[Sonnet Matsuda]

Shortcut My childhood spat back out the monster that you see + Nell Omix

It is late in the day, the cold grey light of a winter sun slowly fading behind the tall buildings of New York. Sonnet is stood overlooking the Central station platforms, in one of the few positions one can be stood in for such a purpose. Of course chain link fences and heavy padlocks don't make much of an obstacle when you can step through space itself. She checks her watch, it is small, stylish, and staggeringly expensive. Most of the things she wears are, including the black designer pant suit she is currently wearing. She brushes her short hair back out of her face, then finally stops tapping her heel as she hears the click-click-clacking of a train coming into view around the corner. It's the one she's waiting for. Sonnet crouches down to get a better angle, able to see in through one of the now slowing train's windows. She's not actually sure who she will be looking for on the train. They aren't her suppliers, but the suppliers for the gang that has recently been attempting to muscle in on her territory. Rather than simply killing them as she has been wont to do in the past, Sonnet has elected to simply deprive them of their supply. While supplementing her own for free of course. That the Yakuza have a metahuman in New York City is common knowledge. Almost no one knows that it is her. Making sure she has the mask securely in her pocket, she steps forward off her perch... And reappears with a sudden rush of displaced air in the centre of the carriage. Several people look up with a start, but Sonnet ignores them. She's already seen what looks like the men she is after in the next cabin. They look uncomfortable, and there is a large duffel on the table between them. One is resting his hand on the bag, and he lifts it as the train begins to come to a stop, picking it up and moving into the aisle without a care for the young woman that is already there taking her bag down from the rack above the seats. A bag that just so happens to be an identical black duffel.

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[Nell Omix]

Nell was never really all that happy to be home. Her parents almost certainly would prefer her to remain away the entire year, but of course such a thing wasn't permitted so they settled for acting as though she wasn't around even if she was. Not that any of this would be in the least apparent to others on the train, a fairly recent design still old enough for the paint to be peeling away. Nell pulled her sleeves forward even more, ensuring there wasn't a bit of exposed skin between them and her simple black gloves. Her entire outfit looked as though it was meant for a far colder winter than the one they were experiencing, in reality it was meant to cover as much skin as possible. She might have been emotionally fragile but Nell wasn't stupid, she knew what New York could be like for an obvious Metahuman.

The train started pulling to a stop, and a large portion of the car seems to be getting off here, including Nell. Pulling her duffel bag from above the seats, she moved out into the isle, and once the doors slip open with a hiss she walked out into the cold air in the station, bag slung over her shoulder as she left.

[Sonnet Matsuda]

Shortcut My childhood spat back out the monster that you see + Nell Omix

Sonnet had taken advantage of the confusion as the men collided with the young woman to snatch their bag. She'd only had to walk a few steps outside the train, wait until she was out of sight and disappear before they had any idea who had taken their stash. It would be easy, and no one would be able to trace it back to her or the Yakuza. She really didn't feel bad about potentially getting these men in trouble, this was a heavy bag, and she knows from her informant that it's full of heroin. This much would have a street value of several million at least. That she would now become the distributor of the drug is a fact that Sonnet pushes out of her mind. It's pushed even further out by a shout of anger from the door of the train. Several people turn to look, including Sonnet. The two men are now stood outside the train, but the older of the two is clearly calming the other down and pointing surreptitiously, not, Sonnet realises, at her, but at a young woman walking in the opposite direction. A young woman carrying a black duffel. "F**k." Just her luck, that someone would be on the train with an identical bag. Sonnet about faces with the grace born of a childhood of ballet and gymnastics, easily dodging past a large man sweating with exertion despite the cold weather. The two men are now following the retreating back of the girl with the duffel. She should just leave it, she doesn't know the girl, doesn't care about her... Right? They aren't particularly subtle, though it's unlikely that any of the cold and hurrying people about them will notice that they appear to be following a young girl. Fortunately their single minded focus on her means that Sonnet can follow them even more easily, stepping carefully around the crowds of people. She feels for the mask in her pocket, a stylised full-face samurai mask that would work ably to conceal her identity, and probably make them think they'd been jumped by an anime fan rather than a member of the Yakuza. That was fine with her, but she couldn't put it on here. The two men, and by extension, Sonnet, follow the girl out of the station and down the street. Surely it's just a matter of time until the girl notices the men coming and calls out for help. Then Sonnet can avoid getting involved at all. Unfortunately, that proves to be wishful thinking, as the two men easily catch up to the girl and bundle her off into a side alley. Sonnet swears in Japanese and picks up the pace. Running will attract attention, and she doesn't want that for what's going to happen next. As she nears the mouth of the alley she pulls the mask out of her pocket and slips it over her head.

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[Nell Omix]

For better or for worse, Nell was home again. The icy air seemed to filter out color from the city, leaving everything very gray, but even in a storm she'd recognize the area she'd lived in since she was nine with little issue. Better drop things off at her house at least, her parents might have preferred she wasn't there but the fact was she didn't have anybody else and, though she might not realize it, their disapproval made her feel sure they must be right- that there was something wrong with her.

Nell reached a crossing she was going to turn at, her eyes flicked around nervously, a common tick of hers and it caught something she was familiar enough with, people staring at her. Nell had quite literally not worn shorts or short-sleeved shirts in years to slightly mitigate how noticeable she is, but it barely helped. Random people on the street shouting various insults at her was a fact of life, and at first that's all she suspected about why they were staring so intensely. Suddenly, the men stepped directly in front of her as she waited for the light, Nell's eyes widening as they kept moving slowly and methodically in her direction, so she kept backing up the only direction she could until she slammed into a wall from not looking in front of her. Damn it. She knew crime had gotten pretty bad in the city lately but she'd never been the target of anything unless you counted one time that one of her dad's friends threw a rock at her, after which her parents had insisted she leave the house if they had guests.

She collapsed to the ground, her bag cushioning the fall a little as the men blocked off the way she had come in to what she could see, now she was no longer backing into it blindly, was a narrow alley, dusty ground making it clear it had been a while since anyone actually came here. Terrified, Nell squeaked out "I.. I don't have any money or anything..." to which one of the guys smirked like she'd made a rather good joke. Her breathing was speeding up, bark and vines wrapping around her arms from the fingertips going up beneath her coat and gloves, thorns stretching at but not yet quite breaking their fabric, when she saw something. Nell had good eyesight and a tendency to notice things, so while she had been focusing on the men now standing over her she saw another figure move at the entrance to the alley.

[Sonnet Matsuda]

Shortcut My childhood spat back out the monster that you see + Nell Omix

"Hey f**kers, why don't you pick on someone your own size." The statement might be cliché, but it's also ironic. The masked figure standing in the alleyway entrance is smaller even than the girl lying on the ground, probably only a couple of inches above five feet. She, for it clearly is a she despite the flat chest, is wearing an expensive looking pant suit and a stylised samurai mask. The men glance over their shoulders at her. One turns fully. "F**k off nerd, this has nothing to do with you. Now leave us be and we won't have to beat the shit out of two people." At least that's what he would have said if he hadn't been interrupted halfway through by an extremely expensive designer boot that broke his nose. Somehow the diminutive figure has crossed the space between them in less than a second. The second guy turns in alarm attempting to pull a gun from his pants. The masked woman is gone again, and he looks around wildly before a kick in the small of his back sends him careening into the wall. He just manages to avoid smashing his face into the brick and turns to send a flurry of bullets at the woman who... Is simply not there. Instead she is beside him and forcing his gun hand upwards while smashing an elbow into his temple. Once, twice, three times. On the third he crumples. Going down into an unceremonious heap against the wall. His gun, now abandoned on the floor, is kicked away, spinning off into the shadows of the alleyway. There is another gunshot, it's sound echoing off the walls of the alleyway. There are screams, and several members of the public with less than stellar survival instincts peer into the alleyway as a spinning kick knocks the gun from his hand and then the following foot snaps his head back into unconsciousness. The masked figure glances wordlessly at the crowd now gathering at the end of the alleyway, then at the kid that had been caught up in all of this. Sonnet might have left there and then, but something catches her eye, the girls jacket sleeves are tenting periodically. It looks, well, unnatural, meta. "Sh*t" She takes a few steps to retrieve the bag she had dropped at the start of the fight. "Please tell me you're not a meta, kid."

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[Nell Omix]

Nell's skin started shifting about rapidly around her legs beneath her long loose track pants too, unlike most metahumans she had never really tried using her powers and though she had a good instinctual feel for them, panicking enough about her abilities to barely use them intentionally actually made the automatic and unconscious part of them linked to her fight-or-flight response harder to manage. This was probably the most immediately dangerous thing that had ever happened to her, so it was only the very covering clothing she wore that even remotely disguised the thorny bark shifting restlessly around her skin, the total area covered increasing gradually.

She stared at the young woman who had entered, confused and trying desperately to non-verbally signal her she needed to leave when all of a sudden, she had moved several feet closer to attack. Nell's eyes were fixed on the masked woman's current location as she fought, her own body frozen still, and several times she simply seemed to blink into a different spot in an instant. The fight lasted perhaps a minute but it felt like much longer. The remaining man up fired his gun and Nell became unfrosted, recoiling from the sound and slightly raising herself up. She felt a flash of heat across her upper right arm and then even more cold then she had before, looking down she saw what had happened. One of the shots that bounced off the wall behind her had torn through her sleeve, it's speed had already been reduced by hitting a brick wall and the angle was almost parallel with her arm, so it left a small tear in her sleeve and a thin gash about a quarter-inch deep into her solidly wooden arms. As she got up to thank the mystery woman and the bullet itself fell down her sleeve and onto the alley's ground with a clatter, coated in viscous clear sap that after a few seconds separated from Nell's body turned into a dark red stain.

The masked woman's comment made Nell tense again "Um… I'm not sure it would really make much difference if I did tell you that" she said, flinching, only just now starting to feel pain from the gash in her still bark-covered arm.

[Sonnet Matsuda]

Shortcut My childhood spat back out the monster that you see + Nell Omix

Blood gushing from the girl's arm would have been more reassuring than the strange clear liquid. Sonnet backs away a little in consternation. It's not like she has never come across a meta before, but what she does know is that there is no way of telling what their ability might be before they use it. In this case the clear liquid does not steam and hiss when it hits the ground, so it's not the acid she suspects, instead it seems to slowly shift into a red stain, one that is reassuringly bloodlike. Sonnet says something in Japanese, unintelligible to the young girl, but the gist of it is 'I just can't catch a break today'. One of the men groans as he starts trying to climb to his feet. It is clearly taking him some effort. Passers-by are now clustered at the opening to the alleyway, but nobody makes a move to help, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire between criminals and, what looks like to them, a vigilante. Using her ability probably hadn't helped the situation much. In fact it definitely didn't, as the sound of sirens rings faintly in the distance. The only way to guarantee the cops out in New York at the minute seemed to be to demonstrate powers. "F**king Meta!" The from the crowd is joined by more, and a restless feeling of anger starts to fill the small alleyway. Sonnet is unconcerned, leaving this situation is as easy as blinking for her. She looks regretfully at the girl. She wouldn't be in this situation if she hadn't been caught up in Sonnet's theft. The crowd probably won't respond well to the girl's obvious metahuman ability either. She sighs. "You're not gonna enjoy this kid." Crossing the alleyway, she collects the bag she had stolen earlier. Then she holds out a hand. "You stay here and take your chances with that lot," she jerks her head towards the crowd, "and the police, or you come with me." Someone throws a bottle, poorly aimed, and it clatters off the wall beside Sonnet and careens away down the alleyway. "What's it gonna be?"

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[Nell Omix]

Nell kept up her usual expression of being frightened of everything around her, uselessly pulling her sleeve to try and hide the cut. It didn't hurt all that much, she'd had worse injuries from a bike accident six years ago, but nothing this bad since her powers, so the clear sticky blood was disconcerting, especially since it turned to normal blood after leaving her body. It also was disquieting precisely because it was a relatively mild injury, she had read that people could get killed by ricochet fire like that... ok well probably not killed from a shot in the arm, but while she hadn't exactly shrugged the bullet off it hurt her less then it ought to have.

Of course, this being New York, people came to gawk as soon as it was clear the area wasn't immediately dangerous to be in. Hell, it wouldn't even be that surprising of some people decided to show up even if there was clear danger. Nell's restlessly moving nervous stare went over the crowd as it's hostility predictably increased, and with her torn sleeve the already nearly impossible to hide shifting bark across her skin was made even more obvious. She tried to will it off the arm in question, and it receded but more bark appeared in swirls on her neck, just visible behind her shirt collar, and the blood from the fresh red gash across her arm was red again, and she had no clue how she'd explain the stain it would leave away. 

The masked woman's words made Nell realize she was still there, and she turned to face the woman, eyes wide with fright. She had no clue who this person was, she couldn't trust them. On the other hand, she knew exactly what sort of people the crowd coming in consisted of, and she had enough trouble with people like them when she was being discrete, much less now. She rolled her left sleeve up enough to expose her hand; the tiny flecks of bark here and there on it were smooth and flexible enough to be indistinguishable from skin by feel, but they stood out wildly by sight. Nell gulped, nodding and very softly "Ok" as she grabbed the hand being held out to her.

[Sonnet Matsuda]

Shortcut My childhood spat back out the monster that you see + Nell Omix

"This is going to make you feel awful." Sonnet gives no further explanation as Nell's fingers close around hers and she pushes them through space. Teleportation is a strange experience, one that should be impossible, the kind of power that would be required to quite literally rip a hole in the universe is unfathomable. It feels somewhat like being turned inside out and then the right way round at the destination. Or maybe it's the universe that turns inside out, the whole thing is so muddled that it's almost impossible to put into words. They arrive in a white marble bathroom, and the reason for this location choice is obvious as Sonnet releases the girl's hand and takes a smart step backwards. Experiencing teleportation for the first time is a challenge for even the strongest constitution, and vomit wipes easily off marble if the girl misses the toilet. Meanwhile, Sonnet opens the door and walks into the apartment, revealing that the rest of it looks just as expensive as the bathroom. "Come in kid, let me get a first aid kit for that." She nods back over her shoulder at the still bleeding arm. All in all she seems remarkably calm about what has just happened, and the girl's injury. She drops the heavy duffel bag on the kitchen island, before rooting around in a cupboard and emerging with a red plastic box with a white first aid cross stencilled onto it. "You OK with me doing this to you?"

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[Nell Omix]

The warning had been well placed. Nell felt a sensation that seemed many separate things at once; most notably almost unimaginably strong vertigo,  none of her senses except vision were remotely coherent and even then her eyes spun and watered but it the colors of her surroundings had unmistakably changed in an instant. It took a second to tell which way up was, and the moment she had she rushed to the toilet, glad she hadn't eaten a lot today. As she got up a minute later her digestive system still was reeling, actually physically shifting about, hardening and returning to normal several times in rapid succession.

She squinted out into the remarkably high-end apartment, her eyes seeming to be returning to normal as her other senses kicked back in. he followed the woman further into the room. Nell still wasn't entirely sure she could trust her savior but simply put, there was nobody else available to trust. She didn't have a clue how her parents would react to the injury but she could tell they'd not be all that helpful, from experience their way of dealing with her being injured (which had happened a lot before her powers made her skin able to get a lot tougher), no matter the source or magnitude, was to tell her she knew where their rather meager selection of medicine was already, and she doubted that bandages, some over-the-counter painkillers, and gauze that had gotten too old to stick would be much help. Likewise she had no money to get treated by an actual doctor, and knew nobody else in the city that well, ironically making a shifty woman she had met minutes ago and she knew nothing about her most trustworthy option.

She fully receded the plant tissue from her arm, figuring that  it would be simpler to treat as purely flesh without having to worry about bits of wood. The injury was quite bad, though it resembled a gash from a very wide-bladed knife more than a bullet wound thanks to the angle and her more resistant body at the time. "Sure" Nell said, voice shaking "It's this or just leaving it after all..." she trailed off.

[Sonnet Matsuda]

Shortcut My childhood spat back out the monster that you see + Nell Omix

"Yes, and having blood tracked all over my apartment is really not an option. Sit." She indicates the toilet seat, then kneels down and begins to pull things out of the first aid kit. It is obvious from the branding on various objects that the kit has been used before, and heavily at that. Eventually Sonnet finds what she's looking for, cleaning wipes, dressing, and a small clear plastic box containing needle and thread. Still on her knees she turns to face the girl. "Let me see. It didn't look like a straight shot." Once she can see it then it becomes more obvious to Sonnet that she's right, the bullet has sliced open a gash across the girl's arm, but not done any more serious damage than that. She's dealt with injuries like this before, working in organised crime you come across them all the time. While the Yakuza have an underground doctor on hand, it always helps to have some skill of your own. "That's not too bad." She begins to clean around the wound with the getting rid of as much of the blood... Sap... Whatever it was, before she took out the needle and thread. "I'm Sonnet, by the way, sorry you got caught up in that." Carefully she threads the needle, then, tongue between her teeth in concentration, she begins to carefully stitch the edges of the wound back together.

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[Nell Omix]

Nell quickly sat back down, she had forgotten she was in danger of getting blood all over the place and was a bit embarrassed to have not realized she would have had she continued stepping out of the bathroom. The apartment's owner might have quite an edge to her but it felt like she was somewhat safer here than she had been anywhere in the city for a long time, and she wasn't going to jeopardize this rare moment of peace, even if she had gotten into it through harrowing circumstances.

Fortunately the woman seemed to know a thing or two about treating wound like this, or at least a lot more than Nell did, and had the proper stuff to deal with it. Somebody not working in medicine or law enforcement having such familiarity with bullet wounds would generally be cause for concern, but really Nell was sure she could at least trust the mystery lady to help her here, if she'd wanted her hurt she could have done so long before now. It seemed the experienced opinion concurred with her own intuition on the shot; it wasn't especially bad as gunshot injuries went, not that she'd be anxious to repeat the process ever again.

She nodded at Sonnet's introduction "I'm Nell. It...It's alright, not your fault it happened, you got me out of it" she winced and went silent as the needle entered her skin, but kept her arm still. It hurt a lot, but less than the injury itself did, an as uncomfortable as it is pain was a sensation she was perfectly familiar with, she knew how to sit and let something hurt without reacting very well after all. 

[Sonnet Matsuda]

Shortcut My childhood spat back out the monster that you see + Nell Omix

Sonnet is surprised by how well the girl is taking the injury and subsequent treatment. She's seen even grown men squirm at this sort of treatment, and in the Yakuza, with their traditional tattoos, you found a lot of men with a high tolerance for pain. Her hand moves swiftly, showing a perhaps unsurprising deftness considering how swiftly she had put down the two thugs in the alleyway. In, out, in out, it doesn't take long before she is more than halfway through closing the nasty gash. It's not the neatest job she's ever seen, but it should heal up with a minimum of scarring, at least judging by her somewhat limited experience of such things. She pauses, glancing towards the heavy bag that is visible from her position beside the door. It is identical to the bag now discarded on the bathroom tiles. The kid wouldn't have been in the situation in the first place if it hadn't been for Sonnet. She might not have intended what had happened, but ultimately she was responsible. She chooses not to lie, but she refrains from telling the whole truth. "I couldn't just let those two guys beat up on you. If I'd stood and watched it would have been my fault." She finishes her stitching, tying off the thread and then snipping it with the scissors included in the first aid kit for just such a purpose. She follows that up with a dressing, just a simple sticky pad that sticks straight over the wound. It proclaims in large blue letters that it is a waterproof dressing suitable for up to 48 hours. "You're brave kid... I doubt there are many... What... 18 year olds? That would have gotten through that without bawling." Though her dialect is undeniably American, there is a somewhat mechanical quality to her accent, in the way that often comes with those who learn something as a second language. That quality is only accentuated by the slight rasp of her voice, as the knotted scar contorts over her vocal chords. Hungry, Sonnet heads into the apartment. Her power takes a lot of energy, even more so when she takes passengers. "You want something to eat?" In truth, she's not really sure what to do. She doesn't often have guests, and this is new territory for her.

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[Nell Omix]

Nell let out a deep breath once the stitching had completed, her eyes not having left the wide doe-like state they had been in since she noticed she was targeted until just now. She might not have been full-on attacked before, but she had been threatened with such enough that it didn't come across as surprising that she'd get mixed up with something eventually. She didn't like being in pain, but it wasn't as unpleasant as dreading it happening had been really, constantly asking who's going to come and hurt me next? Somebody treating her kindly wasn't a completely foreign concept to her, but it wasn't one she was used to, it left her confused. Nell might not have talked enough for it to be noticeable but she was incredibly observant, and Sonnet seemed almost... apologetic in her behavior, like she had a bit more connection than just stumbling across it, perhaps she had but for Nell it didn't really matter right now. Sonnet was being kind to her and had no intention to cause her harm, and that was enough for Nell.

She pulled her sleeve back down, and bark crawling back down her arm but leaving the area under the dressing untouched, a little bit spreading over the top of each corner keeping the pad in place. She heard Sonnet's complement and blushed, brave? She never though of herself as brave, that was a thing she admired in others and couldn't hope for in herself, she wasn't brave was she? "T..thank you" and in response to the question she said quickly "I'm seventeen, not that there's really a big difference... I.. guess that was sort of brave, I don't know. Thank you" her voice caught in her throat for a moment. She was just the weird quiet meta girl that had got kicked out of school for a fight she didn't start (but couldn't convince anybody she hadn't) after all, she didn't really think that she'd done anything to earn such kindness in both words and actions. She nods at the question, stepping out cautiously into the elegant apartment "Yeah that would be great, thanks." it had been a good six or so hours since she'd last had a chance to eat anything.

[Sonnet Matsuda]

Shortcut My childhood spat back out the monster that you see + Nell Omix

Sonnet pulls several things out of a cupboard, then crosses to the large, built-in fridge to repeat the action again. She's not a great cook, too much time spent in the company of her father as opposed to her mother, but she can handle herself in a kitchen, and always has food in the various cupboards in the apartment's small kitchen. She grabs the heavy duffle that had led to this whole situation, moving the black bag off the counter top and behind the kitchen island, mostly out of sight for Nell. She starts to clatter about in the kitchen, boiling water, chopping vegetables and heating oil in a wok until it starts to smoke. "Make yourself at home." Jerking her head, Sonnet indicates that Nell is welcome in the rest of the apartment. It is expensively furnished in white and grey, though in a style that suggests it might have been furnished like this when the petite Japanese woman bought it. In the corner, looking slightly out of place, is a katanagake with two resting upon it. They look genuine, as opposed to some cheap replica, and disturbingly, they look as if they have seen some use. A grey light is filtering in through the floor to ceiling windows, casting a half-light over everything in the apartment, giving it a somewhat ethereal tinge spoiled only by the warm light radiating from the open plan kitchen area. Sonnet mostly ignores Nell while she cooks, her eyes only occasionally flickering to the other girl, or down to the black duffle bag on the floor. "Are you back here visiting family? Or just visiting New York?"

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