nextgenerationmarvel | (( Let's Get Some New York Peeps Up In Here. Any New York Peeps Outside of Marshmallows))

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(( Let's Get Some New York Peeps Up In Here. Any New York Peeps Outside of Marshmallows))

Peregrine hauled two very full black garbage bags to the smelly dumpster behind the restaurant he had a job in. It was his last official duty for the day. He hefted the bags in and wrinkled his nose as their landing disturbed the dumpsters contents. Who knew it could smell worse? Peregrine did now.

He gagged a little and stepped away. He swiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm. He puffed out a breath and realized he did not want to spend the rest of the day in a smelly, cramped alley. Peregrine headed for the rickety stairs that lead up to his tiny apartment.

After meeting Roxie Danvers, they had managed to find where he had been given an address to. So, Peregrine had a place to live and a job to work to keep that cheap place to live. Mostly because both belonged to friends of his father. He had settled in enough that he decided it was time to start exploring and poking dark underbellies to see if he could find out where his father was.

After a quick shower and change of clothes, Peregrine was out on the streets of New York. He was heading out of Chinatown in Manhattan. He debated going to Little Fuzhou in Brooklyn or East Harlem to see if he could make any contacts there.

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Dani loved Harlem.

The sights and the smells of her childhood hadn't changed. She wore a yellow shirt under light coat, black jeans and black boots tonight. She'd spent most of the day scouting a few locations for her new gym. She had her first meeting on Monday morning. Several of the businessmen and women she'd called up were eager to hear her proposal. Only a couple, Norman Osborn chief among them, hadn't responded.

That just let her know who really cared about this city.

She walked down the street and noted, up ahead, a group of guys who whistled and cat-called as she made her way toward them. Rolling her eyes, she walked in the direction of the young "gangstas" with their pants sagging. One of them even had gold teeth.

She wasn't altering her course, though. There were seven of them. She'd dealt with worse. They could look. They could say anything they wanted. Words didn't hurt her.

She'd make an example of the first guy to touch her.

As she walked up, one of the guys moved to block her way.

"What's up, Baby Girl? I ain't see you here before. You just move here?" he asked.

"My name isn't Baby Girl, not to you, at least. Mind moving out of the way?" she asked politely.

"Where you goin'? Come chill wit' me and my boys. We got some stuff you'd like."

Dani sighed and shook her head. This was going to end badly. She just knew it.

Perregrine had managed to get himself lost. All it took was getting off at the wrong stop or taking a wrong turn out of the right stop. He wasn't sure which one he had done. He scratched his head at a corner as he tried to figure out which direction to go. He heard some whistling and cat-calling and turned his head to see what was going on.

He spotted the seven men before he saw who they were harassing. Peregrine let out a short chuckle. Those guys are really going to regret that.

He turned and headed in that direction. Dani could handle herself, he knew from past association. But he would not miss an opportunity to see her in action. Or lend a hand if something weird happened.

Peregrine quietly jogged toward the group of fools.

The guy in front of her wasn't getting the message. Dani tried to go around him.

"What, you too good to hang out with us?" the man said, reaching out and grabbing her arm at the wrist.

She turned, grabbed his wrist and twisted hard to her right. The thug yelped, first in surprise, then in pain, as he dropped to a knee.

"Ow! Let me go, you crazy bitch!" Thug Moron said.

"Name-calling? Not cool, man." she said.

"Hey, let him go!" one of his buddies said. Dani looked over her shoulder and saw one of the larger men coming at her. Metal gleamed in his left hand and Dani knew a knife when she saw it. She didn't think about it.

The moment he got close, she let go of the first guy, stepped forward and aimed a kick at the inside of the larger man's thigh. He yelped in pain, but came at her again. So she kicked him again. This time his leg buckled and he dropped to a knee.

Dani yelled, ran forward and drove her knee into his face even as she brought her elbow down on the top of his skull.

The large man dropped to the ground like a stone, unconscious.

Dani looked at the others.

"Oh snap. She knocked out Tito!" one of the younger punks said.

"Anyone else?" she asked.

Three more came at her while the first thug reached into his pants for his gun.

Peregrine wasn't too concerned when the knife came into play. He knew Dani had the skills to handle it.

However, when the thug down on his knee reached for the gun, he knew he had to act. He ground his teeth. He sped up his jog into a run. He angled toward a nearby building. He launched himself up and along the wall to use it to bounce off and bring an aerial kick down at the gun-grabbing gangsta.

It wasn't close up work, which was Peregrine's specialty, but it felt rather nice to show off with a solid, acrobatic kick.

The thug wasn't expecting to get jumped. The kick slammed him into a nearby car door and he fell to the ground unconscious.

Dani drove her knee into the groin of an oncoming thug, then pushed him aside and threw a left hook at the next attacker. Both men went down like sacks of potatoes and Dani looked at the third thug. Thug Three was smarter than his friends; he backed away from her.

"The Shogun is gonna hear about this, girl! You better watch your back!" he said, before turning to run. The remaining thugs helped up their friends and retreated.

The unconscious guy was left to fend for himself.

Dani turned around...and blinked.

"Peregine? Is that really you?" she asked, the hint of a smile crossing her face as she stepped toward him.

He tilted his head at the runner's pronouncement. "They have shoguns in Harlem? Or did we already meet him?"

He pointed at the gun showing on the sidewalk next to the thug he knocked unconscious.

Peregrine pointed at his nose. "Me? Yes. Lost in the wrong part of Harlem and keeping fights fair."

Dani just shook her head. "I have no idea what that guy was talking about. If Harlem had a Shogun, he'd probably hangs out at the Apollo, taking in old kung-fu movies." she said.

She looked at the gun Peregrine had saved her from. She bowed in respect.

"Thank you, Peregrine. Of all the people I expected to run into since I've been back, I didn't expect you." she said gently.

He'd saved her life before, a few years ago, when the odds were slightly against her. He and Shang-Chi had shown her kindness during her time in the east.

"Let me at least buy you dinner. Or something. And you can tell me why you just happened to be wandering through Harlem. I make a pretty good tour guide, if you want one." she said.

"It was nothing. He was going to interrupt a masterful beat down.I expected to run into you at some point. But not today." The martial world was not very large. Bigger than days of old, but true practitioners were very much a minority on the planet. And spread all over.

He stomach grumbled a bit. "Deal. As long as it's not Chinese cuisine. I think I've smelled enough of that today. And then you can help me find the Chinatown in East Harlem. I seemed to have gotten turned around somewhere..."

"Okay, no Chinese, then. There's a burger joint up the street." Dani said, nodding up the block. She waited for him to fall in step with her and she lead the way.

"Chinatown won't be hard to find once we get there. I'll give you a ride if you want." she said.

"American food? That will do very well." He glanced up the block where she nodded. He wasn't quite sure if that was the burger sign he was looking for. But he could trust Dani's tastes. He easily fell in step beside her.

"That would be very helpful. Thank you." Pretty lady offering him a ride? How could he say no. Even in the most innocent of terms. "So, does this happen often? You taking down some armed men."

"Sadly, it's been much more common since I came home." Dani said. "This isn't the Harlem I remember. When I was little, there were bad seeds but they knew not to start stuff."

She sighed.

"Now it's like everyone's lost their minds."

"Mm. So, you are slowly reclaiming the streets? I think I saw that in an anti-triad movie once. May you have better luck," he said with all sincerity. As much as Hong Kong used to produce escapist fair, they didn't tend to have Hollywood endings.

He looked around the street, trying to mark buildings and places if he ever got lost again. He couldn't depend on always running into pretty women who could kick butt to help him out.

"One block, one day at a time." Dani said with a nod. He wished her luck but Dani believed it would happen. All she had to do was work for it.

"We're not far, now. Just around this corner." Dani said.

"How long are you in town for?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," he answered with a slight frown. It was only a momentary downward twitch of his lips. "As long as it takes to find some leads on where my father disappeared to. New York does have lots of villains. One may know where he is."

Also, he was hiding right under his mother's nose. He was as wary of spy organizations as his father was.

Edited 2015-01-03 07:09 (UTC)

"Whoa, man down. Flag on the play." Dani said, stopping to turn and face Peregrine. Dani knew a few of the tougher martial artists in the world. Her godfather and Peregrine's old man occupied two of the top five spots that she knew of.

"You want to kick the beehive that's New York's crime scene to get clues on your old man? Okay, no problem." she said.

"Just one question. Do you need back-up?" she asked him, her tone serious.

Peregrine stopped a few steps after Dani did. He turned and looked around in confusion. He didn't see anyone kissing cement or children playing with a flag. He scratched his head.

"Well, more like artful punches to avoid drawing my grandfather's attention. With my father missing, I look like the next able body." Zheng Zu was still looking to prolong his unnatural life, making Peregrine the next best choice if Shang-Chi was not available.

He gave her a wan smile. "Not at the moment, but you'll be the first person I call if I do."

"Be careful, Peregrine. This town is full of crazy people and half of them are the good guys, fighting against the bad ones." she said.

"I'm serious. Call me if you need anything." Dani said.

She continued walking and they arrived at the diner a few minutes later. They got a table and sat down amid the bustle of the busy establishment. The waiter provided them glasses of water and a basket of french fries to start.

"I forgot how much I loved fries before I came home." she said, looking at the menu.

"I'll call to make sure you get lost in Manhattan's Chinatown," he assured with a grin. Though he thought it less likely she'd get lost there. She was actually from this geographic location.

He settled into his seat and plucked out a fry from the basket. He eyed it before popping it into his mouth. "Mm. Definitely better than the ones at the Hong Kong McDonalds."

"I loved Chinatown as a kid. I love it more now that I know what people are saying." she grinned.

She ate another fry.

"Hong Kong McDonald's was always a funny thing in my head. With all the good food there, why would anyone eat McDonalds?" she asked.

"Understanding what they're muttering about laowai even when they're in America is funny," he had to admit. Though he was never the one it was directed at.

"Our McDonald's delivers. But Hong Kong is cosmopolitan. We'll let other countries' imperial consumerism in. But I still like mom and pop restaurant down the street." He grabbed another fry. These weren't half bad and were slightly addictive.

"Mom-and-Pop places are the best. I haven't been to McDonalds or Burger King in forever. No real reason to go back, either." she said.

"Bar food is still great, though. Went with a friend the other day." she said.

Peregrine went wide-eyed in faux shock. "You have another friend?"

He pressed a palm to his cheek to keep the fake surprise from exploding.

"That completely ruins the lone warrior fighting on the streets idea. Two friends. Wow."

Dani's expression became a semi-glare.

"Hey. I knew people before you. I had friends. I just...they came from a certain group of people. Some things happened and my parents didn't want me around that life. That's part of how I ended up in Hong Kong." she said.

"But don't worry. Your status is safe. You came to Harlem on purpose. I usually have to drag people down here." she said.

He chuckled at the not-complete glare. Probably the only person in the building who could do him serious damage with her body and he was not afraid.

"It's good you have more than one friend. I can't do everything." He grinned before munching on a fry. He chewed and swallowed before talking again. He did have those manners at the very least.

"Your offer before? About the back-up. I offer the same to you. Big area for one person to clean up alone."

"I'll let you know if I need any back up. Right now, I'm trying to see if I can get the larger community to help out. If they do, maybe the gang-bangers will take the hint and find somewhere else to go." she said.

"Do you think that's hoping for too much?"

"Hmm. It's not too much to ask, but wouldn't that be more of an errant fighter mentality?" He picked up a fry and tried to balance it on the tip of his finger.

"If you make the violence move elsewhere, should you not follow to help the innocents there?" The fry did not balance like Peregrine wanted it. It hit the table and rolled to the floor. He leaned over and frowned at the fry. He scooped it up and put it on the edge of the table. "Or once it is out of your sight, it is not your problem?"

Dani bit her lip for a moment as Peregrine spoke. He had a point. A really valid one, too.

She didn't want the gangsters to mess up someone else's neighborhood. She just wanted them out of hers. But if she drove them out, that's just what they'd do.

And they might take out their aggression on people who hadn't earned it.

"You're right. I've been focused on what I'll do when Harlem is free of the crime and drugs and guns but not where the bad guys will go." she said.

"I don't want to resort to fighting, Peregrine. I did a lot of that back east before your old man explained that there was a better way." she said.

"I just want to make a difference."

"It is understandable. This is your home. Most people want to protect their homes without much thought about what happens to others." He leaned back in his chair. He was without a home, currently. Sure he had a place to live, but he didn't consider it home. Traveling as much as he had recently opened his eyes to the world at large.

"Then offer something for these bad guys to do that can help. A way to get out of doing what they're doing. Me? I'll resort to fighting. But not in your neighborhood." He grinned at her. Peregrine was still a bit cocky. He did not keep zen thoughts like his father particularly well.

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(( Let's Get Some New York Peeps Up In Here. Any New York Peeps Outside of Marshmallows))

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