[center][h2][i][color=MediumOrchid]Aria[/color][/i] [@canaryrose] and [color=Crimson][i]Hound[/i][/color] [@datadogie][/h2][/center]

Patricia and Jade had been standing there, in the alleyway by the jewelry store, for quite a bit. At least an hour or two of lying in wait. The authorities had been tracking a minor C-Tier villain’s activities for a few months, and they believed he was going to hit this particular store next. The man (The Fist, as he called himself- how tacky, Patricia thought) seemed to like jewels. Or, at least, thought stealing them would rake in cash. Unfortunately for him, he would be losing all that hard-earned cash soon enough. Patricia and Jade, hiding on the fire escape in costume, had just seen him enter the building. And, by the sounds of things, he had already started his work. They had heard a gunshot a few minutes ago, and were just waiting for him to exit the building so they could subdue him without any hostages getting in the way. Or, more accurately, so they could avoid Hugo Powers docking their paychecks for hurting a few civilians. 

Patricia (or Aria, as she called herself in costume) stood on the fire escape watching what she could see of the entrance to the building intently. She sipped on a bottle of water. [color=MediumOrchid]“C’mon,”[/color] she whined.  She thumped her left foot impatiently, arms crossed. [color=MediumOrchid]“This guy [i]has[/i] to be done by now, right? It can’t take that long to steal a few necklaces and some rings and to empty the cash register. He’s wasting our time.”[/color]

[color=Crimson]“Maybe an Ambleweed sprouted up inside and got him before we could,”[/color] Jade jokes, shrugging her shoulders. She was watching the entrance to the building and listening for any sign that something could be coming through the fire escape. The police had been advised to hold back, so that The Fist could believe himself able to escape and so move himself into a place where the civilians weren’t in the line of fire. The problem, Jade thought, was that she had no idea how long the authorities would actually hold themselves back. Indeed, as she watched the entrance, she half expected a few of their cars, sirens and all, to pull up and block The Fist inside the building. [i]That[/i] wouldn’t make things any easier.

The young woman felt half-inclined to start pacing, but had decided against it. She wasn’t the type to do such a thing, though they had been waiting in the alley for quite a while now. [color=Crimson]“And before you forget, remember; whatever you do, don’t kill me with your singing. I’ll [i]try[/i] and deafen myself, but there’s no guarantees.”[/color] Jade points out calmly. Just thinking about it made one of her canine ears twitch a little.

At that, Jade earned a hard glare and a scowl from Patricia. [color=MediumOrchid]“Thanks for your confidence in my abilities,”[/color] she said rather dryly, turning around to look at her. [color=MediumOrchid]“I’m assuming that you bought the earbuds I recommended?”[/color] Without waiting for a nod, she continued, [color=MediumOrchid]“Well, those should be fine, but, if they for some miraculous reason do not work or fall out, you’ll  just fall down and take an impromptu nap. No need to insult me.”[/color] 

Raising her hands in surrender, Jade replies, [color=Crimson]“Hey, I have [i]complete[/i] confidence in your abilities. I don’t have confidence in [i]my[/i] abilities to try and tune you out.”[/color] She reaches into her pocket, withdrawing a plastic zip-locked baggie with the earbuds (and a spare pair) inside. [color=Crimson]“Or in the earbuds’ ability to deafen me. Have you [i]seen[/i] my ears?”[/color]

[color=MediumOrchid]“They’re [i]clay earbuds[/i]!”[/color] Patrica whisper-shouted, gesturing at the bag. They were, in fact, clay- extremely moldable, a characteristic that Patricia had thought would help them to adjust as Jade switched between forms.[color=MediumOrchid] “And, even if they don’t work, you wouldn’t get that hurt. I’ve never killed anyone, and don’t plan to start anytime soon. You will be [i]fine[/i]. Just put them in when we get down.”[/color] 

For a few moments, Jade just stared at the bag. She would sooner eat a live octopus than put the earbuds in her canine ears, and even then, would probably prefer to live as someone’s dog for a week rather than have them in while she switched forms into whichever form would be best for the situation. They didn’t look comfortable. She had a feeling that the designers probably made them that way to save money. She slips the baggie back into her pocket. [color=Crimson]“At least if I do end up falling asleep, it’ll be to your voice rather than that of Starbright’s. Imagine if [i]he[/i] had the same ability with his voice as you do.”[/color]

Patricia snorted, then grinned, mood lightened by the thought. Or, rather, mood lightened by her unconquered despising of Starbright- and enjoyment of making fun at his expense. [color=MediumOrchid]“Dear God, Jade, that’s a [i]horrible[/i] thing to think about!”[/color] She laughed, resting her head in her hand. [color=MediumOrchid]“He’d be so bad at this. His voice has the emotional range of a fish.”[/color]

Just then, the door to the jewelry store banged open. Abandoning their conversation, Patricia slipped on her mask and gestured at Jade to put the earbuds in, which the other woman did promptly. The heroes hurried down the fire escape to intercept The Fist before he made it to his getaway car, taking two steps at a time.  They sprinted around the corner of the building and stepped into his path, directly blocking his way to the street. 

[color=MediumOrchid]“The Fist-”[/color] Patricia started, and then realized she had no idea what she was going to say. [i]Fuck[/i]. [color=MediumOrchid]“-you’re under arrest. P-please surrender, or else… you’ll be in a world of hurt.”[/color] There. That had sounded firm, hadn’t it?

The gargantuan man stared at the two for a second, bewildered, before his face split into a grin, and he began to laugh. [color=red]“I’d like to see you try, little missy.”[/color] And then, without warning, he took a swing at Patricia, and the battle began

Patricia clumsily dodged the punch, his fist missing her by only a hair. But, luckily the goal here wasn’t for Patricia to fight him herself- it was for Jade to distract him while Patricia sung her song, putting The Fist to bed. So, she began her song. It wasn’t her best work, but her best work was never done while dodging punches, so it would have to do. It was a low, soothing melody, the kind that wormed your way into your brain and slept there. 

The Fist seemed to know what was up, at least, somewhat. A few moments into the singing he was starting to feel some kind of effect on himself, and promptly proceeded to place his hands on his ears. Despite being called The Fist, his feet and kicks seemed to still have power to them - at least, by the fact he was now switching to kick rather than punches for the benefit of his occupied hands, that was most likely the case. It was when a pair of large, clawed hands grabbed him that he suddenly looked to his second adversary. Jade was uncomfortable with the earbuds in, but that hadn’t stopped her from changing form - into a werewolf at that, so that she could utilise the strength of the form to try and get his hands away from his ears.

Jade pulled with her might, however she was only half-focusing on his hands for now - she wanted him to gain some distance from Patricia. The pair quickly involved themselves in an active fight, with Jade throwing beastial punches and getting a few kicks in her midsection in return, each one almost completely throwing her off balance. This lasted for about a minute before Jade grew fed up with the lack of process and clicked open a tiny portion of her Feral Mind, just enough to give her a hint as to how to properly utilise her current form in the situation. 

Perhaps a more cat-like form would have pushed for clawing his eyes out, but with the feral part of her mind clicking onto the fact that she was a werewolf, her muzzle leapt forward, clamping her teeth around The Fist’s forearm with a canine growl as she tried to wrench his hand from his ear. The result was mediocre, with The Fist’s own strength assisting him greatly - it didn’t stop the pair from tumbling onto the ground with the werewolf on top.

Well away from The Fist and Jade (although still quite within audible range) Patricia’s song got louder and louder. She was trying so hard to worm her way into his head, and she could feel it working. But his hands blocked a lot of the sound that would have, otherwise, knocked him out in 15 seconds flat. So, she sang. But by the minute mark, she was starting to feel a little out of breath. She would have to breathe soon, or risk being stopped for too long- but didn’t want to, for fear it would unravel her progress. 

The Fist slipped up a few times. When he was tussling with Jade on the ground, he took one hand off of his ears to block his face from her claws. That helped immensely. He felt the effects even stronger in the next few moments- his vision grew spotty and blurred, but he immediately clamped his hand back onto his head resolutely. Then, a second time, he moved a hand to punch Jade on instinct, but quickly clamped it back onto his head.

The third time was about two minutes into their fight, and also was the end of it. Finding no other feasible way to fend off the vicious werewolf clawing at his face, he threw a right hook- and then Patricia had him in her claws. 

[color=MediumOrchid]“Stop,”[/color] she called out to him. Her voice rang out, almost sounding melodic itself. As she thought he would, he did so rather reluctantly and turned to look at her. Then, she commanded, [color=MediumOrchid]“Sleep.”[/color]

The Fist felt strangely tired for a moment- the kind of weariness he might have felt after a long day at work, the kind of weariness where he could barely keep his eyes open. Then he dropped to the ground, fully unconscious. 

Jade followed The Fist down to the ground, but thankfully not from unconsciousness. The werewolf sniffed and prodded at the unconscious body, trying to determine as if he really was asleep or if he was just faking it out to make the pair stop fighting him and perhaps grant him some kind of advantage. After a final few prods, Jade was satisfied. Reaching into her mind, she shoved the part of her Feral Mind that she had released back into its cage. Even a small amount of ferality being free could mess her up somehow if she allowed it to do so. Shapeshifting back into her normal form, she gave the sleeping man a prod with her foot. [color=Crimson]“Out cold,”[/color] Jade notes, as if it wasn’t obvious. She gave a smile cast toward Patricia. [color=Crimson]“Want to call the cops in, now?”[/color]

Patricia nodded, giving her own genuine smile in return. She got out her phone, tapping out a text to the officers waiting nearby. Then, she approached Jade, stepping over The Fist. [color=MediumOrchid]“See, you didn’t pass out-”[/color]

[color=Crimson]“Sorry Trish? You’re going to have to speak up, I can’t hear you!”[/color] Jade interrupts, shrugging her shoulders at the teenager.

Patricia gave a loud sigh at the interruption. [color=MediumOrchid]“TAKE THE EAR PLUGS OUT!”[/color] shesaid, practically shouting, gesturing at her own ears. 

Jade’s eyebrows raised in response and she moved her hands to her own ears to quickly remove the earplugs. [color=Crimson]“Oh! Sorry, I forgot I had them in!”[/color] The woman replies. Her lips formed an apologetic smile at Patricia.

[color=MediumOrchid]“It’s alright,”[/color] she said, giving a smile of relief. [color=MediumOrchid]“You’re gonna want to keep those if you want to keep working with me, you know.”[/color] She gestured at the ear plugs, but then quickly backpedaled, face turning red. [color=MediumOrchid]“I mean, that is, if you wanted to do that again. I thought it went really well, but I don’t know about you.”[/color]

The woman tilted her head for a moment, placing a hand on her chin as if she was having to think [i]really[/i] hard about it, before laughing and placing her hand on Patricia’s shoulder. [color=Crimson]“You did amazing, girl. I’d love to work with you some more!”[/color] Jade replies, smiling widely. In truth, Jade [i]had[/i] been a little worried that Patricia would accidentally put her to sleep, but she had the foresight to make sure that Jade had earplugs [i]and[/i] she had managed to do her part of the work flawlessly. [color=Crimson]“I think that went [i]very[/i] well.”[/color]

Patricia actually beamed for a moment, before remembering herself and slipping back into a more neutral face. It was [i]always[/i] a good day when she finished a job like this- no collateral damage, no injuries, and a clear win. And when she had a new person to work with. She had attempted a job alone, once, and it… had not gone well. Working with someone else was always the best option for her, and it didn’t help when the person she was working with was someone she didn’t like, or wouldn’t remember ear plugs. [color=MediumOrchid]“Great! Well-”[/color]

Patricia was interrupted by two loud alarms- one from her own phone and one from Jade’s. She raised a brow, and took it out, only to see Hugo Powers’s face staring out at her. He was going on about a pack of Ambleweeds, and by the time he had said the name of the Leftover, she had tuned out. She was probably the most useless hero when it came to those things.

When the broadcast ended and her phone went back to its normal mode, she cleared her throat and spoke up again. [color=MediumOrchid]“I was just about to say we should head back. Are you gonna go deal with this, instead?”[/color]

To tell the truth, Jade was unsure if she too felt like heading back or if she should try and deal with the Ambleweeds. She thought back for a moment about her joke of The Fist taking so long because he had gotten caught by an Ambleweed - she had been [i]joking[/i] about that, and she supposed that karma had just decided to strike. Patricia’s singing was unlikely to do a lot to help, and Jade didn’t have too many forms that would be efficient in taking them out without risking herself a lot. She [i]could[/i] turn herself into a Phoenix and set them alight, but that would require flying around them and possibly getting herself not just bitten but [i]eaten[/i]. And she didn’t exactly want to see her paycheck drop into the bill for [i]damage caused by out-of-control fire.[/i] That was Blake, Firebird’s, job.

Tapping her lip to think, Jade shakes her head. [color=Crimson]“No, I’m not going back. At the very least, we can control the panic that the Ambleweeds will cause. I imagine that such a situation might mean a little bit of anarchy and chaos, and I’d hate to see a bunch of gangsters using the opportunity to tear up and rob some of my favourite shops. And you can come too, if you want to help. You might just earn some extra cash,”[/color] she points out with a smile. Money was definitely a motivator.

After a second of pondering, Patricia nodded. Jade [i]did[/i] have a good point- there were certainly more things to do than beating up Ambleweeds there. [color=MediumOrchid]“You make a good argument. I’ll come with, then.”[/color]

Leaving the Fist and the police behind, the two heroes headed to the area where the Ambleweeds were said to be.