Xaviers!

Maldon isn't a hotbed of criminal activity. Still, the nights have seemed darker of late and the shadows longer and deeper. Some people have started to hurry along the streets after dark, intent on getting to their location and ignoring the things that happen in the small, dark alleys. Even the police seem less inclined to actually get out and walk, staying in their cars as they slowly patrol the streets. Just the sort of void that a couple of enterprising blond crime fighters might be looking to fill.

"I still say we shoulda headed to London. There's always somebody trying something there." Nailah says as she glides through the air about a hundred feet above the town. She's wearing her white and gold superhero costume, complete with pointless white domino mask.

Haley had gotten really into this idea of a crime fighting duo and had managed to come up with her own domino mask, and fashioned her own outfit out of a mostly black, form-fitting Underarmour long-sleeved shirt and pants. She flew alongside Nailah, looking around for signs of trouble below "Yeah, but there's been all sorts of weird shit going on right here too...and it was easier to get my phone to tune into the Maldon police scanner."

An older man walks down the sidewalk, seemingly unafraid. About a block behind him, several individuals in hoodies seem to be following him.

"Ooh, possible ruffians up ahead, 2 o'clock." Nailah says, pointing in the direction of the group.

"Why don't we set down on that rooftop over there," Haley pointed. "Should probably wait to pounce until they make more of a move."

The hoodies continue to follow the older man, drawing closer as he starts to round a corner.

"Do we wait longer for them to screw up, or pay them a pre-...emptive? Is that the word? ...visit!"

"Well we don't want him to get hurt but they haven't technically done anything wrong yet, I guess..." Nailah says, crouched down next to Haley and peering over the edge of the building.

All but one of the hoodies continue following the man around the corner, but that one stops and begins looking around. He occasionally looks up, but doesn't appear to have seen the blond duo yet.

"...well, I mean, I guess I could take a peek in their brains and see what they're planning," she said quietly, closing her eyes and reaching out with her mind to skim the thoughts of the one stopping.

Mostly, he thought he'd heard something and that was foremost in his thoughts. He also has an urge to catch up with the others, because they're probably going to need him to deal with the old man. He shrugs and moves to catch up, though he's still a ways behind.

"They're totally planning some shit," she said her eyes snapping open. "Should we just drop down and distract them?"

"Yeah... that's probably easiest." she says, although she sounds vaguely disappointed. "Alright, let's go." she says and hops over the edge of the roof, wings snapping open to break her fall and glide her towards the alley.

As they began to go down, two of the guys caught up to the old man, ushering him into the alley as the others moved to catch up with them. It certainly looked like they were going to beat him up.

Haley landed in a three point stance not far from the thugs and rose slowly to her full, well, unimposing almost five foot height.

"Howdy y'all," she smirked. "I don't think this gentleman wants to hang out with you guys in this dark alley. But boy would we love to,"

Meanwhile Nailah swoops into the alley proper, trying to catch up to the two hurrying the old man along. When she's above them she folds her wings in for long enough to pirouette in mid-air before opening her wings again with a snap to break her fall, going for the graceful slowly-landing-on-her-tip-toes descent.

"These guys giving you any trouble, sir?" she asks, keeping her eyes fixed on the presumed thugs with a grin.

Several of the guys in the back turn to look at Haley, confused by the grandstanding of the tiny young woman (and possibly where exactly she came from).

The old man's eyes go wide and he stammers, "Wa'abu alhul!"

The two guys harassing him look at Nailah with open contempt. "Piss off, love. This isn't any of your concern." His words try to weave around Nailah's mind, trying to make her think that this really might not be any of her business.

"Well... I mean... he doesn't look very happy about the whole situation..." she says hesitatingly. Did they misjudge the situation after all?

Haley looked at her partner with a bit of disbelief, "Sphinx, the hell are you talking about?"

"Sir, do you need help?" she spoke to the old man telepathically, trying to see if his nonsense words were being caused by something noticeable.

Haley catches a hint of realization from the man's mind before he extends a hand quickly towards Nailah and says a few words that resonate with energy. Nailah's mind suddenly clears and one of the hoods punches the old man in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain.

Haley's attention is snatched quickly back to one of the guys she's confronting as he makes a gesture with his hands and a bolt of inky blackness is hurled her way.

"What the... You!" Nailah's eyes narrow on one of the thugs and she springs forward to sock him right in the mouth before he can say any more mind-muddling things.

Haley's eyes widened as the bolt came flying at her, and she shoved her hand out in front of her, a plane of telekinetic energy forming a giant tower shield in front of her to block the attack. "Wrong move, asshole." She sent the shield ramming forward, trying to bowl over the thugs.

Nailah Weaver wrote:"What the... You!" Nailah's eyes narrow on one of the thugs and she springs forward to sock him right in the mouth before he can say any more mind-muddling things.

It was a good thing as he appears to be in the process of saying something else when her blow cuts him short. His buddy moves to help him, swinging with a hard punch at Nailah's head.

Haley Crusek wrote:Haley's eyes widened as the bolt came flying at her, and she shoved her hand out in front of her, a plane of telekinetic energy forming a giant tower shield in front of her to block the attack. "Wrong move, asshole." She sent the shield ramming forward, trying to bowl over the thugs.

The bolt strikes the shield, sticks, and actually looks like it's worming its way *through* the shield even as the shield slams forward. The other two thugs jump out of the way, but the bolt-thrower is knocked over by the shield. The other two begin fanning out, trying to make Haley split her focus.

Nailah tries to drop into a crouch to avoid the punch and instead kick at the guys knee to try and make it snap in a direction it isn't meant to bend.

Concerned about the bolt, she kept her focus on the shield, pressing it down onto the bolt thrower to keep him pinned to the ground and uncomfortable. Her head whipped side to side to watch the other two, assessing the threat either posed, guard up in front of her chest.

She picked the bigger one a split second later, narrowed her eyes in concentration and tried to apply a lot of crushing pressure with her mind to his crotch, hopefully rendering him a soprano and less of an immediate concern.

Nailah Weaver wrote:Nailah tries to drop into a crouch to avoid the punch and instead kick at the guys knee to try and make it snap in a direction it isn't meant to bend.

Nailah connects with the hood's knee and she feels it give. The hood collapses to one knee without a sound, making a grab for Nailah's foot. The talker makes to move towards Nailah as well before the old man coughs out a word and the talker's arms clamp to his sides with bands made of solid light.

Haley Crusek wrote:Concerned about the bolt, she kept her focus on the shield, pressing it down onto the bolt thrower to keep him pinned to the ground and uncomfortable. Her head whipped side to side to watch the other two, assessing the threat either posed, guard up in front of her chest.

She picked the bigger one a split second later, narrowed her eyes in concentration and tried to apply a lot of crushing pressure with her mind to his crotch, hopefully rendering him a soprano and less of an immediate concern.

Just as the man begins to squeal, the bolt slithers through the shield and slams into Haley with a greasy splat. Contact with it makes her feel cold and she can feel an apathetic wave washing over her. The squealing guy crumples to the ground as her third assailant lunges in to try to punch her. The bolt-thrower is still on the ground, struggling to get out from under her shield.

Nailah awkwardly hops forward on one foot to avoid being pulled off balance too much, but halfway through it she opens her wings to steady herself while using her free foot to kick the thug in the head. Who needs feet on the ground anyway.

Haley took the punch from the new assailant straight to the gut as she felt the wave of chilling apathy wash over her, the pain seeming to distract her enough to loosen her telekinetic grip on the guy on the ground (for a moment at least) while also shaking a bit of the apathy away. She staggered backwards and lashed out with an imprecise blast of telekinetic energy to hopefully knock the other thug down

Nailah Weaver wrote:Nailah awkwardly hops forward on one foot to avoid being pulled off balance too much, but halfway through it she opens her wings to steady herself while using her free foot to kick the thug in the head. Who needs feet on the ground anyway.

The thug takes the kick the head, knocking his head to the side as he lets go of Nailah. His movements seem sluggish and strange, like maybe he's not all there. Even after a kick to the head, he doesn't make any sound as he struggles to his feet, shuffling forward despite his messed up knee to attempt to bear hug Nailah.

Haley Crusek wrote:Haley took the punch from the new assailant straight to the gut as she felt the wave of chilling apathy wash over her, the pain seeming to distract her enough to loosen her telekinetic grip on the guy on the ground (for a moment at least) while also shaking a bit of the apathy away. She staggered backwards and lashed out with an imprecise blast of telekinetic energy to hopefully knock the other thug down

The bolt thrower scrambles to his feet, saying something in a language that grates on both Haley and Nailah's ears as he tries to fling two bolts, one at Haley and one at Nailah. They're poorly aimed though. The other thug is bowled over by the telekinetic blast, flying back into a wall before falling to the ground in a groaning heap.

Haley grunted with effort and flung two blasts of telekinetic energy at bolt thrower after barely needing to dodge the bolt thrown at her.

Nailah, already in the process of avoiding the thug trying to grapple her suddenly stares off into space and moves with an eerie precision. She let's the momentum from her kick turn her sideways before placing one foot against the side of the alley, kicking off it to flip herself upside down, the energy bolt sailing past her cheek by less than an inch before she completes her flip, coming down on the thug trying to grab her with both feet as she tries to drive him into the ground, apparently disregarding the fact that something clearly seems to be manipulating him.

Nailah Weaver wrote:Nailah, already in the process of avoiding the thug trying to grapple her suddenly stares off into space and moves with an eerie precision. She let's the momentum from her kick turn her sideways before placing one foot against the side of the alley, kicking off it to flip herself upside down, the energy bolt sailing past her cheek by less than an inch before she completes her flip, coming down on the thug trying to grab her with both feet as she tries to drive him into the ground, apparently disregarding the fact that something clearly seems to be manipulating him.

The thug crumples to the ground unmoving as the speaker breaks free of the light bonds. He turns to the old man, slugging him hard across the face and knocking him to the ground before he turns towards Nailah.

Haley Crusek wrote:Haley grunted with effort and flung two blasts of telekinetic energy at bolt thrower after barely needing to dodge the bolt thrown at her.

The bolt thrower goes spinning away, knocking away by the telekinetic blasts. He lands on the ground and starts trying to get up.

Haley helps! ...by picking him up by his nuts, like that one scene in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

To be fair, it's more by his pants than anything, but the effect is probably pretty painful regardless.

Nailah is already moving, trying to just straight up head-butt the man.

The man is lifted into the air with a surprised yell, flailing and struggling and trying to loose another bolt at Haley.

Headbutts are all well and good and it obviously staggers the speaker, but it rings Nailah's bell a bit too.

As she saw the bolt forming, Haley tried to slam the man back into the ground violently and hopefully knock the wind out of him. She saw the head butt her partner made and winced a bit. "You okay, Sphinx?"

"Jus' fine..." Nailah mumbles vaguely before trying to kick the staggered thug in the solar-plexus.

Haley Crusek wrote:As she saw the bolt forming, Haley tried to slam the man back into the ground violently and hopefully knock the wind out of him. She saw the head butt her partner made and winced a bit. "You okay, Sphinx?"

That thug slams violently into the ground as intended and there's an audible crack, accompanied by a wheezing noise as the air is knocked out of him. His sense indicates a great deal of pain, but he's not dying or anything.

Nailah Weaver wrote:"Jus' fine..." Nailah mumbles vaguely before trying to kick the staggered thug in the solar-plexus.

The thug spills backwards onto his back, obviously not as resilient as his silent partner. The alley is now filled with groaning thugs and their mugging target, who seems to be struggling with consciousness.

Haley rushed over to the victim, crouching down to get closer to him, "Sir, are you okay?"