17470/Hydra vs UN: The Chameleon Gambit

Hydra vs UN: The Chameleon Gambit
Date of Scene:	02 April 2024
Location:	East Side
Synopsis:	The Chameleon and a small horde of seeming mercs attempt to kidnap a UN Security Coordinator, but run into unexpected resistance...
Cast of Characters:	Peter Parker, Stephanie Brown, Mary Jane Watson, Michael Hannigan, Richard Stadler
Tinyplot:	Hydra vs UN

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Peter Parker has posed:
While the days are blessedly getting longer, it is still late enough in the day that evening has begun to settle in over Manhatten, the early evening commute beginning to calm down enough that the streets of the city are not locked with traffic.

A gentle rain falls on the city, the clouds overhead a dark steely grey that adds to the gloom of the evening and the glow of streetlights is ever so slightly muted ny that steady precipitation that soaks the sidewalks and streets, little puddles beginning to accumulate in the little nooks and dips that litter the area. Those not tucked away safely inside rush and a veritable ceiling of opened umbrellas in multiple hues blot out the pedestrians that hurry on their way.

For his part, Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man is tucked in under the ledge of a building not so far away from the Daily Bugle, his mask rolled up enough to bare his mouth and the ledge overhead doing a reasonable job of keeping the rain from falling directly on him.

In his hand? His oh so healthy dinner -- or what passes for it at least -- in a pair of street hotdogs and a drink nestled close by on that narrow ledge. Certainly not everything a growing boy needs, but it's the beginning of the month which means a host of bills has pretty much drained his account.

Such is life for one friendly neighborhood spider guy.

The busy streets are populated with all sorts to be sure, hundreds, thousands of New Yorkers heading out for a night on the town or simply getting away from the office late, looking to get home.

One of those? Christian Decker, head of the United Nations security delegation currently busy planning for a major summit later this week. While this might be late for some to be calling it a night, it is positively early for him as he guides his car out of the United Nations underground parking and onto the main strip, the traffic flowing well enough, the street a blaze of bright headlights.

Which might be why he doesn't notice the pair of black panel vans that slice through traffic, picking him up shortly after leaving that parking structure, closing in quickly.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
It is unusual to see one of Batman's entourage in New York. And so far no one had. Batgirl's surveillance of an ammunition manufacturer had been done with a level of stealth and care that Batman would have approved of.

Unfortunately it was also coming up empty. Opening the window through which she'd entered, Batgirl slipped out, her cloak gathered about her to break up her human shape and help her blend into the shadows of the rainy night.

"Nothing armor piercing in their systems nor do they have the machinery for it," she says to herself with a sigh as she clings to the side of the building just below the eaves of the roof. "Thought for sure when they had an order of some of the materials it was going to be them," she says with a sigh. One more dead end on the source of armor piercing rounds that had made their way into the gun of one of Falcone's henchmen. And ended up in the engine of her Batcycle.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
She was there as part of the general security team. It was monotonous duty, which was why ti got dumped on rookie agents. She had a pair of large stun batons over her bcak and a standard issue sidearm. She was keeping an eye out for things even as she was part of the gaggle around the man. She was paying only distant attention to things - they were stuck in traffic, and no one was going to mess up with something.

She's sitting in the backseat and occasionally looking out the window. Then there's the screech of tires of vans coming behind them. "Wow, those guys think they're in Jersey.."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Mike is not on security detail, he is not investigating anything, and he most certainly is not in charge of coordinating things that affect nations maintaining peaceful relations. But Mike does have an uncanny ability to be at the wrong place at the right time. Couple that with Shaw Studios being in the same somewhat general area and... odds are just getting better and better that whatever plans he had are going to be ruined.

As for his current plans? He drew the short straw and is out getting takeout at a new place conveniently opened up somewhere between the UN and the studio.

It's a bit of a walk but since the hot dog cart at the corner dropped a few letter grades for certain additives, his coworkers have suddenly lost interest in doing business there.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Stadler grumbled a bit at the slowness of getting out of the parking garage, himself. He didn't like taking the car out of parking in general, but the current jetting around from the Atlantic Starport to the UN to... well... /do/ anything required something more than the subway or taxis. It shouldn't. This was New York, after all, but it just meant he'd have to find parking later on once he got back home. And it was insufferable; the WHO contacts he had were stonewalling, for the most part, and he could only press so far with what options he had available. And he was, get this, /supposed/ to be teaching a class right now.

One of these days, he was going to have a nice, normal life for a vacation. Two weeks of just going over essays and the like. Maybe that could start after this nearest UN vote...

He tapped quickly on the breaks, grimacing to himself. Sometimes people just seemed to be in a bit of a goddamn hurry, didn't they? Exactly why did...

Rick didn't have a spider sense. What he did have was a keenly honed, healthy sense of paranoia. Panel vans were rare enough to see. Black? No markings? Driving aggressively? Hackles up. He was.. probably wrong, though.

Peter Parker has posed:
That virtual sea of lights that crowds thegloomy city streets certainly makes it difficult to realize just what is happening, at least right at first. If those black panel vans are travelling a little too fast given the traffic and weather conditions, well the reality of things is that the road has no shortage of agressive drivers, no matter the time of day or what the weather is like outside.

But rarely do vehicles work in tandem, and these two most definitely are, closing in on the upscale hybrid vehicle, the car unremarkable on these city streets.

Aside from who happens to be behind the wheel.

That same man is not exactly thrilled to have a constant escort these days, even if he understands the necessity. Afterall, security is his field too. So for the most part Christian just tries to leave his redheaded escort to do her thing while he does his. "Mmmmm?" he asks absently, idly glancing into the rear view mirror as he does.

Which is the only reason that he happens to see both of those vans accelerate right at that moment, one slamming into the backside of the much smaller car, driving it forward and towards the edge of the road, that instinctive slamming of the breaks doing little to stop the added velocity, the added force.

The sound of grinding metal and crunching plastic sounds across the street as the hybrid is driven up over the curb before slamming into one of the light stanchions that line the street, finally coming to ab abrupt stop. Hopefully both passengers are wearing their seat belts -- at least the driver is -- which is the only thing that keeps him from completely flying forward, even as the airbag explodes out from the steering wheel.

That second van had also accelerated, driving up beside it's target and coming to a screeching stop beside the now crippled hybrid, the side door opening up to reveal a half dozen gunmen dressed in black.

And a solitary figure with masked features in plain, unassuming white. "Get the target. Kill the escort if she resists," Dmitri Nikolayevich Smerdyakov says, the international mercenary better known as the Chameleon.

Almost at once those men begin to pour out of the vehicle, a pair of them pouring automatic gunfire into the engine block of the car. Two others hasten to jerk open the front driver's side door to drag the man behind the wheel out while the other two cover them, screaming in nearly incoherent fashion at Mary Jane in the back of the vehicle.

A block away, Spider-Man continues to nest beneath that ledge, chimping down on the first of those hotdogs, managing a single bite. Which is right when the sound of metal grinding and plastic crumpling reaches him. Pausing, with the that street dog half way raised to his mouth for another bite, Pete winces ever so slightly, eyeing his dinner for just a moment before he sighs. "Please be here when I get back. And still faintly warm and edible," he adds, carefully setting it down on the ledge beside his drink.

Then, reaching up, he pulls that mask back down over his chin and fixes it in place before leaping into midair, a webline already shooting out as he begins to swing his way towards what he assumes is a fender bender.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
There's a yelp from Mary Jane as there's a dozen men over pointing guns at her. She's not bulletproof, and at this close range in a crossfire, she's dead meat as is the man she's escorting. She moves to put her hands almost upwards.. And then she goes to hit her palm to put out a distress signal. One of the small cameras in the van goes to take some quick photos over of things to pass along as soon as the distress call goes out, hopefully giving tactical info to any agents comingin.

It's when she sees Chameleon that she thinks of the other person she needs to head up.. Normally she wouldn't for SHIELD things.. But for some of her friends, thi sis personal. She goes to take a breath, and her second phoneis also triggered. First phone is work phone, second phone is friend phone, third phone is personal phone. And so going along the Spider-Comms (they really need a better name) is an alert about the man without a mask that can wear any face.. Hopefully getting through when she looks like she's surrendering.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Batgirl is just running through next steps in her head, when the behavior of the two vans working in tandem catches her attention. "Something is up," she murmurs to herself, her cowl's lenses dropping over her eyes and providing some magnification.

She's able to watch as events unfold. As soon as the guns come out and open fire on the engine block, the Gotham caped crusader who finds herself in the wrong city at the right time, moves to action.

She pulls a gadget from her utility built, lines firing out the front and back, slamming into the nearby building, and the other traveling a few blocks in the direction of the traffic encounter before it sinks into the side of a building securely.

The Line Launcher propels her forward then like someone sliding on a zip line, though in her case the Line Launcher is wheeling her down the line. It lets her move rapidly, but she starts out a good distance away from the incident so it will take her some time to get there!

Michael Hannigan has posed:
It's a good thing Mike is on the sidewalk. Well, obviously he's on the sidewalk.

Well, unless you count crosswalks but he's not at that point of th-

Anyways. Mike is on the sidewalk. Walking briskly due to the less than ideal weather.

Feeling the general woosh of cars going by, Mike turns his head to look to the pair of similarly matched vehicles barreling down towards another car.

Now Mike is no spy. But he's played one on TV. And even he's going... that's not right.

"No..."

Not really expecting to overtake a car, the most he does is quicken his steps. Rain sucks.

When the collision occurs, he stops, brows lifting

"Damn it, no."

And THEN the guns become visible.

"Fuck."

With a sharp turn, Mike ducks into an alleyway, missing the first few bits of the visual but definitely hearing the gunfire.

A raven soon shoots out from between the buildings, adjusting his path to fly towards the gunfire.

Looks like the guys are getting their food late.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Well... hell.

Sometimes he really just hoped he was paranoid; that they were... he didn't know, just going to a repair site very quick. And that the accident that had Rick slam on his breaks in front of them was just that; an accident he could get out and assist with. But no, no, the accident continued with a squad of gunman leaping out of one of the van, and effecting a quick operation, and the fact that there were diplomatic plates on the car they had run off the road was proof enough this was bad. And Rick, in his wisdom, could have still driven around them, got a few blocks away, and called for help. Instead of quickly going to his glove box, opening it up, and withdrawing the Glock 23 hidden within.

The main problem that Rick could see, in this split second, is that insurance didn't cover what he was about to do. That, and it might technically be called 'murder', but he was hoping in the few seconds things had changed, it had gone up to 'war' pretty damn quick. And luckily, he always buckled his seatbelt.

The gas pedal is pressed, and he braces himself, but even an impact on the van's bumper at 30 miles an hour was bound to cause some damage. He at least knew to take a car crash well enough, and the impact was recoverable enough as he jammed on the seatbelt release, rolling out of the driver's side door, and popping up to loose a brace of rounds one of the men attacking the engine block.

Peter Parker has posed:
Random violence does not seem to be the order of the day, though anyone close enough to hear the chill in the Chamelon's voice when he ordered the other gunmen to casually shot the redheaded security agent in the back of the car might be daunted enough. Fortunately there do not appear to be any heroes in those closest to the scene as that car is casually driven up over the curb, slamming into the light stand that now tilts at a decidedly worrisome angle, and instead the crowd recoils back, most simply screaming and running for cover, though a few linger close by, frozen in fear.

Aside from keeping a wary eye on the crowd though, the half-dozen gunmen do not move towards them. Instead the pair up front finish insuring that the hybrid vehicle of Christian Decker is well and truly dead, each of them emptying a clip into the hood and side of the vehicle, the car dropping a couple of inches when the tires blow out, adding to it's lean.

The two covering the rear continue to shout towards Mary Jane, waving those automatic rifles threatening, screaming 'Don't you dare move or your dead!' in her direction, though in the dim interior they apparently miss her fumbling with those phones, or perhaps mistake it for fearful shuffling. Either way, they do not open up on her.

The final two figures manage to yank open the front door of the vehicle and while one of them draws out a sidearm and points it at Christian's head, the other man roughly grabs his shoulder and begins to haul him bodily out of the vehicle, growling in annoyance when he proves stapped in. A knife appears in his hand -- expertly wielded -- and it quickly slashes through the seat belt, not to mention Christian's jacket, before disappearing just as swiftly. With no more impediments, he finishes pulling the struggling man free and begins to drag him towards the open side of the nearby van.

Before they can make it though the sound of a revving engine and the bright flare of headlights headed straight their way sweeps across the path, that car unexpectedly slamming into the front of the van parked along side the crippled car, rocking it back a good foot even as the Chameleon leaps from the door, that masked face scowling. "Kill him, kill him," he barks out, even as he motions his team towards the second van at the rear of the crippled hybrid, thhe team dragging their hostage towards the waiting vehicle which throws open it's own side door and revs its engine loudly.

Meanwhile, the driver of the van that was slammed into shakes off the cobwebs of being struck head on and slams the butt of his rifle into the safety glass of the windshield, shattering it and pushing it free before opening up with a barrage into Rick's now vacated vehicle.

He's probably not getting his insurance deductible back through as a dozen holes are pushed through in mere seconds.

As he swings towards the scene, Spidey here's his phone chime, tugging it out just long enough to peek at the notification from MJ. Trouble then, though as the sound of gunfire cuts through the night any chance that he can simply swing that way is a non-starter.

Which is when he notices the attached coordinates for her location and realize that she's already in the thick of things. That's... handy, right? Though not so great if she's the one being shot at.

He spots another figure zipping their way above the street as well, squinting through the rain and the gloom but otherwise quickly turning his attention to the scene of that man being pushed into the side of the3 van, a small horde of gunmen piling in afterward before that vehicle begins to pull out into the street.

He doesn't know exactly what's going on here, but it looks bad. So just in case his hand dips once more, emerging with a small device that he hurls through the gloomy night. HIs aim is true, and the Spider Tracer fastens onto the bumper of the van peeling back into the street.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
She's not in a position to take immediate action. She has to wait for the chance to come by. But if she does something now, even if she doesn't get shot, Christian dies. It's as simple as that. She has to pick and choose her moment. So when the men are hyper-focused on what's going on around them.. Then the vehicle with her charge in it is going to boost away. She swears, even as she keeps her hands held up high. She can't fight her way through this many gunmen - not without putting people int he area at risk. She's good.. But not this good, not against so many. Bullets will rip her up.

THe sound of Rick literally crashing the arrival has her smile a bit. And there's her opening right as the men are hopefully going to turn just a bit of attention over in that direction.. And she goes to move to grab at the nearest one. Hand thrusting up to try and grab him by the armored kevlar he wore. Moving to spin him around with intent of using him as a shield. Hopefully the other men with him hesitant on shooting a comrade. If not.. Well, then his plating could hopefully take it.

Hopefully further once the first round of shots had gone off (or better not gone off) she would use her enhanced strength to try and hurl him over at the first group of goons that had her blocked off. Hopefully using the stunned man over like a bowling ball would at least knock a couple down and give her room to draw out weapons.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown has to make a quick call as she sees the gunfire at the two crashed vehicles - make that three crashed vehicles - and it appears the van is getting away with an abducted person. Possibly a UN official given the path the cars were taking away from the UN complex.

One hand still on the Line Launcher, Batgirl's other hand reaches down to grab a pair of batarangs. She throws them as she zooms through the sky above the wreck. The batarangs fly towards two of the gunmen, the Bat's favorite weapon in this case carrying a shock payload that can electrocute and stun those that it hits.

As the van starts to accelerate away, Batgirl pushes the LIne Launcher to full speed, and then pulls out her grapple gun. She aims it at the van's roof, but doesn't have a clear shot yet. She continues racing forward, looking for an angle she can punch the grapple into the roof.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
IN A WORLD of Spider-Men (Don't forget the hyphen), Batgirls, and SHIELD agents is a bird. A raven who has just had it up to here with people up and shooting firearms in public. With the dark sky and rain as its backdrop for descent, the corvid swoops down on it's prey...Which in this case appears to be a grill.

How odd.

The bird's descent soon angles upward, taking off before the agility a raven is known for takes place. In this case, swinging the body and the grill that the talons are holding onto into the face of a nearby gunman.

Ok. That is odder.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Rick read though paperwork. He was certain the collision insurance he had did not include 'open warfare'. Honestly, the car was paid off, he had been paying premiums for /years/ now, did they think he was made of money-

The calls to kill him were at least a bit flattering, if intensely worrying to a man who simply had a pistol and a dwindling number of rounds. Fire was getting directed at him from a driver, and Rick moved to slam himself flat aganist the ground, behind the open door of his now rather wrecked vehicle. Car doors concealed, but provided no cover from rifle rounds. That cut both ways, however, as he moved quickly, to the driver's side door of the gunman, popping up when he hopefully had tunnel vision on the car itself to pump another few rounds into the man's chest through the side window.

That man had a gun he needed, and cover. He could see the other van screech with the target they were after, heading away with what looked to be a full squad of shooters. It meant less on the ground here to clean up, but he could only hope there was other response teams.

Peter Parker has posed:
It is a chaotic scene, as those crowding the sidewalks run screaming in every direction, seeking to get away from the sudden explosion of violence and the sound of automatic gunfire that echoes across the New York City streets. As cars seem to slam into one another it only adds to the chaos and confusion, especially now that the gunfire is not solely confined to the single, trashed hybrid car that smokes along one side of the road, thoroughly trashed by now.

While the hostage is thrown into the back of that second vehicle -- the masked Chameleon swiftly following before the side door slams shut and the van peels away back out into the street -- those half-dizen gunmen remain.

In at least one of their cases it certainly wasn't by his intention. Even as the man closest to the car turns to rush and fall in with his employer, MJ suddenly makes her move in the back, swiftly managing to snag the retreating gunmen, pulling him back against her as a sort of improvised human shield -- hopefully buying her some time to act. Certainly he struggles, but finds her up to the task and unable to bring his gun to bear, he lets it drop to the pavement below, instead reaching for the knife sheathed around one leg.

The two closest men to him whirl, but even before they can bring their own guns to bear on the situation a pair of dark batarangs fly out of the gloomy night, striking them in the chest. Blue arcs of electricty course over them as fifty thousand volts rip through their bodies, sending them toppling to the ground, nervous systems overwhelmed and out of the fight.

A fourth gunmen suffers an even more unlikely fate as a raven streaks out of the sky, making a beeline for him and smacking him in the face with the grill that came off one of the smashed vehicles. "What the--" he starts to exclaim, waving a hand wildly in front of him but finding the bird unnaturally stubborn and determined, that twisted grill leaving bloody wounds that drip over his eyes, further obscuring his sight.

The last two remaining gun men surround the ruined car remain unchallenged -- for the moment -- and one of them brings that automatic rifle up, pointing towards MJ through his own collegue, apparently undeterred by his presence, finger already starting to depress on the trigger.

The last man dives across the sidewalk, striding towards one of the frozen pedestrians that cowers nearby, hidiing behind a mailbox. Jerking her to her feet as she gives a muffled scream, he puts a gun to her head, using her as a human shield of his own.

Out on the street, the driver of the now crippled van continues to shoot out towards the car that slammed into his own vehicle, the rain, the dark and the bright flare of headlights leaving him all but blinded. Squinting, he leans forward, trying to spot his attacker. But Rick isn't in front of him anymore. He's creeping up on the side of the van, something the masked man in black never notices until those rounds come through the side, making him jerk in his seat before slowly slumping over, the dark blood that trails down his chest lost in the black of the clothing, that rifle falling from his grasp.

The situation on the sidewalk seems well tended and Spider-Man lets out a whoop as he sees MJ grab her man, as he watches the bird unexpectedly swoop in and the other costumed hero take down a pair of the gunmen. So Spidey? He lets go of his webline and plummets down to the street, casually flipping in midair as he lands in a crouch, arms already raised and pointed towards the van that is trying to make it's getaway. Weblines come out and hit home on the rear of the vehicle, though the slick road makes it hard to find traction and the webslinger slides several feet before he's able to bring the accelerating van to a halt.

Then the roof access pops open and a gunmen appears standing there, tugging an automatic rifle up and begins spraying shots towards the friendly neighborhood arachnid who has to let go and start tumbling away to avoid the fire.

"I specifically called no guns! You're not playing by the rules!" Pete protests.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
All right, general melee in progress. MJ has lost track of where her charge is, but she has to deal wit the immediate attackers first. Chase after the hostage after. If she even could get on something to go after them. But she can't leave gunmen to spray fire over into the crowd. She still has her own shield, even as his friend is going to start to spray them with fire.. And decision time.

She can use the man as a shield, and he'll take the bullets. But it will likely at best cripple him, and likely kill him. Sonja encourages her to do this. Mary Jane loathes this, but life and experiences have brought her to a point where it's a possibility.

But she can't do it in front of her closest friend. She's not gone that far to want to toss it. She moves to hurl the 'shield' to the side, diving down to avoid the gunfire. She moves to whip out one of her batons, and readies it. She's too far away to charge in.. But she goes to try to hurl it at the man shooting at her. She's not Melinda May who can knock candle wicks out without touching the wax. But she does have enhanced strength. Her aim is towards the center of the man's torso rather than his head. Where the center of his armor is. The hit will hopefully have enough oomph from the metal rod striking him to send him staggering backwards, maybe breaking a rib or two to drop him.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Batgirl gets her opening as she spots a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man momentarily stopping the escaping van. Until he starts taking fire from a gunman popping up out of the roof!

Rather than using the grapple gun, Batgirl just lets go of the Line Launcher and dives. Her cloak pops open into a gliding shape and she swoops down out of the rainy night. Just as the gunman is pulling out a magazine to slap another home, she reaches him, kicking him in the face with a black boot and landing on the van roof.

"Had enough of chasing you!" she calls out as her hand comes away from her utility belt, tossing a grenade-shaped object towards the windshield.

It detonates, sending a spray of super-adhesive material all across the windshield. More important, it's opaque enough that they aren't going to be seeing out of that windshield without applying some kind of chemical solvent to remove it.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
With Spider(remember the hyphen) Man and Batgirl heading off, Rick on the ground and Mary Jane dealing with another gunman, the raven takes note of the man with the hostage.

Wings flapping, the raven flies up, grill and all. There's a hint of avian acrobatics, as the bird's body twists, corkscrews and barrel rolls before the grill ends up being launched close to but to the side of the hostage and hostage taker. Launching the distracti- err weapon, the bird shoots forward before looping downwards to approach the gunman from behind. A talon sets for the firearm, with the intent of pumping a bit of the phantasm ability into the object.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Speed and aggression. It had to be done quickly, done ruthlessly, and carry you forward, otherwise you were going to die behind cover to a superior force. The nice thing is there seemed to be other people here. The security forces in the car hadn't been dealt with completely, and already there were still some weapons that had clattered to the floor. He didn't know where the electrical... knives came from? This wasn't Gotham, so the connection wasn't immediately made, just the appreciation that he was dealing with two less attackers. The wings, though... Sometimes it was tough to decide what corvids were out and about around here, but it probably wasn't Corvax, and that other newbie seemed a bit lazy, but what the hell was Mike doing on this side of the island?

He thought this quickly as his handwrapped around the sleeve of his jacket, clearing safety glass to reach into the driver's side door and wrench the rifle out of the car itself. He rolled off the car, coming up in a crouch. There, one of them had some... magical energy on his weapon; the free gunman received, for his lack of molestation, a quick and dirty two bursts of fire from the rifle. It brought enough breathing room for Rick to eject the rifle clip, examine it, and curse, slapping the clip back in and switching to single shot. 6 damned rounds left.

The rifle swung over, and he froze on the man grabbing a pedestrian, holding a gun to their head. "You've got a choice to make, son." He noted, rifle still pointed at him. "You're not getting away from this one; you're either going to an interrogation table where you might be able to buy your way to something short, or this is where it ends. Gun down, on the floor."

Peter Parker has posed:
As the gunmen still at large start to drop, the sounds of gunfire echoing across the street begins to lessen. But the situation is by no means under control. Clearly word has begun to spread though because in the distance the wail of police sirens can be heard, the flashing red and blue of approaching police curisers starting to reflect off distant windows.

While a trio of the gunmen around the car are down -- tasered and beaten up by a rogue raven of all things -- that still leaves three very viable threats.

Mary Jane tosses one of them to the ground and he hits heavily, seemingly ungrateful for the fact that he has been pushed out of the line of fire instead of used to protect her. He still reaches to pull that blade free even as his fellow gunmen in black opens fire, those rifle rounds slamming into the door.

But just for a moment. Then the redheaded agent is hurling that baton, it's aim true, striking the man square in the chest. And while the body armor he wears might save him from a couple of broken ribs, he still falls hard to the ground, gun falling from his hands as he gasps for breath and tries to regain his feet.

Two more men down, if not completely out of the fight.

As for the last of the gunmen on the sidewalk, he slowly backs up with that woman gripped in front of him, a gun pressed to her head. He does give a start when that improvised weapon of a car grille comes flying out of the air, landing with a clatter before him and as that unnatural bird comes divebombing out of the air he tries to stagger back, no hand free to ward it off, trying to jerk an elbow at it vaguely, even as it briefly touches the weapon in his hand.

A gun now rendered useless, though the man in black has no idea.

In all the confusion it is probably no surprise that the remaining gunmen on the street have lost track of Rick. But now that he is better armed, he is that much more dangerous as he swiftly proves, the other two men threatening Mary Jane abruptly no longer a threat.

Out in the street, Spider-Man has to hurl himself to one side yet again as the gunmen poking out of the van's roof rakes the road with gunfire, though it is increasingly erratic as the van tries to tear off.

Then finding a steady enough perch to aim is the least of the gunman's problems as Batgirl's flying foot connects with his face, snapping him back, rendering him unconscious as he begins to sink back into the vehicle, the automatic rifle falling away uselessly to clatter across the pavement.

The van doesn't get very far either as the Gotham hero rolls that blackout bomb down over the front of the fleeing vehicle, the projectile exploding an instant later as a sticky, dark substence all but covers the windshield, making it impossible to see.

The van comes to a screeching halt and for a moment simply sits there.

Then the side door of the vehicle is abruptly hurled open and a rather disheavled Christian Decker stumbles out of the vehicle, starting to run away, hands still bound behind his back as he struggles to keep his balance, to remain upright.

Then, behind him in the open doorway of that vehicle one of the masked gunmen appears, that rifle levelled towards the fleeing UN Security Attache.

Back behind the van, Spider-Man calls out as Batgirl swoops in to cut off that steady, if erractic gunfire, "You are my favorite Bat-Person!" he says, coming to his feet once more, only a short distance from the original scene. Then, "Don't tell any of the others that I said that."

Wouldn't do to play favorites. One never knows when he might need a hand from one of the others that seem to occasionally pop up.

Spider-Man's favor is a fickle thing it seems.

He does pause for a moment, spotting the last standing gunman still with that hostage. Torn between the van and that threaten, he responds to the most immediate of problems, one hand coming up in a flash, a spray of webbing lashing out and striking true as the man with the hostage suddenly finds both gun and hand webbed to the wall.

Peter Parker has posed:
Not literally disarmed, but close enough.

But turning back, he watches as the original victim seems to move in slow motion as that weapon is brought to bear on him...

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
All right, they're mostly down. Mary Jane pants heavily. Not hurt, or winded. she goes to yank up to her comm and quickly gives an update along the SHIELD frequencies for any other agents in the area. Then.. Then it's time to secure the attackers. At least those ones taht were around her. she moves to quickly yank away weapons and field strip them, zip tying any of the men that were down and putting them fully restrained. Then shooting each of them with ICER rounds to leave them inert after they were down. Not bothering to say anything else along the comms after.

IT was up to the others to make the save.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Risk of the hostage being shot by the man nullified, the raven's wings grab on to the gunman's collar before headbutting him. With Michael's overall strength concentrated to just four points of contact, it ends up being no ordinary head butt.

It is likely painful. There's no doubt at least one bird is seen as a result but there could also be a follow up of stars.

But as the gunman teeters back into what void a little blunt force trauma may incur and the hostage is let go, the bird's attention shifts over to Rick and Mary Jane. "You guys alright over there?"

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Well, will raven's never cease. There's a grill coming from the side there, enough to distract the man holding the hostage and gives the raven time to... head butt him. If there was any doubt who was there, the voice dispels it. "Yeah." Rick said, rifle coming down to a tactical ready. "Yeah, I'm fine. A little... the adrenaline isn't going to last much longer, I imagine." He mentions, swinging around to the field itself. The agent looked familiar, at least... Someone he had met at the Triskelion, most likely, and better equipped to secure the scene of those still breathing. "Now, someone better explain to me what just happened and who I can file an insurance claim with. That car was paid for."

He looks down the street, where the other van had gone. Catching up to them wouldn't be possible on foot. He'd have to hope someone else would secure that scene.

But gunman attempting to abduct a member of the international civil service... that couldn't be good. Not at all.

Peter Parker has posed:
The flashing lights and sounds of approaching police sirens get ever closer, but it would seem likely -- one way or another -- that things will be done before they arrive on the scene.

By the original crash things are already rapidly wrapping up as the last of the gunmen are downed or at least restrained. Emerging from cover, Mary Jane sees to the fallen around her, making sure that weapons are out of reach and that any of the downed men are put on figurative ice with the special SHIELD rounds to render them unconscious.

Spidey would definitely approve! And certainly he sneaks a quick peek to make sure that she has come through the entire ordeal relatively untouched.

And the final gunman? He struggles against the webbing binding him in place, tugging at the gun webbed to the wall. He's not getting free. But then the matter is rendered moot anyway when that unlikely raven grabs hold of the collar of his flak jacket. And headbutts him.

It is a surprise to watch his head rock back to be sure, cracking against the wall behind him before he slumps in place, only held up by the webbing binding his hand in place, his grip on his hostage loosening at last, allowing the sobbing woman to slip gratefully free.

Though she, and probably many others cast alarmed looks towards the sound of that raven calling out. Yep, birbs talk now. It's been one of those evenings.

Caught half-way between the scene of the original kidnapping and the van itself, Spider-Man turns back just in time to catch the gunman in the van door drawing a bead on the fleeing hostage. Again one hand whips out, a webline shooting forth to snag the end of that gun, jerking back hard on the webbing and pulling the gunman sprawling from his perch to sprawl on the pavement.

Then Spidey is racing forward, the tingling of his Spider Sense growing with every passing moment. It spikes, just for an instant as he races past the stumbling hostage, then crests briefly before starting to build as he gets closer to the can. Cracking the fallen gunman across the face to render him unconscious, he continues straight to the van door, peering inside and finding it... empty.

A hole has been burned into the bottom of the vehicle, down through the pavement, likely continuing right into the service tunnels beneath the road. Apparently the Chameleon and his men have taken the opportunity to slip down into the bowels of the city.

But by now Peter's Spider Sense is truly going crazy? The reason? Probably the bomb that ticks away beside that burned hole in the bottom of the van.

"Run! Run!" Spidey calls out, abruptly turning tail and starting to race away, scooping up the unconscious gunman and throwing him over his shoulder.

Three.

Two.

One.

The street is suddenly rocked with an explosion as the van is launched into the sky in a fiery plume that lifts it from the ground and then deposits it with a heavy crash there in the middle of the street, rubber and plastic and twisted metal all burning, dark trails of smoke rising up into the sky. The hole burned into the street? Collapsed in the explosion.

PAusing to check on the poor Christian Decker, Pete's senses still tingle ever so faintly but as the first of those police cruisers start to pull up, Spidey swiftly drops the unconscious gunman and waves subtly in MJ's direction. Then, before anyone can blame the whole thing on him, the arachnid hero throws out another webline and takes to the rooftops once more, leaving the proper authorities to sort out the scene, take statements and see to poor Christian Decker.

As for Spidey? He'll return to his ledge -- where he will find that pigeons have made off the remains of his dinner.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Things calming down on their end, Mike the raven hops off of the gunman and walks towards Rick. "Not sure." He admits, "Just something seemed off and then the shooting started."

While a raven is kind of a big bird, it doesn't seem intimidating as it walks along the street with it's few feet of height, tail swishing with each step.

However the explosion occurring in the background behind him while he walks away from it?

Okay....that helps a little.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     The explosion down the street causes Stadler's head to whip around, the rifle coming back to his shoulder, even as the sound of police cars got ever closer. Manhattan was, far too often, a War Zone these days, and after the Atlantic Starport, it just seemed like things were coming apart at the seams lately, and lord knows where this would all end. They had bodies, they had some intelligence. Maybe they could gain something.. admidst the fact that the UN seemed to be about to order intervention in the Atlantic. For all he knew, this could be some sort Atlantean infiltration squad!

The main problem now, of course, is that he had a rifle, probably unregistered, and, in his haste, the UN visitor's badge he had was still in the care... and there were a large amount of police officers who would be on edge right now. As much as he hated to do it, the rifle was unslung, unloaded. cleared, and thrown toward the destroyed van, his own pistol doing the same with a more careful set down, as his hands came up.

"Great." He says to the large talking bird. "Just great."