4198/Welcome to the War

Welcome to the War
Date of Scene:	22 November 2020
Location:	Brooklyn
Synopsis:	Spider-Man meets a vampire while dealing with some werewolves. In order words, Saturday night.
Cast of Characters:	Peter Parker, Selene Corvinus

---

Peter Parker has posed:
Some nights are weirder than others.
He had responded to an attack on two people by "a pack of dogs." Except the "dogs" were bigger, meaner, and humanoid...and they weren't too happy with a costumed clown interfering with their business and had gone after him with no hesitation.

One of them had gone for the "howl and leap" tactical play, and had found himself on the wrong side of it quickly. He was now pinned to the wall by something he had not expected.

The other two, a male and a female, were sizing up the guy in the red-and-blue glossy suit, and how he looked back at them with seemingly no fear.

"So you're supposed to be werewolves? Good. After I COLLAR you, you can tell me "WERE" you came from."

Selene Corvinus has posed:
Selene's contacts had reported the situation unfolding, as the Lycans that the 'superhero' had captured were being watched by others in the Death Dealers. This was presenting a complication for them to interfere and thusly expose themselves to Spider-man of all people.

"I'll be right there." Selene had said over their team channel.

Thusly, with Spider-an capturing two members of the local 'pack' of Lycans hunting in the Brooklyn area, Seleen's motorcycle roars in from down one of the off-streets. It comes to a slower approach, angling itself in to the dark corner that Spider-man has done his good deed for the night.

He'll see the bright headlights of the bike bouncing off of the walls and ground of the area, the rider mounted on the bike not weaering a helmet, her dark hair flowing around her shoulders, along with the longcoat adorning her body...

She parks the bike, kills the engine, but leaves the bright white'ish-blue lights on her bike on.

Peter Parker has posed:
Mara snarls, "I'll be pinning that mask to my TROPHY WALL, interloper! Do not interfere!" She moves to the side, muscles bristling. She was a severe beauty in human form, but the shapely body was now covered in fur and muscle. In an odd way, they were fascinating. Biologically, of course...

Then the blue lights. Spider-Man didn't see the person getting off the bike, but calls out anyway, "Whoever you are, stay back! In fact, running like Hell would be a good..."

And then the male, Adric, goes for him, low and murderous, ready to swipe at him with a paw to knock his head from his body.

Except the paw swings on empty air, and as the Lycan is off-balance, the one the Bugle is calling a "menace" turns and swings with one human fist...

And shatters Adric's jaw.

Selene Corvinus has posed:
The rider doesn't reactivate the bike's engine. In fact she moves to dismount the seat and stand beside it as the 'action' starts to unfold in the alley between the transformed humans and the world-wide famous Spider-man. She hears the warning, but doesn't take heed of it. Instead she steps around in front of her bike's headlights to partially obscure the light from the alley as it now shines on her back.

Selene's eyes are a brilliant bright blue'ish-white not unlike her headlights.

Her hands are at her sides, no weapons visibly in them at this point.

But she also doesn't help him, maybe she's confident in his ability to handle this threat? Maybe she doesn't care if they win and defeat him!

Peter Parker has posed:
Adric piles into the dirt, face first. He is stunned and shocked, nither of which being good in a fight.

Mara is also shocked, but now is terminally hacked off that her mate has been wounded, even temporarily. She snarls, closing in on Spider-Man, who turns to face her.

"Now, miss, I'd advise against this. I have problems with hitting a lady..."
Lips pull back from the muzzle, revealing gleaming, sharp teeth. And then she goes for him.

The paws reaching to grab him land on nothing, and then she feels five ribs crack apart as the wiry hero punches up (as he freeequently does, har de har har) and shears muscle, with a final shot to the kidneys as he slides between her huge legs and pops up behind her.

"...but you ain't no LADY," he continues.

Selene Corvinus has posed:
Selene starts to move forward as Spider-man is dealing witht he female. Her booted footfalls carry her deeper in to the dark with her shadow bouncing around from the motorcycle's lights still on her backside. She steps out of the light just enough to reach where Adric is, her eyes glancing over toward Spider-man and Mara while he tries to reason with her...

Coming to a stop next to Adric, Selene lowers down beside him, seeing him badly injured. She shakes her head slightly before suddenly brandishing a long silver spike in her right hand. Peter seems pre-occupied with Mara, so she's here to do her business, and she attempts to do just that...

The long silver spike is thrust at Adric's throat, intending to plung it up in to his skully from a weak fleshy point where his neck heats his head!

Peter Parker has posed:
Adric utters a piteous howl that is mercifully short, but it is enough to get Mara's attention. Even as hurt as she is, she turns to look at Selene...
...and then the whole world is red with fury.
Showing no sign of the injuries she received from Spidey's fists, she barrels towards Selene, eyes seeming to glow and burn with insane fury, ready to rip and tear at her. Selene kiled her Mate. The fact that she was a Death Dealer was nothing but a bonus.

Spider-Man is caught flat-footed as the werewolf turns and runs at the woman doing the Trinity cosplay. "NO!" He yells and fires a webline to try and stop Mara.
However, the Parker Luck, which has been noticeably absent so far, suddenly weighs in and the cartridge goes empty, producing nothing more than an anemic spurt of webbing.

Selene Corvinus has posed:
Heroing is challenging after all, there's tons of variables always at-play...

Selene's been 'at this' for six centuries, however, and the average Lycan barely makes it to 50 in their existence. She's still crouched when the roar of an enraged lover fills the darkness around them all. Her eyes had been down upon Adric's dying face, but Selene expected Mara's response, was planning for it even, and as Peter launches his webbings in a valiant attempt to try to stop Mara, the 'Trinity cosplayer' spins and tosses three silver spiked throwing-stars at the incoming beastly woman!

She does this while leaping to her booted feet once more with her leather longcoat whipping around her legs!

Peter Parker has posed:
Pop the empty cartridge.
Mara gets within 40 feet.
Load the new one while turning to try and stop Mara with the other web-shooter.
Twenty feet...

And then a throwing star is buried in Mara's forehead, just above the muzzle, the chest just over the heart, and right into the open muzzle to sink solidly in the back of the throat, jabbing the spinal column.

A tiny flare of pain in the killing haze, and then BOOM, out of the world and into a place where all her nagging cares and worries are silenced.

Spider-Man STARES at the new arrival. Not only was she NOT a fainting ingenue, whatever she was equipped with was not only useful against these things, but DESIGNED for them.
So whoever this is, she knew the score and was here to play the game.

Another mournful howl from the werewolf webbed to the wall, struggling faintly as it tries to break free.

"Who...in the name of the Matrix...are YOU...?" Spider-Man asked Selene.

Selene Corvinus has posed:
Selene was not an idiot, she didn't for a second think that Spider-man would approve of her doing this to these creatures, but she was prepared to deal with that when it became an actual issue for her, which it wasn't quite yet!

With Mara dropping and seeming dead or on her way to being dead, Selene remains where she is and glances down to Adric, then back to the other one already webbed to the wall. That one can be dealt with in a moment, so it seems. The webbing is fascinating though... she'd heard of Spider-man, and even seen him swinging around earlier this year, far far away down a New York street, but up close? It's... well, interesting for a woman not from around here.

"These creatures murdered my family." Selene replies, her eyes still on the one on the wall. Her voice is laced with a European accent of mixed origins, and it's incredibly sultry, and calm.

She turns her eyes now to look toward Spider-man, then drops something on Adric's body, which instantly starts to light his corpse on fire.

"I'm here to return the favor."

Peter Parker has posed:
Oh, yeah. There is a special kind of hate for these things, and she's got it in spades. But what's bothering him is the funky readings coming in through the mask's sensors.

"Yeah, well there are four dead bodies of a family that seemingly did nothing wrong, so I'm going to have a little chinwag with Smiley over there...so whatever you intend to do with HIM, you can HOLD IT until I'm done."

Spider-Man walks towards the trapped werewolf, eyeing him carefully. "All right, CHUCKLES, you are going to do a little TALKING."
A hard snarl. Yeah, that was expected. "Are you with the Death-Dealer?"
Great. A dialogue. "Never met her before in my life. She seems to have a mad-on for YOU, though."
"The fucking vampire has killed MANY of my kind, and she would kill them all!" The yellow eyes narrowed on Spidey.

Great. ANOTHER vampire. He should intro her to Miss Riviere, they could trade fashion tips.
"Why did you kill that family? As far as I know, they have about as much in common with 'Trinity' over there as they do with the man in the moon..."

Selene Corvinus has posed:
Selene doesn't argue with him, he's the web-slinging hero here, and if she's learned anything about Americans and their super heroes, its that they're essentially above Police Officers, and tend to seemingly do whatever it is they want to do.

She just stands there, next to Adric as his body starts to fully become engulf in flames, laying in the dirt. It doesn't smell good.

After a moment though, while the one being interrogated by Peter starts to spill the beans, Selene is walking toward Mara's body...

Around the time that last question is asked, another fire suddenly lights up in what used to be a dark place, now glowing from two different angles with burning bodies. Selene, now just looks at Spider-man, and the webbed-one.

His mask likely does pick up 'things' about her too, but that's all been revealed at this point when 'vampire' was flagrantly tossed out by the captive.

"They'll lie to you, endlessly, until you feel sympathy for them and release them. Then they'll attack you again, or someone you care for." Selene says, in a voice that almost screams 'bored'.

Peter Parker has posed:
The third Lycan chuckles. "It doesn't matter what you do to me. We are erasing the bloodlines. There are more of us now. Even YOU can't kill us that fast."
Spider-Man eyed the Lycan. "A man. A woman. Two kids. For what?"
The Lycan turned to Spider-Man. "You are just CATTLE. For the BOTH of us. What can YOU do against either of us...?"

Then Spider-Man's right hand rose and he stabbed the Lycan through the webbing. The werewolf flinched, growling...and then stared at the weapon...
Only it was not a weapon. It was a syringe with a pressurized plastic test tube with a rubber stopper, the kind used to take drug tests for potential applicants.
Spider-Man watched it fill, then took the rist tube out and attached another one, watching it fill with blood.

"...I'm going to STUDY you, you stupid idiot."

Selene Corvinus has posed:
Selene is just over Peter's right shoulder, and about 15 feet away with the fires still burning to her right and further away to her left where Adric had first been lit-up, her motorcycle lights are still on too but they're about twenty feet behind her yet still.

When she watches Peter's interaction with the simpering 'young' Lycan, she watches him inject something... no, extract blood. This makes her tilt her head, but still, she's not too surprised, as her own people have done similar things to Lycans for years now. There's always the hope of new scientific discoveries about these beastly bastards.

"I'm going to kill you." Selene coldly, calmly, adds just after Spider-man declares his intentions of simply studying the creature.

Peter Parker has posed:
The Lycan suddenly looks to Spider-Man. "No...you can't let her! I'll tell you ANYTHING! Just keep her away from me! You're supposed to be a HERO!"

"I saw what you did to that girl, she was SIX YEARS OLD. And all you can talk about is threats and 'erasing bloodlines.' I protect the lives of PEOPLE. You barely qualify as a rabid animal."

Another vial filled, another attached. This was part research, part delaying tactic.
The Lycan suddenly began to shrink and dwindle, the muscle and body mass going SOMEWHERE (something else to analyze) until the Lycan has returned to human form.

Christ, he looks like he should still be in HIGH SCHOOL, not slaughtering people for belonging to the wrong family.

"Who sent you?"
The boy's green eyes moved from Spider-Man to Selene. "If I tell you, I'm a corpse!"
Spidey glances to Selene. "What do you think SHE is going to do to you? I've seen my share of monsters, and going human-looking cuts no ice with me."

Selene Corvinus has posed:
Selene's observation of this situation has lead toher taking a few small and slow steps toward Peter and the Lycan. She watches him turn back in to his human form, observing it like she's seen it a million times over.

To Spider-man specifically, she speaks now. "He's lost his ability to control his urges. He'll kill, again, and again, and he'll spread the disease to others-- generally to friends and family --which will only continue to propagate the death of more innocent people. I've been watching this cycle for hundreds of years now." She states, casually, her eyes going back to the webbed up Lycan in young human form.

"You can go on about your business in the city. I'll deal with this one." She offers to Spider-man as an option.

Peter Parker has posed:
He looks to Selene, then back to the young man. "Buddy, you heard her. Start talking, or you're not going to be any use to anyone."
The young man grimaced, his eyes seeming to glow yellow for a moment. "This city...will be OURS."

Spider-Man pulled the last vial and the needle from the guy's neck. "Yeah, I DOUBT it."

He looked to Selene. "I'm going to notify a group that can handle creatures like this. And then you and I are going to have a little chat before they get here."

Selene Corvinus has posed:
Selene's icy cold eyes just remain on the young man in the webbing up until Spider-man gives her his direction on 'how things are going down here'. She then adjusts her stare to look back at his masked face, where her own is entirely visible, pale skinned and quite youthful in appearance as well.

"Letting him live is ill-advised." She warns. "But, it's your fate to make. If you put him in a facility with others, they'll likely all take the opportunity to 'gain power' and the disease will thusly spread, and a new army of very powerful monsters will begin."

She looks back to the Lycan and just folds her arms across her stomach now, shifting her weight out to her left foot while her right extend off to the side a bit. "Tell him that death is the best option for you. If you're placed in a facility that you can't hunt from, you're going to be driven mad with the desire. It'll be worse than death at my hand."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man smiles wryly. "You'd be surprised."

A quick pause, then he speaks...but it's plain that it's not to Selene, or the Lycan. "Hey, MJ. And Sonja. Yeah, it's been a few weeks...really? Wow. Listen, I need you to tell your friends at WAND that we have a little werewolf problem. Yeah, think it's something new, though. Sending you a GPS navpoint and a few video and audio files. yeah, this one's kinda nasty. Three of them, but two are burned badly. Got one live one, though. Right, full treatment. Other parties?"

He looked to Selene for a moment. "...No, just me. Yeah, not even a scratch. Okay. Thirty minutes? Fair enough. Toodles."

He nods, then looks back to Selene. "All right...first off, introductions. "I'm your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. I also go by Spidey, Webhead...and a few others I won't share in mixed company. May I have your name?"

Selene Corvinus has posed:
The phone call is listened to, or headpiece call, however you want to label it, all while she just stares at the Lycan in the web. Part of her admires that technology quite a lot, it would come in handy for what she does... considering its clearly strong enough to hold one of these foul beasts in place. Though this was a relatively weak one...

"These aren't werewolves." Selene says after Spider-man introduces himself. "They're called Lycans. They're not from the United States, they've been migrating here for the past five years, looking to add new members to their ranks. Especially those with pre-existing super powers, like Mutants." She pauses, and finally puts her eyes back on to Peter.

"My name is Selene. I am... indeed a Vampire, though also not like the kind you have here in your country." Her eyes go back to the Lycan. "We're from a ... rare strain, with roots in Hungary."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man nods. "Lycans. Lycanthrope. Makes sense." He pauses. "Okay...a vampire. Believe it or not, you're not the first vampire I've met. The other two may not be from your...clan...or whatever, but they certainly have their own personalities. Maybe I can wrangle a meeting sometimes."

He takes a plastic case out of the Spider-Backpack and puts the vials inside it, sticking it back in the pack.

"Okay...since we should probably be fair, go ahead and ask me about anything. I won't lie to you, I promise. If it's a secret, I'll say it is. If I don't know, I'll say I don't know. But I won't lie to you."

Selene Corvinus has posed:
Selene is quiet for a moment after he says these things, she's not surprised by the existence of other Vampires in the United States, it's something she's well aware of, in fact. Her arms do uncross from her stomach however to rest lazily at her sides while she shifts her weight from one foot to the other.

"Will you contact me if you run in to more of these creatures?" She asks him. "Capturing them, it won't work for your people in the end. It may... delay their spread, but it won't stop it. There are much more powerful Lycans than the three you cornered here in your webs tonight. Ones that may even give you a real run for your moneys worth."

"You're a busy... hero, so I've gathered. But you're clearly quite capable too, and likely know this area better than I do. I could use your help with this, but, only if you're willing to work with me on my terms of how to handle these..." She looks back to the one in the web.

She could shoot him.

She's quick. She's a good shot.

She doesn't fully think Spider-man could stop a bullet from going right into the creature's nose.

But, she needs to know he'd not react rashly if she did it. He seems to have resolved himself to her ending the other two, who are now smoldering piles of ash on the alleyway floor.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man looked at her. He took a deep breath.

"I believe in one thing. The appropriate amount of force for the task. If what you say is true about these Lycans, that the only thing they want to do is cause mayhem and death, then I can accept that, and I am willing to help. But if ANY of them depart from that goal, if there are ANY that seem redeemable, then I will take the chance on that, Selene. Fair warning. I cannot give up hope if hope exists. That is a hill I intend to die on, so to speak."

He sighs, then takes out a small plastic bottle. After uncapping it, he pauses and looks to Selene.

"So...to address the 800-pound Lycan in the room...what's your requirement for blood intake? How much do you need every 24 hours?"

Selene Corvinus has posed:
Selene's eyes are on Peter's face now, and he might notice a change has occured in her pupils. Where they were once silver'ish blue, they're now a deep dark brown. At his rundown on his morality toward all of this, and what she might expect from an 'alliance' with him, she just affords the Spider-man a single slight nod.

"Fair." She says to him, doubting he'll ever find a Lycan that is worth his life to be spared though, but she figures that will be learned in experience with them... should the young hero garner enough of it.

At his question about blood, she starts to walk back toward where the male Lycan she'd burned up was laying in a pile of cinders and ash. She crouches down and retrieves that silver spike she'd shoved in to his throat.

As she stands up again she turns to face Spider-man and steps a few paces toward him while unscrewing the silver spike, and pulling it apart. Inside is a glass vial of dark liquid.

"My people have synthesized our own blood. We no longer need to hunt others for it. It's apart of our desire to separate ourselves from the rest of the world..." She looks to the living Lycan then. "Once their line has been eradicated."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man tilted his head. Okay, the fact that they're not tapping innocent bystanders for the food they need is great, and it goes a long way towards putting his sympathies towards them over the Lycans (after what he'd seen them do), but the part about them separating themselves from the rest of the world seems...kinda sad, really.

"Okay...I suppose I can understand, but the rest of the world isn't all that bad. I mean, even the Amazons reconnected with the rest of the world after thousands of years. I'm just some schmuck with a soft heart, yes, but I don't think the world would be all that bad if you decided to get involved with humanity. I mean, we have our good points. Technology, the willingness to improve..."

He holds up the bottle. "We even invent great stuff like this. Iced tea and lemonade." He paused, then asked, "Can you...process normal food, or is that something of a non-starter?"

Selene Corvinus has posed:
Selene recaps the silver spike, screwing it back together before she slides it back in to the cuff off her leather longcoat. She listens to his questions while she stands there and observes the alleyway, not entirely wishing to be here whenever whomever he summoned arrives, admittedly, but she does look back to where Spider-man is, a faint smirk momentarily graces her lips.

"The Amazons haven't had popular culture villifying them for over a hundred years. A 'vampire' doesn't have an easy inclusion into the society that you're proud of." She states, noting the bottle he's indicating.

"Normal food, yes. A number of my people 'process' wine and cake far more than I wish they would." She tells him. "Which is another issue we face. Some of our people are harder to control than others, so separation is easier to help keep harm from coming to innocents. LIke those you... saw killed tonight."

Some of their Vampires still like the 'real thing' is what that translates too.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey chuckled. "We've only given women the right to VOTE only 100 years ago. It's only recently that calling someone an 'Amazon' is considered a compliment. As for vampires...you'd be surprised at the size of the Gothic 'vampire' subculture. They even have vampire clubs now."

He looked around, then added, "I think if you outed yourself as an actual vampire, you'd have people lining up to donate, just for the 'experience.'"

Selene Corvinus has posed:
Selene just shows a faint and brief smile at his suggestion there. "I'll run that past my Elders." She tells him as she starts to walk toward the other side of the alleyway. "Well, since you're taking that one in to custody, I suppose I best be on my way then, Mister Spider." She comes up with her own name for him.5r
As she walks she pulls out a small black and silver business card that she sets down on the top of a trash can sitting by the ashes of what used to be Mara. "My contact information, if you so desire it. If not, do me a favor and make sure it ends up inside of this can, rather than picked up by a random person with a desire to call random numbers."

A look over her shoulder is sent back to Peter then. "Good luck in your endeavors, and watch yourself with that one. I promise you he's more trouble than he's worth..."

the Vampire heads toward her motorcycle and is soon to power it up and speed off unless otherwise stopped.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man watches Selene go, then checks his app. Yep. WAND is inbound.

He smiles to the trapped Lycan as he picks up the card. "Welcome to New York, Chuckles. You're gonna LOVE the Welcome Wagon."