Baltimore, Saturday Night

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy--err, well, Banzai now, she was in costume--still wasn't quite sure how this had happened. She was on a date, with a guy that she'd talked to exactly once, and while their date had begun with the traditional nice dinner in town, their main activity was definitely not going to be found in any traditional dating guide.

Well, that might not be entirely true. If Fandom ever published a dating guide, superheroing in Baltimore would probably rate pretty highly on the 'things to do with your date' list.

"So, this is pretty much the start of my beat," she explained, tightening her mask. "I like to start up here. It's the tallest building in the area and--I don't have to explain why I like the high ground to you, right." The guy who could fly around likely understood why she liked starting off high up, yes. "I'd ask if you had any questions before we started, but I'm pretty sure you've been doing this for longer than I have. Ready?"

[NFB for Baltimore, but open to anyone likely to be wandering around Baltimore. Come crash the date! It's a new Fandom tradition (h/t notaweenie)]

Comments

[ultimatehottie.livejournal.com]

"Just one question. Any chance of a kiss for good luck?" Johnny asked. He had to give it a shot, okay? "Otherwise, I think I've got things pretty well covered."

[spin_kick_snap]

Good to know: the eyemask definitely did not cover her cheeks or prevent her from blushing. Great. Excellent intel. For...science or something.

"You look lucky enough as you are," she said hastily. "You'll be fine I'm sure."

Kisses were for...guys she'd known longer than three days. Or something.

"Things'll be kinda quiet for a bit until the bars let out, though if we go northwest a bit, there are sometimes drug dealers hanging out that we can snag."

[ultimatehottie.livejournal.com]

The blush was worth the question. Oh, Fandom, your girls were adorable and innocent.

"Sounds like fun," Johnny said. "FLAME ON!"

Johnny lifted into the air, paused, and checked, "Northwest would be away from the water and that way, right?" while pointing in the right direction. "Either way, lead the way!"

[spin_kick_snap]

Hey! Not all of them!

But yeah, definitely a hefty percentage. And right now, Kathy felt like the least experienced of them all. Oy.

"That's the way!" Banzai said, with a nod. "Keep up!" Then she dove off the building.

In this, at least, she felt capable of holding her own with Johnny. No, she couldn't fly or control fire, but in its own way, falling was her element. A quick grab of a flag pole had her flipping back up where she bounced off a decorative gargoyle and then handsprung back up to the next roof. She was on the other side in less than a second, vaulting over the edge and reaching out for the next thing to break her fall.

God, how could anyone not love this? It was the ultimate in exhileration.

[ultimatehottie.livejournal.com]

"You're making it too easy on me!" Johnny said from close behind, following along with the completely unfair advantage of being able to just, you know, fly. He was throwing completely needless spins and loops in at random, just to show off a little in case she had a chance to glance back.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Yeah? Try following me on foot!" Banzai called up with a laugh. Okay, he was pretty darn impressive, she'd give him that. "Let's here you brag how fast you are, then!"

She was going to add more speed now. Because the challenge had been thrown, dammit. Doing fifty-five miles an hour on the rooftop road probably wasn't the smartest idea she'd ever had, but damn was it fun!

[ultimatehottie.livejournal.com]

"No thanks, I'll stick to flying!" Johnny called back as he caught up. She really was faster than he expected. He could keep this pace up for a while, but there was at least a chance that sh could kep going longer than he could.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Pffft, show off!"

Whereas all these flips and spins and handsprings Kathy was doing? TOTALLY NECESSARY.

It wasn't tiredness that stopped her--enhanced stamina was one of her gifts--but the sound of an alarm going off. "You hear that?" she asked, pointing a little more west than they'd been going. "Sounds like it could be a break-in or something. Wanna check it out?"

[ultimatehottie.livejournal.com]

"Already on my way!" Johnny said, banking hard around Kathy like she was a pylon or something as he started toward the alarms. "Your turn to keep up with me!"

[spin_kick_snap]

FLATTERING METAPHOR, JOHNNY.

"Aha!" she said, turning on a dime and increasing her speed yet again. This was a hard sprint, so she wouldn't be able to keep it going very long, but it was useful in a pinch.

...And there was something to be said about the ability to keep up with highway traffic, at least for a few hundred yards.

"Hazard a guess on how far away it is?" she asked, vaulting up onto a balcony to scale another building.

[ultimatehottie.livejournal.com]

"Couple blocks at most," Johnny said. "We'll be there in no time! What kind of robbery do you think it is?"

Johnny span off to dive toward street level so he could look for smashed storefronts.

[spin_kick_snap]

It wasn't the alleys or streets that was the big worry about running over rooftops, but really it was shoddy maintenance. Loose bricks. Weak beams. Banzai skidding on some completely unfastened tar paper (health hazard!) and would have fallen if her agility wasn't cranked up to eleven. Instead she turned it into a forward somersault and sprang back up to her feet.

"Around here?" Banzai asked. "Probably a small store. Lot of mom and pop shops, bodegas, used book stores, stuff like that. Nothing high end, so we're probably looking at small-timers or local punks."

[ultimatehottie.livejournal.com]

"So I shouldn't go in with my biggest flames. Gotcha," Johnny said as he arrived at the store with the broken door.

He came to an abrupt stop and started shouting, "Oh, criminals! We have some concerned citizens here to tell you to knock it off!"

[gunslingerpose]

Gorgon was having a shitty night. He'd briefly chewed on the idea of leaving his phone at home, given just how many times his siblings and his mother had called today. He'd also chewed on the prospect of just staying in, getting smashed, and watching old Western movies until he passed out on his couch, but that didn't seem like as good a way of celebrating his birthday as, say, getting kicked up a few tiers taking down a drug deal or a mugging or something, and then just ripping up the rooftops for a few hours for the hell of it.

What had happened instead, of course, wasn't anything so smooth. No. He'd gotten as far as zip-tying half of a group of thugs that had been working on breaking into one of those hole-in-the-wall instant money joints from the back door before his phone started to vibrate in his pocket.

He ignored that and tied another asshole's hands behind his back.

The phone continued to buzz.

The criminals all exchanged looks between them. A few looked as though they were actively struggling not to laugh when one piped up and asked, "Hey. You need to answer that?"

"Very funny. No. Now shut up and hold still, or I'll flash the goggles at you again, asshole."

"I'm just saying," the guy tried to crane his neck so that he could look at the buzzing duster pocket, "they've been calling a lot. You think it could be important?"

"It's my birthday," Gorgon growled. "Now turn around and keep quiet."

"If we wish you happy birthday, man, will you untie us?"

"If you keep talking, I'll rearrange you so you've all got your faces in between each other's legs, and I'll stick these road flares down your fucking pants when I light them."

Yeah. Tonight's outing was going great.

[spin_kick_snap]

Banzai was running over rooftops again when she spotted a familiar outline of duster and goggles. Oh. Gorgon was out. That could be...awkward? She flushed a little and called up to Johnny.

"Hey, I know that guy. He's another hero, like us. Wanna go say hello?"

This...could go well? Maybe?

[ultimatehottie.livejournal.com]

"I'm friendly enough and it couldn't hurt to meet some other superheroes," Johnny said. "I just wish this guy had a better sense of costuming. It's not the 90s anymore."

HE WAS JUDGING YOU, DUSTER.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Hey now!" Banzai said, immediately leaping to Gorgon's defense. "You're running around with a girl in a white karate gi hemmed in rainbows. No making fun of costumes, cause I don't have a leg to stand on. Just be glad you weren't here for my old heroing name."

Which she wasn't gonna share. Nooooo thank you.

"Hey, Gorgon!" she said, starting her descent to street level. "Not leaving any for the rest of us?"

[gunslingerpose]

One of the tied-up guys started humming 'Happy Birthday' under his breath. Gorgon gave him a swift kick to the ribs, in the same motion turning up to nod a hello to Banz--

... To Banzai and the flying guy on fire, there.

"I can't help it if the rest of you are slacking off," he pointed out. "I'm out here working my ass off--"

"On his birt-" Nikolai turned a look downward and flashed his goggles at the jerk with the big mouth. The guy went shock-still for a moment, mouth hanging open and eyes wide, before the goggles snapped shut again and the guy slumped forward.

"-- out here working my ass off, and you're playing on rooftops with...?"

He waved a hand at the human fireball.

"Sparky?"

[ultimatehottie.livejournal.com]

"Way off. Human Torch. World famous in my world for saving that very same world a few times," Johnny said. "Nice to meet you."

He gave a light salute as he flew over.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Right!" Banzai was blushing for no good reason that she could figure out. "See? Not slacking. I figured Torch might want a tour of the city, now that he's in the area. We've been patrolling. We stopped a robbery in progress and a few other things. We just didn't realize that the party was over here."

"Birthday party," one of the zip-tied guys mumbled. His conscious buddies snickered.

"Is it really your birthday?"

[ultimatehottie.livejournal.com]

"We can sing if it is," Johnny offered.

[gunslingerpose]

"First person to start singing-" Gorgon's pocket buzzed. Nikolai shoved his hand into it to try to stifle his phone. Again. "-gets to spend the rest of the night drooling on the sidewalk."

He apparently didn't handle birthdays well.

"How're you finding the city so far, Mister World-Famous?"

Gorgon was also not particularly the sort to get starstruck easily. Even if he had any clue who the Human Torch was.

[ultimatehottie.livejournal.com]

That's why Johnny was sure to mention his fame; so Gorgon would know that he should either be starstruck or start hating. Either way, Johnny was used to it.

"No giant monsters here. It has that on New York," Johnny said. "And I really can't complain about the company."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm not sure how to take that," Banzai said with a nervous laugh. "Considering you enjoy spending your time taking down the criminal element. I've had fun, but I don't know if I wanna be classed in with them."

[gunslingerpose]

"Ah." Gorgon looked up at the Torch, and then back to Banzai. And then back and forth one more time before smirking faintly. "Is this more of a date than a superhero team-up? I'm not crashing it somehow, am I?"

It was a fine, fine line between stifled annoyance and sadistic glee. Nikolai was straddling that line right then, as his phone continued to buzz. He was going to throw the damn thing in a minute, at this rate.