riverviewlogs | survival of the fittest

Entry tags:

survival of the fittest

who: Bucky and anyone!
what: Bucky is a big old thief, tracks down his name twin, and also goes monster fighting with Clark
when: Anytime between March 8th and March 12th
where: Around Quarantine
warnings: Probably violence

[i: Around Quarantine; open to anyone]

[Bucky has chosen to eschew the communal housing gifted to him, as well as all the benefits that affords. Like food, shelter, and access to a shower. The last two aren't such a big deal, but he needs a lot of food to keep him going, the bastardised serum in his veins makes him burn through calories at a ridiculous rate.

Which is why he's ghosting through Quarantine on the look out for empty housing or possible a not very well attended street food stall, in order to snatch a hand out and take something. He can be found shoplifting in the street; or, if you'd prefer, breaking into your character's housing in search of food.]

[ii: Down a back alley somewhere; closed to Bucky Barnes]

[Ever since he saw that name on the network, his own name, Bucky has been in overdrive trying to figure out what's going on. It takes him a day or so to track down who owns the username, and then another day to just follow them around and try and figure out who they are. It's only when he catches the imposter out alone, whatever he might be doing, that he reveals himself by trying to drag the other man down an alleyway in an explosion of movement and bad decisions.]

[iii: Monster hunting; closed to Clark Kent]

[The perimeter is of interest to Bucky, partially because it means an escape from this town and partially because he knows that Stark is going to be making upgrades to it. It's why he's scouting around it today.

He's too focused on the possible security measures, trying to find surveillance equipment or defence mechanisms, that he has completely failed to notice the large monster shaped like a monstrous caterpillar creeping up behind him on silent feet.]

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[The fact that it takes a bit for Bucky to catch on that he's being followed says a lot about the skill of his stalker. When he does finally realize, he doesn't let on, goes about his business like normal (this isn't normal, nothing about this place is normal). Who knows who else from their world came through that portal? It could be literally anybody with a grudge against Captain America, or anybody who has beef with him. The list is much too long to narrow down just yet.

First, he tries to find out for himself who it is, in subtle ways, while he spends time with the other Avengers or around his floor-mates. It gives him a smokescreen to act normally. Unfortunately, his stalker is good.

Finally, he decides to go out alone, thinking maybe then he can either lose the guy and figure it out, or draw him out into the open. On the way back from an innocuous grocery shopping trip, taking a different way back to the building, the latter happens, with the stalker trying to drag him down the alleyway.

Bucky drops the bag of food immediately and lashes out with a metal fist to try and escape his hold, slipping easily from his pretend-relaxed civilian demeanor to highly trained soldier in an instant.] Who the fuck are you?!

[Merali girls don't do well in captivity. It's not one of the many axioms Fatima's grown up with, but it's proving, nevertheless, to be very true. Being told she can't do something--in this case, can't go home--is making her want to crawl out of her skin.

So she's doing the only thing she can do, short of drinking, to relieve the tension. Which is to say, she's throwing herself into work. Hard.

Today's task is investigating the local fruits and vegetables, with an eye toward seeds she can cultivate. She walks along the stands, stiletto heels clicking in a reassuring way as she makes little notes in a notebook. The one she was using only a little while ago for her community college coursework.

She pauses by a stand that seems to have something similar to pears, her favorites. And she glances up to spot a guy helping himself to a five-finger discount at the stall across the way.]

[She doesn't have a roommate, which suits her just fine. Honestly, she's not sure she could stomach one. Prep school was like-- fine, whatever, if they needed the space you just dealt with it, but here? Nobody needs to be crammed in like sardines.

And anyway, she likes it. The quiet. Not having to worry about accidentally sticking anyone with a knife if they get up in the middle of the night to take a leak, none of that. Being alone isn't her favourite thing, but she's not yet sure if it's better or worse than being alone surrounded by people who haven't seen what she has.

Still. She expects anyone she gets saddled with to have something like manners. Which is why when she comes in with an armful of groceries to some fucking dude digging through her shit she is already Done.

Things that register: he's bigger than her by a lot, stronger, and-- what the fuck, dude, is that some kind of metal arm?

Things that also register: get the fuck out of her space. Her gun's drawn and the groceries dropped before she's even come fully across the threshold. Clear sightlines to the windows, the door stays open behind her in case she needs to run and she pitches her voice lower than usual to try and sound Intimidating.]

Hey, fuckface! Get your hands where I can see them.

[Assigned bedding. Some shite, that, but seeing as there were no nice towers to loom in just yet, she'd settle for the company. Interesting bed fellows and all. 'Specially that one that left his bed nice and empty for her, leaving Sera no choice but to claim it for herself. It was more game than anything, waiting and seeing who'd have the balls and brains enough to challenge her blatant stealing. Still, fair was fair. She wasn't much for taking something (from those that didn't have much to start with) without giving back.

So it takes her a bit to hunt her mystery bed donor down, only to find he's doing some hunting of his own. Shrugging, and with very little concern for her own safety (she has a bow and her arrows on her and all) she slips in after him into the latest empty house.

Her steps are silent, but her mouth? Almost never.]

Lookin' for cookies?

[it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. steve isn't exactly out enjoying his day, or looking for anything in particular. he's mostly just trying to get a little more familiar with his surroundings, trying to sort out his thoughts on everything that's happened and everything that still needs to be done.

needless to say, he's been up for awhile, long enough that the food stalls are starting to smell pretty good to him. steve stops in front of one, but his attention is turned to one several feet away.

the guy's quick, a literal 'blink and you'd miss it' moment where he grabs something and keeps moving. it's not enough to warrant a chase and a tackle to the ground, but it isn't right to take something without paying either. so steve starts following him, closing the distance with each stop.]

[ He's being followed.

Clark hasn't been here long enough to learn what the other residents' bodies sound like out here in the forest. He tries to make a note of their voices or something that might mark them out if he had to pinpoint them in an emergency. For 'Simon', it's been that arm of his.

There's no harm meant in it. Clark is only careful to eat a bit more when he knows he's being watched, and not move anything a regular human his size can't move. He listens for the monsters more, knowing that sometimes they venture out all this way.

Some of them are very quiet, like this one, if not for the fact that it rustles and he can hear its stomach. It's lucky he's as fast as he is, or this would be bloodier.

A red-and-blue blur flashes past Bucky's periphery, as Clark puts himself in between them. ]

Get clear!

[ He dives at the monster, trying to lure it deeper into the forest, instead of the perimeter defences. ]

[Ronan isn't looking for food but abandoned houses? Sign him up for a much different reason. Unfortunately, there's usually a good reason a place is abandoned here in Riverview. It doesn't take him too long to judge this one unsuitable. As he steps out, he starts at the suddenness of Bucky appearing before him. This guy someone who screams 'shady' to Ronan's eyes, probably cause he can recognize a hint of his own in them.

But instead of commenting on that, he jerks his thumb back to the place.]

Don't bother. Use this as a secret lair and the roof will crush your skull before day two.

[ Sam's out wandering through the markets when someone familiar catches his eye. Which apparently isn't all that strange around here, since there are multiple Steves, a different Tony, (thankfully) the same Wanda and Scott he's used to, and- others. This guy is trying to get the old five-finger discount, and in two years of hunting Bucky, Sam's learned more about how to be successful than Steve has - which is to say that he knows damn well that the man doesn't necessarily want to be found.

So instead, Sam buys a few pieces of food here, a few there - munches idly on bits and pieces as he goes along to look more normal. And when he reaches a more deserted place, he leaves the food sitting out, then calmly sits down a good distance away from it, both hands clearly visible and empty. And he waits. ]

Scott's a nice enough guy, but social-skills-wise? He's about at the level of a rabid hippopotamus. So, uh, hope you weren't planning on actually stealing that pastry.

"Hey, you! I know you!"

Smooth.

[Steve is feeling out the area, checking Quarantine's streets and getting a general idea of the city's layout. He just happens to be passing near by the food stall and just happens to see when a man there reaches out, snagging some food as he goes by. It's not a serious issue, but with the conditions of the place as they are, Steve changes direction and crosses the street, following after the thief even after they are both well out of sight of the stall. He walks up behind Bucky, tagging along almost like he's meant to be there.]

Hey.

That's called stealing, you know.

[Ivar tuts mockingly as he watches Bucky raid the fridge of floor five. He says this looking up from where he's propped up on his arms, having dragged himself from where his bed is all the way over to the kitchen. While his lower body may be crippled, he's still got an ax strapped to his side, and an unseen knife in his boot. But he doesn't make a move towards Bucky.

Instead, he watches with wary eyes, rather like a wolf encountering another predator out in the wild. He won't begrudge the man some food. If a traveler showed up in Kattegat with nothing, they were taken in until they could get back on their feet, no questions asked. Not to show hospitality was a death sentence.]

[ Michael's on his way back from City Hall when he spots the man, dark and quick, snatching jerky from a grocer's display.

At first glance he looks like Bucky Barnes. The resemblance is uncanny, but there are differences. Small details that don't match up, bigger details, too. The Bucky he'd worked with was fast, but didn't move like a shadow. Wasn't so desperate, or feral.

Michael's been on the wrong side of the law for long enough to know what a fugitive looks like. He is one.

He pulls out his wallet and the card designated for his expenses, handing it over to the grocer with a smile and a nod in the silent man's direction. Working for the city had its perks. He's never short on lunch money. ]

For my friend's jerky. Need anything else, bro?

[ The funny thing about paranoia is that it can actually work against you, depending on time and place. It's probably obvious to the trained eye that this room is... well, not booby-trapped, not yet. But getting there. There's the disconnected wire loosely attached to the window. The water-soluble glue stacked against the wall. Dick pushes open the window, bearing the supplies to finish the job in one arm, and... he knows in his gut that he isn't alone here.

There's nothing to do but play it off. Try, somehow, to turn a bad, bad situation into an advantage. The room is still dark, and he hopes to hell that's enough to cover the Nightwing suit. ]

And here I thought a nineteen point security setup might be overkill. [ There's not really a point to pretending he was in the middle of anything else. He draws the escrimas slowly, almost casually. ]

What's it been, a day and a half?

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