1802/Foiling a downtown robbery.

Foiling a downtown robbery.
Date of Scene:	22 May 2020
Location:	Financial District
Synopsis:	Spider-Man, Feather, Wolf Spider and Thomas Blake encounter and talk down Black Adam from murdering a bunch of criminals.
Cast of Characters:	Black Adam, Peter Parker, Leon O'Malley, Thomas Blake, Keagan Nichols

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Black Adam has posed:
    The crisp, cool air that rushes down the streets of Manhattan this morning feels particularly nice today. Why? Because it's Friday, damn it! It's the last working day of the week! People walk to work with a pep in their step, wielding either a warm coffee or a wrapped bagel (or maybe both) in hand. The financial district in particular is full of workers that consume 'food-on-the-go' as they hurriedly make way across pavements and streets to try and make appointments. Much to the chagrin of drivers, who beep their horns when these people dash out in front of them. A cloudless morning, the bright yellow sun can be seen splitting between the extraordinary high buildings. Overall it's a good day.
    That is, until an armed robbery kicks into gear. OH NO! An unmarked black van pulls up outside of a smaller building in the area - a well known high-end bank. As the middle door slides open, about half a dozen men jump out, each running for the entryway. Despite the extraordinarily frontal attack, they look like they're reasonably serious about this. Black outfits, automatic guns and flak gear are all staples of their current attire. As their booted feet enter the facility, gunshots ring out not long after. Screams then follow as the robbery starts to take place.
    So much for the nice Friday.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter was feeling pretty good until the van showed up.

He had been hoping for a decent gyro at the food truck when his Spider-Sense started going off and he turned to see the black van. He sighed and realized he might have to work through lunch.

<Bank robbery, my location,> he subvocalized as he headed for the nearest alley. <Any Spiders available, head to my GPS pointer.>

A moment later, all available people on the Spider-Comm system see a pointer appear.

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Leon is swinging through the street on black tendrils, desperately dodging signs, fire escapes, and whatever else manages to be in the way when the shots begin ringing out, coming to a stop mid-swing and curling up to perch on the now straight line as he sights down the bank's direction. A few moments later....he slams into the side of the bank's outter wall, nearly falling off it save for the suit pulling him back against it, "....We didn't crash into anything on the way here...Progress..." After a moment's recovery, he makes his way for an upper window entry.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Multiple bank accounts under a variety of names is a sad fact of life for Thomas Blake. The names are usually various shell corporations. Hey corporations have more rights than flesh and blood people in the business world. Multiple accounts means not making a large enough deposit to tip off the fussy IRS. Thomas has a deposit slip for five grand and a duffel bag with $45,000 in bundles of five thousand dollars each to schlep around more to deposit when... this happens.

This is so... Pulp Fiction with him as Jules Winnfield. He slips one of his phones into the bag, so he can follow the robbers, kill them (likely) and regain his money.

So he raises his hands like a good impossibly well muscled man with the green eyes of a predator as the shots ring out. Deadshot would take all these guys out in about a second. Then go with him for ice cream. He's playing it cool... until one of these idiots decides to shove a little boy with, Heaven help him a piggy bank, causing the bank to fall and break as the boy's mom clutches him and screams some. Thomas' eyes narrow. The last thing some people ever saw.

Keagan Nichols has posed:
    The robbery is rather obvious by the sound that comes from it. The guns going off, the screams, and the likely angry men inside. For some, they can't hear all of it but for a young man eating a bagel nearby, the sound is all too obvious. He tilts his head, looking in the direction of the robbery before he looks at his coffee and gives it a small pet on the side, "Soon my precious...soon." He then ducks to the nearest alleyway in which he pulls from his coat a rebreather from one side and a pair of wrap around shades from the other.

    As the jacket is shed and the objects put on, slowly, a pair of large red wings seem to unfold from his back, flaring out and with a single flap taking him from ground level, halfway up the building and landing on a corner of one of the building's ledges. He drops the jacket, sets down the coffee, adjusts the thin aviator jacket and grins a little under his mask.

    Moments later, 'I'm So Sorry' by Imagine Dragons begins to play from the ear pieces on the glasses and then mere moments after that, his very wings begin to play the same like some kind of great speakers.

    Jumping from the roof, a single feather flicks forth from his wings, leading before him and zipping right into the building and impaling itself into a wall, sending the music out from it. The winged hero Feather aims for the door.

Black Adam has posed:
    "Alright, this is how it's going to go!" One of the masked men cries, wielding his automatic weapon so that it points to the roof. "Everyone is going to be kneeled on the ground, hands behind their head. Try and funny business like calling for help? Then you will die. Try and run? You will die. If you god damned //breathe// in any way I don't like? You guessed it: you die. Now, one of my comrades around here will go around depositing all of your nice jewellery." Seems they had planned this at least a bit. People that worked down here had nice watches, right? "In the mean time, a few of us are going to talk to the lovely bank tellers and break into the vault. If everyone does as they're told, no-one has to perish." Sure enough, the crooks start to organise their plan. Everyone inside (including Thomas Blake) are ordered and strong armed to kneel down with their hands behind heads. A few disappear out the back of the bank with some of the bank managers in tow.
    Only moments later, a feather of some sort shoots in through the front door, sticks onto the wall and starts playing music. The sweet, sweet sounds of Dan Reynolds do little to stifle the sheer surprise of the crooks. Hell, everyone turns to look at it! One of the criminals, clearly jumpy at being here in general, accidentally //fires his weapon//. A hostage is caught by one of these bullets in the arm, who subsequently screams out in pain.
    "He's been shot! Damn it!" -- "Someone help him!" -- "He's bleeding!"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man ducks out of a different alley than Feather ducked out of. <This is Spidey, any other Spiders here?> He sends as he moves to swing to the roof of the bank, not immediately seeing Wolf and just missing Feather.

He release the drone to look inside a window and get the lay of the land. <Checking the opposition.>

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Leon climbs over to a window and reaches to open it. It's locked. A tendril stretches out from his shoulder and slips between the window boards, coming out on the other side and unlatching the window before snapping back to uniformity with the rest of the suit, the window now easily opening.

    As Leon climbs in, the shots go off. He pauses for only a moment to find a stairway down before tendril snapping to the wall over them and beginning to make his way down to and along the first floor ceiling. <Wolf here. Making way from the second floor to the first. Going by ceiling. Got a visual?>

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake is going to play it cool. They aren't even paying attention to his bag of money. He gets down o. his knees as ordered. Then one of the gunman says, "You look like trouble... put these cuffs on." He throws a pair of disposable cuffs at Thomas who is hit in the stomach by them and lets them fall. "No. Not doing that. No trouble though." "Put the cuffs on man! I'm not telling you ag-" the gun gets grabbed and pulled from his hand. He doesn't even see how Thomas got up so fast. Crime 101: within ten feet a knife or fist is faster than a gun. Then he gets the gunstock in his face. He does not have superhuman strength but, there's no holding back. The man goes down and Thomas drags him behind a column. Lousy bank design. Camera get blocked. Guns get blocked.

Keagan Nichols has posed:
    As he approaches the door, he whips both wings forward and uses them in a slashing formation to try to break the doors. Once through he comes sliding to a stop, spinning and wrapping wings about him even as feathers fly off his wings and he tries to impose himself between the hostages and the gunmen. One feather for each gunmen flies out to literaly try to latch on to the front of each gun barrel and then with the strength necessary to lift a full grown man, try to whip those guns down to the ground.

    Bare minimum he hopes the feathers take the first volley of bullets fired, hopefully he can disarm them. He then points to the guys in question and grins even as the music picks up.

    "Hey, did you already shoot a hostage?" He notes the guy shot, not really pleased about it but trying to keep the guys attention on him and his wings, "Are you guys amateurs or something? Come on man. Hostage taking 101. You start with the demands and /then/ start shooting." Feather tsks and shakes his head.

Black Adam has posed:
    Spider-Man's drone will uncover the current scene: three men in their black gear, helmets included that obscure their face. One of them looks a bit panicked as he looks around at the others. A couple of dozen hostages, one whimpering in pain as she desperately tries to stop the bleeding from the top of her arm. Not long after, as music continues to blare out, three more black-armoured villains round from the back, each carrying large duffle sacks. "What the hell is going on?! Where is that music coming from? Who shot the hostage?!"
    "Billy shot him." One of the others dobs.
    "Billy? What the hell is wrong with you?"
    "...the feather just came out of no-where. Freaked me right out."
    "Feather? What feather? And what the hell is with that MUSIC?"
    As this discussion continues, Leon is able to stealthily get into the bank. He is unimpeded, with that floor mostly vacant it seems.
    As Thomas expertly drags down one of the foes, he inevitably draws attention to himself. "Hey -- hey! That guy got Steve! Shoot him!" Good thing Thomas is behind that pillar, because now? Now he's getting fired at from three of the remaining five gunmen in action. The sound of automatic fire erupts loudly into the air, causing the hostages to duck and cry out in panic and fright.
    Catman is perhaps saved by Keagan's timely arrival, his feathers flying out and disarming the men with fantastic results. They all sort of stutter and gasp in surprise, before turning around at Feather. "It's the guy with the feather! Get him!" And just like that, two of the armed gunmen, now without guns, rush at the feathered mutant, hoping to tackle him to the ground.

    Meanwhile... outside, Spider-Man might just be able to hear something high above, like a jet breaking the sound barrier as it cruises through mach one. Should he look up, he'll be able to catch sight of a figure zooming across the sky before then rocketing //down//. With a thundering crash he lands upon the unmarked black van, the thing crumpling under the force. A bit of blood can be seen inking out from the rubble, as the driver is presumably crushed by the whole sequence. Black Adam, himself wearing his black outfit with yellow lightning bolt, starts to stride from the van towards the bank. His eyes are focussed, gaze narrow.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man was quick. <Three...no, six robbers, four with guns, two attacking a guy with wings. Seventh crook incapacitated.>

Then the crash and the crunch and Spider-Man looks to see...a Thunderbolt?
Then he sees the pool of blood. The getaway driver...or at least it WAS the getaway driver.

<Incoming! Tall, muscled guy! Black bodysuit, yellow lightning bolt on his chest. Killed the getaway driver by Koopa-Trooping the vehicle!>

Leon O'Malley has posed:
As the gunlessmen begin their charge, Leon makes it into line of sight, a tendril snapping in a blink to the nearer one and then snapping him back to Leon, suddenly releasing him to crash at high speed against the stairs, Leon dropping down as he passes, beginning a sprint for the fray, <Copy. Mushroom'd up for the run for the axe.>

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake takes the unexpected move of climbing the column, blades snapping out from his sleeves and fitting into mortar and cracks. He grabs either side of the column and waits for the shooting to stop. At least the bullets are hitting below him. "C'mon, wonder where the hell I went or where Steve is and come around the column ya morons."

Keagan Nichols has posed:
    "Oh, hey, come on then!" He drops into a fighting stance and is already getting ready to not fight fair when one of the guys is snatched by a tendril and thrown before he looks at the other guy, "I don't know what that was but I was never gonna fight fair." And a feather shoots out from one of his wings toward the man's gut only for Feather to stop suddenly and blink. He whips his head toward the door and stares with a swallow.

    "Hey...you guys. Umm..." He looks back at the remaining bank robbers, "I'd really recommend getting on the floor and giving all the way up right now cause...your getaway driver was just killed." He then steps into what he believes will be the path of Black Adam and licks his lips a little even as the music starts to stop. He isn't sure what to expect but he shifts his body slightly and stands up straight even as his advanced senses try to both keep an eye on the robbers...and tell him just how bad this situation might become.

Black Adam has posed:
    "--hurk!" Billy, the one that shot the hostage by accident and one of the foes charging Feather, is grasped by one of the tendrils that Leon possesses. The gunmen crashes into the stairs with such force that he's not moving as a result. Is he dead? Well, the armour he's wearing probably helped a little bit, so hopefully not. The only one that was attacked by a measly feather is toppled in similar fashion, his body shrinking down to the ground as the wind is taken out of his sails.
    Amidst all the fray, and now being down //three// in quick fashion, the gunmen begin to realise how deep the trouble they are in. Catman was one thing (where'd he go, anyway?), but a feather powered mutant was also here. Not to mention... whatever-that-thing-with-the-tendrils is. Time to CHEESE IT. Feather's follow-up call of their get away driver earns a sharp look by the ringleader, though he gives the order to flee regardless. "Get the bags and go! Back to the van!" Naturally they had not heard the thing be crushed, what with all the noise going on. Without further ado the remaining crooks flee, or at least try to, hoping to get around the mutant and burst out of the front door with huffed breaths. Naturally, only to face Black Adam.

    Sirens can be heard in the background. Sounds like the police are on their way.

    Adam scowls at the criminals before him, an eyebrow arching. "Crooks. Thieves. Scoundrels. You are naught but bottom-of-the-barrel vermin that must be put down for this city to thrive." What follows is such a quick passage that if one blinked? They might just miss it! Amid a blur of motion, Black Adam is suddenly behind the guards, standing right at the doorway only a few feet from Feather himself. Adam's hands are now bloody, with a round looking organ gripped in each palm. The crooks, still standing with holes now in their chest, fall to their knees, before then slumping forward. Dead. Adam crushes the ripped out hearts in his hands, turning them into goop that drips down onto the pathway below. Eyes haven't broken from Keagan, who is now in his path. "If you are not with them, then move."

Peter Parker has posed:
Oh, God...he KILLED them.

Spider-Man dropped from the roof to the street, landing in a crouch before standing up straight, looking squarely at Black Adam.

He was really going to do this.

"Whoever you are, STOP RIGHT THERE."
He sent a summons to the NYPD and EMS to get two ambulances down here. And a coroner.

Hopefully JUST for the crooks.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake peeks around the column in time to see the justice dispensed. Law he could deal with. Justice, scared the Hell out of him, especially dispensed by the black thunderbolt. And now Spider-Man was here? And other Spider-Man and winged guy. "Fucking guys..." he mutters and slides down the column, suddenly realizing, he'd commited no crime. Yep... the guy he curbstepped was still alive. Probably. This guy... was Spider-Man actually going to tackle him? Thomas wasn't sure he wanted to watch a multiple homicide-suicide combo.

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Leon skids to a stop a few yards from Feather and Adam, <We might have a problem here.> He subvocalizes before straightening, "...You're the guy from the news...What was your name? Blue Alan?...Eh, doesn't matter. Step back. These people have suffered enough without a psycho ripping peoples hearts out in front of them." He says to the magical meat wall as he widens his stance defensively.

Keagan Nichols has posed:
    A slow blink and Feather stares at Adam's hands before he looks up to Black Adam's face and then he does step back. As he does though, feathsrs from his wings flick around him and he flares his wings out before he is about to speak up when Leon...speaks. Slowly Keagan looks over at Leon and stares at him through the those glasses.

    "Have you ever heard of tact?" He asks of Leon before looking over to Black Adam and adding, "Last I checked, murder is still illegal and frankly wrong in America." He nods his head, "So, yeah, gonna need you to stand down there big guy." He nods his head, "Jerks or not, these guys deserve to be brought to justice not brought to their maker."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake actually liked Spider-Man a bit from the little he knew. This guy was a Kryptomonium or something. But then he sees the kid again, wide-eyed and forgets everything else. The kid who saw this. And... he's going to die for sure. But it /IS/ better to die on your feet than live on your knees. "Hey Punisher! You like dispensing justice?! Start with yourself! You fucking traumatized this poor kid. I'll tell you where to go to your face! want to rip my heart out? I don't care. You killed the killers. Why don't you get lost... expecting accolades? Like terrorizing everyone?" Blake tears his shirt open, revealing the weird scars on his chest. "Here I'll make it easy for you." Thomas doesn't do tact.

Black Adam has posed:
    Spider-Man's arrival and subsequent order in front of Adam earns a curious head tilt, like a man looking at some sort of bug discovered in the kitchen. Leon's arrival soon after gets an incredulous stare. Keagan's words just sort of hardens that expression. Fortunately he doesn't see Catman yet! "You would //protect// these that would rob from you? They come in and take what is not their own. And you let them go? With little consequence? What sort of insanity runs through your minds? If you lack the conviction to dispense the action that is necessary, then step aside." Pause. "//Now//." Catman's taunts earn the meanest look at all, unsure if this man was brave or just clinically insane. "You wish to engage?" Throwing his hands together in a violent manner, Adam performs his signature thunderclap. While at full force this might be enough to kill normal humans, Adam has dialled this down significantly to just hopefully... blow the heroes back a bit, and maybe have their ears ringing. The effect isn't unlike that of a bomb going off, as a shockwave emanates from the epicentre that is the magically-powered being. He didn't want to kill these guys, after all. They weren't bad. Just idiots.

    The police arrive, six NYPD squad cars pulling up with sirens blaring loudly. As they jump out of their car and see Adam perform the thunderclap, they draw their hand-guns. Uniform cops with standard issue equipment are likely well under par for this encounter, but they're here regardless. "FREEZE! You're under arrest for the murder of Hugo Baxby!"
    Black Adam turns to look at them, pivoting, before proceeding to attempt and walk into the bank.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man's clinging ability is the only thing that keeps him from being blown back, but only just.
"The penalty for armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon is PRISON...not EXECUTION. I don't condone what any of them did, but I *also* don't accept extreme punishments that do not fit the crime..."

He looked back as the cops arrive, then raise a hand. "Be careful! He just killed two men by hand! Code Six-Zero-Six!"

The NYPD code for a crime involving a superhuman.

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Leon tilts his head to Keagan, keeping his focus on Adam, "Tact doesn't get your point across." And then Tommy boy lets loose, drawing a full slow turn of Leon's head his way, ".....Yeah, that...Thanks." He then turns back to Adam, "We never said we're letting them go. Only that we don't get to decide they deserve to die. That's what a court of law is for. We're just making sure they get there." And then the thunderclap goes off, pushing them back and sending Leon sprawling with an agonized scream to the floor, clasping his head and shaking as he struggles to return to his feet.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake gets shook awake by small hands. He blinks at the little boy, no longer crying. "You are my hero! You're a superhero, right?" Thomas laughs weakly. "I'm a very, very bad man. You just got to me. Be like Spidey over there." One rough hand covers the kid's head and ruffles his hair. Then he brings out a bundle of bills and hands it to the little boy. To the kid's wide eye gawk he simply holds his fingers against his lips. The boy boggles a moment and then sticks the bundle under his jacket and gives a thumbs up. Well... he might be a super hero in the making... or another Luthor, the way he grabbed the cash wad. Blake struggles to get up... and cover his chest, hoping no one saw his 'birthmark'.

Keagan Nichols has posed:
    For his part, Keagan is quite a bit faster than most people. His wings are anyway and himself by extension. He's just no where near Black Adam speed. He sees what Adam is doing though and whips his wings together to form a shield and is thrown back. He skids to a stop and looks up for a moment with a glare at Adam before looking to the cops and swallowing. He than looks to Spidey and then to Leon and then to Thomas and the kid.

    He then stands up straight and closes his eyes before he zips over to in front of the remaining men who robbed the bank. Quickly, feathers drag them all to behind Keagan and then he flexes out his wings and stands up before Black Adam, "You don't seem like a man who is evil. Just a man with a different code. I am not going to let you hurt these men."

Black Adam has posed:
    As Black Adam marches forward, he moves to grasp at Keagan's throat with speed and precision. If successful? He will lift him up off his feet, leaving him dangling in the air! Fingers will slowly yet surely tighten, threatening to crush the neck completely. That is until Spider-Man speaks, his desperate plea ringing out for everyone to hear. That ever-tightening clench stops. "These men with advanced weapons shot on and injured innocent people," Adam starts, gaze unmoving from Keagan in front of him. "Their punishment is just to sit with others of similar nature? That sounds like justice to you?" This guy is clearly not from America.
    There's a long, long pause of silence as Adam considers the options. Perhaps fuelled by some of the wisdom of Zehuti, he tosses the gripped mutant to the side, discarding him like a broken toy. Without permanent injury to his neck, to boot!
    "Your spirits are impressive, but you lack direction." Black Adam notes to the heroes (and Catman). "A shame. You could all be so much more." And with that? He leaves! Despite having a string of guns aimed squarely at him as he exits the bank, and being ordered to freeze, he just takes off into the sky, a rush of wind kicking back behind him as he goes. FWOOSH!

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man looks up, then sighs. He glances to the cops, then says, "Better get the EMTs in there. There some hurt people."

He sends a quick message to Wolf Spider. <I think I know someone who needs to know about that guy. But we'd better tell her double-quick.>

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Leon struggles to force himself up, his suit wriggling in pain, "...Well, you wanted excitement...No fun without the threat..." He mutters seemingly to himself as he watches Adam's speech. And then Feather is tossed haphazardly at him. A tendril catches the mutant with seemingly no effort and sets him down on his feet as Leon begins turns his attention back to the bank robber, watching to make sure they don't try anything, <Well don't wait up on my account.>

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake quickly zips his jacket up. He doesn't know the other guys but Spider-Man is pretty quick on the take. There are people who will take a look at bank records if they realize Catman is banking here. exposing the shell corporation would lead to the other corporations being exposed. He finally does get up, and is very relieved that Black Thunder left. The kid's mom still looks a bit out of it so he picks her up and starts walking out with her and the kid. Camouflage.

Keagan Nichols has posed:
    Gasping for breath, Feather gasps and grasps at Adam's hands. He isn't sure if he should aim his feathers at the man or not or if they would even work. He then is tossed aside and he gasps and slumps a little, wings flexing some as he lays on his side. He looks up a little toward the others, eyes opening and closes slowly as he realizes he was caught. He looks over at Leon with a nod before looking over to Spider-man.

    With some effort, he pushes up to a seated position and shakes his head slowly, "Holy hell..." He mutters to himself.