1111/The Hazards of Social Media

The Hazards of Social Media
Date of Scene:	11 April 2020
Location:	New York City, New York
Synopsis:	An attempt by HYDRA to ruin everyone's day is scuttled when Janet, Luke, and Steve manage to overcome the sudden attempt.
Cast of Characters:	Steve Rogers, Luke Cage, Janet van Dyne

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Steve Rogers has posed:
One of the boons about a city as large and populous as New York is that even if one is well-known to the public eye, it takes a sharp eye to spot them in a crowd. Relative anonymity is a thing if one dresses appropriately and acts as if they aren't a magnet for attention.

Steve long ago grew tired of the attention. Prancing around on-stage in spangley tights got not only trite, but admittedly //boring// in the face of actively helping on the field of battle in WWII. Today, he's in a plain black jacket overtop a mint-green button-down shirt and jeans (combat boots as usual). On his head covering most of his blond hair, a Dodgers baseball cap and there is a corner of his heart that wishes it were warm or bright enough to merit sunglasses. On his arm, one Janet Van Dyne, no doubt looking fine-so-fine.

"Good idea to walk. Traffic seems heavier today," he asides to her with a glance over at the road. There's construction going on at the street light behind them and the poor saps with the STOP and SLOW signs are working like dogs to keep pushy New Yorks from running into them or other vehicles.

Luke Cage has posed:
Walking down the street, unbeknowst to him, opposite of Cap and Janet and in their direction is Luke. Dressed in jeans and a yellow t-shirt(Of course). He has a hoodie over that, hands stuffed in the pockets. Not nearly at Captain America level of fame, Luke can get away with just taking a walk.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Dressing appropriately? Like that's even a thing for Janet. The fashionista's on a 'salvaged attire' kick lately, taking radical new approaches to tired old apparel choices. For her, it's a pair of close-fitting pantsuit slacks in a creamy beige, and a midriff-baring toga top that wraps once around her ribs and ties off above her hipbone with a deliberately oversized knot. Lots of gold jewelry around her wrists matches the chain of her clutch; designer high-heeled booties in cordovan brown provide a splash of contrast. The only visible color is the patriotic themed red-and-blue pendant nestled below the hollow of her throast.

"Oh sure, this is great," Janet agrees with a straight-faced lack of enthusiasm. "Shoulder to shoulder with half of New York, trying to push our way through a construction tunnel while yelling over the sound of jackhammers roaring in the distance."

She inhales through her nose and wrinkles it immediately. "God. I always forget how bad the city starts to smell once the weather warms up," she mutters. "Maybe I should relocate. Move off the Island, out into one of the boroughs. Or down into Metropolis," she suggests brightly up at Steve.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Returning his attention to his gal, Steve's frown at what appears to be a yelling match between traffic-locked drivers disappears as he looks to Janet. "You want to move out of the mansion? Or you're saying sell your place 'nd have another place elsewhere? <<Seillean>>." He thumbs at the gridlock. "You wanna deal with this every day? Subway's crowded. That 'nd you could fly in every now 'nd then, I guess." He doesn't seem convinced.

"Oh ehm //GEE//, that's Janet Van Dyne!" The squeal rises from a nearby step where a young woman appearing to be an upper classman college student rises from talking with a young man, either a relative or boyfriend. He smiles ruefully to himself, still sprawled on the steps leading up to the house, as the young woman skitters over. "Oh -- ohmygawd, hi, I'm -- sorry, I'm Lila, can -- can I have a selfie with you, Miss Van Dyne, please?"

Steve glances over at the fashionista, trying not to smile. Lila's already got her phone out and angled, ready for Janet to step in closer. The Captain takes a step off to the side, out of frame with his hands in his pockets. It does mean blocking foot traffic and probably stops Luke from progressing further down the sidewalk. Steve winces, mouthing apologies to people.

At least the sudden angry huck of a milkshake in a foam container lands in FRONT of Luke's feet rather than on him, courtesy of the slowed foot traffic. Someone's lost their temper in traffic.

Luke Cage has posed:
A lift of his foot to dodge milke shake splatter and Luke is swearing expletitives under his breath. Still the large man just looks around and lets out a low little exhale. "What is going..." he starts to say and then be spots Janet amd her fangirl. A nod to himself, oh he gets it. He tries to make progress but a man of his size doesnt easily squeeze through crowds.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Oh no, I'd just buy another place in Metropolis," Janet reassures Steve. "Maybe decorate it like the apartment in Milan, I really am digging that Euro-Tuscan vibe lately--"

She comes up short when she's addressed, but smooths momentary startlement into a model's Perfectly Polite smile. Tai Chi masters could take note of how deftly Janet goes from being on her heels to taking control of the situation, like her personal presence is a physical force around her.

"Lila! That's such a great name! Of course, selfie away," Janet says, and crowds into the photo with the younger woman. She even arranges it as such that Steve can be seen in the background with a look of stern but vague apology on his face as if personally contrite about the minor delay in things.

Click! "Awesome, great time, stay in school!" Janet advises Lila. The whole affair takes five seconds, and she skillfully extricates herself from the encounter and insinuates herself around Steve's arm once more.

"And I resent the idea that I -live- in the Mansion," she says, picking up her previous train of thought. "I only stay there when we're on call. I wouldn't be caught dead in that place otherwise, it's got all that yucky noveau-riche aesthetic that the Starks go nuts for." Her button nose wrinkles.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Lila seems a little shocked that Janet is in and out of the attempt as fast as she is. She bites her lip in uncertainty before she calls out, "Miss Van Dyne, I'm sorry, but it's blurry. Can I get one more, please?"

"Here, Lila, lemme take it, I've got the better camera." This is the boyfriend, peeling himself off his sprawl on the steps to come over. Steve again tries to sliiiiide out of frame and this time succeeds in a move that appears as if he's trying to move aside for another pedestrian to pass by.

"Oh, yes, thanks, Chad!" Lila squees as the picture is set up again.

"Say cheese..." simpers Chad. On HIS screen, a matrixing element comes up and interfaces with something else in the camera. "Here, a little closer hold up -- asshole," he snarls at somebody shoving by and jostling the camera. "Alright, one more time. Cheese!"

Steve is near enough to Luke now to offer him an apologetic smile as well. "Sorry about this, we'll get moving soon enough," he says towards Luke and others in the crowd.

Off goes the phone and off goes two simultaneous events: a spray of clear liquid aimed like a spitting cobra's shot, dead for Janet's eyes, and a blindingly bright flash from the camera in counter to what should be a standard bulb. Steve winces and ducks, rubbing at his hazy vision now filled with stars and haloes.

Janet? She gets the full spray of the viscous liquid dead in the face and it burns like mace. Not only that, but now Lila's got a death-hug on her and appears to be attempting to drag her off, shockingly strong arms wrapped tight to pin the Wasp's arms to her body!

Luke Cage has posed:
"No problem..." Luke manages in a low stoic response to Steve as he looks over to Janet, and why not? Its then that the camera goes off, and although he avoids the mace? He does get a quick blinding flash of light. "What the F----!" the Hero for Hire growls out.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet shrieks in sudden pain and surprise. The reflex is to grab at her face, but with Lila's grip wrapped around her biceps, Janet can do little except kick and flail in startled surprise. Her face screws up into a tight grimace and teary lines cut little rivulets through the mace as her eyes water in instant reaction to the stinging irritant.

But that first instinct passes quickly and Janet's training-- long honed with Captain America himself-- kicks in. Her head violently snaps backwards in an attempt to headbutt the woman behind her. The motion is a textbook one and Lila clearly expects it-- but perhaps she doesn't anticipate the slap of Janet's palm against her crossed hands. Green bioplasma arcs from Janet's fingers and sears the flesh there. It's enough for Janet to break free and she dives several stumbling paces forward, arms reaching blindly for something to balance against.

Regrettably she goes stumbling right into Luke Cage, and anticipating another attack, she flings a wild haymaker at him. The punch probably (definitely) won't hurt, but the green organic flame on her hand just might singe him a bit!

Steve Rogers has posed:
She might have dodged the backwards headbutt, but Lila's sudden SHRIEK means that the bioplasmic green has done its job. She didn't factor in such a level of aggression from the partially-subdued fasionista. She dances back a few steps, clutching her burnt hand to her chest, and spit-snarls, "TAKE HER!!!" to Chad.

Chad makes to dive in after the blinded Janet, but humans are panicky herd animals. Half-blinded by the camera's flashbulb, the pedestrians on the sidewalk are doing a disjointed imitation of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' now, moans and confused shouts and all.

Steve's now not necessarily throwing elbows, but squinting as he shoves through the crowd in the direction of the bright green haze he can make out. "JANET?!" A well-built stranger in the crowd turns and throws a solid punch square to Steve's face, enough to rock him back onto his heels, shaking his head against the sudden taste of iron. Another is aimed at his kidney, a low and swooping upper cut sure to make contact unless interrupted.

Luke is shoved at by the panicking crowd, not yet a factor in this kidnapping attempt -- the shot at Steve happens in full view of all.

Luke Cage has posed:
"Son of a...!" Luke bellows out a complaint to Janet and her wild haymaker. Its not enough to really hurt him but that flame stings a bit. He instinctively just sort of shoves Janet behind him, Luke is used to the role of a tank. Then without so much of a thought he turns to backhand the guy attacking Cap. "This is how we do things now?!" he rumbles.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet's propelled past Luke and fetches up hard against a guardrail. She clings to it like a lifeline, almost staggered off her feet. "Steve? Steve!" Janet shouts, repeatedly. "I can't see a thing, I'm blind!"

'Chad' is staggered and falls forward, barely managing to get a hand around Janet's calf. She screams again, turns, and falls on her rear. There's a few fumbling seconds as she tries to extricate herself from the strongarm thug.

And then she switches positions, rolling forward and into Chad. It's ugly, sloppy blindfighting, but she manages to find his face.

Which is all Janet needs, because she near-instantly shoots up to a solid twelve feet in height and with her hand wrapped around her attacker's head as if palming a grape.

"Stop or I'll crack his skull!" Janet bellows, still blind. She whips Chad around with her grip on his head in warning. "Steve, where are you?!" she demands again. With her free hand Janet wipes repeatedly at her eyes in a futile attempt to wipe away the pepper spray.

Steve Rogers has posed:
At this point, Lila is attempting to vanish to the fringes of the crowd. Her cherubic features are a snarl of frustration and pain, but she's still circling around to see if she can take another shot at the blinded fashionista.

Chad is now in big, big trouble. His reaching snag for Janet turns into a semi-coherent flailing of slapping hands and knuckle-digging punches and sharp elbows thrown all over into his body -- and that's BEFORE his head is suddenly enveloped in a palm silky-soft from high-quality moisturizer that's big enough to wrap fully around it. He shouts, the sound muffled, and futilely pounds at the giant hand.

The stranger rocked by Luke stumbles away a few steps, but doesn't seem overly phased. He's built like a MMA fighter in the heavy-weight class and he's apparently ready to brawl because he swings for Luke in a fast punch!

"'m here, Janet!" shouts Steve in his own stentorian tone, a carry-over from times with the Howling Commandos. He risks a kick at the stranger's knee from the side in hopes of disabling him. "Stay where you are! Don't kill him!"

Because they'll need someone to interrogate, after all.

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke is a natural brawler, and an experienced fighter to boot. So its easy for him to raise one arm close to his head to block that incoming haymaker, natural to do even with his invulnerability.

Crack! The would be attacker cracks those knuckles against the powerful arm of Luke Cage. "You son of ..!" he snarls in pain. Its compounded by the brutal kick to his knee, it starts to give out. Luke doesnt hesitate, a hand darting out and a quick punch to the mans jaw. He may be built like an MMA fighter but Luke is built for much more.

Trouble always seems to find me Luke cant help but think. Always someone to save...even...he glances back to twelve foot Janet...Janet Van Dyne.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet holds off crushing the man's head in her hands. "God you're bossy," she growls in a tone that'd be petulant if she wasn't currently the tallest woman in New York. The woman's weeping a bit still from the pepper spray, but more out of pained reflex rather than any emotional distress.

"Stop biting me!" she scolds the man she's got pinned, and shakes his head violently. He flails and drums his fists against her fingers, then relents.

Janet stays in a low crouch with her empty hand out in front of her in a warding gesture. Bioplasma curls around her fingertips but she's not flinging fire willy-nilly.

Yet.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Between the strategically-aimed kick by Steve and the retort of a bullet-punch by Luke, the MMA-esque fighter drops like a stone. He bounces off the nearby steetlight-pole in the process and curls on himself like a slug, clutching at his knee now thoroughly out of place.

By now, most of Steve's vision has returned but for the lingering halos about points of light -- which, it being only a little past noon, means everything's glimmering like a dream still. "Thanks," he quickly says to Luke, "Keep an eye on him? Don't let him get up or away." Somewhere in the scuffle, the Captain's lost his Dodgers cap, so his blond hair and face are on full display. After he gives Luke permission to do just about anything necessary to keep the MMA-fighter down, he's striding for the oversized Janet.

A good thing, because the MMA-fighter suddenly pulls out a taser and aims it at Luke!

Chad is not biting anymore, not after that shake which rattles his marbles in his skull. He's now just making muted whimpering sounds.

Lila makes her move even as Steve approaches. A foot-long trench knife appears out of...some pocket on her person and she makes a leaping dive for Janet's side, aiming to drive the knife into a vital organ. Twelve feet tall or not, everybody bleeds. Steve sees this and dives too, intercepting the woman right beneath the extension of Janet's arm. There's a blurred scuffle ending in Lila taking a stiff-armed punch to her sternum to send her tumbling away and Steve grabbing at his bicep; warm blood trickles beneath his jacket and fingers.

And now there's the sound of sirens -- yay, the cops are on their way!

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke genuinely is surprised to see the taser drawn out. He storms forward the short distance, the prongs fired from the taser and bounce off his skin ineffectually as he brushes them aside. "You heard the man..." Luke says to the MMA-Fighter, a quick grab of the taser hand and he squeezes, knuckles crack and break, the assailant wavering and dropping further as Luke lords over him, fist cocked, "Dont make me." he says sternly.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
There's a kerfuffle near her elbow, so Janet responds reflexively: she swats a hand at it. The motion would probably have been helpful if Lila hadn't been sent flying by Steve's efficient combat maneuvers so recently. For his efforts in trying to protect Janet from a shank in the ribs, he's rewarded by her hand swinging wildly through the air right at him!

"I've got this one, he's not going anywhere!" Janet shouts, very helpfully. "Steve, get that bitch that maced me! That's the last time I stop for a selfie, I swear to god," Janet growls to herself.

Steve Rogers has posed:
The MMA-fighter chokes out a pained cry as knuckles break under the force of the grip around his hand. He curls up MORE like a slug, the only extension of his body in his arm held up by Luke.

Chad flails some more, pounding at Janet's hand around his head as movement by her yanks him around. He then seems to go abruptly still and then REALLY gets to flailing about like a trapped fish before he goes frighteningly limp. There's the sudden feeling of frothy wet warmth on Janet's palm.

Steve ducks and feels the whuft of the Wasp's bioplasmically-lit hand barely miss his hair. "Stand down, it's me!" he shouts, attention diverted to Janet. In that moment, Lila staggers away to vanish down a side-alley --

-- and Luke's captive bites down on a cyanide tooth. Now foaming at the mouth, he grits out something before going limp as well.

Steve grimaces at the bright pain of the knife wound at his arm, but a quick surveil of the immediate area shows no more immediate attackers. "Think they've left off," he says loudly enough for both Janet and Luke to hear.

Luke Cage has posed:
"Uh..." Luke says to Cap as he sort of lifts the rag doll man after the reaction to the Cyanide pill. "This one is gone...but I didnt do it." he adds as if used to a little persecution during his heroics.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet feels Chad go limp, and grimaces; it's not until Steve's tone comes through at a reasonable level that she hauls the body over and dumps it unceremoniously on the ground. One dead former HYDRA operative. She starts shrinking down in size, too, and wipes her palm on her slacks for want of somewhere better to clean it.

"Water. Someone get me some water, I can't see a fudging thing," Janet protests with a tone of supreme vexation. "God. Did she mace me?"

The fashionista wipes at her face, fruitlessly, and waves a hand around in search of a Steve to lean on. She grabs Luke's arm by mistake. "Baby, I swear to God, if anyone's taking my photograph right now I'm going to hunt them down and skin them," she hisses between clenched teeth.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve lets out a slow sigh through his teeth. He's seen that trick before, back in the war, when Barnes wasn't fast enough to jam his fingers into the captured agents' mouths and stop the attempt; it's a little shocking to see the tactic still used in modern times.

Whatever he says in Gaelic under his breath probably isn't polite. More loudly, he adds, "Know you didn't do it, you're fine." This is to Luke in reassurance. "Nobody's gonna try anything." He means the authorities, now seen as distant figures running towards the group in their cop-blues and hats.

When Janet grabs around and instead makes contact with Luke's arm, the Captain half-smiles to himself. A gentle hand under Janet's elbow is likely more familiar, as is his voice  on the OPPOSITE side. "We'll get you some water, <<Seillean>>, I can see the police coming. They'll have something in their car to get it off."

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke Cage blinks and looks down at Janet, and then to Cap. Hands go up in the air as if to show Cap be isnt touching her anything...nope, Luke is being straight. "Thanks." he tells Cap as he offers the reassurances. "Im Luke by the way...Luke Cage." be adds.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet blinks in confusion at her mistake. "Figures, I -would- be blind," she mutters, and turns to cling to Steve for reassurance and some stability. "Luke, huh? I'm Janet. Thanks Luke. Love to stay and chat, but--" she waves a hand in front of her tear-streaked face, eyes screwed shut in endless complaint at the spray irritating them. "I need to go dunk my head in a bucket of water, I guess."

Holding onto Steve's arm, she allows herself to be led over to the officers and the EMTs. Hopefully someone has the agent handy to neutralize the pepper spray. IF not, it's going to be a miserable few hours for the socialite until it dissipates.

"Well, I guess our dinner plans are shot," she quips at Steve wryly.

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Nice to meet you, Luke." Steve offers a brisk, earnest handshake. "Glad you were in our corner, it could've gotten more nasty than it was." His smile is quiet but true. "We'll be in contact, owe you more gratitude'n I can give right now." He's doing this best to ignore the sluggish pain of the knife wound to his arm; at least the punch to the nose isn't outwardly bleeding!

The police arrive and the yellow body-tarps come out. Stories are quickly corroborated, especially with the number of witnesses at hand. Huzzah for traffic jams! Luke certainly isn't held for any longer than the others, only to get his take on things. Steve very swiftly pushes for SHIELD to made immediately aware of the incident.

Things settle more and people inevitably shift their attention back to being stuck in traffic. Beeping and arguments resume. Luke is left to depart as he pleases. Steve escorts his gal along with the EMTs to the back of the ambulance.

"Dinner's at home tonight," he says quietly to Janet as the EMT works to clean off Janet's face after neutralizing the hot sting of the spray. "I'll cook."

Dinner should turn out well. Should.