[skald]

In scope of things, magnetism wasn’t a rare quirk. She knew several people and cousins of hers that had varied levels of it. Ranging from full fledged lightning to being able to control bits of metal, to even someone being able to help pulses in neural pathways by controlling the pacing of the firing electrical signals.

However.

Something that she wasn’t expecting in the realm of quirks was the specific magnetic allowance of… Someone that could only control shovels. Was it magnetism? Was it something else entirely? Was it maybe controlling the wood in the shovels? Making it more akin to wood control or…

These were the thoughts that ran through her head as skald flipped up, along and to the otherside of car that was acting as her shield against several shovels that launched themselves at her. She was able to deflect them with her lightning but they came back around and just… well. They didn’t exactly stop hard in the dirt so to speak.

She had already cleared the immediate area of civilians so no one was in threat range of the shovels that he seemed to control.. She wanted to say half of the street? The guy that was launching them was dressed up in a miner outfit, cackling wildly and taunting her with shovel related puns.

Some of which were downright awful, but she did have to give him props to anything that related to digging. Passion in your work was important you know? The kitsune dived out of the way of a shovel that made it’s way around the car. So this guy could do more than launch shovels. So shovel… kinesis?

She’d sigh a little bit and skid to a stop as one clanged off a fire hydrant. She was dressed in her hero garb, the purple and black mix of ‘armor’ leather and regular material fluttering everytime that one of the shovels missed. The guy had like… ten of these things left? She had destroyed half of them and it wasn’t really a surprise that… the pieces weren’t moving anymore if this guy straight up was throwing shovels. Not pieces of shovels. Not the metal. Not the wood.

Shovels.

”Can you stop trying to garden me for like five minutes and we can just talk about this?”

”NO ALL SHALL KNOW THE POWER OF THE SHOVEL”

”...Figures I suppose”

With it being later in the day there wasn't as much traffic in this area thankfully but she knew that it was only a matter of time before more people showed up. Where were all the heroes anyways? She couldn't be the only one on patrol here. She almost groaned when she noted that he was drawing out trowels. Yeah who was going to regulate gardening equipment?

[Raiomaru Toshigawa]

I got something deep inside of me
Courage is the thing that keeps us free

Shaberu Horuma. Villain name Excavator. An eccentric with the bizarre quirk of manipulating digging equipment - no specific material in and of itself, but specifically any and all materials when they took the shovel-related shape, or anything that could be justified as shovel-like. With a power such as that, it was no wonder that the man had ended up a laughing stock, ridiculed and ostracized, until he had one day simply... Snapped, taken to villainy seemingly more out of a desire to make his quirk seem fearsome, to earn some modicum of respect that the world would not otherwise give him, than anything else. Of course Excavator was still the shovel man, so all that this had done was make him the laughing stock of the criminal underworld in turn, something which only seemed to drive his frustration even further. 

Yes, Leonid was familiar.

The veteran hero had encountered this sad old man a few times during his career, a few battles had been fought until the Silver King Hero had begun to see himself above such trifles. Excavator was a joke then, and he was a joke now, but that did not change the fact that those shovels he was throwing around had some legitimate power behind them, smashing through windows and able to lodge themselves into walls when sent flying. Funny or not at a glance, that still made for a legitimate danger to civilians and to public property. We couldn't have that, now could we?

"You really still at this same act, old chap?"

The tired question was the only warning, prompting an "Eh-?" from the C-lister villain as he turned in the direction of its source, before he was met with a booming explosive roar, Leonid exerting the full strength of his mutated throat and vocal chords to send a powerful blast of gale force and extreme sound straight into Excavator, sending the villain rolling along the ground with a plethora of sputters and screams, his trowels and other miscellaneous gardening tools clattering along the ground all around him. Red-faced, the old villain sat up, staring in utter disbelief at the second hero to enter the scene. "Leonid-?! But you- You're-"

"Retired?" The old lion sighed, rolling one arm, feeling stiff, old muscles warming up. "Believe me, I thought the same. But here I am, enjoying some of my very limited free time out in Tokyo - you would not believe the schedule that teaching staff is under - and I see this? Imagine my surprise when I discover that, after twenty years, absolutely nothing has changed."

"You-! SILENCE! While you may have been content resting on your laurels, my power has only grown! BEHOLD!" Excavator screeched, his collection of trowels hovering up into the air around him, now pointing at Leonid, ready to launch. The veteran, meanwhile, simply glanced in the direction of the other mutant hero on the scene, feline muzzle curling upwards into a soft smile.

"Evening, lass. I am sure that you had no trouble dealing with this old fogey on your own, but I hope that you do not mind my assistance?"

---

 skald

 template by punki of adoxography

[skald]

Skald wasn’t very familiar with the villain she was fighting against; not at all familiar with their quirk or their history. To her it was just another villain that had decided to make a mess of main. She didn’t understand where he came from or what his reasons were but did know that he was dangerous.

It was a lousy downside of her information network being piss poor now that she was no longer a part of the police force. Not that it was that good to begin with but it was definitely a step up from nothing at all. The voice that she heard speak out rang familiar to her. Only after peering up over the car was she gifted with a sight she never thought she’d see.

Leonid.

A retired hero that was at the fore front of their society for a long time. They had retired when she was still on the force and she remembered the surprise from many of the officers at the time. Seeing him knock the villain along the ground skald looked between the two fairly rapidly.

”I don’t believe it…”

Skald found herself mumbling, pulling herself up from behind the car. She never thought in her wildest dreams she’d meet Leonid. Not even for a second did she even think she’d be seeing him in action person to person. If she wasn’t in the middle of doing work she’d probably have asked him for an autograph. Hell sign her hero uniform and all that.

The back and forth between the two made her realize that this villain must have been active during his time as a hero. Meaning that in the years between that he… never changed. There was a sad pang in her heart and skald adjusted her stance. One hand forward, one back, legs slightly apart and spread. The stance was meant to adjust between fighting and running, something she learned herself.

So if he’s been doing this for that long… reflexes might not be the best.

Her ears flicked, she could feel that gaze on her and she’d turn her head slightly. The hood didn’t really get in the way and she’d crack a smile to the older retired hero.

”I don’t mind Sir. He was giving me a bit of trouble but I feel a lot better knowing you’re here.”

She was pleasant, polite, heck even had offered to talk it out with the villain before he arrived but… Knowing that he needed those tools gave skald a target, She’d wait and strike with her lightning to blast apart the various tools the villain had. Preferring to keep her distance for the moment.
That and she didn’t want to accidentally hit the retired hero. Or maybe she was just positively stunned he came to this place at this time, while she was here. So she was a little thrown off!

[Raiomaru Toshigawa]

I got something deep inside of me
Courage is the thing that keeps us free

Hah. Leonid could most certainly recognize someone being starstruck when he saw it, he had seen it enough times in his careers for that. This did not make it less enjoyable for him to know that there were some that still recognized him for who he was, and he saw that reaction clearly in the hero currently on the scene. She gave her reply, and the lion responded with a small 'Hooh' before turning back towards Excavator, hand on his hip as he continued to speak.

"So you were giving this one some trouble, were you old bean? Well, if you are capable of that, consider me proven wrong! You must have improved significantly since I last saw you, then!"

"My power only CONTINUES TO GROW, LEONID!" The villain screeched now, the tips of the myriad of digging tools hovering around him all snapping to be pointing their tips towards the veteran, a sight that... Could have been intimidating, had it been anything else but the current situation. "While you have been on the shelf collecting rust, I have only EXPANDED my influence! Now DIE!"

The shovels and trowels all launched from their hovering homing positions, shooting forward like bullets out of a machinegun in a swarm directed right at the central body mass of the old lion, who responded by leaping into the air and twisting, whirling around in a rapid spin to avoid plenty of the incoming projectiles. With a grunt of exertion at the acrobatic stunt, Leonid swung his hands around in this midair twirl, snatching two of the shovels that he could not dodge out of the air, leaving him unharmed and grabbing two of Excavator's weapons of choice. He completed his whirl, landing on the road again and kicking off as soon as his feet touched the pavement, aging but still terrifyingly strong leg muscles launching him forward as if he was fired out of a cannon. In a flash he had covered the distance between himself and Excavator.

He brought his fists down, intending to finish his dashing advance with a couple of heavy swings - still holding onto the shovels that he had caught out of the air, mind you - the villain shrieking in response as a different shovel - a snow shovel this time - whirled forward from the criminal's back and spun through the air. Acting as a kind of... Remote-controlled martial artist's staff, this snow shovel would block most of Leonid's momentum, stopping him in his tracks and forcing him to alter his swing, able to bypass the obstacle but giving Excavator enough time to dodge. The villain scrambled back, gripping onto one of his trowels and sending it flying backwards, dragged through the air by his own equipment to create distance once more, as Leonid's hand came crashing down, slamming into the pavement where Excavator had once stood with enough force to send a crack running along the road.

"...Missed, huh..?" The old lion mused, standing up straight once more and squinting towards the villain before him, the rise back to his feet complete with an arching of his back that made every muscle along his spine crack and pop. With a sigh, the old veteran squeezed down, effortlessly snapping the shovels still held in his hands, leaving splinter and shattered gardening equipment land around his feet. "You are absolutely right old chap, I am getting rusty. Going to need to work on that."

---

 skald

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[skald]

Lying was never her strong suit and hiding her emotions was also another thing that was rather difficult. Flicking her ears this way and that she felt her face grow a little red as she heard the sound that Leonid made. Yeah she was going to geek out over someone that was the friggen fore-front of heroing for literal… what? Decades? He practically shaped heroeing as it was! How could she not?

”He’s down at least a dozen shovels now though…”

Experience however would also be partly to blame she felt here. She wasn’t going to sit there and make excuses. She needed to figure out how best to end this situation and also make sure that the villain here wasn’t seriously injured. But with the focus of the Shovel villain now firmly on Leonid… Well.

That left her a little open in terms of what she could do; She was impressed thoroughly by the dexterity of the retired hero and his quick thinking. Double so of the force that he used to practically crack the pavement. She had to imagine what sort of force he had in his prime if he was like this in his sixties.

With lightning charging on her arms the kitsune dashed forward, not wanting to give the villain any time to recover. One hand forward and the other back, she’d bring them together in an over the top motion that had the lightning of each meet at her hands before launching a powerful bolt of lightning at the villain.

Dodge or block, the opening she’d have made was immediately followed through by several weaker blasts of lightning from her tails. Severely weaker than her standard bolts, it would if anything be very distracting. The name of the game was to make the older villain exert themselves too much and be unable to flee properly so she could make an appropriate arrest.

She didn’t have anywhere to be mind you; but she didn’t want the retired hero to pull more weight than he needed to. He was retired for a reason right? Should he even be doing that? Hell should she ask if he had his license? It hardly seemed relevant.

”Well sir I do know several gyms that are actively seeking members that aren’t half bad…”

Teasing? No. Seriously? Very. Did she attend most of them? Absolutely.

[Raiomaru Toshigawa]

I got something deep inside of me
Courage is the thing that keeps us free

Thankfully, there were two of them. Once upon a time, Leonid would probably have been irritated by the presence of someone else stealing his thunder (hah!) as it were, but at this point, he was just glad for the assistance making sure that this was over and done with quickly. Excavator had not noticed the other hero moving at all, so zeroed in on his 'nemesis' (a very generous interpretation of their relationship if you were to ask the veteran himself, but humility had never exactly been Excavator's strong suit) was he. Thus, when thunder cracked along the ground and enveloped the villain, his shriek was one of pain and surprise both. Excellent, the man was stunned, that meant that all Leonid needed to go was go back in one more time and-

Or so he would, if Excavator did not wave in his direction with a wave and make the many splinters, fragments and remaining whole pieces of the shovels that Leonid had once held shoot upwards, battering against the pro hero, piercing into his suit and making small spurts of blood shoot up around his muzzle, ears and other exposed parts of his head. Hurgh-! He staggered back, waving away the virtual swarm of assailing wooden pieces and metal, protecting himself best he was able. So what, it wasn't that he controlled whole shovels, but it also applied to pieces of shovels? Things that had once been shovels? What was your power, Excavator?!

With Leonid momentarily stunned, Excavator would be given a moment to spin around back towards Skald, both hands raised towards the younger mutant and, with a scream, he would summon all nearby digging equipment that he had launched previously, sending it flying towards the source of his pain, accompanied by the snow shovel which spun rapidly, swinging alongside the rest of the barrage in a wide arc. Hell, laughable as it was, that looked genuinely potentially painful-!

The old lion growled and, with another kick against the pavement he threw himself forward, vaulting through the air in a springing somersault that sent him down to land closely in front of the fox, veteran hero coming crashing down to land on top of the incoming snow shovel, stomping it to the ground and snapping it in two under his boot in the process. Quickly turning to meet the incoming wave of gardening projectiles, the white lion threw his head forward for another booming roar, the ensuing shockwave scattering the incoming shovels back and sending them sparking in all directions. Whew, alright, that was one attack averted.

"Really now?" The old man chuckled in response to Skald's own comment, thin trickles of blood still running down his head, staining the silvery fur with splotches of red. "Well, I would love to hear your recommendations once this is handled."

---

skald

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[skald]

One of the few things that skald had learned over her time as a hero and on the beat is that you never turned down help; especially when it came from another professional retired or not. But in the hero business many people were unused to working with others and always wanted the spotlight or had hyper-fixations on certain individuals. So it was not a surprise that not only did the shovel villain practically brush off her presence and focused on Leonid; he pulled another trick out of his sleeve.

Fragments of the shovels? The various tools that she had blasted apart earlier were no where to be seen but the more recent pieces had the villains power still affecting them? Was it a requirement for him to be aware of the tools? Or still in line of sight? How did that work even? Skald’s brow grew quizzical and then concerned.

She’d have to recommend Leonid to see a doctor after this was done, splinters in the face were not something you wanted at all! Her over the top performance to shoot various bolts of lightning at the villain at least yielded some results and Leonid himself was nothing to laugh at. Some older heroes couldn’t hold up anymore and he was just slightly shaking off the rust. She really wished she could have seen him in his prime.

Excavator however wasn’t taken in by the same respect; in fact he was changing jobs from prospecting to undertaking. Or at least attempting to undertake the two heroes. Skald’s lightning danced along her arms as she prepared to blast away the tools coming her way. That large snow shovel was likely going to be a problem with how big it was or that there was a lot of plastic. She didn’t want to think about melting it-

Leonid however had other plans, crashing down in front of her and snapping that snow shovel in two. With the focus of her defense gone, the lightning had no where else to go and skald’s arms pointed to either direction around the other hero.

Yeah that’s right, she was curving the bolts around the other hero to strike at the villain from behind Leonid. She didn’t expect to hit him directly and the bolts weren’t super charged because she frankly wasn’t looking to seriously hurt the villain. Just stun them long enough to cuff them. Though once she discharged her lightning she’d rub at one of her ears, it was ringing just a little bit; more so from the close proximity to the roaring. Sensitive hearing and all that.

”That looks a bit nasty, I’ve got a first aid kit nearby so we can take care of that after this.”

Skald adjusted her stance a little bit, and was able to peer around the other hero. The shovel based villain had already recovered and had already yanked some of his shovels back into the area around him. She’d frown for a moment and then start to gather lightning along her forearms, slowly dragging it and weaving it around in a powerful arc around her. It almost looked like a slow weaving dance with deadly intent.

”This should do the trick…”

[Raiomaru Toshigawa]

I got something deep inside of me
Courage is the thing that keeps us free

Electricity curved through the air and, in one hell of a light show, it came crashing into the villain to prompt another shriek of paint from Excavator, the act apparently stunning him enough to break his concentration, making the remaining shovels hovering in the air drop and clatter to the ground. Fantastic. Turning back towards the villain, Leonid prepared himself, seeing that the other hero, too, was just about ready to launch something big. At her comment he just chuckled softly, giving her another glance.

"Ah, this? This is nothing lass, I've had far worse. I appreciate the sentiment, however." Really, he hadn't been cut deeply at all, but with how much even shallow cuts could bleed around the head, and how visually obvious the read was when spreading in the stark white of Leonid's fur? It probably looked considerably worse than it actually was. "Now then, ready to wrap this thing up?"

Excavator, in the meantime, had regained his bearings enough to utter more vague threats, if nothing else. "I... I will... I will HAVE your HEADS!" A shout that Leonid, of course, had already heard so many times throughout his career. It was nothing that he took seriously, really, and he was more than ready to meet whatever Excavator was going to throw their way next while Skald prepared her own attack-

...Or so he thought, until Excavator turned his hand towards a nearby construction site, prompting the sound of rumbling creaks and groaning metal. Then, something large began to lift up from the site in question, Excavator screaming in exertion as he had just brought up a literal, full-sized excavator floating over his head, a sight that, for a moment, made Leonid deflate.

Come on now, really? That was not a shovel, there is no way that counts. How in the hell did Excavator's quirk work?!

No time to think about that, as Excavator threw his hand forward and thus launched the massive piece of heavy construction equipment, whirling through the air in a wide arc as it made its way towards the two heroes, prompting a low "...Ah, hells..." from Leonid as he planted his feet, bracing himself for what was to come. "I will take care of that situation. Focus on what you're building up now, lass. Knock him down while I do my part, would you be so kind?"

No real time to think about it as, it bears repeating, the literal excavator came falling down towards the two. Here goes nothing..!

---

skald

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[skald]

Skald could feel the tingling of her electricity across her body, slowly coming into focus on her arms. She could build up a lot of lightning in one place, her lightning did nothing but tickle from time to time based on how much she built. She wasn’t affected by it. Though it’d eventually make her body parts heavy and she’d feel like crap if she expended too much.

”Still couldn’t hurt Sir.”

She’d chuckle; yeah that about fit for what she had heard of the older generation of heroes. Though she did imagine that he was made of tougher and sterner stuff than most. An ear flicked at hearing him suggest that they wrap things up; she’d bob her head in agreement.

”That I am sir. I was hoping to talk him down but…”

The expression she made was that of frustration; she didn’t like having to resort to violence for every instance; she had a kind and gentle heart. Hearing the villain throw out that threat only earned a sigh from her.

”Really digging the hole deeper are we?”

Her weaving motions continued, she could feel the pulsing of her lightning more acutely, the build up was far from subtle. Crackling lightning along her hero outfit, it wasn’t built for it and some parts were actually crumbling off of her arms. Showing the fur underneath. Her expression was that of content and concentration; a surprising mix like she wasn’t really feeling threatened. She practically radiated confidence.

Her icy blue eyes locked onto the full sized excavator that came into view. She noted the older hero wasn’t expecting it and she really was in the same boat. But her motions didn’t cease; if anything they started to increase in tempo ever so slightly.

”Mm… Such wasted talent.”

She sighed again and seeing the heavy piece of equipment start to launch their way. If leonid was going to take care of that well… She’d take care of him. The lightning was more than enough to if she hit with it it’d knock him flat and out cold she figured.

”I’ll do my best sir; glad that you’re here. Can’t think of what I’d do other than dive for cover if he launched that at me solo.”

A chuckle and She felt the lightning build up reach its peak; she could feel every fiber of her body screaming for release. She could feel the drag on her arms and her motions stuttered as she could feel the lightning want out. It wanted out. Let it out. Let. It. Out.

The air around her started to grow, filled with energy and warping slightly before she would raise one hand. It seemed like the air stilled and with a single long motion of where she brought her primary hand forward, pointing directly at the villain. Her other hand had arced naturally over her head and her stance was wide, almost looking as though she had performed a dance move.

The silence, before the loud crack of lightning blasted from her fingertips. She had to be careful to regulate it at such a close distance so it wouldn’t be lethal but with how fast the bolt traveled it was no wonder why she was careful with her quirk. Unregulated use would be deadly. After shooting it off she felt her arms immediately grow sore and the smoking from her arms was apperant as she had practically singed her hero costume. Some portions of it burned a little bit.

Other portions simply ceased to be.

Shifting slightly from where she had been standing before, there was even a bit of the ground that had been scorched. She had funneled extra charge into the ground to make doubly sure that the bolt she had thrown wasn’t lethal. Acting as the generator, grounding and discharge conductor skald was a strange mix of a fox that was for sure!

[Raiomaru Toshigawa]

I got something deep inside of me
Courage is the thing that keeps us free

The agreement and understanding was made, and once again, the other hero's high voltage began to flow. Leonid, meanwhile, was entirely focused on the incoming piece of heavy machinery. Had he been twenty or thirty years younger, this would hardly even be a problem, he'd be absolutely confident that he would be able to intercept and stop that thing. As things were now, however... Well, he could probably still do it, but... Ah, this was probably going to hurt.

"And go!" A quick exclamation marked the launch of their attack and defense combination. As the fox launched her torrent of electricity, Leonid kicked off and launched himself into the air, flying up against the incoming excavator, his body shooting straight towards the heavy machinery and, with his arms outstretched, his open hands would collide with solid steel. Immediately he shot back down, his body mass not even nearly enough to halt the momentum of the flying construction vehicle, but as he fell with it, he was able to divert it slightly, its arc rocked so that it would crash into the ground a few paces to the side of the younger hero, rather than right on top of her, though, well.

Seeing as how he was holding on to it when it came slamming down, the same could not be said for Leonid.

His feet met the ground first, and his entire body would immediately buckle and strain under the weight coming down on him. His leg gave out immediately, prompting the old lion to slam one of his knees down into the pavement as every muscle he had screamed in exertion, straining and pushing to force his arms - still wrapped tightly to the excavator - to keep the thing held aloft, keeping it from crushing him entirely. He skidded along the ground, leaving deep cracked lines in the road as he went but, mercifully, the momentum of the flying excavator would slow, his body managing to halt its momentum and, with a heaving exhale, letting Leonid shift the massive machine's weight to place it on its side, all of that weight slamming onto the road next to him. Gasping for breath, the old man remained on one knee, taking a few moments to let his bones ache, let his body complain... Hoo, he was definitely going to feel that one tomorrow.

At the same time, the electric onslaught would launch, filling the entire road ahead. With all of his energy spent on that last big move, Excavator had no stamina left to dodge with, and he was bowled over immediately, sent screaming and rolling down the road, prompting a low snort from the lion hero. That was it for you, Shaberu old friend.

...Well, he would like to quip as much, anyway, but he felt like it might be better to let his younger counterpart handle the arrest. He was just going to stay here on one knee and breathe for a bit.

Whew.

---

skald

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[skald]

Skald was beyond impressed that the older hero was willing to put himself in harms way like this. She knew that as you entered your later years that things became far more difficult. Especially in this line of work; reflexes and muscle mass might take a hit but the experience and knowledge of ones body would prevail no? But she couldn’t help but wince a little bit as Leonid met the pavement, taking a knee and well… Thankfully directing the excavator away from her and down the street a bit. Though she was concerned about seeing how hard his leg had gone to ground.

Her lightning on the other hand would slam into the villain and she got to see him tumble down the road. She felt a little bit of pride in her work even if it was forced to resort to… force. She felt like they could have talked this over and she’d glance back at the older hero; shooting them a smile as she trotted towards the villain. She had some restraints she could put on his wrists for the mean time.

She’d pin the villain to the ground with a foot, handling him somewhat gently but firmly. The cuffs she had weren’t the most impressive but they’d do in keeping his arms locked against his body while they waited for the clean up crew. Keeping the villain locked to one of the light posts nearby she’d shake her head.

”You literally would be the king of construction but instead you chose to dig deep into villainy. You could have built up instead of down bud.”

She’d smile sadly and shake her head again.

”But that’s something for later yeah?”

She’d shrug and pad back to the other hero, seeing that he was still on that one knee she’d lean this way and that. Looking somewhat concerned and biting her lip the younger hero wondered if she could actually help the other at all or if it was better to wait for the ambulance and officers to get here…

”I’ve got some painkillers for up until the ambulance gets here, unless you’d prefer me grab a first aid kit or something… Thanks for the help sir. I’m not sure if I could have launched that without you.”

[Raiomaru Toshigawa]

I got something deep inside of me
Courage is the thing that keeps us free

Every muscle in his body ached. His bones screamed in protest. Fortunately, Leonid knew his body well enough to recognize it as just that. Aches and protest, nothing had snapped, nothing was torn. Thirty years in the hero business and you learned to recognize what injury felt like, and this was neither of those things. It was just... Exertion, pushing himself a bit harder than he perhaps should have. Still not moving from his kneeling position, the old lion snorted with soft laughter.

"I swear, it felt like it was yesterday that I did something just like this with no trouble. Where does the time go..?" 

As the younger hero approached him, she would offer assistance. Painkillers, first aid, ambulance... Bah, humbug. In what universe did the Silver King need such things over something this minor? He was going to be fine, just fetch him a couch to lie on and an ice pack. "Oh, don't worry about me. I've had worse from better, as they say." There was another small laugh and, with a grunt of effort, he would stand up, a distinct and loud crack in his knee popping like a gunshot as he did. Oooooh... "Hngh- Well, there is a reason that I don't exactly do these things anymore, but besides that."

Looking the way of the other mutant, he would mull over a few things, a few thoughts, before speaking again. "What's your name, lass? I don't mean to offend you, I'm sure it's widespread. Haven't exactly kept up with the industry, as much as I should have."

---

skald

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[skald]

Skald couldn’t help but want to fret over the other hero, though with him looking the way he did it was hard to be more than mildly concerned. He was one of the heroes that shaped the industry so how could this really bother him that much right?

”Sir if you were throwing around excavators like this yesterday that’s both worrying and impressive.”

That would also explain why he likely reacted the way he did or that he was just making a jab at his age. Which to skald he didn’t look that bad right? Sure his fur was silver white and he didn’t look like anything in his prime but damn he was still fierce. Her offer for the painkillers or ambulance, hell even the first aid was waved off.

”Well… I’d believe it.”

Skald sighed a little bit and looked to her arms, her uniform was practically in tatters as it were. Her outfit wasn’t meant to take that sort of internal beating or external. It was mostly just for show since skald didn’t want to get weighed down by fancy material. Hearing that crack from the other’s knee she couldn’t help but flinch.

”I still appreciate it Sir; but uh… that is a good reason.”

Then came the question that skald wasn’t anticipating. What was her name? Her hero name? Or her actual name? Figuring that it was a little bit of both she’d rub at her neck with her hood now out of the way…

”Maelstrom sir, unless you mean my non hero name. And that’s fine sir, you’ve seen hundreds of heroes come and go. I’m not exactly a ‘big’ name either.”

Skald was definitely being humble on that last part, she was very active in the industry but she refused to really let it go to her head what-so-ever. The fox mutant turned to look at where the villain had been hooked to a lamp post and sighed a little bit. She’d have to sign for damages to the street and… well that construction zone would also need attention… Something she’d need to handle post haste if she wanted anything for dinner.

”A pity really…”

[Raiomaru Toshigawa]

I got something deep inside of me
Courage is the thing that keeps us free

Still stretching everything back out, Leonid listened to the younger mutant speak without giving much in return. Stretching out his leg, rolling his shoulders, arching his back, tilting his head from side to side. Well... He was certainly getting stiffer, that was for certain, but evidently these things were not exactly his wheelhouse anymore... Well, not that he minded terribly, regardless. People like the other hero beside him were the very reason why he didn't have to bother anymore, after all.

"Maelstrom, huh?" He nodded, a small glint in his blue eyes. "Hell of a name. Don't you worry about your civilian identity, work names are all we need, aren't they?" He chuckled some. Lord knew that far more people knew Leonid than Raiomaru Toshigawa, that was for certain. At the end of the day, there came a certain point where either name was just as much a 'real name' as the other, didn't it?

On her next comment of 'a pity' he gave her another glance, then shook his head. "Ah, don't worry yourself with Shaberu. At this point this is just what he's like, unlikely to change if he hasn't already." There was a small shrug from the lion. "It is what it is, some people simply don't want to be helped-"

Before he could continue, the sound of traffic cut him off. Seems like some had caught that the action had winded down, and now reports were swarming in, news crews and journalists... The veteran let out another short, barking laugh, lips curling up in one of his not-grins. "Look at that, the circus is in town already. Would you want to deal with these?" A look towards Maelstrom to confirm. He didn't want to steal the young'uns thunder, after all.

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skald

template by punki of adoxography

[skald]

She didn’t really need answers to the first few mentions, it was something that she knew was probably a moot point and if her parents were any indication of stubbornness what was to say about someone who fancied themselves the king of the industry once upon a time? Hell he was still more or less the king of the industry even out of retirement.

The mention of her hero name coming from him felt… Right somehow. Like no, that was her and that was what she had been working with for quite some time. She figured that if he wanted to dig deeper to find out more about her he likely could. She’d tilt her head to one side as she noted that glint; though she didn’t mention it. Her hands took their natural placement on her side and she’d consider something.

”Thank you sir. And I suppose you’re right there. Makes it easy to keep things separate. Or try to at least.”

She had gone to such extents to protect her family to even having to push the name away from her. Covering up as much as she could but some people would be able to dig. There was a little bit of sadness there. Flicking her ears as he told her not to worry about the villain. That he wouldn’t change. There was a small part of her that knew he was right but…

”Saving people isn’t always about fighting though Sir-”

She didn’t know enough about the villain but that thought was cut off and she’d turn as the sound of traffic picked up. Great. It was the reporter tidal wave and news stations trying to get the next big story. She’d sigh a little bit and shake her head. Hearing that laugh she’d gaze at him and then manage a small nod.

”I can deal with them Sir; things here are sorted and I’m sure that you have better things to do than answer questions from reporters all day.”

She’d smile cheerfully at the other; her words were genuine as was her smile. Padding towards the oncoming circus she’d glance back at the other hero.

”Thank you again sir. It’s nice actually have a team up that worked even if it was brief.”