[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/ROfqVhm.png[/img]	[img]http://i.imgur.com/yKiyn0i.png[/img][/center][center][b]An Elsewhere Story[/b][/center]
[center][b]Earth-8417[/b][/center][center][b]Albany, New York[/b][/center]
	Courtney had been held up late at work because she had to close up the store for the night. Her mother always complained to her that it was not safe for her to walk home from work at that hour of night, but Courtney was unyielding that there was no danger. She only had a couple minute walk home from the fashion store where she was employed. Even after rumors of a birdman roaming the rooftops started to spread like wildfire, Courtney was unfazed.

	Courtney knew of a shortcut through an alleyway near her work that allowed her to get home in no time. This, of course, was no comfort to her mother, who had constant nightmares that someone would jump her daughter one day. Since she had walked this path for years, Courtney took no heed of her mother’s warning. And that night seemed no different from the countless others Courtney had experienced.

	However, when she was half way home, Courtney swore she heard something rustle on the rooftop above. She scanned the skies, but she could not find what had caused the noise due to the twilight of the night. Although she tried to calm herself down by convincing herself that it was only her fear playing with her senses, Courtney hastened her pace. She always made sure to pack a spare pair of running shoes so that she would not be walking home in heels or any footwear that would hinder running.

	Suddenly, someone leapt from the above rooftop and pounced onto Courtney’s back, driving her to the pavement. She could feel the warmth of the man’s heavy breath on her neck. Even though it was clear that her assailant was a [url=http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/6/6d/Noir_Vulture_%28Adrian_Toomes%29.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130919235018]man[/url], he acted more like a wild animal. He hovered over Courtney, eyeing her down like a beast would its prey.

	“Carrion. Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?” Carrion turned to see where that voice came from. Up on the rooftop, there stood man dressed in a black, cat-themed costume. He then leaped off the roof. While still in the air, he shot his grappling gun at the neighboring roof and swung down to the ground. In the process of swinging down, he planted his feet into Carrion’s side and kicked him into the alleyway wall. He landed in front of where Courtney had been forced onto the ground.

	A second figure slithered down the size of the same building from which the first costumed crusader had leapt. Her snaky body weaved back and forth along mortar gaps between the bricks of the walls as she descended to the alleyway floor. She crawled up to Courtney and helped her sit up.

	“I’ll take her to safety, Lyger.” The woman told Lyger. A snake tail that was a couple meters long was attached to where the woman’s legs ought to have been. The rest of her body was entirely human, besides her pale green skin. She also wore a dark green superheroine costume.

	Meanwhile, Carrion pulled himself off the ground and lurched forward. He leapt into the air towards the two superheroes and Courtney. However, Lyger caught him in midair and tossed the grimy man into the other alleyway wall with a crash. The impact with the wall dazed the beast of a man. Lyger then positioned himself between Carrion and the two girls, preparing for anything that Carrion might try next.

	“That’s what you get for messing up our date night!” The snake-woman chided Carrion.

	“Anaconda…” Lyger mumbled, signaling that this was not the time for quips of that nature. 

	Suddenly, the two superheroes heard police sirens blaring in the nighttime twilight. Since the authorities were approaching, they knew that they had to leave soon. Therefore, Lyger took into his hand a small pellet-shaped object and hurled it at Carrion. When it hit the birdman, the pellet exploded, covering him with some sort of adhesive substance. No matter how much Carrion struggled, he could not escape from the restraints that Lyger put on him. Meanwhile, Anaconda was comforting Courtney.

	“Now, don’t worry,” Anaconda told the terrified woman, rightfully so. “The police will be here soon. We will be up above to make sure nothing happens to you until then.”

	Lyger then walked over to where the two girls were. He used the same grappling gun to provide an escape route to the rooftops. Anaconda gave one last pat on Courtney’s shoulder before heading over to Lyger, wrapping part of her serpentine body around Lyger, while she placed her arms over his shoulders. Before the police arrived on the scene, the two superheroes rose up to the rooftops via Lyger’s grappling hook.

	“The Albany police seem mellow compared to those in Crown Ridge. They would probably be more trigger happy against us than Carrion down there,” Lyger admitted to Anaconda while they watched the Albany police arrest Carrion and help Courtney out.

	“Maybe you should move here if the police up there are too anti-vigilante,” Anaconda proposed to Lyger. “Especially since we’re getting married within the year.”

	“I can’t just abandon Crown Ridge. Who else is there to defend its citizens?”

	“Or I could chase after you. I’m sure my credits would transfer over to Lost Haven University.”

	Lyger would have tried to talk Anaconda out of this, since he knew that Crown Ridge was a dangerous place, even for a superhuman like his fiancée. However, he also knew that she was as hard headed as a mule and, once she had set her mind, nothing could change it.

	“Let’s put this decision on the backburner. Why don’t we head back to my apartment and celebrate our engagement with a little game of Twister?” Anaconda teased Lyger while having a smile on her face.