Hunting for Spider-Man

January 26, 2019:

The Enforcers are after Spider-Man. Some heroes help keep that from happening.

New York City

A street in Koreatown

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Plot:

Mood Music: [*\# None.]


Fade In…

Midtown Manhattan this time of night is not as hectic as its daytime self. Foot traffic is shadow of itself with only a few people walking along the sidewalks. The streets are still busy but mainly filled with the yellow cabs wandering up and down the lanes between the skyscrapers heading towards the occasional fares or heading on back to the airport. It's quiet, though there's still the low-level hum of traffic, and at times a yowl of a cat leaping off a garbage can might cause a clatter.
Which is why it stands out so much when there's a heavy WHUMPH of an explosion that carries up and down 32nd so close to Koreatown. It's a hammering echo that dances back and forth, travelling far and ending with a short sharp rasp of electricity. Easily heard by anyone in the neighborhood and likely not at all what the person who made it wanted.
"Ox ya damn fool!" The man in the cowboy hat with the crackling whip snarls at his team-mate, "Get outta there, look at what the hell ya did!"
"M'sorry, Montana. M'sorry." The great armored man with the bald head and the giant metallic gauntlets growls as he pulls himself up and out of the bank of electrical cords he just fell into. But he rounds and points a metal finger in the direction of their blue and red nemesis. "I'm gonna get you, Spider!"
Perched on the top of a satellite dish on a rooftop in Koreatown, Spider-Man's eyelets whir faintly as they widen. "No touching. I'll give you an autograph though if you ask nice?"
Only for the loud, /KIYAI!/ to be heard from Fancy Dan leaping to the attack with a flying kick that crashes _through_ the satellite dish even as Spidey is back-flipping out of the way.
Around them an array of black drones flutter and fly in the air, each strapped with some sort of firearm in the under-carriage that flash with a /pak-pak-pak/ as gravel and dust is kicked up by the impacts on the rooftop.

Another late night for Billy, but at least it has been a relatively pleasant night following the stress and mayhem of his last couple. He cuts a dashing figure even this late at night, an impeccable suit and winter overcoat covering his athletic form. His hair is still perfect, not a hair out of place. At least none that aren't meant to be out of place from where it is swept back along his head. His hand pauses on the door of his Rolls Wraith as the explosion ripples through the block, much of the block looking like the pause button has been pressed before all at once people start reacting to the explosion. Some cry, some run for their cars and a few just continue on doing what they were doing. This is New York after all, and godamn if this isn't getting to be the new normal.

Billy himself however? He spots an opportunity for good press for Anvil and of course himself. His eyes track the explosion as he starts to walk briskly towards the skyscraper that seems to be the source of the explosion. His hand moves to his concealed carry, unclipping his holster so he can draw it at a moments notice. "Alright, here we go." He mutters lowly to himself.

What was Neon doing in Koreatown? What most non-asian folks were doing there at some point or another: getting food. Since her last trip for asian dining hadn't exactly panned out for her, the girl with the two-tone hair was dressed in her civillian clothing and making her way down the street searching for the right sight or smell. She might actually be getting close to something suitable when the sound of the explosian has her ducking. What in the world?

A frown crosses the girl's lips as she turns mismatched eyes towards the source. That sounded big, big enough to be mutants. Big enough she was going to go check it out.

Although it was not her first choice, Emma Frost had agreed to a business meeting over dinner. Mr. Kyeon felt it was preferable to a board room, more personable. Thus, she was in Koreatown sitting in a restaurant across from her host, sipping a cup of tea as he explained the position of his company.
As she lowered her cup, the lights went out. People around her began to let out cries of surprise and moments later, cellphones were being utilized as light sources. That was going to put a damper on their meal being delivered in a timely manner, to say the least.
Even as she reached into the pocket of her suit jacket for her own phone, there was a crashing sound outside as something hit the sidewalk. What followed was a mix of people running for cover while others began looking toward the rooftops high above for the source of the debris.
"Excuse me a moment?" Mr. Kyeon asked as he moved to the front door.
"Of course." Emma focused on her telephone even as she reached out with her mind to 'peek' at the goings-on outside through the eyes of a woman in the crowd. A moment later she released that hold as she scanned toward the rooftops, seeking minds to find out who might be up there. All the while, she was physically sitting inside the darkened restaurant, reading emails on her telephone screen. She kept an eye on her immediate surroundings to be sure no one was approaching without her knowing.

Not a New Yorker, Cole Cash is not really used to super-human brawls in the streets. In Gotham Batman tends to be more discreet, with the odd scene of a batmobile running over the rooftops chased by black helicopters being a once-a-year event.

So he tells the cab driver to stop and he comes out of the yellow vehicle to peer out, curious. A tall and well-built, but scruffy blond man, he probably draws far less attention to himself than Billy in his heavy tan coat and red scarf. "I think I will walk the rest of the way," he comments to the driver, paying the fare in cash.

As individuals close on the area it might be hard to make out from afar. Lights have gone out in several of the buildings on the block, so the little flashes of light coming from the rooftop of that old apartment building where the ruckus seems to be taking place might well draw the eye. There's the 'pak-pak-pak' sound of suppressed fire, and distantly one might see something like an electrical snake whirl and writhe in the air flashing with power before lashing out.
Closer still and the voices might come through.
"So who got you guys all these toys? Dan, are you secretly a makerverse guy? C'mon, buddy. You can tell me."
Then a growling tone is heard as a man with a Texas accent snarls, "Will you _shut_ up!"
On the street some people have emerged from businesses to cast their gaze upwards. Cellphones in hand, some are taking quick shots of the happening, some streaming. And from this distance it looks like it's isolated to the rooftop for the moment…
Until it isn't.
There's a /THWIP!/ as suddenly Spider-Man leaps off the side of the building, snaring the corner of a nearby flagpole flapping with the Korean flag. He whips around it, using the quick dip to throttle up and send himself flying straight up into the air towards a slightly taller nearby building, a small mass of four drones following after him each flaring with caseless rounds being fired.
One accidentally fires into another, causing sparks to flare up as the drone starts to fall to the ground. It hits the pavement somewhat near a crowd of those onlookers, beeping loudly and flashing with a trio of red lights.
"Look out!" Spidey's voice is heard and he /drops/ to the ground nearby, perhaps close to Ne, two web-lines thwipping out to snare the fallen drone and then slashing upwards to send it flying into the air where it flies some distance… then detonates harmlessly.
He rounds to the crowd, "Get clear guys, those things are nasty."
Of course as he says this more drones fly over the crest of the building hurtling straight at him. Backed up by the three armored men known as the Enforcers.

"Drones, really?" He throws himself to the ground behind a street parked car as rounds whip around and pepper the street. The drones obviously not fully capable of keeping up with someone as manueverable as Spiderman. His pistol clears his sheath not a moment later the Smith and Wesson M&P kicking in his hands as he quickly adds his own rounds into the mix, The .40 hollowpoint rounds not exactly designed for fighting hard targets, but it is all he has with him at the moment so it will have to do.

And then only a few seconds later as he slots another magazine into his pistol the enforcers clear the rooftop to assist their drones. Now if he can hit them somewhere they are not protected? Then his hollowpoints will truly show what they are capable of doing. He racks the slide to chamber the first round before steadying his breathing and taking aim. He may be a little outgunned here, but a well aimed bullet can make up for a lot.
[OOC] Peter Parker says, "pose order, for the record is: Spidey, Billy, Ne, Emma, Grifter. Think we're on Ne now."

Robots, exploding robots and…Spider-man? Huh! Neon is actually left staring for a moment in disbelief before the thing exploding has her blinking back to reality. Alright, not exactly mutants, not exactly an X-men problem even if she was only a trainee. Still…there were people in danger, perhaps ANVIL wasn't the only ones who could benefit from some good press!

With her hair and her attire the young mutant probably stood out a hell of a lot more than even the 'special agent' looking Billy even as he starts firing away at the machines, but when she raises her hands a a streak of energy that matches her namesake leaps towards one of the wildly firing drones? Yeah, she was going to stand out a little.

As the fight moves to the street, Mr. Kyeon rushes away from the door. He backpedals then turns and runs. Right into the kitchen and presumably heading for the backdoor, along with most of the other patrons and staff.
Emma Frost remains seated at her table, closing her phone and turning her attention to the display outside. While she certainly could run away, what is the point? The fight could move to the opposite side of the building or down an alleyway. Better to stay put and wait it out. She's prepared to protect herself if necessary but, hopefully it won't come to that.
As the Enforcers arrive, she does a little mental touch to see if they will be succeptible to her powers, should it come down to that.

At night time it is hard for Cole to see what is going on. Are those armed drones? In the middle of New York? Not something he wanted to see over an American city. Obviously some mad-engineer type needs to be shot.

Also, he needs night vision. So he runs to the nearest dark alleyway and puts his red mask on, switching to light enhancement. Then he finds a firescape to climb up to the rooftop.

Who knows? Maybe there is a reward for the people trying to kill that colorful jumping vigilante. A guy can hope, he doesn't like to work for free and lately it is happening way too often.

Two of the drones are caught in the fire from Mr. Russo, one seeming to kick partially up into the air with one engine surging and then just as it's about to wing over it hits the ground with a clatter of plastic and metal, the firearm under the carriage cracking off and skittering across the ground as the drone starts to beep angrily. The other he hits seems to go full throttle and /slams/ into the brick wall near to Emma's restaurant, bursting into pieces and falling into just so much debris upon the ground.
Ne will see two of the drones twisting in the air as a laser flickers out, scanning for a target and finding Billy. They square up as if about to fire when suddenly her stream of energy connects cleanly, slicing each in two and causing their internals to hit the ground first in a cascade of sparkling electrical bits, followed quickly by the shells.
But it's the Enforcers who might draw the eye more as the trio of them hit the ground, Ox /crushing/ the hood of a Prius with both heavy metal boots crumping the axle severely.
"We got us a problem here, buddy. Whattaya say to some good ole fashion crowd control?" The Texan doesn't even seem to notice that he's being mentally observed and dissected by Emma's regard as he snaps the electrical whip through the air and menacing the crowd, starting to send them fleeing.
Ox, on the other hand, he saw Billy taking pot shots and he starts to stomp straight at him, eventually breaking into a run. "Get lost, 'hero'!" He roars, rounds being fired at him as he holds up his metal forearms to cause several of the bullets to ricochet away, though one causes a spray of blood to snap forth from his elbow which makes the half-metal man yowl.
A few more blasts are fired as Ne takes down another drone, their number having cut down though there are still a half dozen fluttering around tracking targets. Yet her blasts have drawn the attention of Fancy Dan as he skids to a halt behind the cover of a parked delivery truck. Cursing something under his breath he scowls and then /breaks/ out from behind it, rushing towards Ne and leaping to try and tackle her from the side, seeking to at the least stop her firing…
"Stand still, bug!" As Montana's whip slashes towards Spider-Man. The line makes a small fissure in the ground, scarring the blacktop as the wall-crawler backflips back twice, pushing off of his fingertips and hurtling himself into the air where he snares a grip on a lamppost and flips around.
"Does anyone ever take that advice when you're trying to kill them? Legit curious." A webline snaps out and snares one of the drones as Spidey fires another line onto the brown leather boot of the Texan, then he connects the two lines making them snap taut so man and machine are both connected, the five foot long drone's engines _whirring_ as it tries to maintain its balance at the cost of Montana falling over onto his side, the whip crackling as it dances on the ground.

"Well shit, couldn't have been one of the more bullet prone ones could it." There is only so much cover is going to do here, he really would be better off relying on space. He may not be as big or as strong as some of the other soldiers he has served with in the past, but he has always been fast. He stands backing away as his pistol continues to buck rapidly in his hand, the .40 rounds not throwing off his aim too much with all of his training and experience. He aims for anything unarmoured he can hit. Then as his magazine hits empty he turns and runs to keep more space between himself and the giant man, his magazine skittering across the ground as he reloads on the run.

He turns again and starts to fire off his last magazine, his eyes locked on the much larger man. "Come on you big bastard, you aren't bulletproof. Just go down." He has no mercy and isn't really looking to take this guy alive, he will find that gap he needs eventually. Or he will get caught and crushed either way.

So far? Neon's focus in on the drones. Somehow she'd managed to only have to deal with robots…until she doesn't. Even with all the sounds of violence, a sprinting tackle isn't the most silent of ways to rush someone. Twisting on her heel and suddenly 'dropping' backwards, the petite mutant brings her foot upwards and rolls in a very 'judo-style' movement intended to fling the far stronger Fancy Dan off her. She wasn't firing anymore, but she is up on her feet awfully quick, intending to square off with her would-be ambusher. For someone half his size, the smirk and blinking of those eyes on her otherwise blank face doesn't exactly scream concern.

Three villains. Montana. Ox. Fancy Dan. Emma isn't able to pinpoint who might be controlling the drones. Those are the minds she has managed to locate among those facing the heroes.
She takes a sip of her tea as she continues to play spectator. Until something going on with Ox grabs her attention. She focuses her mind there, leaving the others for the moment and concentrating. Her brow furrows slightly.
She reaches out her mind to his. A moment to find her target. She seizes control of his motor functions, turning him into a puppet for her will.

Up on the four floor building Cole now clearly can see most of the drones, and the fight that has now moved to the ground. Typical. Still the drones are likely the largest threat to the civilians, particularly if they dive to try to strafe that jumping, chatty hero.

Spider-Man. He realizes. And mostly because he has such a bad press. Maybe this is some kind of criminal skirmish. No matter.

The drones are still a danger, and although Cole would love to have a rifle to shoot them down, he is armed with two heavy semi-automatics and he is a crack shot. The main problem would be getting those things down without them crashing on people. But roofs are fine. He starts firing.

The ground near Billy rumbles with each step closer even as Ox thunders after him. More rounds /SPANG!/ and /PA-TANG!/ off his armored arms and what aspects of his carapace are revealed where the gunman's bullets ricochet and careen off. Until there's a sudden /splat/ as a burst of blood explodes out the back of Ox's knee sending him down to the ground as he _howls_ with pain.
"You son of a…!" He starts to try and draw himself up to his feet again…
Only for Ox's face to go blank. His eyes haze over gaining a thousand yard stare. Then his arms begin to respond, swivelling on those large metal balljoints and _clanging_ each time the fists are brought around to SLAM into his face over and over.
Those nearby will hear him mumble, in between impacts. "I." WHAM! "Am." POW! "A very." CRACK! "Bad." BASH! "Man…" SLAM! The words are mumbled, vacant, but slipping into unitelligibility near the end as his lip splits and awareness slip from his eyes. After that he hits the ground, out of it.
Across the way, Fancy Dan was deadset on grabbing and taking Ne out of the fight. The little youth assuredly won't be any problem for a man of his training. Until she is. She makes that turn and twist, her foot slamming into his inner thigh as she executes a picture-perfect Tomoe Nage.
The small man lands, but he lands clean, the impact dissipated in part by the slam of a flat palm onto the ground and the armor that is hidden under his three piece suit. He turns, rounds, snaps into position to face the young mutant as he adopts a fighting stance.
Meanwhile above the ruckus, so few will notice offhand the pinpoint precision of Cole Cash systematically choosing the precise firing window as the drones circle. His rounds snap forth from the barrel with short cracks, hitting their targets almost perfectly. One wings over, its engine giving a high pitch whine as it falls upon the far rooftop and bursts apart in a reprisal explosion that nobody is around to suffer from. Another splits into pieces in the air as he takes it down. And very cleanly, and methodically, Grifter clears the air.
"Damn, Spider-bastard!" Montana is trying to crawl over and get his whip off the ground, only for a big /splat/ of webbing to cover it entirely. His mechanical suit creaks as it struggles against the drone attached to his leg. "You'll pay fer…"
He starts to say something further but is interrupted by a heavy fist /slamming/ into the side of his head and bouncing his armored noggin off the asphalt, knocking him clean out.
"Yeah, usually I'm big on the angry soliloquy, Montana. But I'm a busy spider-bastard."

Billy clicks angrily at the now fallen man as his magazine runs dry, he shakes his head before holstering his pistol. "What the fuck was that?" He reaches around to the small of his back and pulls out a Ka-bar, his best and only remaining offensive option. "Well shit." He charges forward ignoring his fallen bleeding and unconcious foe. He charges towards Fancy Dan weapon held in reverse grip as he prepares to leap onto the mans back and plunge the blade down. A bullet slams into his side before he gets to chance however once of the drones finally tagging him, forcing him to lose his footing with the sudden impact and hit the ground. Luckily for him his low profile bulletproof vest stopped the round, but it sure as shit didn't stop the pain.

It was a really nice suit, certainly worthy of the man named 'Fancy'. His stance, his tactics, he might actually have been fun to fight and to test herself against. What was one thug against the Danger Room training she'd been recieving? Still, things were getting a little louder and messier than she liked. Others were fighting, more people were shooting…what to do? Suddenly, that smirk grows into a grin, earnest and true as she recalls a rather inane detail of nights before: a classic movie in the rec room.

Lifting one hand, Ne extends her index finger and lifts her thumb in a classic 'gun' gesture. A wink given, she actually mouths the word 'bang' silently before a beam of her energy lances out and collides with the fancy fighter. He'd live, but the shock of a focused blast through his kneecap was probably going to take the fight out of him.

Indiana Jones? Eat your heart out. She actually takes the time to blow on the 'barrel' of her finger before she walks up closer, driving her boot into the likely screaming man's face.

Once Ox is down, Emma relinquishes control of his mind. She reaches out to scan for the remaining two. Montana is out cold. His mind is there but not active. She scans out further toward Fancy Dan to find he too has been dealt with appropriately.
She withdraws her mind from the goings-on, returning to the restaurant as she finishes off her cup of tea. Rising to her feet, she takes out a fifty and drops it on the table. It is more than enough to cover what would have been their meal. She pushes a button on her phone to call for her car then walks toward the front door, the light from the exterior illuminating her path. She pushes open the front door, the little chime going off somewhere in the area of the kitchen to announce the door opening. A moment then she turns to walk down the sidewalk to the side street where her car will be waiting.

By the time Grifter manages to shot down the last drone it looks like the fight in the street is winding down. With the big bruiser guy bleeding on the ground. Another thug just received a punch from the spider hero and seems down for the count. And as he watches the smaller man gets kicked by an even smaller girl… which also happens to be Ice Girl's dinner partner from the other day.

Interesting, but he is too far to investigate further and he can hear police cruisers coming. Time to do the ninja-vanish act.

The drone that had managed to catch Billy in its crosshairs quickly paid the price as Grifter was able to send it careening off angle with one of its engines shot out, causing it to crash into the chimney of that building's rooftop, making it explode with a dull SPAK!
Fancy Dan, for his part, goes down like a man tazed but a dozen irate traffic cops. His whole body seizes up and some of his armor flares with exploding electrical components. He goes stiff, tenses entirely, then falls like a rag doll even as Ne beats feet into one of the side alleys, getting out of Dodge before the police arrive.
But as the erstwhile agent recovers, Spider-Man is suddenly there, landing with a light thip-thap of feet and extending a hand as if to steady the man. "Hey buddy, you alright?" The mirrored lenses of his mask widen, then narrow faintly as he leans forwards as he turns his head taking a quick scan of matters. The drones are down. Montana, Ox, and Dan are all out. People are starting to peek out from behind cover.
Then the wall-crawler looks back towards Billy, "You need a hospital? Thanks for the assist by the bye, nice shooting." Perhaps assigning all of the dead drones to him instead of giving Grifter his just due.

"I'll be ok." Billy stumbles to his feet with a grunt of pain, his hand coming to press at his side. "My vest caught it." And sure enough through the holes in his shirt and jacket the dark fabric of a bulletproof vest can be seen. He may seem paranoid to be wearing it all the time, but after the last couple of weeks he has plenty of reason. "Thanks I have had a lot of practice." He turns slightly as he hears sirens in the distance. "How are you and the cops at the moment, that always seems to be going up and down from what I read in the papers."

Spider-Man tilts his head to the side, clearly giving Billy an eyeballing but he steps back as the man claims to be alright. He does, however, extend a hand to waggle back and forth in that wishy-washy gesture as he says succinctly, "Me and the cops are sorta… ehn." His mask shifts a bit, perhaps hiding a smile.
"But you sure you're okay?" He say as he starts to back up, hands coming up to give a pair of finger guns to Mr. Russo. "I'm gonna secure these guys, then see what I can dig up on one of these drones." It's clear from his body language he's a guy who is almost always antsy, on edge, in motion. And now is no different.
"Thanks for the assist Mr…." He turns around as he flips up onto a lamp post, firing a large /splat/ of webbing onto each of the enforcers.

"Russo, tell your friends." He shakes his head as he starts to walk towards the sound of the sirens. "I'll talk to them, no hiding that you were here. But I am pretty sure I can spin it so you come out pretty damn well." He straightens out his suit before adjusting his tie, doing his best to ignore the small hole in the rich fabric. "Alright, lets get this done. Grab some food, a drink and get to a nice soft bed."

"Alright, Mr. Russo." Spider-Man says as he leaps off the lamppost, a web-line firing with a /Thwip!/ and snaring the corner of a tall building, "You stay safe, alright!" And with that said the line snaps taut and _launches_ him into the air, letting him flip over the lip of that building and disappear from view across the rooftops.
A few moments pass and the red and blue glow of emergency lights are seen casting Koreatown in that multi-color hue while Billy gets ready to work his magic.

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