Malik Jakane, & April Cooper.
(Written in collaboration with @Mr Allen J)Courtbridge, Prince Ed-Field.
April tilted her head at the man's very thick accent. Growing up in Bumpass Arizona hadn't given her the opportunity to meet too many obviously foreign people, though time spent in the 'big city' was helping rectify that.
"Lookin' for a local's thoughts, huh? Sure hope you find some. Shit, I don't already look like one of these Baybridgers, do I?" April rose, rolling out the kinks in her and discovering that the man was only a few inches taller than her.
Malik laughed a little. "I've only been here for twenty minutes... so everyone looks like a Baybridger to me!" He said with a smile.
The girl regarded the man for a moment before reaching into her fanny pack holster and pulling out the apple she'd tossed in there for breakfast... lunch... whatever. Taking a large bite of the fruit, April gestured to the man and spoke without quite finishing her chewing. "So, stranger to these lands. What's your name? I'm April, April Cooper. Pleasure to meet you."
A wide, toothy grin formed on Malik's face as he threw his hands behind his head. "I am..." He said, "charging" up for a big reveal. "... Malik Jakane! I come from a far away place." Though, he couldn't keep up the bullshit-y grandoise reveal. He broke down laughing and knelt forward a bit. "Haha... Just messin' with you... Oh, my name is Malik, though."
He stood tall, and let his arms hang. He was pretty lax - and that aura of relaxness would extend to April (And perhaps even the hardest of people). "I didn't come here to play around, I have a friend to look for."
A toothy grin spread across April's face as the man introduced himself. "Malik. Alright." This guy seemed like fun, and something about his presence told April that she wouldn't end up having to punch him for some reason or another. The girl turned her back to him and surveyed the horizon, holding out one arm to cut it in half. "Looking for someone, huh? Alright, you take that half of the city, I'll take this half. That oughta get her done before long."
Malik started laughing. He liked this girl. He hoped the rest of the Americans were like her.
The tall girl turned around, still displaying her chipped tooth in a wide grin. She was still flush from the high-speed sliding she'd been doing a moment ago, and her next question was asked with adrenaline still in her veins. "Unless you want a race?"
"Hey now...." Malik said, grinning even wider. "Think about what you're saying... because... after we're done our little "race," you're going to be so far behind I can catch a movie before I cross the finish line." He started laughing some more.
April chuckled at that. The poor guy had no idea what he was getting into - part of her felt bad for the hustle she was running on him, but she felt like he'd probably be able to have a good laugh about it after she smoked him. "Careful there, you're messing with the best now." She tossed the apple over her shoulder and gestured into the distance parallel to the street below. "See that big ole' satellite dish over there? First to that owes the other a drink." She crouched down into an exaggerated runner's stance, glancing back at Malik with a grin. "If you're up to it, stranger."
"Yeah, I was made for this," Malik said. Thankfully, he had the best parkour training in the world. He's steps from teaching little girls like her! He would leave her in the dust. "I'll be there in like - what? - thirty seconds." He didn't waste any time in quickly hopping over to the other building, confidently rolling as he kept his momentum as he hopped from building to building like a ninja.
The boy was faster than she'd expected, that was sure. Maybe this would be a little close after all. April chuckled as she broke into a sprint, running for the edge of the roof with zero hesitation. In the height of her leap, she activated her powers, causing her to wobble slightly on her landing but allowing her to immediately slide along the roof. She flashed a grin as she skated alongside the running boy, waving with one hand. "Pardon, couldn't hear you over the sound of humiliation!" She shouted as she went streaking past him, scrabbling slightly to keep her balance as she approached the next jump.
What the hell? Malik thought to himself as the woman caught up so fast. It was amazing. He wasn't even paying attention to her since he was focused on not killing himself on a fall. "The hell?" Malik said (Honestly, to himself) as the girl jets past him like the flash. He might be dealing with an even greater parkour master than himself! This is going to be a challenge.
Good thing there isn't any challenge Malik can't conquer.
Malik kicked it into double time as he jumped from one roof to the next. He wondered what the hell this girl was jacked up on as she was able to keep up with him like it was nothing. It was cheating a little, but Malik used his abilities to shoot him forward slightly - a gust of wind that propelled him in the direction he wanted to go. When he made it to the next roof, he was almost to the ledge, catching up with the girl.
Making another jump, Malik launched himself forward again with an oppressive gust of wind that would go unnoticed in their race. He made right behind April, and started running with a cocky grin on his face.
"What was that?" Malik said, his accent thicker than usual. He passed April and jumped to the next roof - this time unassisted by an oppressive wind. They were coming up on the satellite. "Oh yeah, that was humiliation."
Well, that was not normal. Obviously this guy was talented, but to be able to run as fast as April could slide shouldn't have been possible. Unless... what were the chances this guy was a Meta too?
Regardless, April still had a race to win. She grit her teeth as he passed her in the final stretch bending lower and skating into a higher speed than was strictly advisable. She streaked past him once again, windmilling her arms wildly, but there was nowhere near enough space to slow down. April skidded straight past the satellite dish and slammed into a broad piece of metal ventilation a few feet behind it, crashing to the ground a moment later.
Oh. Malik's face took on more of a shocked expression. Okay, maybe they took it a little too far. He probably shouldn't have upped the ante like that. The last thing on his mind was winning their race, he was going to make sure she was okay. Assisted by a quickly burst of wind, Malik shot himself upwards and landed not too far away from April. He approached her slowly.
"Oh, fuck me," she shouted, then giggled a bit to herself. "Ah, that was fun. Was it good for you too?" she asked, sitting up to regard Malik.
"Are you okay, ma'am?" Malik asked as he approached her. "The race was fun, yeah, but don't hurt yourself." He awkwardly laughed as he scratched the back of his neck.
"Aw, ain't you a proper gentleman?" April chuckled, kicking up to her feet. "I'm fine. Crashin' into shit don't hurt me like it hurts other people. Part of my 'thing'. I am curious though, stranger." April grinned, a twinkle in her eyes. "How d'you move like that? Real impressive however you do it."
"Oh, uh....?" Malik trailed off as he wondered what to say. He knows that Metahumans like himself aren't really thought of kindly here in America. At the same time, he was wondering what April meant by "don't hurt me like it hurts other people." Could she be a Metahuman herself? For now, he was going to lie through his teeth. "I was trained in France, by the best, you know.... the people who invented parkour!"
April's nose twitched slightly at that. It was hard to believe that anyone could be trained so well as to run faster than she could slide, but maybe that was her ego talking. "France, huh? Well, you sure are a well-traveled and interesting guy, ain't you?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah... I've been all over the world. Asia, Africa, and all over Europe." Malik bragged as he crossed his arms and looked at April. "I don't mean to brag, yeah. But, like I said, I'm here for... personal reasons."
"Well, shit. You got the advantage of me there. Don't let it go to your head or nothing." She leaned back against the duct that she's smacked into a moment ago, tilting her head. "Lookin' for someone, right? I reckon they're a bit more missing than 'not picking up the phone' for you to come all the way here."
"Well..." Malik said. "It's one of those complicated situations... Uh, you aware of the DGMHS....? The French Metahuman agency?" He asked as he scratched the back of his neck.
"Yeah, 'course I do. They're pretty relaxed over there, right? We could learn a thing or two from them over here, tell you that." Naturally, April had learned all about the various Metahuman regulation agencies in her time in the RAVEN academy, and the DGMHS was notable. They sure could do with a better name, though. If Malik was involved with them, though, maybe her suspicions weren't totally wrong, which would do wonders for her pride.
"I probably shouldn't be running my mouth about this," Malik said as he casually stepped off to the side. "But, my friend was a member of the DGMHS, and was apart of a foreign exchange program over here... when she went missing." Malik was going to keep the message she sent him a secret, for now. Specifically because of the Founding Family, and how he has little to no idea about them.
"Nobody knows what happened to her in RAVEN, or the DGMHS, so I figured that I'd come here myself for some answers." Malik finally said.
April furrowed her brow at the tale. "Now that is real strange. I haven't heard anything about any disappearances lately - far as I know it's all been business as usual. Oh, I work for RAVEN, just so we're clear on that."
"You're a RAVEN?" Malik said, surprised at how lax she is. All Malik heard about the American RAVEN was that they were tough as nails, but she seems... nice. He's not too sure about the others. He's been meaning to find a RAVEN (Or a DOVE), but he's sure that she doesn't know about anything - it's the same as what the American RAVENS said. "... That's great." He said, quickly changing what he was going to say. "That's unfortunate you don't know about my friend, I'll continue my search on my own, then."
Malik said as he walked to the edge of the rooftop, and a dramatic wind came through that ruffed his clothings (And April's). He looked over his shoulder at April.
"I'll definitely keep in touch if you find anything - ehhh, what's your number?" Malik asked.
April rolled her eyes at that, moving away from the duct and stepping over to Malik. "Real smooth, stranger." Deftly, she snatched his phone out of his pocket and added herself as a contact before passing the device back to him. "There you go, stranger. Let me know if you need any help lookin' - or, hey, if you just want to get a beer. I'm flexible."
"Thank you, I'll call you if I need you." Malik said with a toothy grin. "And just so you don't get the wrong idea... I'm not here in America looking for a girlfriend or anything." He laughed a little bit. "I'll see you around."
Malik stepped off the rooftop, and a powerful gust of wind came by and carried him off into the sunset.
April chuckled at that, peering after the young man for a moment after he disappeared from view. "Fuckin' drama queen," she muttered, turning away, activating her powers a moment later to send her skating lazily over the rooftop.
