[center][u][b]April 3rd, 10:45 PM
Hub City, Hell's Corner[/b][/u]

[i][url=https://i.imgur.com/CSRbaid.jpg]Hell's Corner[/url][/i], the only place in Hub City that could be considered worse than [i]The Wedge[/i] used to be. It wasn't so much that it had a "crime problem", but rather that crime had essentially become [i]the economy[/i] here, such was its prevalence. For Lady Arcana, that made it difficult to know where she should even start. Hard drugs were exchanged openly on the street during both day and night, thugs brandished weapons without a second thought and no cop would come within a mile of the area.

In truth, being on patrol here almost felt like a joke. Her vision at night was excellent, as was her ability to discern details from high above. For Hell's Corner, however, that just meant she could see about ten different drug dealers on the same street, each openly competing with one another. They were [i]so[/i] flagrant in their activities that they were openly waving their narcotics around!

She was also pretty sure she saw a six year old threaten one of said dealers with a pistol for trying to scam him.

How do you help such a place? It wasn't a matter of power, it was a matter of figuring out who here [i]wasn't[/i] a violent criminal. After all, how could you cross a line when there was no line to begin with? Maybe she should just focus on something really big, in that case. Something that would have consequences [i]beyond Hell's Corner[/i].

Right, just ignore the drug dealers for now. Find something that everyone [i]wasn't[/i] doing, something [i]really, really[/i] dangerous.

"...Hm?" Arcana craned her head to the left, noting a large gathering of men by a partially burnt out warehouse off the main street. It straddled the line between [i]Hell's Corner[/i] and the Old Manufacturing District where her dad worked. What made their little gathering stand out more than anything was that half the men there were wearing pretty snazzy suits.

That half were definitely not gangbangers.

Landing quietly off to the side of the warehouse, Arcana listened closely to the conversation between the sixteen individuals she counted.

"Look, we've got AK's, Uzi's, you name it. You want a leg up on the competition? Want to rule Hell's Corner? Your ticket's in these crates...if you're willing to pay our fair price," One of the well-dressed men explained, his words laced with honey.

"A hundred grand? Man, you're tripping [i]balls,"[/i] The gangbanger he was conversing with replied. "If we had that money, you think we'd be livin' [i]here?"[/i]

The man - whom she at this point presumed was a mafioso - cupped his chin in thought, though she had a feeling he was faking it. "Maybe we can work out [i]another[/i] deal, then. See, we have a [i]product[/i] we'd like your assistance in distributing to your fine community."

"Product?" The gangbanger quirked a brow. "You're wanting us to push something for you?"

"In a manner of speaking. We give you the guns, and in exchange, you help us open Hell's Corner to a whole new market," the mafioso smiled, gesturing to the warehouse. Karen immediately turned and floated upwards until she could see through the nearest window.

...Girls. Clustered tightly together, each and every one of them looking [i]terrified.[/i] She felt her blood chill as her breathing ceased entirely. There was no reason to wait any longer.

The first one to go down was the mafioso who was clearly in charge of the operation, a swift blow to the solar plexis knocking him back a good fifteen feet and rendering him unconscious. The remaining fifteen were left standing in a stunned silence for a brief moment as Lady Arcana glanced behind her at the gangbangers, a spark of electricity arcing from her eye.

"F-f-fuck," the gang leader backed away, "I...I wasn't gonna do it, alright? None of us are down with that shit!"

His fellow gangbangers had already started fleeing the scene, and when he realized this, he quickly followed. That was fine...tonight, [i]they[/i] weren't the ones she was here for. No, a bunch of moronic gangbangers were [i]nothing[/i] compared to this lot.

Unlike the local thugs, however, these guys seemed to be from out of town. She knew that by their accents.

And because they weren't running.

The night was soon alight with the flash of gunfire, as shot after shot was sent her way. She'd done this old song and dance so many times before, and while these guys carried military grade weaponry, it naturally made little difference. Slamming the side of a mafioso's head into the concrete, she snapped his AK-47 over her knee even as bullets ricocheted off her.

With her superior control over her speed and strength compared to four months ago, disabling the seven criminals took only a matter of seconds. She could even throw actual punches now, instead of the palm strikes she once relied on. When swift jab to the sternum sent the last of their group crumpling to the ground, Lady Arcana immediately turned her focus to the young women inside.

They were shackled together like animals. It was hard to imagine how anyone could be this cruel, to do something like this to another human being.

Reaching out to grasp their chains, she easily snapped each and every one. To her surprise, the girls seemed completely calm and at ease, never displaying any sense of surprise at her abilities. One of the older ones even immediately stepped forward, a...rather smug grin on her face?

"Oh, [i]thank you[/i] great hero for saving us," she smirked, extending her arms out to either side. "Whatever would we have done without the great Wizard to swoop in and [i]ruin[/i] everything!"

Before she could respond, the women screamed. She [i]really[/i] screamed, to the point where the glass in windows of the warehouse instantly shattered. Wincing her eyes part way shut at the minor throbbing in her skull, Arcana felt her feet leave the ground as she went sailing back into the mafioso's moving van, slamming into the side with enough force to cave the side of the vehicle in.

Peeling her eyes open while shaking away her disorientation, Lady Arcana watched as the women stepped forward, their human forms cracking like an eggshell as bird-like wings and talons emerged from their backs and limbs, their remaining skin turning a light grey. When their transformation was complete, Karen could only describe what she was seeing as a flock of [url=https://i.imgur.com/oj9KBEi.jpg]harpies[/url]

"Harpies? So wait, the [i]girls[/i] were the sexual predators?" Lady Arcana remarked in astonishment, climbing to her feet as the creatures took to the skies. She'd been reading up on her mythological creatures at Sam's insistence, and she didn't like [i]anything[/i] she'd heard about these gals.

Lifting into the air, Lady Arcana launched herself into the nearest harpy, seizing it by the throat. Before she could follow up on this, however, she once more felt the powerful force of their ear-piercing screams hit her from behind, as several joined together to bombard her with their weathering song. It made her stomach turn, and in her state of nausea she was unprepared for the talon that clocked her across the jaw, sending her plummeting into the warehouse below.

Smashing through the roof with enough force to literally bring the entire place down on top of her, Arcana found herself buried beneath many tons of rubble.

Okay, [i]this[/i] was a lot more than she was used to dealing with, that much was clear. They were using group tactics against her, so she needed to be smart here. Physically they were [i]much[/i] stronger than a normal human, but still nothing to her. Those screams, though...

"Right, that's a plan. Enough wasting time, then!" Arcana exclaimed, bursting from the rubble in one swift upward motion. The Harpies were now gone without a trace, however. A cursory glance also revealed that the mafiosos were [i]also[/i] missing.

"Shit," Arcana swore, grasping her head in frustration. "They weren't planning on fighting me, they just wanted to stun me long enough to escape..."

And they succeeded. Now there were a bunch of a Kentucky Fried Rapists running around in Hub City. What the hell was she supposed to do now?
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