Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

Brief Title:
Wrong Place

Characters:
Ambrose, Elektra

Scene Runner/Watcher:

IC Date:
12/11/12

Location:
SoHo, New York

Summary:
Ambrose and Elektra meet by chance

Social or Plot:

TS:
No

Log:
Logfile from Marvel Movieverse - E
-----==[ SoHo and Tribeca - New York ]==--------------------------------------
This area has the reputation of being a quirky home for starving artists. The reputation is somewhat outdated; first SoHo, then TriBeCa, attracted artists, then galleries, then celebrities seeking to identify themselves with the artists, then people flocking to be seen with the celebrities, in a spiral of costs and gentrification. By now, though there are 250 art galleries in the space of one-fourth of a square mile, the artists themselves are by and large gone.
The architecture in SoHo is still unmistakable - Italianate, neo-Grecian, and Victorian Gothic structures decorated with wrought- and cast-iron. And the converted warehouses and factories still boast the expansive living spaces of their lofts; it's just that it's highly-paid professionals who can afford them, not the artists and sculptors who made them famous.

Ambrose was out here late at night. It was a chill breeze. Why anyone would be out here at this time of night nobody knew, but here Ambrose was, his hands tucked into his pockets, coat turned up against the cold as he stride feverishly along like a man on a mission.
He isn't alone, however. This part of SoHo has seen some excitement recently, of the sort that usually draws the curious. A black SUV rounds a corner and kills its headlights. Slowing, the driver eases it over to the curb and just rolls slowly. The big vehicle stops just short of an alleyway, motor running.

Ambrose tenses a little bit as he watches the car. Last time a car did that, there was a shootout. And Zombies. he unfortunately, had to walk nearer the car and turns too watch it cautiously out of the corner of his eyes as he passes it, oblivious to the slick ice he had just stepped on... until with a squeal he went down hard.

No sooner does Ambrose slip and go down, than a lot of things happen all at once. A man steps out of the alley, wearing a long coat and gloves against the cold. He's dressed a bit too well for this neighborhood, as well. To make matters worse, both rear doors on the SUV open a moment later and two large bruiser-types get out. One glances down at Ambrose and growls. "Outta da' way, alkie."

Ambrose sits up, blinking as suddenly he was surrounded. His eyes blink a few more times and he nods "Sorry. I'll just get out of your way... Alkie?? " he puffs, but doesnt argue. outnumbered at least physically, he wasnt going to argue as he pushed himself to his feet, tipping his hat as he started to carefully move to one side to avoid slipping further, unable to resist looking at each of their faces.

The guy from the alley is smoking, and he flicks the still-glowing butt in the general direction of the curb as the other two approach. Gesturing towards Ambrose with a gloved hand, he offers. "Friend, it looks like you picked the wrong street to walk down tonight. An' you already seen too much." A nod to the bruisers, and one reaches out to lay a heavy hand on Ambrose's shoulder. "Sorry 'bout this, pal." he offers.

"... Damn." remarks Ambrose simply as he stood there, his shoulder boney and tense under the mans'. He inhales sharply and shakily, before starting "can I get a drink of something before I go? I may as well go out a full and proud Alkie right? " he said shakily, not expecting to have his request filled.

The big guy could play professional football, and likely doesn't need to use any of the hardware that's bulging inside his cheap suit jacket. Before he can so much as reply, however, his hand is -jerked- away and he cries out in pain. Big as he is, the man's whole body is thrown hurled against the wall by the force of what looks like a small pitchfork that's stuck through his wrist, pinning him there. And as his partner turns to see what happened, he's hit by a woman-sized blur of white from across the street and slammed into the side of the SUV.

His head still down, Ambrose blinks in surprise as the hand lifts. He looks up, in time to see the man hurtling away. He stood, rooted to the spot for a long moment. But as the crash of the man hitting the SUV hits his ears, the former drunk turns to bolt, blindly in a random direction. Anywhere but HERE. "Like clockwork they are.." he mutters shakily, almost skidding on the ice again.

Elektra disables the guy against the SUV in about four seconds, hitting him with precisely placed nerve strikes. He slumps to the asphalt as the guy pinned to the wall fumbles for his gun. Drawing a pistol holstered under your left arm using only your left hand isn't easy under the best of circumstances, after all. A flick of the woman's wrist nails his left hand to the wall with a throwing spike as she half-rolls over the roof of the SUV. "Do not move." she instructs, maybe to Ambrose. Maybe to the guy who's turning to run back into the alley.

Uncertain whether or not Elektra was speaking to him, Ambrose skids to a halt - almost literally. He turns about to stare at the white-clad woman, then all about, before simply crouching where he was, making himself a smaller target, even while obeying. "There's one missing!" he called out, trying to be somewhat less than useless.

Elektra offers him a small smile as she sprints past, rounding the corner of a building into the alley in a flash of silks. There's gunfire. One shot, then two more in quick succession. A loud cry. The driver opens the door to get out of the SUV as Elektra steps out of the alley, then he changes his mind and gets back in again. He puts it into gear as she raises the gun taken from the alley. As the vehicle lurches forward, she shoots out both front tires and empties the rest of the mag into the radiator. Steam explodes from under the hood and the big SUV grinds to a stop.

Ambrose pulls his hat down as shots are fired. He watched, somewhat in shock now, eyes following it all. For once, he felt absolutely inadequate and useless, despite his intellect. As the last of the air hisses out of the tires, he stood carefully and remarked "... Th.. Thank you. Thank you very much." he noted to her, "Though that hardly describes how I truly feel.."

Elektra throws the gun away, stalking directly towards Ambrose now. The driver gets out of the ruined vehicle in a panic, and the woman takes a couple steps in his direction. A quick upward strike under the chin drops the man to the pavement, and she doesn't even break stride. "You are not with these men." she declares, stating the obvious. "So why are you here?"

Ambrose takes a step back, pulling his hat off and gripping it, rolling it back and forth in his hands as she approaches. His relief returns to anxiety at first, and he winces as the man drops. Holding the thin hat between the two, he stared a moment, and then stated 'I was walking by. I slipped on ice just in front of their car as they climbed out. They decided i saw too much and wished to have me uhm... you know... removed.' he explained awkwardly, shivering "I don’t know them and I don’t WANT to know them or what they were up to."

Elektra smiles a little at the explanation, nodding to him. "I won't hurt you unless you try something stupid." she declares. Heading over to the guy still pinned to the wall, she draws her sai roughly from his wrist and quickly flips the point around to his throat. It's pressed firmly against his flesh, but somehow doesn't draw blood. "Tell your boss the drop failed tonight. Tell him your contact didn't show."

"But what would..." he stops though as she walks away, then shakes his head as he just watches now, before pointedly looking away. He did see nothing, after all. The man shivered again, then paused, tensing as his eyes catch sight of something else down that alleyway "... Didn’t you knock out the other one? I just saw a shadow flash by."

Elektra turns to shoot Ambrose a -look-, then relieves the man of his pistol and pulls out the throwing spike. "Go. It's a long walk." Giving her a wary look, the bigger man almost considers doing something stupid. A glance at his downed partners, then towards the alley, he turns to go with some reluctance. Only when he's gone does Elektra turn back to Ambrose. "And yes, the man in the alley was their contact. But he was stupid. I expect the police will be arriving shortly, as well. I dialed 911 on his cell phone."

Ambrose erps and pales under the look indeed, and glances instead into his hat, his lips thinning as he falls silent entirely. Then he nods at his words "... was that something stupid? " he asked in a soft voice, raising both eyebrows. "And you did? That... that is good." a pause "I should perhaps, depart promptly as well then... I don’t think I want to be on record of having actually seen this."

Elektra smiles softly, regarding Ambrose more closely now. "It really doesn't matter whether you did or didn't. Stay if you want to talk to the police, or leave quickly if you don't. But expect that if you tell them about me, they won't believe you. I'm supposed to be dead, you see."
Ambrose blinks "Ah. You look very good for a dead woman then." he remarks, his mind automating to 'stating the obvious' which it often did in these situations. "I owe you my life very much, even if it isn’t much of a life. Thank you."

With a soft *sching*, the woman slips the sai away into silks wrapping her thigh. There's another on her other leg, he'd notice. Inclining her head to him almost formally, she offers. "I'm Elektra, and I will be watching this neighborhood. There will be more like these returning, so watch yourself." She pauses, then adds. "And you may not want to look into the alley."

"Noted. And uh... very much noted, thanks." remarks the thin man, tipping his hat "I don’t usually come this way. I think I've been reminded why." he heard sirens approaching, and bit his lip "do take care then? And again, thank you... " a pause. He wanted to say something about owing, but well, what could a drunk do? He instead then, turns to depart.

"Thank you as well." she replies. The woman doesn't bring up anything about him owing her either, but he's definitely on her radar now. For better or for worse. When he turns to depart, she does the patented 'ninja-vanish' trick, and disappears back into the shadows.

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