A Chance Encounter on a Crappy Day May 22, 2000 Sandy, Spiral ----- 102 Main Street -- Avalon City The length of 102 Main St. comprises some of the more diverse and cultural areas of Avalon and it's ever expanding population. The major skyscrapers of economic powerhouses are fewer here, with more and more of the buildings inhabited by apartment and condo owners. Open air sidewalk magazine and grocery stores appear here in more numbers as owners and patrons find the proximity of the nearby Police precinct a reassurance. Tall, older brick buildings with Rent controlled apartments share shadows with newly built Co-Ops with price tags out of reach for many. Various other real estate endeavors housing multiple office spaces for rent, storage areas and bodegas complete an area common among the cities of the time. Spiral slams through the dimensional barriers like a battle tank crushing its way through a brick wall. In a flash of white hot energy Spiral arrives. ---Spiral's Desc--- The girl before you is a bit unique to say the least. To begin with she has 6 arms, one and a half of which are cybernetic. Each hand only has three fingers. Her hair is stark raving white but not wirey like gray hair. No, it's full and lush and long and lovely, only white. Her eyes are white too. There's no iris or pupil. She's dressed in a sky blue jump suit with furry white boots and thigh pockets. Against her hips loosely lays a utility belt and a sword hangs from it. Steel bands wrap around her multiple shoulders leaving her arms bare. Each arm has forearm bracers and upper arm clips. Over her chest is a sky blue flack jacket complete with utility pockets. Over her head is a samurai's helmet. She catches you scoping her out and smiles as if to say, "Don't mind me. I'm just another 6 armed mystical freak of nature that hovers in the air the same way bricks don't." ----- Staggering back a couple feet, eyes wide, it's less than a second before Sandy drops into a defensive posture, clearly totally startled but covering well. "Hey -- what the heck!" Spiral snarls angrily at you and her body flickers with electric style arcs of magickal power. She stands there, feet wide apart and swords in her leading left and right hands. Her other hands hold daggers. "You are my quarry," she begins to say. "I have danced through the paths of time and space and lo I am lead here. I have smashed my way through the barriers of reality and here all you have to say is, "what the heck?" The kid stares at Spiral for a second, eyebrows up. Then he frowns as if puzzled, and straightens slightly. He's definitely still on his guard, and definitely still ready to fight for all he's worth, but come on, that was a silly question. "Well, /yeah/," he says finally, looking dubious. "I mean, you pop outta thin air on the street in front've me, and as far as I know I'm not being hunted by any supervillains, and as I recall I haven't ticked anyone off recently, except maybe that Purr chick or the weirdo with her...and you wave swords at me and glare and stuff. What the /heck/!" Spiral chuckles and kicks out her left leg spining then she's gone only to reappear right behind you and in perfect position for her left leg to end up kicking at your legs as she tries to swipe your legs out from underneath you. All the while she talkes, "You say many things but.." pop she's gone then pop she's back and just in time for her to put emphasis on the word BUT by kicking at your legs, "..you say nothing at all. I have not come here to banty with verbage." Spinning to face Spiral each time she teleports, dodging her kicks, jumpin' like the kung fu god he is (yeah, right -- no slouch, but no god), Sandy continues with the snappy banter. "Come on, lady, witty rejoinders are my specialty! You don't match wits with Baron Blitzkreig and come out without a sense of humor. Whaddya want, already?" Ack -- the last one catches him, but he rolls with it and is back on his feet in a split second. He's just dirtier now. Spiral seems to smile a bit larger seeing you reacting so well. She ups the ante now and says, "I have traveled through countless dimensions," then she spins without warning just like she's going to teleport only she doesn't teleport, instead she throws all four daggers at you with deadly force and murderous desire, "to see you expect that!" Grunting in annoyance, the kid falls into a Mission: Impossible! somersault -- and one of the blades nicks his back. "Jeez! Knock it off! You're gonna ruin my jacket!" he complains, getting back up and all of a sudden taking a low kick at *her* legs. "And it's probably older than *you* are!" Spiral dodges the kick by lifting her legs in the air and they stay up there, as if gravity where something she'd read about once but never understood. She looks at the sword in her left hand and asks you, in all seriousness, "What am I about to do. Tell me in as much detail as you can." Backing up a couple feet, again, not because he thinks he can get away but because he values his personal space, Sandy stares at Spiral. Again. "Look, lady -- before I tell you /anything/, you gotta stop trying to kill me, okay? It just doesn't sit well with me." Spiral turns slowly to look at you and there's no soul in her eyes. There's no heart there, no emotion at all. She says, "You are the one being interviewed, not I. You are the one applying for the job, not I. Your life is on the line. Not mine." Sandy crosses his arms, narrowing his "sunny" blue eyes. "Exactly. So if you want any answers for your interview -- whatever the heck it is -- lay off a little." He pauses, and grins. "Now, if I told you fifteen seconds ago what you'd be doing now, you wouldn't be doing it. Same as if I told you right now what you'd be doing in fifteen seconds, you'd make sure it didn't happen. So what would be the point?" Spiral chuckles, "You feel threatened? You feel as if I'm trying to kill you, but what you know not is that I am as 'laid off' as I've ever been. If you need proof then take another breath....you're still alive. Now, test my patience no futher mortal child. Tell me what I am going to do next in as much detail as you can. Tell me without joke, jest, or riddle." and her eyes suddenly blaze, "Or I'll kill you." she says quite calmly. Sandy suddenly angsts, but in a very annoyed fashion. "You're gonna have to kill me, then, because I'm not a telepath. If somehow you know who I am - if somehow you heard about what the Sandman was cursed with, and what I'm cursed with now, then you got it wrong. Is it the dreams? Is that what you're talking about? I don't always dream what's gonna happen! And when I do..." His arms drop to his sides, and his posture grows visibly less bold. He'd look down - is tempted to, but he can't let the crazy woman out of his sight for a second. Actually -- actually, he looks kind of old, now, old and tired. "...when I do, it's never good, and it's rarely detailed, and it's really hard to fix whatever it is." He's silent for a second. "So do what you want, I can't help you." Spiral begins to walk around you and says, "Then you don't know. Then you don't have a clue. Then why have I come all this way, to you? How utterly sad, what's a girl suppose to do? I have learned you haven't a power, but a power has you." "That's actually a pretty good way of putting it, yeah," says the guy honestly, his gaze fixed on Spiral as she circles him. He turns his head to follow. "It's not a power. It's a curse -- and you can thank that bozo, the Lord of Dreams, for givin' me all these problems. I don't know about you, but I make it a point to not -need- powers." Spiral looks at the four daggers that are embedded in the concrete and nods to them. The obediantly echo out of existance and she sheaths both swords into the one scabbard. She says, "And care you, though it's only a plan B, to change curses to blessings? Such things are not impossible for such as me." Sandy answers very quietly, "I'm probably a fool for refusing...but I don't like to fly in the face of fate. What I've been cursed with is something my mentor learned to live with, and it made him a better person. I'd like to think it will do the same for me." He watches Spiral carefully, not masking even the least part of his emotions or his intents. Spiral says, "Yes I'm so very sure that you'll learn to be a good victem of someone else's curse. Why hearing those words stirs up pride in my heart that you've got the character to endure it so well. " And she seems to come to a conclusion, "I've no use for you or for anyone else who'll do nothing to improve their lives. Of all you've told me tonight this is the most pathetic and doubly pathetic are you for not only saying it but for believing it."" Ooh, that one got him. Sandy sticks out his chin, crossing his arms again and unconsciously adopting That Heroically Defiant Pose. "It's not someone else's curse! They're *my* dreams now, and someday I *will* be the Sandman! You cosmic types, you're always making assumptions that you know everything, that you know how the minds of mortals work - well, you can blow it out your shorts!" He points a finger angrily, opening his hand as he speaks. "Don't you know anything about legacy? About ties, and family? Don't you know anything about /justice/? About compassion, or caring about others?" The kid slams his fist into his palm, finally, emphasizing his point. "This is what I've been dealt, this is *my* hand, and this is what I'm going to play with! You have NO RIGHT to judge me or my decisions!" Spiral says, "Perfection acheived for oxen everywhere. Take up the slave driver's yoke you disgusting thing. Strap it around your neck with your own hands. Ensure your endless ownership to someone else, to something else. I see there's no need for me to hate you for you hate yourself already, and far worse than I ever could. Tell me, what worse can I possibly do to you than can top what you have done to yourself already? Yet, I am the villain and you're the hero?"" Sandy rolls his eyes. That last accusation - that's what broke the ice. "Yeah," he says like Spiral asked the dumbest question in the voice. "Do you see me going around tryinna kill people? Noooo..." Spiral asks, leaning forward conspiratorially, "Did I try to kill you tonight? I think not. You're still alive." Sandy looks entirely nonplussed. "You sure threatened. -And- you ripped my jacket." Spiral laughs as if she's just been told a wonderful joke. "Oh that's rich. That's so funny. Yes. Your jacket's so ripped. You've barely escaped with your life. No doubt thanks to your amazing human fighting skills. Oh! and that power you don't have. Yes. You've saved your life tonight. Tell me...if your skills at combat are so good do you dare risk round two of my /epic/ attempt at killing you?" Sandy sighs. "Look - what did I ever do to you? I *like* this jacket." He cocks a thumb at the back. "See? 'Young All-Stars'. Great group of kids I was involved with back in '42 and '43. The fact that I'm gonna have to sew up the tear you put in it doesn't thrill me. The fact that there're about a billion people on this planet alone that could kill me, and a million of them that could probably do it with just a thought -- that doesn't thrill me either." He stuffs his hands in his pockets, pausing, and then his voice is suddenly very loud and irate. "But I don't go around PICKING FIGHTS with these guys! Big deal, you can kill me. Ooo, wow. Squish the puny mortal bug. If I couldn't laugh about it, I'd probably be depressed. Seriously, go pick on someone your own size, willya?" Spiral says, "Goodbye. I could have fixed you, I would have changed you, Made you better than present time, Made you in charge of your life for the first time. You've chosen the path you wish to dance. It's a foolish decision and one you no doubt already regret. Goodbye." Sandy quietly flips off the afterimage, biting his lip. He turns, walking away, hands in his pockets - he'll probably get *no* sleep tonight.