they would turn, and went north.

"We're going to hit the nastiest part of town first. This part of Southside eventually runs into the Boardwalk. It has all the criminals and none of the class, unfortunately. I probably see the most work in this part of the area."

Indeed, the further north they went, the worse things seemed to get. Further to the north, they could see the glow of the various casinos and nightclubs hosted on Boardwalk.

The worst part is, half the people pulling off crimes in this area are either kids, or desperate. Often both."

The others can easily hear the sorrow that leaks into the white-clad hero's voice.

[Electra]

"Why do you think Freedom City's got so many heroes?" Wander asked Momentum, a wry half-smile on her face. "We may patrol the streets at night for muggers and car thieves, but that's not what keeps us in business. Freedom City's always gotten more than its share of weirdness and nasty, scary stuff. It needs a lot of heroes to protect it. It's also the best place to learn. Sharp learning curve, though." Her grin was sympathetic, even as she leapt ahead to catch up with Gabriel.

"Well there are programs and stuff set up, aren't there?" she asked the older hero, keeping pace with him from the rooftops. "They could get help without turning to crime, if they wanted to."

[tryrar]

Dyne smiles at Wander(not that you could tell he was smiling). I couldn't have put it better myself, young lady." He turns back to Momentum. "Hey Momentum, can I talk to you for a second? It's about something that came up from the incident in the park the other day." He tries to make himself as non-threatening as possible, since he knows Momentum might not like what he's about to say...

[rpgronin]

"I guess," Momentum hummed out, still bouncing along like some sort of aerial slinky as he followed along behind the others, conceding to Wander's thoughts on why Freedom City was such a freaky mess. It could arguably be worse, he supposed, but that wasn't exactly a line of thought he wanted to dwell on.

It was kind of odd listening to Gabriel talk about crime in Southside being perpetrated by children. The concept itself was hard for Noah to grasp, having never been on the receiving end of a Hard-Knock Life, but it left a nigh-tangible taste in his mouth he couldn't quite swallow. Sure, this part of Freedom City wasn't exactly Midtown, but it wasn't that bad... was it? Again, his perceptions on such things were rather skewed, and he fumbled with what would drive an adolescent to crime.

His train of thought was interrupted, however, as Dyne so crassly demanded an audience.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Sure. What's up?"

[tryrar]

"Let's see... I cannot think of any way to bring this up without sounding like a complete and utter ass, so I guess I'll just get to the point." He lowers his voice so only Momentum can hear him. "Well, simply put, I wanted to talk to you about the need for putting on a costume BEFORE diving into the fray, though I do think trying to pull Wesley out of danger was pretty brave, since a hero's first job is saving lives." He smiles sardonically. "It's just, well, you never know what an observant person might notice if you aren't careful."

[KnightDisciple]

"Yes and no. There are programs. Probably enough programs, and strong enough programs, to help them all. The problem is, it's still hard to get that help. Paperwork. Red tape. Bureaucracy. And of course, pressure from peers to instead join gangs and turn to crime. That especially applies to the younger criminals. They have a friend in a gang, so they join. It can often end up being a cycle.

The older ones that are desperate might have addictions that make it harder to get legitimate help. Or maybe the system just lets them down. Humans are flawed, temporal creatures. We mess up. A lot."

Gabriel shrugs his shoulders as he flies.

"Add the shadow of the mob and things like protection rackets, and you get this area."

They turned west on the street that was just a block south of the "border" between Southside and Boardwalk. Gabriel stopped the tour for a moment on the roof of an old apartment building that had seen better years.

"I think things are starting to turn around here and there. Efforts from all over are improving the area. But it takes time. And some of the people here don't feel like they have that time."

[rpgronin]

"Oh, god! Does he know? He totally knows!"

Swallowing a creeping sense of distress in his throat, Momentum looks away and towards the pair further ahead discussing adolescent crime in Southside.

"Dunno, like, what you're talking about, guy." he lied through his teeth, adamant on denying his flub from earlier in his not-so-flamboyant career. "I just... happened to show up at the right time. And get turned into a fish. Nothing out of the ordinary or, like, whatever!" Momentum prattles, pandering to his erstwhile elderly counterpart as he bounces off of another rooftop.

"Change the subject, change the subject..."

"So... uh..." Noah begins, struggling to find the words he needed as he redirected the conversation towards Gabriel and the mysterious Wander. "If there's, like, such a big mob-thing going on in Southside, why doesn't someone just shut it down and stuff?"

[tryrar]

Dyne acknowledges the sudden denial and change of subject, adding a "Fair enough" to Momentum, and drops the matter, thinking Momentum got the point, and not wanting to embarrass the young hero any further. He turns his attention back to the topic of the gangs and violence in Southside.

[Electra]

"But if they choose the gangs, that's a choice they make," Wander pointed out. "Hopefully after they get busted, they'll make better ones." She was aware she probably sounded heartless, but it was tough to feel sympathy for people who chose crime when there were other options available. There were certainly worse hands to be dealt in life. "What do you look for specifically in this area?" she asked. "Specific colors, specific hangouts or hot spots? Are there any supervillains headquartered around here?" she asked Gabriel.

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel floated there, silent, for several long moments.

"It is there choice. And I believe they have to pay the consequences. Doesn't mean I have to like it when I see a kid who should be excited about his brand new driver's license and his first date with that pretty girl in the second row in class waving a knife and gun at someone for spare change."

He scanned around, trying to spot any tell-tales. He quickly saw a few, though no crimes in progress.

"Groups of people of similar age moving as one. Sometimes, like those guys down there, they split to two sides of the street. Gives them better coverage. They never go solo if they're gang members. Always at least two, typically three. The gangs seem to keep shifting, but if you notice uniformity of dress, or an armband or hat or some such all of the same color, that's a sign. Body language is another sign; predators tend to stick out, even unsure, amateur ones.

This area is one of the "hot spots". Most major roads will have at least a few shops and such, which means prime robbery attempts. 4 blocks further west are a few old warehouses and industrial-type buildings; none of them are inhabited, officially. Unofficially, they're prime real estate. I try to scope them out every so often, but I have to be careful."

He turns and gives her a humorless smile.

"I'm not bulletproof, so I try not to take large groups on solo. I can typically pick them off when they're in groups of 6 or less, though.

As for supervillains, none that I know of. I tend to focus on more mundane crime, though. I have had a couple more...unique...encounters, but those have been a kind of "one-off" event. I haven't graduated to "weekly supervillain fights" quite yet."

He slowly starts moving again.

"Come on, I'll show you the "hangouts" I was talking about."

[rpgronin]

Continuing his peppy series of bounds and leaps as he left a vibrant streak of red through the night air, Momentum kept pace as best he could with Gabriel and Wander, whilst reining in his own bounds enough so that Dyne wasn't left in the dust. This Gabriel guy apparently knew what he was talking about; or at least sounded like he knew what he was preaching. Really, Noah was rather surprised to hear Southside was so rife with crime. It's Wander's bleak words though that catch his attention, and Momentum falls silent as he dwells on what she said.

"That's kinda harsh." the ever-optimistic boy in the red hoodie hummed out to Wander from behind, springing off of another building with a well-timed kinetic burst. "I mean, I'm not saying to just let em' go or whatever if they did something wrong, but if they're just kids, don't you think they at least deserve a chance to, like, change their ways and stuff before you lock em' up? I'm not really familiar with how they do stuff in jail, but I mean, doesn't that stuff go on your criminal record? Sounds like that'd kinda suck if everyone was judging you based on junk you did when you weren't even old enough to vote."

[Electra]

"If someone shoots you with a gun, does it matter to your body how old that person was?" Wander asked Momentum as they leapt together through the air. "You're just as hurt or as dead. People who are young have to make hard choices all the time, right?" She shrugged, not missing a beat. "I'm not old enough to vote either, does that mean that my choice to put my life on the line and be a hero isn't as valid or doesn't do as much as it would if I were older? Make the punishment fit the crime, sure, but I have a hard time feeling sorry for someone who lives in Freedom City, of all places, and decides they aren't going to do any better than being a thug. There's no excuse for that, no matter how old they are."

[rpgronin]

Almost reflexively, Noah opens his mouth to defend his point of view with reckless abandon against Wander's stark, almost frigid disposition towards young criminals. Even as he bounded again to keep his pace, his mouth hung agape, mind afire with how to rebut the callous claims Wander made.

"I... but... you..." he stammered, unable to conjure a suitable argument against the woman's sentiments despite his own - perhaps somewhat optimistically naive - opinions. It was as if his brain had leapt from its cranial confines and splattered itself all over a brick wall, ceasing its cognitive abilities forevermore.

"You don't really think that... do you?" Momentum finally asked, his voice sheepish and cowed in the wake of Wander's own statements. "I mean, not even a little, y'know, pity or whatever? Maybe they just got a bad hand at life... or something..."

[Electra]

"Bad things happen to people," Wander said flatly. "That's never going to change. Your 'bad hand' is always relative to someone else's bad hand. In Freedom City, we've got a working government, clean water, decent air, schools, hospitals, shelters and an entire city full of superheroes who make it their life's work to help people. Where's the bad hand there, compared to, say, Somalia? Or the Terminus? Why shouldn't we expect everyone privileged enough to live in Freedom City Prime to at least try and do the right thing?" She paused for a moment to look down at the street, keeping an eye on a small group of mingling people till she decided it was harmless. "I'm not saying that no one ever commits a crime from desperation. I'm saying nobody in this town has no choice but to become a gangbanger or a career criminal."

[tryrar]

Dyne could only shake his head at that. What had happened to this young lady to turn her so cynical?

"There are no 'good' and 'bad' people. There are just people who made 'good' or 'bad' choices. They're still human beings! I think they can still be saved! Call me naive, or an optimistic fool if you want, but I believe people can change, if you give them a chance. I've seen it myself; give someone a chance, and they can really surprise you."

[KnightDisciple]

"We cannot be too quick to pass judgment on the quality of the choices of an individual, without knowing all of the factors in that choice. Just saying "they committed a crime" does not absolve us of the necessity of human empathy. You mention how Freedom City is such a wonderful place. After all, we have so many heroes, yes?"

He waved an arm at the crumbling building around them as they moved on.

"And yet, we have places like this. The people that live her scrape by on little, and their homes crumble around them. Superheroes help people. But we can't help everyone at the same time. People slip through the cracks. So while these people may, in totality, have choices beyond crime, it is not inconceivable that they perceive crime as their only choice."

He is silent for moments.

"It is why I try to encourage at least some of the punishment of young people to end up as community service. I think such a thing gives young people perspective.

As for someone your age risking your life..."

He turns to look back at Wander, giving her a wan smile.

"A part of me would rather see you not doing so. But I cannot fully speak out against those who feel the burning desire to aid their fellow man, when they've been blessed, one way or another, with powers and skills. And does it not make sense that we should rejoice in the positive choices of teenagers, even as we mourn the negative choices? I feel it only proper to do so."

[Electra]

Wander watched the two adults as they spoke, cocking her head and taking it in. "Yeah, but you let that robber get arrested," she pointed out. "Because he was breaking the law, not because you found out that he was doing it to support his drug habit and not to feed his family, right?" She shrugged. "As long as we put the bad guys where they can't hurt anyone and then let the courts sort out who they feel sorry for, I think we're all on the same page anyway. All I'm saying is that people use their bad hand to explain their bad choices, and don't take into account how lucky they actually are, most of the time. Now why is this place we're going to the biggest hotspot around here?" she asked Gabriel.

[tryrar]

Dyne smiles ruefully at that. "I didn't mean to the point of completely ignoring the laws of this country, and the justice system. My older sister's a cop here, and she'd smack me upside the head with a brick if I let that happen! And if we let that happen, that's the road to complete anarchy. All I'm saying is that we should expect the best in people. Even though they may prove us wrong, always expect that deep down, there is a shred of kindness in someone, even if they have forgotten it. All it takes is the right circumstances to bring it out." You could hear the conviction in Dyne's voice about his belief in a basic decency of humanity. He turns back to Gabriel and awaits the answer to Wander's question.