2143/Simply Marvel-ous

Simply Marvel-ous
Date of Scene:	17 June 2020
Location:	Financial District
Synopsis:	Spider-Man and Red Sonja foil a bank robbery with the timely assistance of a new superheroine.
Cast of Characters:	Peter Parker, Kamala Khan, Mary Jane Watson

---

Peter Parker has posed:
The heat must be getting to people. It's the middle of June, it's a warm summer afternoon. WHO decides to wear all-black in this heat?

Of course, they ARE doing a bank robbery, and the bank is air-conditioned, but STILL...MAJOR faux pas for the three men and two women on this crew.
They have gotten inside, corraled the people and are are at work cleaning out the bank. However, one quick-witted cashier shoved a binder onto her chair and shoved it under her desk, which caused the binder to press and become jammed against the Panic Button under her desk.

So, the alert pops up on the police systems, routed to dispatch...and from there, to the alert status in Spider-Comm.
The waypoint appeared in a microsecond, and Spider-Man was off and running in the newly-replaced suit.

Kamala Khan has posed:
Kamala doesn't LIKE Manhattan. Sure, it's got better shopping than Jersey City, but it always feels so much hotter and so much more... fevered, than her home. The City That Never Sleeps, right? Well, you know what happens when you never sleep? You go crazy!

But Bruno had REALLY wanted to come out this way to go to some electronics store, and Kamala... well, she owed him one for the super snot. He was going to need to come up with some other project for his college applications now. Not that she expected that was going to be a problem for him; he ALWAYS had more projects going on than he would own up to, and they were always brilliant.

"Huh, that's weird." The young man had said after his card was spat back out by the machine. "I got paid two days ago. I just need to go in and..."

And now they were sitting in the corner of the bank with their hands on their heads and a bunch of very angry adults shouting orders, shouting at each other, just... generally SHOUTING, really, as far as Kamala could tell. It might be air-conditioned inside the bank, but she was sweating anyway, glaring at the nearest man as though the force of her stare alone could bore a hole through him. Bruno can easily read the tension in his friend's face. And worse, he knows what she's got in her satchel.

"Kamala, please..." He whispers, his voice a tight whisper. Imploring. "Don't, do anything stupid..."

She couldn't blame him for his concern. Those were some serious-looking guns. She'd never even SEEN a gun like that in person before.

But was she just going to let them get away with this? The poor security guard had already taken a blow to the head, and he hadn't deserved that. It isn't RIGHT.

Peter Parker has posed:
Things go well for about three minutes. The locked doors with the FUMIGATION warnings look official enough, and no one's going full Karen and rattling the doors.

Then Sally notices that there are flashing lights outside, red and blue ones. No sirens, but those colors are bad news.
"Brown! We got COPS!"
The ringleader, Brown, swears under his breath. "Bugs, tell Wilford and Jess to hurry up. Sally, watch the hostages."
It is encouraging that they are all wearing balaclava masks, so the concept of getting out alive was high, but cops always complicate things.

Bruno suddenly elbows Kamala gently. He whispers one word. "UP."

Looking up reveals a guy in red-and-blue longjohns crawling slowly out of a large ceiling vent. He looks down, then puts a finger to his hidden mouth in the universal SHHH gesture before crawling along the ceiling, assessing the threats.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
MJ was driving her motorcycle back from another audition when she got the alert on the Spider-Comm. And well, the bank /is/ close, so she heads over that way asap.

Pulling into an alley not too far away, she gets out her business gear. Jumpsuit, check. Helmet, check. Massive honking sword? Check.

Also, a pair of batons, despite Sonja's grumblings about non-lethal weapons.

And just like that, Mary Jane Watson takes a bit of a back seat, as Red Sonja starts creeping along, keeping to the shadows of the alley and slipping in via the employee side entrance. Staying low and practicing avoiding being seen... hopefully it works!

Kamala Khan has posed:
Kamala does her best not to show it, but she's starting to panic. There's guns. A lot of guns. And the police mean that there's going to be a lot of very nervous people with a lot of guns. When Bruno nudged her, she almost leapt six feet into the air right there - but when she sees what he had indicated, her eyes practically bug out of her skull. Thankfully, the man who had been guarding them has other things to worry about than the two teenagers, even if one of them had been giving him a death-glare a second ago.

And there's her opportunity.

Everyone is distracted. She's behind the other hostages - nobody wants to see a pair of kids get shot, and 'Sally' is swapping out with the brute to take on babysitter duty, all of them more nervous about the lights than the people in there with them.

And it is surprisingly easy for her to shrink in that moment. She doesn't want to be there. She doesn't want to be seen. She wants to be completely beneath notice -- and all of a sudden, she is. Bruno has to stop himself from screaming when his friend just - glows, and then seems almost to disappear. But now she's breaking into a sprint, if she can just get into the shade of that redwood-sized potted plant, she can get into her costume and do more than just sit there!

Peter Parker has posed:
<Just got here, Spider. Coming in the side entrance, low and quiet.>
That was MJ...or, to be more exact, it sounded like Red Sonja, She-Devil With...a Pair of Batons, if they're lucky.

<Okay, Sonja. I have one woman guarding the hostages, left side of the foyer in the Business Accounts section. One ringleader, roaming the lobby. One heavy, heading to the vault. Sounds like there are two guys in the vault.>
A guy and a girl, but he wouldn't know that.

<Okay...Sonja, take out the guys in the vault after the heavy comes in and leaves again. I think they're going to want more eyes out front. They aren't panicky yet, which means they may still have a plan. So...wait for the heavy to leave, then mix it up with the two in the back. I'll handle the three out here.>

Spider-Man looked at the woman pointing her rifle at the hostages. She didn't look nervous...yet. But he was going to have to take her first, even though the other two were similarly-armed.
He HOPED he could handle the three out here without anyone getting shot. Especially him.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Sonja sends back, <Got it.> And then she creeps along, staying low and out of sight as if she has plenty of practice at not being seen.

Well, MJ, not so much. But Sonja is an expert in such things.

So, Sonja slips along towards the vault, waiting for the other heavy to leave. And then, well, once he does, then she'll make her move.

It's not like there's anyone else here besides her and the Spider-Man, after all... right?

Kamala Khan has posed:
Hopping around behind the potted plant, Kamala just about manages to struggle her way into her costume. It should be easy - putting on clothes isn't tough when your body just sort of flows into them! - but it is almost like the pressure is starting to get to her or something. Come on, come on, Kamala, you can do this! Stopping a bank robbery is Superhero 101, isn't it? It's practically a cliche! You'd think people would stop trying to do it!

Only. They don't. Because whilst they know people will try and stop them, they have plans for that. Plans for people like Captain Marvel and Superman and -- okay, no, Kamala, don't freak out, they're just some thugs, they're not anything special!

'Sally' frowns as she casts her eye over the hostages, and her lips move as she counts. Once. Then again. Then she speaks. "Boss. How many hostages were there again?"

Ohno.

Peter Parker has posed:
Brown pauses, looking in Sally's direction. "Lucky 14, Sally."
"Well, we got unlucky *13* now." She raises her rifle at the group...

Bugs was just finishing up updating Wilford and Jess when the radio chirps. "BUGS! We got a stray! Get out front to help look!"
Bugs, the man with two, count 'em, TWO .50 Desert Eagles, grimaces. "Dammit." He looks to the other two. "THIRTY SECONDS, then leave the rest. We got a timetable!"
Bugs stomps out, looking irritated.

Brown looks around. How the Hell did someone rabbit?

"All right. Come out, come out, whoever you are. Your bathroom break is over."

He flicked the safety off of his rifle. "Ten seconds...or we start executing them."

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Sonja frowns, slipping into the Vault, sending a quick subvocal text on the Spider-Comm, <Alright, I'm moving now. Take care of those three.> She straightens, moving carefully along the vault, steps surprisingly silent until she sees the two working there.

And then, well, she quickly snaps a baton out in the face of one with a solid *THWACK*, before spinning and kicking the other woman back there with a boot to the head. Knocking her back and into merciful unconsciousness.

And best yet, no alert got out from them, <Two in vault down, Spider. No casualties.>

Kamala Khan has posed:
Every part of Kamala wants to run.

Spider-Man is here, right? He's done a lot more than she has, that's for sure! He can probably deal with this! And then she can go home. Only. She doesn't see him now, and that rifle is pointing at the hostages. People who she had put in danger, because she'd taken a risk. Every part of Kamala wants to run... but every part of her wants to stop that *more*.

So she gives Brown exactly what he wants.

Suddenly, there's a ten-foot-tall Ms. Marvel erupting from the ground between his feet. One ENORMOUS hand wraps fully around his torso, pinning his arms tightly to his sides.

"You've got bigger problems to worry about than that!"

... not her best line, but, she'll workshop it later!

Peter Parker has posed:
CRAP IN A HAT WHERE DID SHE COME FROM??
A sentiment shared by all, except maybe Bruno. The hostages gasp as one, Sally swings her gun around to point it at the sudden lady monolith holding Brown in a tight grip.

Spider-Man is startled, but he sees Sally's gun move away from the hostages and towards the brightly-colored woman with the X-Box Hand, and does not waste the opportunity.

Sally is about to shoot when she hears a THWIPP! from above, and suddenly the AK-47, her hands, and her forearms are one big mass of webbing. She is about to fire when she sees the barrel is covered in webbing, too, and if she shoots, the blockage might blow the bolt back into her chest. If it didn't just explode.

She tries to run for the pre-planned exit, but makes it five feet before two jets of webbing from above pin her to the floor, and ruin any chance of escape.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Bugs blinks, and brings up his .50 Desert Eagles, taking aim right at Ms. Marvel's head. But before he fires, there's a feminine voice sounding off behind him.

"Hey, what's up, Doc?"

And that's when Red Sonja slams her baton right into the back of Bugs, knocking him to the ground as she mutters, "You'll need to explain that reference to me." With that, she kicks his guns away, making sure he's properly disarmed.

Once /that/ is done, she looks up at the very tall Ms. Marvel, "Hail and well met, stranger. It seems you have things well in hand!" So it's not sure if MJ is an influence on Sonja, or vice versa, at this point...

Kamala Khan has posed:
Ms. Marvel had grabbed the man because that felt like the best way to make sure he couldn't hurt anyone. Now she's got him, though, she... doesn't actually know what she should do with him. He's squirming around a lot, and she's having to concentrate hard on making sure she doesn't squeeze him too much. She's, strong, like this - and the fact that the thug is going a little red in the face is probably a sign of how inexperienced she is with gauging all of that.

The spider-webbing is great, though, and gets a "Yes!" From her, before she turns around, and finds that she's been saved by a statuesque redhead. Behind her domino mask, the enormous teenager blinks. "Uhm, thanks! Are you with Spider-Man?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man drops from the ceiling, a good twenty feet up, landing lightly in a crouch before standing up straight.
No one got killed, and no one even got seriously hurt. Didn't suck.

"That's Red Sonja. We do work together." He says this with a certain amount of pride, even if she DID steal a pretty good line. "You might as well put him down, miss...I think he know better than to try and make a break for it, don't you, pal?"

Brown eyed Spidey and sighed. "Yeah, yeah, yeah..."

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Sonja chuckles under her motorcycle helmet, the Red part obvious as her long red hair sticks out from the edge of the helmet. "Indeed. Red or Sonja works as well." She nods, "That is an impressive ability that you have there."

Her lips quirk a bit as she looks over at Spider-Man, tossing him a wink under her helmet, then she looks at Brown once he's freed from Ms. Marvel's grip, "Be glad that my partner has talked me out of using my normal weapons." And that's when the Giant Freaking Sword might be noticed sheathed on her back.

Kamala Khan has posed:
Ms. Marvel does indeed put the criminal down. It's a motion of almost exaggerated care, and there's a strange, disconcerting few moments as her form shrinks and warps until she is no longer a giant of a woman but instead a far more ordinary-sized teenage superheroine. Now that Spider-Man has joined on equal footing, though, she can give him a bright smile.

"This is going to blow the Supergirl ships out of the water!" She exclaims. "So, what now? Do we just open up the doors and let the cops in? Or...?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man looks to Brown, who has obligingly turned and put his hands behind his back at the ankles. He shoots a small thatch of webbing to bind them together, then nods. "I'll send a message to the police that the situation is..."

Suddenly there is a flurry of pictures as the hostages, who no longer have to worry about being shot, have taken out their phones and become instant paparazzi, taking pictures of the three of them standing near each other.

"...handled." He looked around. "So, what should I call you? I doubt 'Hey, You' would go over well."

<Sending the message to police dispatch, and that we will unlock all the doors once they acknowledge, Sonja.>

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Sonja looks nonplussed for a second, but only a second, as she then puts an arm around Spider-Man, leaning in and and posing for the improvised photo session, murmuring, "Lean into it, Spider." A faint chuckle, then she looks over at Kamala, "Yes, what /can/ we call you? You were a veritable marvel there, changing sizes like that." She does, in fact, sound suitably impressed.

Then she sub-vocalizes to Spidey, <Got it. I didn't park too far away here.>

Kamala Khan has posed:
There had been that first time. The big boots, the ... embarrassingly revealing outfit, long blonde hair. The question of what she should call herself, though. That's... tough. Not quite face-down-gunmen tough, but is it really okay for her to just, take, something like that? Maybe the two older heroes pick up on the uncertainty behind the mask; the way her smile becomes a touch more fixed, something that is unlikely to be ~quite~ so obvious online later...

But when Sonja puts it like that, what choice does she have? The world needs Marvels.

"I'm Ms. Marvel!" She declares, puffing her chest out, hands on her hips, and putting on her best super-hero voice for the cameras, "It's been great to work with you, Spider-Man, Red Sonja! New York can sleep safer tonight with these criminals behind bars!"

... even though the sun is clearly streaming in through the windows and it is a swelteringly hot day.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man chuckles. She's got bravado, but she's also got heart, and that counts for a lot. And she did step in when help was needed. That also counts.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Marvel. We're going to open the doors now, and they're going to get the crooks out. After we open the doors, we should head over to the New Accounts section and let them do their work. When the cops are here to do their job and ours is done, the best thing we can do for them is get out of their way."

So sayeth thus, Spidey nods to Miss Marvel and Red Sonja before going over to the center doors and unlocks them, stepping aside as uniformed cops begin streaming into the bank foyer.