16981/FEAST or Famine

FEAST or Famine
Date of Scene:	29 January 2024
Location:	FEAST Shelter -- Queens -- New York City
Synopsis:	Hammerhead and his goons try to rob a FEAST Shelter of all places. Fortunately he finds a little more then he bargained for waiting...
Cast of Characters:	Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, Julian Keller, Doreen Green

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Peter Parker has posed:
Appearing over the past couple of years, the FEAST shelters have become a mainstay through many of the neighborhoods of New York and Queens is no different in that particular regard. Standing for Food, Emergency Aid, Shelter and Training they have become the lifeline for many of the city's residents in need. They also came to the attention of one May Parker who quiet naturally got involved. And encouraged her nephew to do the same.

Not, admittedly, that it takes all that much to get Peter to take an interest, unsurprisingly. For one, that's kinda his thing -- whether in costume or out of it. For another, well, he has a pretty difficult time refusing hisaunt much of anything. Deservedly so.

The shelter is busy on this cold evening, with many needing it's services, though fortunately they have also managed to attract more then a fair number of volunteers to help out. For some that might mean helping out in the kitchen, prepping and serving food. For a smattering of others it might be offering courses, or medical care. For some it might just be checking in on those living there, helping to keep them or their children entertained, or just make sure that they are okay.

For his part, Pete has landed the oh so glamorous job of helping to unload the latest supply truck that is making a delivery of food and medical supplies to the shelter this particular evening after having run late during the day. Relying on donations -- though always seeming to do a little better then most other efforts thanks to the efforts of it's primary benefactor -- this will help insure that the shelter can continue to run at full capacity. At least through the rest of the week.

It's a little cold, even for someone with some handy Spider DNA spliced into his jeans and Pete has bundled up -- partially at his aunt's insistence admittedly -- as he hauls boxes out of the back of a white van backed up to the rear entrance to the building.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson is there to help in any way that she can. She's moving to heft one of the containers along, having to take it rather slower than Peter does. "Just a heads up, Aunt Anna's talking about having everyone together for a Euchre night. I'll try and give you a heads up so you can have school up." Mary Jane loved her aunt, but Euchre turned into slide shows. Which to MJ were a way to catch up on much needed sleep. She'd never lived down the time she started snoring on the couch at 3 pm when Aunt Anna was talking about the time she'd gone to a carriage museum in Canada and talking about bonnets.

"Nothing as ridiculous as a giant wheel lately? No mind controlling guy with a bell for a head? No robber usind disco music?" Life was weird.

Julian Keller has posed:
Plead guilty his Lawyers said and the most you'll get is a heavy fine. Plead guilty they said and Julian would be free to speed on out of there. But the judge had enough and ordered community service AND a heavy fine. That's what Julian gets for not out running the police which he could have easily done.

So he's here. Dressed 'down' for him. That means his jeans have been worn more then twice. His shirt also looks like it's from three seasons ago rather then the latest in trendy stuff. "Just do the job, Julian. Get your paper work signed, and get the hell out of here." He mutters more then a few times as he's tasked to unload truck and other grunt like work. It's not like he has any skills in the kitchen and talking to people only got him yanked when he asked someone why they were so poor. Apparently making enquireries like that was taboo.

Doreen Green has posed:
It was not uncommon for Doreen Green the Squirrel Girl to get involved in these activities when she could. It was good help for the people that needed it, and she loved helping people. It was also good for showing some of the things heroes do for people other than stopping crimes and tossing supervillains in jail. No matter how much a certain newsman yells about them on his broadcasts and across his editorials.

Being a popular public figure (since she doesn't do the whole 'secret identity' deal) has spared her from unloading duty, despire 'porportional strength of a squirrel' powers. But that just means she's in the main area, helping people get to the food line, or to a more private room if they're here for medical matters, and in general keeping things in a situated manner with her cheerful demeanor.

Organizing people is not as easy as organizing squirrels, but she's doing it with her usual can-do lets-go attitude.

Peter Parker has posed:
Many hands make light work.

Or something to that effect. Either way, the boxes in the back of that van are rapidly diminishing as they are moved from it and into the store rooms at the back of the shelter, piled with some sense of order thanks to the middle-aged woman who is supervising things there. And no doubt sniffing with disapproval at the job her most reluctant 'volunteer' is doing. It doesn't seem as if the evening is going to get much easier for Julian unfortunately.

Pete and MJ get a cheery smile though as they shuffle back and forth, the tousel-haired youth pacing himself just a bit. The joys of a secret identity.

Mention of Anna's upcoming card afternoon or evening brings a smile to Peter's face, wry as it might be, and he tips his head towards MJ. "I appreciate that. I mean, if it was just the cards I would be down. That's usually fun. And free food is always good. But the show part does get a little... dry," he conceeds.

Which is about as critical as Pete tends to get.

"And it's been a pretty quiet week thankfully. I'm even almost caught up on my school work, which makes for a nice change," Peter adds with a shake of his head. Things definitely came a little easier in high school. Finding a balance between Spider-Man and the rest of his life since has been a little more... challenging. "It's not doing my bank account any favors though. I haven't sold any shots to bad old Jameson at all," he conceeds as he hauls up one of the last boxes, setting it on his shoulder as he starts back towards the warmer confines of the shelter.

Inside the FEAST Shelter proper quite a few people line of to get their hot meal, though many of the longer residents linger to chat with Doreen. Especially the children who are drawn in by her warm manner. And lets face it, that tail. That's certainly apart of the allure.

Out in front of the shelter the sound of a vehicle coming to a skreeching halt echoes through the evening air. It is followed closely by two sets of headlights glaring down the back alley from opposite ends as two vans very similiar to the one already parked there race down that narrower lane, coming to a screeching stop close to the rear entrance -- boxing in the alleyway in the process.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Going to help haul along the crates, Mary Jane goes to sing, "Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go.." Her tone is amused as she moves to take things along, being able to put a little more effort into it than usual. Squirrel Girl means the redhead isn't being paid that much attention to as she would take things where they were supposed to be.

"Last time it was the Quilt Semi-Regionals, Peter. It has slides showing off all the places she went to get yarn. She went to a lot of places to get yarn." She's pausing over in her recollection of death by well intnetioned relatives to come..

Right when the tires screech and the back alley would be cut off. Mary Jane goes out towards the nearest car. "Hey, you can't park here!"

Julian Keller has posed:
"Marge? If you turned that frown upside down I am sure you would be turning heads left and right! Come on.. Let's see it. Just a little smile." Julian says, flashing his own 1000 watt smile towards the middle-aged woman. "Come on, almost there! YES!" He says in triumphant clutching his chest. "Oh Marge, if I was just a few years older I'd sweep you off your feet." Julian gives the woman a wink who suddenly is all blushing and shooing him out back to work. Flattery will get you time reduced!

He gives Marge a wink before turning and exiting the store room and heading back to the truck to get more. His broad smile drops almost as soon as his back is turned and he kicks open the door just in time to watch cars with interest as they block in the alleyway. "Yo, Red. Don't..." It's too late, She's heading towards them and Julian is a half step behind her. Grabbing her elbow, "Get back inside, lock the door. I'll handle this."

Doreen Green has posed:
And Doreen loves helping the kids feel a little better. They have the least control over their situation so anything that makes it that small bit more bearable for the youths is goo--

The screeching of tires cuts off her internal thoughts on the as Doreen looks up. "That didn't sound good..." She sighs, and passes one of the kids she was playing with back to her parents, despite the young girl not wanting to let go of her tail. At least not until Doreen pulls out a squirrel plushie to give her instead. And a pat on the head. "Sorry, excuse me. Better go check on that." Then she walks towards the front to see what the noise was from. Hopefully it was just you typical New York motorist or a engine failure or something like that.

Peter Parker has posed:
Some people might consider Spider-Man a hero. Some certainly seem to consider him a villain... or at least a menace. But even heroes have limits and apparently for Pete, that limit is watching any more proud photographic displays on quilting.

Everyone has their limits. That's Peter's, right there.

With a faint smirk, the young man tips his head towards the redhead once more. "Fair. I'm not going to dive on that grenade. If you need to use me as an excuse to get out of that particular family obligation don't hesitate," he suggests wryly, though that amused tone quickly fades as those nearly blinding headlights glare down the rear alley behind the shelter and those two vans come charging in.

That can hardly be good, now can it?

"Wait, MJ..." Pete starts, though not in time to stop her from heading towards one of the vans to give them a good chewing out. And while they might deserve it, trouble is surely on the way. Indeed, it is arriving very fast as the side doors open on both those vehicles and several armed men come barrelling out of the them. Leveling that automatic rifle towards her, the man in the lead grins visciously at MJ. "Back off Red. Unless you want to get that pretty face of yours all marked up," he suggests, his fellows also starting to advance on the door.

"I'm sure the young lady and the gentlement will be reasonable. We wouldn't want anyone to get hurt afterall," comes a rough voice from the front of one of the vans and the man who slides out of the passenger seat is, well, definitely on the large side, his suit expensive though his flat top haircut is not exactly keeping with the times. But then his entire head seems just a little off, a little too big. "Be a good lot and move out of the way. Before I get angry," he suggests again.

Tempting as it might be to duck inside, to try and change into his costume -- his backpack with his mask tucked away in the storeroom, Pete instead steps forward and closes the door behind him, hands behind his back to discretely web up the handle and the seam there as his eyes flick over the advancing crowd of gunmen.

Out front, the scene is much the same though at least there is only the half dozen or so toughs pouring out of the single van there. Charging the front doors, they casually push anyone lingering outside into the shelter before stepping in themselves, blocking that entrance way there and while not quite levelling their weapons towards the increasingly nervous crowd, they are still prominently displayed. "Everyone be smart and you're all gonna be just fine. Some friends of ours are makin' a pickup out back. We're here to make sure that no one does anything stupid to interfere. So stay where you are and don't even think about touchin' your phones and you -- and your kids -- will come out of here without a scratch. Do otherwise..." the burly man who starts to advance to the crowd says, pausing for effect as he snaps the shotgun in his hand, making it click audibly, ominously. "Well, lets not think 'bout that, hmmm?"

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson can't help but just flat out stare for a moment, even as she sees the guns being raised and goes to pause, moving to hold he rhands up and to the sides while evaluating the man. Maggia? No, the Maggia might be traditionalists but this guy was bordering on the pastiche.

"There's nothing -here-. This is a soup kitchen and a homeless shelter. There's nothing worth taking here. It's a dry place, there's no drugs or alcohol. It has basic first aid kits. Nothing you could use for anything." Her hands go to keep up in the air, even as she goes to evaluate the men. How they're holding their guns. How well they seem to know how to use them.

"There's no one important here. No one that has anything worth taking. There's a donation jar in the lobby with some spare change." She doesn't lash out verbally at the man. SHe tries to engage him. Sounding resaonable.. If this were just a simple exchange and courier run they'd not make a point of showing up with guns and drawing attention. Likewise, they wouldn't have the meetup be in a public area with hostages.

Try and engage with the man. Get him talking. Make sure to not come off as a threat.

Doreen Green has posed:
Doreen Green was just reaching the door when it's yanked open by men with guns, and she instinctively backsteps away again. "Whoa, whoa!" What kind of jerks rob a homeless shelter? But she for the moment manages to bite her tongue from saying anything like that out loud. Way too many bystanders already having problems to risk any witty retorts off the bat.

Instead she just backs up slowly, holding up her hands to show she's not holding anything that could be a weapon. Not wanting to take her eyes off the gunmen, so it's a good thing she's got really good peripherial vision as she turns her head just enough to glance over her shoulder. "Keep the kids towards the back. Out of the way." While she in a nonthreatening manner keeps herself position between the gunmen and the people as she turns her attention back to the intruders.

Despite the initial snark in her thoughts Doreen keeps her demeanor calm and non-threatening. "Times must be really hard if feel the need to resort to robbery, do you want to talk about it?" Best to keep the situation de-escalated. Though to be fair it's Squirrel Girl, she'd talk first and only fight if it became necessary normally. The innocents nearby, already hard down in life, just adds more weight to doing so.

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller wasn't fast enough. That MJ is quick so he's not shocked when guns are leveled upon her. He just simply draws in a breath and lets it out slowly, his shoulders lumping.

"Reasonable? You haven't met me, never has that ever been uttered in my presence. Well, There was that one time I was telling Scott about .. Never mind." He's about to do something further, but.. MJ is talking? And Talking. So many words from such a pretty face.

"Yeah. That's not going to work." His eyes suddenly flare green and in a blink his whole body is as well. Oddly enough MJ is suddenly glowing green. "OH NO YOU PISSED HER OFF!" Hopefully eyes turn so they don't see the TK Blast from Julian.

Peter Parker has posed:
It certainly does seem strange to target a homeless shelter of all places. Sure, the food supplies they unloaded will have some small value. The medical supplies, though rather basic compared to what one might find at a real hospital certainly have more potential interest. But MJ is not wrong. This is not a small operation with a dozen men out back and another half dozen out front. Twenty men to steal some medical supplies? It seems excessive.

MJ's level head and attempt to engage the gunmen in discussion does delay them, at least for a few seconds more -- and draws most of the attention her way though that semi-circle of advancing men continues to close around the trio, weapons levelled. "Mebbe it ain't any of your business what me and my guys do, girlie," Flattop counters. "Mebbe I's got my own reasons for wanting to see dese shelters suffer or a little," he suggests, pulling out a cigar and lighting it, the sudden flare illuminating his features for just a moment.

Continuing to edge away from the door, Pete suddenly makes a break for it, tearing off down the alley, oh so heroically abandonning his friend to her fate as he dashes out away from the bright headlights and into the shadows. "Jimmy, Tony, go make sure the twerp doesn't go get any help," Hammerhead says, directing two of his men off into the shadows after Peter. "And get that door open already, would ya's," he adds with growing frustration.

One of his men leaps to obey, racing forward past Julian to try the handle to the door before recoiling back, that hand still attacked, trailing a line of sticky webbing. "Ugh, boss there's sumthin' on the handle. I can't get it open. Or off!" he says, frantically trying to pull away -- and failing.

Which is the same time that the green glow suddenly envelops MJ, drawing the vast majority of eyes her way. "She's a freak! Shoot her!" one of the men calls out, weapons raising towards the redhead before a telekinetic bolt sends him flying, back across the hood of the nearest van, his heavy form cracking the windshield on contact.

Out front, within the shelter itself things are not exactly going a whole lot better. The long term residents need little prompting from Doreen to gather up their kids, to draw them back deeper amongst the cots and bunk beds that are set up there, huddling in one corner of the room.

The gunmen start to fan out, to head towards the medical wing or the kitchen in the back to herd people out into the main area, to gather them up so they can keep a close eye on them all, though the man with the shotgun lingers along with a pair of his compatriots. "The boss gets what the boss wants," he says casually before his brow furrows, finally taking in that tail. "Is that... a squirrel tail? What are you, one of those mutie freaks?" he asks derisively.

Clearly reading the paper or watching the news isn't high on this guy's list of recreational activities.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would just flat out stare over at the man. "Are you affiliated wtih the Maggia? Because if you are, they're going to toss you into New York Harbor with concrete on your feet. If you're not with the Maggia, they're going to do the same. You need a bit of -class-.." she goes to hold up her hands in front of her at the strange-headed man.

"And while you look like you've already got some put into you.. YOu clearly have way too much time on your hands and must be really bored. And I don't think that Dick Tracy is going to show up anytime soon to fight you, though you definitely would work on his set." That film was a cinematographic masterpiece and the best representation of the 8 panel pixelated glory of traditional Sunday comics.

But then there's a squawk from her as she starts to glow.. Green? What the $##!? She doesn't say it. She's got no idea what's going on, but she can improvise. At least give a distraction for Peter. "And who are you calling a freak, bucket head? Takes one to know one, chrome dome." She moves to walk towards him, angling herself over towards the corner of the alleyway. The guns hopefully going to automatically follow her.. Which means that they're hopefully not pointed at the shelter, and minimize chances of ricochets.

"Don't try and twist your cap, pinhead. I'd say you were dropped a bit on your head too many times but that goes without saying." Keep attention on her, keep attention on her.. When she has no idea -what- the glowy thing is and can only try and stall.

Doreen Green has posed:
Inwardly Doreen sighs, moreso at the being very limited in options at the moment than the not being recognized. Sure she does the whole media persona thing but the fame is -not- her reason for being a hero as a whole. It just helps pay the bills. But as long as there's people around that could be hurt she can't just put these guntoting jerks in their place.

A hand rises to rub her brow for a moment. At least one of them is still talking to her, even if it's in a derogatory manner. It's still attention on her and not else where. "Yes, it's a squirrel tail. Not I am.. well, I am, it's genetic, but it's a medically and legally distinct condition from 'mutation'." A short shrug. "Maybe because I was born with it instead of developing it as a condition later in life? Honestly it's for reasons even I don't understand."

Julian Keller has posed:
"OMG! SHE'S GOT ME TOOOO!" Julian says looking down at his body also covered in greenness. He shifts to keep MJ with his line of sight. Acting all dramatic with the green glowy. "Guys guys. I think.. I think. It's worse then a mutant! She's a Redhead Witch!" A glow in Green!

He doesn't take stock of the fleeing boy. If he wants to run for help that's his choice. "Get her get her!" Julian pleads, "Oh sike!" Julian says flashing a grin as his eyes narrow and suddenly the car is enveloped in green. "Up we go." He growls out and suddenly the car is lifted off the ground and thrown down the alley. "It's time to play." His sudden demeanor shifting.

Peter Parker has posed:
"You little bit..." Hammerhead starts with a growl, apparently not terribly impressed or happy with MJ's mocking. Surprise, surprise there, right?

Before he can finish that particular sentiment however one of his men goes flying, slammed back across the hood of the van, hard enough to crack the windshield. Then, perhaps a little more concerning, is the fact that the van takes flight as well, landing a dozen or so feet down the alleyway with a terrific crash of shattering glass and crunching metal.

"Screw this," the angry gangster barks out. "Ice 'em all," he adds as he and a number of the other men in his employ bring those automatic rifles up and simply unload, bullets spraying out towards MJ and Julian in equal measure as the group apparently no longer cares just who is 'really' responsible. The alleyway flashes, lit up with those bursts of muzzle flare, the quiet of the cold evening completely shattered.

Any chance of the authorities not being called, not already being on their way seems pretty much dead and buried.

Down the alleyway, the pair of men chasing after Peter are squinting into the darkness, standing in front of those bright headlights having pretty much killed any sort of night vision that they might have had and the light from the nearby street only doing so much. Which might be why the one in the lead nearly trips over his discarded jacket. The other sends one of his gloves sailing down the path when he kicks it blindly. "What the..." he starts, glancing down to see what's there. "Who strips down in the middle of winter?" he asks with a sneer in his voice.

Which is right about the time when Spider-Man comes swinging in from above, his customary mask no where in evidence. Instead something makeshift and made out of his own webbing seems to conceal his features as he brings his legs together and crashes into the pair heavily, sending them sailing off against the far wall of the alley, crashing there and sinking down into a pile. Even as he lands though he is already sprinting back towards the sound of all that gunfire. "No no no..." he mutters as he leaps towards the back of the one van still in place, panic in his voice.

Inside the shelter itself those in the kitchen, the eating area and the medical clinic and classrooms are being herded out into the main room, some of them being prodded rather roughly with the butt-end of those rifles. The man with the shotgun stares at Doreen for a moment, the line of his mouth twisted derisively. "I guess I asked," he allows before hitting on her codename without really knowing who she is. "If you got any abilities I suggest you forget about them Squirrel Girl or me and my boys are gonna be huntin' vermin, got it?" he says.

As that sudden burst of gunfire sounds from the back, people huddle closer together and a frightened murmur runs through the crowd. The gunmen glance that way as well, cruel smiles sliding over their faces. "Loooks like things have gone sideways folks. Best continue to behave or it could get messy..."

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
When faced with lots of bullets, duck! Mary Jane hits the ground hard. Wherever the magic flareups of energy were coming from, she didn't exactly expect them to handle sustained automatic weapons fire. She yells over at Julian, "Down!" She hits the ground as fast as she can, rolling over to the side to try and get some space between her and the shooters. She's not got anything on her that would actually hurt them. She goes to scramble up to the alleywall, bullets shooting past her while she would just try to keep attention on her. The others were civilians. She'd much rather she be at risk of being shot than they were. Hopefully they're ignoring Julian and going after her for being the one that was mouthing off!

... Wait, she does have something she can throw. Or two things. She looks down at her feet. And her precious faux leather boots bought thirdhand and held together by nails and duct tape and spraypaint. Precious, precious (or not). But, with great responsibility.. And she wasn't a member of the Fashion Club anymore.

Said boots are taken off, and Mary Jane goes to twist through the air, going to launch one in an arc towards Hammerhead's head. Time to see if it sounded like two coconuts clonking together when it was hit.

Doreen Green has posed:
"What am I going to do, bite you? I don't know where you've been." The girl that's also a squirrel lets a little sass show through her buck teeth, but it's while she's keeping hands up to show she's not actually doing anything. Just backing up with the rest of the group as the people are shuffled together. Easier to keep her eyes on all the gunmen and herself in their view as well. The gunfire from the alley does get her attention, but from here they have no idea what actually caused it. "Yep, sounds like something happened back there. But it's not us, we're all sitting here being good little people." She leans back a little closer to the gathered people. "No need to make an incident. I know some of you aren't in the best place in life, but that life is still worth more than anything they could take from you or from this place. So just behave, please."

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller does not get down. He just cocks his head to look at Mary Jane as she drops to the ground. As the bullets start to fly he is still staring when the first one hits that green glow of his. Then another then another. Some richochet some fall smushed to the ground. Others miss. Shaking his head sadly, he walks forward through the bullets.

Stepping over MJ her green glow seems to be gathered into his and that shield around him starts to widen into an actual shield.

"You lot are always the same. Bringing guns to a fight against a mutant." He shakes his head. "You could have run, but you just had to go and shoot." Eerilly calm he is, even as his face starts to show exertion. The strain of making the shield bigger and bigger starting to take a toll on him as he tries to push them back towards the wall. "Now. I am going to beat your asses," he turns his green glowing gaze towards Hammerhead. "And you're going to be last."

Peter Parker has posed:
Clearly this was not exactly what the strange gangster had in mind when he targetted this shelter for whatever reason. The idea was clearly to collect an easy score, maybe intimidate a few people and send a message. Not to tangle with a mutant who can throw cars around with his mind. But Hammerhead is at least somewhat adaptable it seems.

When bullets start flying getting low, finding cover is rarely the wrong choice and with Julian increasingly making himself a target, fewer of those guns are pointed towards MJ. Still, bullets ricochet close by, pinging ominously off the nearby wall sending up a smattering of sparks as they do. While the spray and pray method of the gunmen might leave a little bit to be desired, MJ's own accuracy is a little better and that tossed footwear find's it mark, thunking painfully into a pair of the gunmen, making them curse, making one of them drop to the ground while the other actually jerks back and accidentally sprays his own side with gunfire, sending another of the trio diving for cover.

Seeing that the gunfire is not having a whole lot of effect on that green glow and watching as the rest of his men seem to be being slowly forced back and pinned against the far side of the alley, Hammerhead growls. "That's what you think, punk."

His solution? He lowers his head and charges forward, slowed perhaps by that strained pressure exerted by the cocky young mutant. But not stopped. Instead he plows straight into the remaining van, sending it hurling towards Julian and MJ. And he keeps right on running.

Slamming into the wall of the FEAST shelter headlong, the brick wall just gives way before that clearly unique head, bricks shattering inward as he charges head long through the building, smashing walls as he goes.

Atop the back of the van as it is struck by Hammerhead, Spidey only has a moment to react as both he -- and the vehicle beneath him start to hurtle towards the pair on the other side. Twisting, his webshooters *thwip* as he fires of a sticky net of webbing across the gunmen pinned to the far wall.

Then the arachnid hero is dropping down to the side of the van, bracing himself there to take any impact with the wall, feet straining against the side of the van to keep it from crushing them all. Just in case.

Inside, Doreen and the others will no doubt here the crashing growing closer and Hammerhead finally does plow through into the main room in a shower of dust and masonry that sends people nearby scattering out of his way. "It's time to bug out boys. This place is hotter then I thought. Back to the van," he says, stamping his way towards the entrance as the half dozen or so other gunmen start to back away as well, covering their boss' retreat.

"Looks like it's your lucky day Squirrel Girl. Love the teeth by the way," the man with the shotgun sneers, falling in with the rest of them.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
The men are very sloppy with thier weapons. Mary Jane wouldn't have hurled her shoe if she'd thought they'd have dropped the guns. She liked these shoes! She didn't want them shooting into the crowd with dropped weapons. She goes to scramble upwards over as then she would swear as she would watch Hammerhead just keep on -running- and -running-. The wrong sort of season to be the Gingerbread Man.
    "Hey, Dome-Head!" She goes to get up.. Right before she ducks and hits the ground again as the van goes flying past her but is stopped by Spidey. "We *really* have to stop meeting like this" she would quip at the thwip.. And would scramble out of the way for Julian to hopefully hit on Hammerhead.

Doreen Green has posed:
Doreen Green may have only the porportional abilities of a squirrel rather than the porportional abilities of a spider or what have you, but it's all she needs. It does mean she's quick and agile, with a decent strength to back it up. And being quick is exactly what she needs. She only needs to hear the massive thud against the other side of the wall to get a few split-seconds of reaction time.

There's also the small bit about her tail being prehensile. Not intricately dexteritous, but it doesn't need to be. It's enough to grab a nearby table and yank it to Doreen, so she can grab it and hold it up as a shield to protect the innocent people from the shower of debris as Hammerhead slams his way through it. A chunk punchs through the table, stopping a few inches from her face... but that's better than all the people getting crap knocked down on them.

"Good grief, some people just don't know how to properly use a door amirite?" she snarks a bit to the people standing behind her. But still only protecting them, not trying to aggrivate the thugs that are leaving now that whatever happened to convince them to do so.

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller is a blunt for instrument. But there is a limit to how much he can do. The larger the shield grows to push back the thugs against the back alley, the harder he breaths. The more he is forced to concentrate. His eyes are focused on those thugs and he only hears Hammerhead going full rhino on the van.

He suddenly pushes the shield at the grouping hoping to knock em cold before he turns to try to get a shield up. A bubble forms but it flickers out. Two more times it blinks in and out and just when it looks like they will be crushed Spiderman to the rescue.

"Sup spidey dude." Julian says sinking to his knees panting hard trying to catch his breath. Sweat tickling his brow as he looks behind him at MJ. "You okay Red? Also, did you throw shoes at them?"

Peter Parker has posed:
While Julian's shield might have been pushed to the limit, between it and Spidey's efforts, the van is at least stopped a good foot and a half before it crushes the three of them against the wall, the side panel of the vehicle caving in a some, his footprints quite clearly embedded into the frame. He strains for a moment, grimacing beneath that improvised mask of webbing before lowering his feet to the ground and arching his back. Oh yeah, he's gonna be feeling that in the morning. "S'up," he says with an up-nod for Julian before turning towards MJ. "We really, really do."

That seems unlikely however. Maybe he radiates bad luck and anyone in his vicinity is doomed to get caught up in these kind of things. Dooooooooooomed.

"'scuse me. I should check on those people inside," the literal webhead says, casually flipping over the pair despite the somewhat confined space left between the van and the wall, turning for that gaping hole in the wall and sprinting after Hammerhead's path of destruction.

Within the shelter itself, Doreen's quick thinking does seem to have prevented anyone from being hurt by the debris sent flying by the gangster's rather rough entrance. While much of the crowd continues to huddle together in that one corner of the room, somewhat reassuringly it would appear that Hammerhead and his remaining men intend to leave without causing any more problems. Backpeddling quickly towards the doors -- using them instead of crashing through this time -- in seconds they are out the door and piling into the van and speeding off. With nothing more serious then a few scrapes and bruises to show for it, at least in part because of Squirrel Girl keeping a level head.

Of course there is another brief flicker of anxiety as Spider-Man comes barrelling through moments later, hot on the heels of the retreating bad guys. "Everyone okay in here? Anyone hurt?" he asks, gaze sweeping over the crowd, trying to pick out any relevant details as he races towards that front door. But by the time he gets out to the street, the retreating tail lights of the van are already tearing around a corner, disappearing from sight.

For just a moment he considers trying to chase them down. Then Spidey's shoulders slump slightly, he sighs, and starts towards the alley once more, no doubt to start gathering up his clothes.

On the bright side, he got some truly banger pictures to sell to Jameson. Looks like Pete won't go hungry this week.

Doreen Green has posed:
It's annoying to let the thugs retreat, but Doreen's expression brightens a bit more when the webslinger bounds in, because that means the ruckus sounds from the alley was not just the gunmen shooting people up. "Hey Spider-Man! We're fine, save some frayed nerves and roughing up." She sets the busted table aside. "Sorry I couldn't stop them. But I wasn't about to give them a reason to start using those guns with all these people around. Life is hard enough for them as it is."

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller slow and and on shaking feet he rises to his feet. He pinches the bridge of his nose, his hands not quite looking right. His pinky doesn't sit quite naturally, just lays limp for a moment or three before moving to the right position.

He is in mid shake when he notices the shelter's wall smashed. "Oh snap. He ran through a damn building." Julian shakes his head. "I wonder if Marge will just sign off on my hours now."

Peter Parker has posed:
Before he vanishes to search for his discarded clothes, Spidey glances back to the bushy-tailed optomist, taking in the table with the debris embedded into it, the way Doreen has positioned herself in front of the huddled people behind her, many of whom are now approaching to thank her now that the danger has seemingly past, though plenty are comforting their children, while some of the less traumatized volunteers are moving amongst them, offering what help they can. A few of the more handy ones are already starting to search for plywood to temporarily board up some of the gaping holes that have been left in aftermath of Hammerhead's passing.

"Looks like you did plenty, to me. You kept everyone safe and that's what really matters at the end of the day. They're lucky you were here. We're all lucky," Spidey asserts, tossing Doreen a wave before he vanishes around the corner.

With the door webbed up, Julian and MJ will have to use said hole in the wall to get back inside, but at least they will quickly find themselves offered hot chocolate for their trouble. And as charming as the young man might be, Marge, it seems, will only be signing off on the hours worked so far. "It'll do you good to see what these people have to manage in their lives," she says firmly, though there's a smile on her face.

Maybe she just wants to keep him around. There can be a downside to being a little too charming afterall.