16877/Green With Envy, Blue With... er... Beetle

Green With Envy, Blue With... er... Beetle
Date of Scene:	11 January 2024
Location:	New York Harbor Docks
Synopsis:	Green Goblin attacks a container ship, only to find himself opposed by the Blue Beetle
Cast of Characters:	Norman Osborn, Jaime Reyes

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Norman Osborn has posed:
The information on the container ship came up on Norman Osborn's tablet. Oscorp connections to the shipping company had allowed him to access the ship's manifest. A few cars, boxes of medical PPE, sprockets, some electronic goods. And there it was, a number of containers being shipped by a company whose CIO had slighted Norman at the Hellfire Club when he thought Norman was out of hearing range.

"Well, we'll see who is poised for a fall, Gerald, won't we," Norman says as he notes the location of the cargo containers, then rises from his chair with a soft bit of maniacal laughter.

He makes his way to the secret room in the Tudor Penthouse and down the elevator to the underground lair he keeps. Donning armor, and pulling on a mask depicting a green goblin. THE Green Goblin.

Stepping onto a warglider, he launches down the tunnel that will let out him out into the East River.

Jaime Reyes has posed:
Jaime is currently out at the harbor all on his lonesome; the wind is ruffling his black hair, and he's talking to someone on the phone. "I know it's not a *paid* internship Milagro, but it's Frost International! If I get it, I could write my own ticket for any college in town! If I even WANT to go to college--" He paces back and forth, as he talks on the phone, "Yeah, no but - no, but - NO, BUT-" He puffs out his cheeks and then exhales a breath, "You know hermana, not letting me get a word in edgewise does not mean you win the argument -"

He listens to the person on the other end of the phone, his frown getting deeper and deeper, and then says, "There's a cargo ship coming by, it's gonna get real loud here, Milagro. I'll be home for dinner. Bye." He hangs up, and seems to consider just chucking his phone into the harbor, before he thinks better of it.

Norman Osborn has posed:
Seagulls drift overhead on the afternoon breeze that also stirs Jaime's hair. Keeping an eye on him, just in case he has French fries or a sandwich, or came down to the harbor with bread to feed them.

But then the birds all flap their wings, propelling themselves towards the city and away from the water.

Mere moments later, a series of blasts sound so loud Jaime can feel them against his chest. Explosions erupt on the far side of the container ship, sending up plumes of smoke along with the flashes of the flames.

The smoke is suddenly pierced by a figure. The Green Goblin on a bat shaped warglider with wicked blades on the front. The smoke leaves a trail behind him as he jets past the ship, then comes around towards it again. Another pair of missiles launch from the warglider, impacting on the towering container stacks near the bottom. For two of the stacks, the bottom containers are crushed by the missiles and the ones above them begin to dip over, throwing up huge splashes as they fall into the sea. The ship listing back and forth from the sudden change in weight.

Jaime Reyes has posed:
//Don't be angry at your sister, Jaime. She's only trying to protect you.//

"I'm gonna have to take a chance on SOMEthing, Khaji Da--and I can't afford to rack up a big pile of student loans. I have to find another way to do this."

Then Jaime turns, the shockwave from the explosion causing his eyes to widen. He watches the ship burn, and then Khaji Da zooms in, magnifying... "Oh, mierda. That's the Green Goblin." He looks around, and then exhales - and when there's another explosion, he acts like he's stumbled over the rail toward the water in the chaos - there's no splash though.

But on the other side of the cargo ship, there's a rising column of water, and then the click-hum of gossamer energy wings. "Ey! Pendejo!" He maneuvers to position himself between the oncoming Green Goblin and the ship. He notes the flag the ship is flying, and quips, "You got something against the Dutch? I mean, I don't like salty candy myself but that's no reason to mess with international shipping!"

Norman Osborn has posed:
The warglider and the supervillain upon it prove exceptionally agile, the nose tilting up and the craft braking hard while the Green Goblin's balance shifts with it so he's almost standing horizontal with the intense deceleration keeping him glued to it until the glider levels out again as it hovers.

"Who are you? Some Tony Stark wannabe?" the Green Goblin yells in a maniacal tone over to the unfamiliar, flying blue armored hero. "Best to cut your teeth on someone else, Insect Boy," he yells. "And don't stand between me and something I want!"

Another missile drops from the glider, igniting immediately. Aimed to pass beneath the Blue Beetle, targeting on the bridge of the container ship. Meanwhile an alarm goes off on the ship, and a few crewmen are running about on the deck, trying to figure out what is going on. They see the two figures in the air overhead, eyes widening. Some stand dumbstruck. Others run back for the hatches into the ship.

Those on the deck? Likely to be caught in the blast if the missile hits, not to mention those on the bridge.

Jaime Reyes has posed:
Blue Beetle doesn't move from where he is - but the blue and black metallic fabric of his suit behind his shoulder crawls and shapeshifts, before snapping down into a shoulder-mounted energy cannon on a swivel. Jaime keeps his eye on the goblin, but the cannon swivels to follow the missile, tracking it through the air--

Then it fires a thin beam of electric blue light, slicing the missile in half, separating the propellant from the explosive warhead. Then, as the warhead is about to hit the water, Jaime shoots it again - the explosion kicks up a fountain of spray.

"It's not Insect Boy. That would be like someone calling you the Hobgoblin. Or Mr. Grinch, if it was still christmastime."

"The name is 'Blue Beetle'. As in, 'Curse you, Blue Beetle!'"

"You should practice that one now, you'll be saying it after we're done today."

"Or if you prefer Spanish, and I know I do, el escarabajo azul. Doesn't that sound DOPE?"

Norman Osborn has posed:
The Green Goblin watches as the flying armored suit effective negates his missile. His mask's articulation allows the angry expression beneath to show through.

"So not just some neophyte with a construction set and a soldering iron," he says. "And when I curse someone, the curse lingers, Blue Beetle!"

With that the warglider jets forward, arcing high above Blue Beetle rather than directly at him. The Green Goblin sweeps a hand in a throwing motion, a trio of pumpkins each about the size of grenades flung towards Jaime. A sweep of his other arm doubles to six the number of pumpkins flying his way. The second batch of three all have razor sharp spiles pop out of them.

Meanwhile the ship is trying to turn. More ties securing the stacks are snapping under the stresses of the collapses that have already taken place, and another stack of containers on the near side falls into the water, the ship starting to visibly list to the other side. Container stacks groan as they are no longer fully upright and the ties are having to contain more of their weight.

Jaime Reyes has posed:
"A curse?" Jaime says. "I think he's speaking metaphorically, but maybe after this I'll go see Abuela's curandera, just in case--"

//This is not the time to make quips, Jaime. The Green Goblin is very dangerous.// Jaime ducks the first spray of bombs, and then says, "I know that, but I want him to keep his eye on me, and not on the ship!" He watches it list, and then says, "Why are they trying to save the cargo, they should be abandoning ship-" That momentary distraction causes one of the flung bombs to scrape by his shoulder and momentarily disrupt one of his projected-energy wings. "Yeooow!" He plummets toward the water, before regenerating the wing and then buzzing in low toward the ship, and then up the side. "Gotta lighten your load." He says, before his fingers lengthen into long claws; he slashes the cables holding the containers unbalancing the ship, and then throws his shoulder into pushing them off the side and into the harbor. //Jaime, you have given the Green Goblin an opening. Based on my analysis he will attack again in about four seconds.// "I know, I KNOW! But if this ship capsizes how many crewmen will die, Khaji Da?"

Norman Osborn has posed:
The stack of containers that Jaime has cut the fasteners for begins to tip, falling over into the water and the ship suddenly giving a heave and the tipping side coming back up to something much closer to level.

There's no time for celebrating though, as Khaji Da's estimate proves correct. There's a blast up above, and the sound of the cables securing the stack beside him snapping, the loosened end whipping down into the water with enough tension to cut a person in half.

Though that's not the dangerous part for the Blue Beetle. The container on top tips upwards, lifted from the other end by the Green Goblin, and falls into the opened spot on the ship right where Blue Beetle is hovering!

Jaime Reyes has posed:
C-R-U-S-H

The container crunches into the deck of the crippled ship, and for a moment everything is still - by now crewmen have given up on saving the boat and are bailing out, lifeboats already heading for the nearest docks.
    Then, just at the moment a certain villain might begin to gloat, a glowing spot appears in the top of the shipping container, and then grows brighter, before exploding upward into a burst of steel slag. The Blue Beetle rockets upward, grabs at the Goblin's Gider, and then proceeds to magnetize his hands to it. He meets the Green Goblin's gaze, his flat featured face looking stern - and then he gives him a big smile.

"Gotcha."

Then he begins to go into a spin, pitching himself forward into an end over end whirl - while still magnetized tightly to the glider. "How many times you think I could do this before you puke, Goblin?"

Norman Osborn has posed:
The Green Goblin doesn't usually wait long to gloat. "Ah, hah hah HAH HAH HAH!" he cackles merrily at the demise of the hero in the blue carapace. Green Goblin hasn't been very active of late, and the chance to kill someone really sets his heart to racing and-

The glow gives Goblin only a moment's warning before the container's end blows apart and the Blue Beetle jets up towards him. "Why won't you just die!? You're nearly as annoying as Spider-Man," Goblin roars venomously. He deftly banks the ultra-maneuverable warglider, yet it's not fast enough to evade the magnetized gauntlets that grab hold.

The magnitude of that chitinous suit's abilities are fully dawning on the devious tactical mastermind even as he is forced to the rare act of grabbing hold of the glider with a hand, not sure that the harnesses for his feet, and his uncanny agility, will be enough to hold him on.

Goblin turns his head like a twirling figure skater, focusing on the emergency boats taking the crew to shore. His targeting system marks them, and four missiles fly into the air, spun off in various directions, but each arcing once away to turn towards the fleeing vessels.

"And how many missiles do you think those sailors can take before joining Davey Jones at the bottom of the harbor!?" Goblin yells back at Jaime. The glider suddenly charges up with electricity, delivering a shock strong enough to kill a normal man.

Jaime Reyes has posed:
"Yeah but I'm WAY cuter than Spider-Man." The Blue Beetle says. "Spiders aren't cute, unless they're those feathery little jumping spiders, but beetles? Beetles are cute, with their little badonks."

Then the electric charge goes through him, and he lets go of the glider, plummeting toward the water.

The Scarab tries to say something, but it comes out garbled, as broken static, while Jaime's heads-up display goes haywire-

Then he stops, hovering in midair just before he goes under.

//Jaime, do not be alarmed. I have taken control of the targeting systems in the Goblin's missiles and am redirecting them toward us.//

As the missiles shift target, Khaji Da continues, //I will throw up an energy shield at the moment of impact. This should confuse the Goblin for a moment. After that, disable his glider. I believe he will retreat in order to protect it from being further damaged.//

"Got it." Jaime says. "Three, two, one..."

*BOOM* There's a massive explosive gout as all four of the missiles strike at once.

Norman Osborn has posed:
Once he's made up his mind on a course of action, the Green Goblin isn't one to delay in enacting it without reason. By the time that the missiles impact on Blue Beetle's shield, directed away from the sailors and saving their lives, Green Goblin has managed to jet away, dipping down on the other side of the container ship to block immediate line of sight, and probably radar, as he flees.

He looks back over his shoulder and watches his sensors for any signs of pursuit, readying some countermeasures to make tracking him less effective.

"Another one on my list," he says to himself, cackling. Despite what some might see as a setback, Gerald's shipment is not going to make it to its destination, and there's too much carnage on the ship for anyone to firmly deduce the reason for the attack.

The Blue Beetle? He can wait to get his until next time.

Jaime Reyes has posed:
After the explosion clears, Jaime is left looking momentarily dazed- But after a moment to right himself after that missile impact, he begins to extricate surviving cargo containers out of the harbor and deposit them on the wharf.

"That guy... what a culero." He says, to a sailor as he pulls him out of the water. He looks up at where the Goblin went. "Nasty, too." He shakes his head, and focuses on trying to salvage what he can. "What's in these cargo containers, anyway?"

"Salty licorice candy for the New York gourmet shops."

"...Yuck."