18498/GNATION: Bank Heist

GNATION: Bank Heist
Date of Scene:	15 July 2024
Location:	New York City Bank
Synopsis:	A group of heroes thwarted the Goblin Nation's latest heist at the New York City Bank. In addition to saving all but one of the hostages, quick thinking averted a major breach of OsCorp's finances!
Cast of Characters:	Cindy Moon, Monet St. Croix, James Rhodes, Doreen Green, Caleb Dykstra
Tinyplot:	Rise of the Goblin Nation

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Cindy Moon has posed:
<< "Attention all units, we have a report of a lone gunman opening fire at the First National Bank on 34th Street. Shots fired inside the building. Suspect is armed and dangerous. Immediate response required. Backup units en route." >>

<< "All units, be advised, a suspicious package has been dropped off at the City Savings Bank on 5th Avenue. The individual left the scene immediately after. Evacuate the area and await the bomb squad. Maintain a safe distance and secure the perimeter." >>

<< "Units in the vicinity, an alarm has been triggered at the Midtown Trust Bank on 42nd Street. Reports indicate possible armed robbery in progress. Multiple assailants seen entering the premises. Proceed with caution. SWAT team is being deployed." >>

Ten minutes later.

<< "Attention all units, we have a major incident at the New York City Bank in the Bronx. Eight heavily armed suspects have barricaded themselves in the lobby. Hostages are present, and additional suspects are believed to be downstairs in the vault and upstairs in the offices. Suspects are armed with both conventional and energy weapons. Secure the area and prepare for immediate intervention." >>

Alarms blare across the city as a coordinated attack on multiple banks throws New York into chaos. At various locations, scenarios range from lone gunmen walking in and opening fire to suspicious bags being dropped off and abandoned. There is one dispatch call that stands out, head and shoulders, above the rest, however.

And only one that mentions Goblins.

Panic spreads quickly, but the real focus is at the New York City Bank in the heart of the Bronx. This branch, a historical building dating back to the 1920s, is now a scene of turmoil. The marble entryway, usually a symbol of the bank's longstanding presence, is overshadowed by the threat inside.

Eight heavily armed goblins have barricaded themselves in the lobby. The tellers, typically behind their long desk assisting customers, now crouch in fear. The central island, usually a writing surface, is littered with hastily abandoned pens and paperwork.

In general, the attackers seem to be a mix of masked goblins and Goblin Knights, armed with both energy weapons and conventional firearms. Murmurs already abound amid the existing police presence that they chose this location strategically, knowing the police response would be slower in this area of the Bronx. The bank's layout works to their advantage: an iron cage door leading to the downstairs vault remains open, offering easy access for those aiming to break into the vault. Meanwhile, other goblins have moved upstairs, possibly targeting the business offices on the second floor.

Hostages huddle in terror behind a partition, out of the prying eyes of the first-responders. The security guards, usually a deterrent, have been overwhelmed by the sheer number and firepower of the attackers. Milling about inside, the goblins bark orders, ensuring everyone knows that resistance is futile.

Outside, the few NYPD cars who have arrived so far -- a total of four of them -- have set up the best perimeter they can manage, their flashing lights adding to the chaos. Officers are crouched behind their patrol cars, weapons drawn, ready to move in but waiting for the right moment. They communicate in anxious shouts to each other and into their radios, coordinating their efforts and hoping for a swift resolution. NYPD has called in a hostage negotiator, but so far no one on site has been able to make contact with anyone inside.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
She was flying patrol. With everything going /on/ that she had been through in the last few weeks, all that was terrifying from the depths of cosmic horrors, of abominations from time and space, from other realms and dimensions.. She needed a semblance of normalcy. So as she would be flying through the air, hearing those sirens wailing and shrieking, gunshots and explosions being exchanged..

It was refreshing. Something normal. Something that she could take out her aggressions on. Something she could -hurt-. So it's with almost sadistic glee on her patrol that Monet goes to lightly tap into the universal communications network that many heroes happened to share, passing along a location and a quick summary of events, and she would be flying towards there at several hundred kilometers an hour.

Supervillains robbing a bank! Supervillains robbing a bank! Something that felt like something she could handle. And so much of her exasperation wtih recent events would get to melt away under the normal methodologies - namey shoving her fist into someone's face.

Or given the villains in poer armor, their faceplate.

James Rhodes has posed:
Under most normal circumstances, James 'Rhodey' Rhodes is not the sort to be out and about the city, flying a patrol or looking for trouble. Not that there is anything wrong wtih that or anything, at least not in his mind. But it's not really sthe sort of thing that he really has the opportunity to do.

Overseeing security for Stark Industries is most definitely a full time job and what little free time that he does get tends to go towards to go towards commitments to the Avengers and SHIELD. That, understandably, tends to keep him fairly busy.

But sometimes happenstance just happens to be with a fellow. Sometimes things just put someone in the right place at the right time. Or wrong place at the wrong time. It's all relative.

In Rhodey's case happenstance happens to put him and his War Machine armor on maneuvers above Manhatten, testing out TOny's latest upgrades to the suit. Of course the modifications have been tested in the lab, and then again at a Stark testing facility, but sometimes there is no compensation for a real world test.

Which is what has War Machine weaving in and out of he buildings of Midtown, trying out the new anti-collision software that is the latest -- if not greatest -- upgrade to his suit.

Rocketing along when those alerts start to sound, it is the last one -- from the bank in the Bronx that finally garners the former military man's attention and just moments later those repulsor pads flare brightly, sending im careening towards that location.

When he arrives the first couple of police cruisers are already on site, beginning to set up a perimeter. He leaves them to their thing, instead touching down lightly on the roof of the building, looking for the security box. It is a fairly simply matter to wrench it open, revealing the coontents with. A few cable extensions and a moment later the War Machine AI is tapping into the security feed, giving Rhodey a bird's eye view of what is going on inside as it scrawls across his HUD.

Doreen Green has posed:
With the... condition a certain webcrawler is currently in and unable to be out being a friendly neighbor hero many of his friends and allies have made an effort to pick up the slack. One of those was Doreen Green, the Unstoppable Squirrel Girl! This is where there would be a fancy title splash panel posing, but we're already past that point because she was already bounding her way across the rooftops after picking up several of the distress calls. Which eventually brings her to come to a crouch atop a rooftop, eyeing the bank in question with a bit of scrutiny to scope out the situation.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
And where does Caleb fit into all this?

Well, he's just in the area to go to a book store and get some books for his pre-college studies. Yeah, yeah, there's internet nowadays, but not always do you find stuff in a short amount of time. Plus, a good walk is good for the body, right?

Ah, yes... And there's also that check his dad had asked him to cash in since he hadn't had the time to do it himself.

So, at just that moment when it all seemed to be going well... It just stops going well.

He's inside when it starts happening, with a front row seat for the show.

Deadpan. Looking up. Shaking his head. "Are you that busy when I ask for one normal day?"

He starts doing the routine for the civilian caught, ducking... And then moving away towards a pillar to provide some cover. He starts assessing the situation...

Cindy Moon has posed:
Rhodey's HUD flares to life with life images from the bank's security feed. About half the cameras are just static, but there's an office on the second floor with two Goblin Knights standing over a scared looking woman sitting behind computer desk, typing frantically. There's an angle on the lobby that they missed, giving Rhodey at least a partial hostage count -- twelve. There could be more, but it seems unlikely, plus a clear view of some of the goblins. The ones labeled VAULT have all been disabled.

It's pretty clear from the footage (and will be clear to everyone, eventually) that not all of the Goblins are created equal. Some of them have definitely taken the Goblin Formula (or Goblin Serum) and transformed into something hideous. They don their armor with pride and they move with ruthless, monstrous efficiency. Others are actually wearing Halloween-style goblin masks. They still wield weapons and bark orders, but they're.. maybe late-teens? Early twenties? They may be less powerful than their Knight counterparts, but the Goblins (shall we call them squires?) have more to prove.

Visible on Rhodey's feed as well as through the front windows of the bank, one particular Goblin Knight paces in agitation, stalking up to the front windows and walking them like a caged tiger before going back and scaring the hostages again. Maybe he's in charge? Or maybe he's just more amped up. It's hard to tell. The Goblins quires certainly defer to him, backing up a little when he stalks past, but keeping an eye on their hostages.

With a clever use of stealth and a bit of luck, the Goblins don't seem to have noticed Caleb, who got trapped when everything started going down. But he _does_ show up on Rhodey's security feed.

Silk arrives not long after Doreen, swinging in and landing lightly on the rooftop beside Squirrel Girl and War Machine. She smiles a but above that red mask, her dark, almond-shaped eyes expressive even though it was impossible to see her mouth behind her red half-mask.

"So, is this where the cool kids are hanging out? How many banks are these guys robbed at once, anyway?" She glances between them, her tone turning serious. "So, do we have a plan yet?"

That is, of course, when she spots Monet St. Croix streaking through the sky like a freaking missile.

"Hey, War Machine? You didn't call in like a drone strike or anything, right? Cause..."

And yeah. Like a dork, she's pointing.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet is arriving fashionably late (she is always exactly on time to make the most dramatic entrance in her own head) right as the others are getting in there ahead of her. Her persona and presentation radiate arrogance - it's likely rahter irritating to the other heroes or such as she floats there alongside the entrance before she goes to simply fly her way on in. "I'll give all of you a chance to leave here peacefully, or having your rights read to you when you're in an iron lung in the ER. I particularly hope it's the second." She smiles ever so aggressively.

She's been spoiling for a fight, and that much is evident from her posture. It's rather intimidating - just having someone floating there bragging about the possibility of crippling them might at least get a second take from some of the goblins. It's designed to get their attention over on her as she makes herself an obvious target. Floating up, at a degree away from the hostages.

Doreen Green has posed:
Hey look, it's War Machine! Alas this is not a time for fangushing at famous armored heroes, there's work to be done, and Doreen doesn't want to disrupt the interfacing effort. Then Silk joins as well, while there's a familiar streak shooting across the sky.

"Too many banks at one time to be a coincidence. I think some of them are diversions though," Doreen replies with a flick of the floofy tail. "Spread police and potential heroes thin. But this was the only police call that mentioned the Goblin wannabes." Sitting on her shoulder Tippy-Toe chitters in what's probably agreement, not that anyone but Doreen herself can understand her.

She glances down, but doesn't have x-ray vision or anything to see inside, so they got to wait for what War Machine can come up with. In the meantime she continues to pick at the matter as, while often a bit nutty, she is fairly smart when applying herself. "They have people inside, so..."

Well there Monet goes straight for inside, so much for not barging ahead. "Well, that's at least the guys on the ground floor distracted I guess." With a shrug she climbs over the edge of the roof and down the wall, to see if she can spot anything in windows of the upper office floors.

James Rhodes has posed:
As what video feeds are still up roll across his HUD, little windows popping open to keep tabs on them all, Rhodey takes mental notes of the many and varied scenarios. None of them are particular good.

The hostages are the obvious priority of course, and while most of them appear to be under guard on the main floor, there is, at the very least, the woman in the office with the two Goblins on the second floor. The fact that they are scattered about definitely makes things more difficult, at least to plot and plan some sort of safe egress for them.

That difficulty becomes a little easier when others begin to arrive though, and slapping a wireless transmitter into the now hacked feeds to insure that they continue to stream live to his suit, War Machine turns away from that panel, closing it as best as he can -- given that he did kinda crunch and wrench the door to get it open -- before turning back to survey the new arrivals.

"At least cooler then the freaks inside," Rhodey agrees with a nod towards Silk and Squirrel Girl, going over the information offered up by the security feeds, looping them into the situation currently going on inside.

"Under the circumstances, I think we're going to need to look to divide and conquer. They have at least one hostage on the second floor though most appear to be downstairs, just out of sight from anyone on the street. They need to be our main priority. If one of you can deal with those on the second floor, I don't mind going through the front and drawing as much attention as I can," Rhodey offers.

He's not really built for stealth. But noisy? Attention grabbing? He can do that like crazy.

"Whatever they're after seems to be in the vault. Or at least they've been more diligent about taking care of the cameras down there. But I think we need to take care of the hostage first. Once they're safe we can see what we can do to stop them from getting their hands on, well, whatever it is they're after," he suggests.

He's not exactly the boss of any of them, but he suspects that everyone up here has the same piroirities.

And with that, those repulsor pads fire and he slowly begins to lift off the roof again.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Okay, so eight on the lobby area, and he starts preparing some gadgets of his own. Pieces from the pockts in his coat, he starts to assemble them, and voila, he's got a weapon to shoot if the situation calls for it.

Pulling from his inside pocket, he produces two rods, one to use on each hand. He pulls out the cover padding from the fabric on his forearms, and extra pockets become noticeable with pieces like daggers, pellets, and other things you can't promptly identify.

(What? With a bounty on his head and stuff like this happening when hea least expect it, this Gothamite comes strapped, whether he's in Gotham or not!)

He's about to move, but Monet's subtlety stops him for a moment.

The moment is brief, as Caleb moves from his vantage position, and goes fro the first guy, shoving one of those rods aginst one of the goons' shoulders, and pressing a hidden button...

He puts his hand over the guy's mouth, all to stifle a scream as a blade juts out, meant to cross him through the shoulder blade. Not through a deadly spot, but certainly incapacitating...

If these guys are normal, that is!

Cindy Moon has posed:
Doreen, perched against a window on the upper floor, peers inside. She sees the woman at the computer desk, her fingers flying over the keyboard under the watchful eyes of two Goblin Knights. One Knight stands menacingly close, his energy weapon glinting ominously in the fluorescent light. Papers and office supplies are scattered across the desk, a sign of the hurried nature of their operation. Doreen's keen eyes catch a glimpse of a name on the screen that the woman is so furiously working at, as if she were trying to save her own life -- OsCorp. Below it? A _lot_ of numbers. Probably balances.

Monet's dramatic entrance into the bank lobby immediately triggers a hostile response from the goblins. The two Goblin Knights, recognizing the threat, raise their weapons and fire at her without hesitation. Energy bolts streak across the room, shattering marble and splintering wood.

The Goblin squires, unnerved by the sudden confrontation, react by corralling the hostages more tightly. The hostages scream as the masked goons jerk them around, forcing them into a huddled group. Panic surges through the room, escalating the tension.

In the chaos, one of the squires' guns discharges accidentally. The bullet finds its unaimed mark in the back of a young woman's head, a twenty-one-year-old hostage. She collapses instantly, blood pooling on the ground, the sight of her death shocking both the hostages and some of the less hardened goblins.

It's here that Caleb seizes on his moment within the chaos, emerging to incapacitate one of the Goblin Squires who never even saw him coming. The Goblin tries to scream, but the rubber mask is pressed back against his mouth, silencing him as he begins to sink towards the floor.

Outside, the NYPD officers tense at the sound of gunfire, their eyes scanning the building's facade for any signs of movement. Inside, the atmosphere is charged with fear and violence, the situation teetering on the edge of catastrophe.

And up on the rooftop? Well, with Doreen off down the side of the building and War Machine flying down, Cindy's left alone again, huffing out a breath.

"Fine... I'll just... take the rooftop access door. _No one_ expects you to come in through the door, right?" All muttered entirely for her own benefit, since she was alone, and suddenly racing to that door.

It's locked, of course. It's a bank, after all. But it _is_ just an exterior door, so after a couple steps back and a couple of *thwips* of webbing, she gives a heavy _yank_ and that door comes off of its hinges.

Alarms begin to add to the cacophony of noise and chaos.

"Woops. Well... not exactly like the we had the element of surprise, anyway... KAWABUNGA!"

And with another *thwip*, Silk is flying into that door, feet first into the stairs that lead to the second floor offices.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The blasts go through the air and pepper at her. Monet St. Croix is rather surprised at them as the first streak hits her. It hurts. Badly. She would be blasted through the air and hit the ground, rolling hard. Outfit melted into her skin, the smell of burning flesh and spandex filling the air for anyone else. With third degree burns from the hits she had taken, Monet could just barely dodge faster and evade out of the way, quickly going full evasive while in flight and trying to reorient herself as she would quickly look for something to use as a barrier that would't damage the area. There's nothing useful - at least that doesn't risk the blasters shooting at her and risking hitting other buildings. As they kept on spraying fire, she had to make a choice.

A blast would go through a nearby building, through several reinforced concrete walls, and nearly out the other end of it, blasting smooth holes in it. At least it had been evacuated. Going evasive was no longer an option. She would charge on in at high speed, fist cocking back to go to try and slam into one of said Goblins..

Right as he would react, catching her fist mid-swing and stopping her cold, then slamming her arm about to twirl it a hundred and eighty degrees, twisting it like a pretzel.

Her other hand would swing back as he would bring his other hand up to block it as she would scream in pain. The Knight then goes to stab her with an electro-blaster, sending enough voltage through her to have her spasm in a near seizure.

Doreen Green has posed:
It's a bad situation for someone to be in. But slightly fortunate that the two Goblins are focused on the woman and her work, leaving Doreen and her squirrels to deal with the window. The young hero shifts her position to brace against the wall, and reachs down to dig the climbing claws on the back of her gloves into the window frame. Using that Porportional Strength of a Squirrel(tm), a bit of leverage and plenty of good ol' elbow grease Doreen manages to jostle the window past it's locking point and start to pry it open. It doesn't need to go far. Squirrels can squeeze through very small spaces. Like the two that have crawled out of Doreen's tail to join Tippy-Toe, and all three climb down her arms to be at the ready...

And then the alarms go off, which snaps the goons' attention up. "Well, so much for being sneaking!" To which Doreen goes for full out OOMPH and just wrenches the window out of it's frame, adding to the shocking moment.

The Nuts and Boots army is on the move, bolting in the broken window and across the floor. Tippy-Toe (the one with the pink bow) and Monkey Joe (the one with the tophat) hightail it for the one Goblin and climb up him to start scratching and biting viciously where they can. While Gadget-Gregg barrels between the clerk's feet and under the desk, finding the cables connecting the computer and promptly biting into them with his sharp buck teeth to cut off the computer from the system before any (more) transfers can be made.

While Squirrel Girl discards the remains of the window... by lunging into the room and with a shout of "REVERSE DEFENSTRATION!" swings the remains of the window and frame at the other Goblin holding the woman at gunpoint to knock him away from her.

James Rhodes has posed:
The video feeds don't capture everything. It is a limitation to be sure, but one that Rhodey is willing to work with given the fact that his suit's sensor suite gives him some ways of compensating, of filling in some of the missing data. That HUD is a constant stream of information of infrared scans, of snippets of conversation recorded y embedded parabolic microphones designed to pick up noises even through brick walls.

So as War Machine goes to follow the barrelling mutant who plunges out of the sky and heads towards that front entrance, he hears exactly what's going on. Hears the sudden cries as the hostages are grouped together more tightly, herded to a slightly 'safer' spot -- at least from their kidnapper's perspective. He hears that gunshot go off, the heavy thump of a body hitting the floor and the resumed screams of terror that testify as much as anything else that whether the discharge of that weapon was accidental or not, the results are unmistakably, undeniably tragic.

Any time for subtlty is absolutely gone. There really is no way to take an escalation of violence like that with any real sense of caution. In all likelihood the chances to the police choosing to breach have gone way up, no doubt only waiting on the SWAT team to arrive at this point. Those within are either dangerous or careless -- and neither bode well for their captives.

The whine of those repulsor pads picks up considerably in volume and that slow descent turns into a rapid swoop by War Machine who simply barrels into the main lobby in the immediate wake of Monet. At least it isn't hard to seperate the hostages from the Goblins given their crazy get-ups and almost as soon as he is in the building, Rhodey is levelling those armored gauntlets at the nearest Knight, two repulsor blasts ripping out from the pads embedded their in his palms. She waves of force slam into the figure, sending him hurtling back into the nearest wall, the construction actually cracking under the impact.

But he doesn't leave it at that though and despite the impact already suffered by the Goblin Knight, another repulsor blast tears across the intervening space with that customary whine, slamming into the head of the fiend, making his head snap back against the wall behind him once more.

Even as War Machine has been doing that, the onboard AI in his suit has been tracking any of the Goblins it can detect, either because they pop out into his view, because those sensors pick up the beating of their hearts -- fast enough, strong enough to stand out from the hostages -- or just through heat signatures.

Either way, all that data is fed into the HUD and as Rhodey strides forward -- anger apparent in every step -- one of those shoulder-mounted compartments opens up, revealling the payload of darts within.

He's a military man. Civilians are off limits. And a part of him wants to come down like the hand of God and obliterate these idiots. To gain a measure of revenge for the fallen woman.

To Avenge.

But he restrains himself, and instead those guided darts begin to fire with a hiss, raining down on any of the Goblins that don't find cover quickly. And even a few of those that do.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Gunfire. Someone is shot. Through the head. A girl, the same age as Caleb's.

It could've been him - or worse, his sister, if she was here.

You know that thing that's called 'the little red button'? Well, that move, accidental as it was, has just removed the cover so you don't go and press it by accident. For years ago, Caleb stepped in front of the path of bullets for his sister. He almost died.

And now someone else has. One candle extinguished; one life that will not see through its end.

It was an accident? Well, the shurikens that come flying at the guy who just killed the girl are no accident. They will blow with concussive force enough that he will leave in a critical condition.

"You..." He runs to the next guy, swinging the sword to sever the arm holding the gun. Swing. "Will..." No time to think, a shuriken to another's leg, more specifically the knee, is thrown. It too is set to blow up. "Surrender..." A dash towards the closest, meant to again cut off the hand holding the gun, "THIS FUCKING INSTANT!!"

Cindy Moon has posed:
The bank lobby is a scene of chaos and escalating violence. Monet's dramatic entrance and the resulting firefight have turned the once orderly space into a battlefield. The air is thick with the acrid smell of burning flesh and spandex from Monet's injuries. The energy bolts from the Goblin Knights have shattered chunks of pillars, decorations, and windows alike, creating a filling the space with sharp debris and smoke.

As Monet struggles, trying to regain her footing amidst the pain, War Machine barrels into the lobby. His repulsor blasts send a Goblin Knight crashing into the wall, cracking the structure. The Goblin Knight slumps, but another repulsor blast to the head ensures he stays down.

Caleb has gone full-ninja on the masked Goblin squires who still struggle to control the increasingly agitated hostages. The first is hit with shurikens that land without a sound loud enough to be heard over the rest of the fighting -- until they explode. One second he was standing there, the next he's simply bleeding on the floor, unconscious and bleeding. The next lets out a howl of pain as his arm is simply lopped off, blood spraying from the wound like some live version of Quentin Tarantino. He clutches at it, screaming, even as there's another explosion, a squire falling to the ground as his leg is taken out from under him, and when Caleb moves again, just as the masked Goblin was raising his gun to fire at the ninja they had no idea existed in their midst, his hand was also hand severed. It's gory and brutal, leaving a wake of absolute mutilation in his wake.

The AI in Rhodey's suit tracks the remaining goblin squires, guiding the shoulder-mounted darts that rain down like terror from above. With little thuds, each one sinks into their target, sending them sprawling, and for just a moment, compared to the awful chaos of just a moment earlier, there's something much closer to peace.

It's not peace, of course. In that instant, there's only one remaining Goblin Knight in the lobby -- the one still battling viciously with Monet.

That wouldn't last, though. Rising up from the stairs to the vault, rifles already drawn, are two more Goblin Knights. Dangerous. Armored. Undeterred by the scene in front of them, they raise rifles towards War Machine's tank-like suit and fire. All the while, behind them, four squires each hurry bags in both arms towards the rear of the bank, quickly disappearing down a hallway without bothering to engage the heroes or help their fallen comrades.

Meanwhile, upstairs...

Doreen's window invasion adds to the confusion of Cindy's improtu breaking and entering and the resulting alarm. As she wrenches the window open, her squirrel army bolts into the room. Tippy-Toe and Monkey Joe have the first Goblin Knight clawing suddenly at the neck of his armor as they slip easily within and go to work.

How do squirrels find it _so_ easy to find all those little cracks and crannies to slip into?

Gadget-Gregg cuts the computer cables, halting the progress of the terrified woman's forced work on OsCorp's accounts. And though it's not clear at this moment how much was saved (the screen went black), it is clear that there will be no more transfers made from _this_ terminal. Finally, there's Doreen herself. Her dramatic entrance, swinging the window frame at a goblin, knocks him away from the woman, sending him sprawling back into a wall before bringing his gun up to bear on the room.

Cindy Moon, newly arrived at the bottom of the stairwell to the roof, discovers three Goblin squires looking in confusion up at the alarms and, apparently, trying to decide what to do about it.

Too late.

She fires web lines, ensnaring the first goblin mid-step. The second turns, eyes wide, but she's already on him, webbing his legs and yanking him off balance. The third tries to raise his weapon, but Cindy's faster. With a *thwip*, even as she's climbing the first and wrestling him to the floor, she shoots the gun out of the third guy's hand and webs it to the wall next to him... with his hand

Cindy Moon has posed:
She fires web lines, ensnaring the first goblin mid-step. The second turns, eyes wide, but she's already on him, webbing his legs and yanking him off balance. The third tries to raise his weapon, but Cindy's faster. With a *thwip*, even as she's climbing the first and wrestling him to the floor, she shoots the gun out of the third guy's hand and webs it to the wall next to him... with his hand still attached.

"Withdrawals can be made... from 9AM to 4PM weekdays... with PROPER identification..."

The hallway becomes a tangle of webbing and struggling goblins. Cindy's movements are swift and precise, webbing the last goblin to the floor to ensure he can't move.

"And you guys _all_ look the same... no offense. Maybe try some different masks next time. Throw in like a Naruto or Charizard to mix things up..."

Breathing heavily, she pauses to listen, her senses sharp for any more threats -- and aiming her towards the office Doreen is in.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
She hurts. SHe's been hurt far, far worse. Many, many times. She's been used by a berserk Kryptonian as a punching bag at super speed. She's been brutalized by creatures from space. She's been gutted by avatars of blood gods multiple times. But simply as she has does not mean that she likes it, nor should she take such things. She's just trying to engage the enemy to take thier attention away from civilians!

These things re stronger than she is, and have reaction speeds enough to keep up with her by whatever means. So she can't straight up beat them in a fistfight.

Fortunately War Machine is there to win over in a gunfight. Or a blaster fight. Monet doesn't quite slump over as her opponent drops. She gives a stiff nod over to him in thanks, and then is immediately going forwards to start to grab at the nearest civilian, going to start dragging them out of there one by one.

Doreen Green has posed:
Tippy-Toe and Monkey Joe have the one Goblin goon flailing abount ineffectively, so Doreen can focus on the one that managed to hold onto his rifle in spite of being slammed into the wall. She crouches partially into a ready stance, while adding a quick "You might want to take cover, ma'am." to the clerk. Plenty of room under the desk with Gregg, just pretend its a tornado drill and ignore that we're on the second floor for right now.

"As for you," squirrel tail lashes as Doreen turns her attention back to Gunner Goblin, and after the remark her demeanor turning mostly serious again. At least for her. Then she barrels into motion. Going so far as to actually drop and run on all fours like her squirrels do, both for the speed and agility boost, and because the guy is most likely to shoot at where she was standing first, putting her below his line of fire for a few moments until he can adjust.

Which is enough for her four legged charge to get in close and spring up, grabbing for the rifle to push it off to the side from shooting anyone. "I knee-ed you to stop this instant!" With a thrust of said knee into his groin.

Terrible pun, but someone needs to fill the quip quota while Spidey is MIA.

James Rhodes has posed:
It came too late. But James Rhodes has fulfilled that original plan to give cover to the efforts to rescue the hostages.

It is, however, impossible not to look at that corner of his HUD, the little indicator box flashing over the body of the downed woman. The fact that the oh so sensitive sensor suite in his armor is not picking up any heartbeat, any trace of breathing. That the puddle of blood beneath her is far too big, the wound in her head in just about the worst possible spot.

There's nothing to be done. He knows that well enough. So he focuses on the matter at hand.

The rain of those tranq darts does it's job, falling out the sky with that pinpoint precision only possible thanks to the onboard targetting system and the AI that helps guide the flight of each individual projectile. It works wonders in it's own way.

He just can't help but wish that he could have launched it a few seconds sooner.

"Everyone out," he barks, that electronically enhanced voice rining out over the confusion, the noise in the room. "The authorities will be waiting for you outside," he instructs.

Yes, he can still hear the thumps and thuds from upstairs that make it clear that everything might not be entirely taken care of up there. While he might not be intimately familiar with Silk and Squirrel Girl's work, he's confident that they can handle it.

And the priority remains the hostages.

Certainly some of those terrified captives do seize that brief opening, starting towards the door. But long before everyone has a chance to get out, those new figures appear in the stairwell leading down to the vault, begin to open fire to cause those screams to begin anew.

Almost at once Rhodey lunges ahead, those repulsor discs flaring brightly as they launch him into the path of any of the weapon's fire. One arm raises in front of him defensively and armored plates begin to extend from his forearm, swiftly rearranging themselves into a sort of tower shield that is abruptly enveloped in humming blue energy, bleeding away the energy impacts while letting the armor handle physical bullets.

Then, with that shield still very much raised in front of him -- both for protection and to serve as a battering ram -- War Machine launches himself forward, plowing straight towards the pair at the top of the stairs, fully intending to go right through them and down after anyone else still lingering by or in the vault.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
The squires are spotted by the would-be ninja, and he looks at the unfolding scene.

Looking at the others on the same floor, he says, "I got four guys on the run with bags... I'm in pursuit!"

Darting after the guys, he puts away one of his katanas to grab that gun from earlier but he never gave use, pre-loaded with cartridges for sticky projectiles... Their cores having enough charge for a good old-fshioned taser.

Making no ceremonies, he starts shooting, aiming straight for their heads. Down a hallway, it should be like a shooting gallery...

Cindy Moon has posed:
Between Monet's effective leadership of the hostages, sweeping them out of the bank lobby to the waiting patrol cars and the newly arrived fire trucks and ambulances, as well as Rhodey's booming voice of absolute authority within that armored shell, it's safe to assume that the hostages (all except for one) are very effectively removed from harm's way.

Caleb's gun, fired down that hallway at the quickly retreating forms of the goblin squires, manages to catch three out of four of them. The one closest to the door held up a bag as soon as he heard the shout, and the shot caught the satchel of ill-gotten goods instead of the Goblin pledge himself. The others, though? Those three are flopping around like fish while the forth is busting out the back door and rounding the corner.

Rhodey's shield charge has effectively landed him in the basement vault of the bank alone with those same two Goblin Knights -- neither of whose armor stands up against Stark tech, but who together at least haven't given up, despite having their clocks cleaned by a tumble straight down the stairs and being smashed into the wall and floor. They're groggier than before, each of them going for blades charged with power, rolling and rising to their feet, viciously lunging at the War Machine. They're not trying to get away -- they're trying to kill him. This has become a grudge match.

Guided by her Silk-sense (and the sound of fighting and screaming from the Goblin with the squirrels in his pants), Cindy charges into the office Squirrel Girl is battling within. Inside, Doreen is engaged in a fierce struggle with a goblin wielding a rifle, and squirrels are swarming another goblin, who flails wildly, trying to dislodge them from his armor. The sight is both bizarre and dangerous.

Since Doreen seems to have the other guy well in hand (or rather, knee), Cindy focuses on the goblin struggling with the squirrels. She has to be careful not to hurt the small creatures while subduing their target. She leaps forward, using her webbing with precision. Two well-aimed shots entangles the goblin's arms, and she flips around behind him, yanking them backwards onto a foot that she places into the middle of his back.

The goblin roars in frustration, still thrashing about as Tippy-Toe and Monkey Joe continue their relentless assault. Cindy moves in closer, dodging a wild swing. "Hey, guys, keep doing your thing!" she calls to the squirrels, trying to maintain focus.

She leans over the Goblin's head, using the webbing to entangle his arms behind him and pull him forward. Of course, that leaves him thrashing directly towards her, so the next line goes to his legs, catching and yanking so that he goes down like an AT-AT on Hoth.

She's still careful to give the squirrels inside that armor an out, but she Cindy swiftly follows up by webbing his other arm to the ground, and while Doreen is working on the other Goblin, Cindy's turning this one into a burrito, immobilizing him. The goblin squirms, but encased on a cocoon of webbing, he's effectively neutralized.

"Got this one! Need any help with yours?"

Doreen Green has posed:
The Goblin Goon, occupied by the two squirrels clawing and biting inside his armor and now Silk trying to sling web at him, doesn't notice the third squirrel running out from under the desk. Gadget-Gregg is dragging the cables he chewed off the computer with him, which he circles around to wrap about one of the guy's ankles in an impromptu but effective snare. Combined with the webbing the guy goes down to the floor hard. A piece of armor is disloged in the fall, giving Tippy-Toe and Monkey Joe a way to squirm out before Silk entirely coccoons the guy.

Doreen grunts and stumbles back a moment as the Gunner Goblin manages to disengage from her. "Should be fine," she replies as she rubs her mouth off with the back of a gloved hand, "but thanks for the offer." The Gunner Goblin tries to bring his rifle back up and aim it at Doreen.

"Tell you what. I'll flip you for it." Doreen twirls around, swinging her bushy posterior appendage into his legs and sweeping him off the floor. Followed by her juking in to grab onto him with both hands from mid-air stagger and slam him into the floor with enough force to give a concussion even with a helmet on. "Tails! You lose!"

James Rhodes has posed:
It would appear that Rhodey has gotten the more capable, tougher Goblins to deal with. A little trip down the stairs just isn't going to cut it, it would appear. And while that could be something of a problem to deal with, under the circumstances War Machine is happy to oblige.

Right now the hostages should be getting to freedom. He can't exactly ask for more then that. All he has to do is keep this pair preoccupied for a few moments later and the situation should be handled.

Fortunately he has a pretty good way to do just that.

It is easy to forget that the Iron Man project started off as a means of powering the electromagnet buried in Tony's chest, keeping him alive. It is not exactl difficult to use the arc reactor that powers these suits to create a similar effect.

On an even more extreme level.

While the two Goblins might tumble backwards, the repulsor stabilizers embedded throughout his suit means that while they might tumble down the stairs, Rhodey just soars, maintaining his balance, hovering mere inches off the ground.

And when those Goblins lunge at him with their knives?

That's when he channels that magnetic force through the shield that still extends from his armmored forearm, that power reaching out, seizing hold of the knives in their hand and tugging tem straight to those waiting armored plates where they promptly stick. No muss, no fuss.

"You both deserve so much worse, you know. Fortuntely we're not monsters like you lot," Rhodey growls, stepping forward to meet that now weaponless lunge with a metal fisted uppercut that sends first one of the Goblins soaring back to crash into the wall.

The second of the pair gets something both more mild and more concentrated, as the War Machine rather casually channels all that formidable strength into a flick of his forehead with one finger. One finger will all the strength that the War Machine can muster.

It's more then enough to sned the second man down as well.

Grim faced behind that metal mask, Rhodey stoops to pick up one of the men, and then the other, grabbing them by the scruff of their necks and casually taking flight once more, holding them like disobedient kittens as he soars up and out of the bank to deposit them with the authorities.

The situation seems to be well in hand, matters taken care of. He'll stay on site, coordinate with the police, make sure that there are no other casualties.

It's the least he can do.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Three down, one to go.

"Oh no, you dont..."

Caleb remains in pursuit - seriously, how can a guy with a money bag be inconspicuous? -, preparing another neat trick: a circular device that flips open, their two points jutting outwards.

And, upon seeing the guy, he'll press the activation switch and throw the device as hard as he can at his feet.

The disc will release its flipped open tips that through a tiny but sturdy wire will stretch like a bola - one which hopefully will capture the last of the goons...

Cindy Moon has posed:
The bank lobby is finally coming under control. Hostages, guided by Monet and reassured by War Machine's booming commands, make their way to safety, helped by NYPD officers and paramedics waiting outside. The air is still thick with the smell of burned fabric and the metallic tang of blood, but the immediate threat seems to be over.

War Machine, having subdued the Goblin Knights in the vault, exits the building with the unconscious villains in tow. He deposits them outside, where police officers swiftly move in, handcuffing the groggy goblins and securing the area. Officers take statements from the shaken hostages, their voices a mixture of relief and lingering fear.

Upstairs, Cindy and Doreen's teamwork results in the goblins being webbed and incapacitated. Doreen's antics has Cindy laughing, despite the intense situation. The office, once a site of frantic activity, now looks like a scene from an action movie ? desk ornamentation overturned, cables strewn about, and goblins tightly bound in webs and squirrel bites.

Caleb, outside, catches up with the last fleeing goblin. His bola device wraps around the goblin's legs, sending him crashing to the ground and ensuring he's securely bound for the authorities.

The police officers begin a thorough sweep of the building, ensuring no threats remain. The once chaotic environment starts to settle as the NYPD takes control. Sirens wail outside, blending with the low murmur of voices as heroes and first responders coordinate the aftermath.

Paramedics enter the lobby, moving towards the still body of the young woman. They work quickly, checking for any signs of life, but their grim expressions soon confirm what everyone feared ? she's gone. They cover her body respectfully, preparing to transport her out, a somber reminder of the cost of the day's chaos.

The bank is in shambles, a scene of both heroic efforts and tragic loss, though it stands as a testament to the day's events. The Goblins have been thwarted. Whatever happened on that computer and the extent of the damage it caused remains to be scene, but at least the heroes were there to act quickly and decisively. Plus, they garnered a new piece of the puzzle: whatever their ultimate goal, the Goblins were targeting OsCorp's finances.