4344/Bludhaven, you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany.

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Bludhaven, you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany.
Date of Scene: 08 December 2020
Location: City Docks
Synopsis: Kamala Khan, The Shadow and a mysterious girl with green hair (Spoiler it's Viv) disrupt a nefarious deal going down at Bludhaven docks. Things get a little mayhem-y.
Cast of Characters: Vivian Vision, Kamala Khan, Natasha Cranston




Vivian Vision has posed:
A strong contender for the least pleasant dockyard in North America for the last five years running Bludhaven City Docks is not the sort of place people visit without a very good reason. Dirty, run down, full of corrupt officials and criminals. It does however still manage to attract many ships thanks to it's singular virtue over Gotham harbour, namely fewer Bat-themed superheroes.

Which brings us to our ship of the day. The Lipovsky, sailing under a Russian flag with a grizzled looking crew that have extensive and very distinctive prison tattoos. The sort of crew who get given a wide bearth even in Bludhaven. As for what the ship is unloading.. well according to the manifest it's agricultural machinery.

Angry seagulls bicker for scraps and a few bleary eyed drunks shamble away from the noise. All in all it's a pretty typical Bludhaven morning. Except of course for the strange girl with green hair and yellow cargo pants who seems intent on approaching the Lipovsky...

Kamala Khan has posed:
Bludhaven Docks also has the distinct previlage of being just seven blocks from Kamala Khan's house, two from her school, and directly in her path from one to the other. The sun is up and the young teenager is headed to her high school with her very good friend Jamal, both of whom are discussing the most recent developments they'd seen on Youtubes CapeGasm, which might be a little trashier, but still offers plenty of insight into the goings on of Super Heroings super world.

"OH man! Yes... I was actually /with/ Hawkeye when she got the call that there was an attack on the Tower!" Kamala says with a big grin, a claim which Jamal seems quite dubious. SURE you were, Kammie... SURE you were... The 2020 teenaged equivilant of pics or it didn't happen.

Obviously she cannot show him the selfie.

Because she used her abilities in this picture.

So instead she must convince him with just her powers of conviction! "No, I was! It's when she was fighting that Mall Santa guy with the Candy Cane swords? Dude I was actually /in/ the news broadcast waving like a dummie... she bought my coffee after."

More eye rolling.

The pair just now coming close to the docks, Kamala in Captain Marvel t-shirt and capries, a lime green winter coat over it, and white sneakers.. and Jamal in his Captain America shirt, hoodie, and slacks.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
        Who knows what evil lurks within the heart of men...?

    When Natasha formally resumed control of Cranston Multinational she cut loose a number of subsidiaries who'd been quietly using her company's aegis to skate out under certain customs formalities and set up a lucrative side business, and her first activities as The Shadow involved exposing the ones that she couldn't pin legally for smuggling. But while that cleaned up her own company, it also left a gap for others to fill in...

    The Mafiya has a well earned reputation for casual brutality, which they use to dissuade would-be competition and law enforcement alike. Pertinent to tonight's events, an otherwise mostly blameless customs official by name of Jake Massey earned their displeasure when he noticed one of his coworkers waiving the Lipovski's manifest without even a cursory check and tried to overrule the decision.

    Fortunately for him, someone else learned about their intent to... Discuss... this with him, and intervened.

    Jake showed back up at work the next day, slightly shaken but none the worse for wear, sporting a nice girasol ring on his left hand... And now, The Shadow Knows...

    Even with the morning sun dispelling the long shadows that let her do her work in secret, the fog is thick enough on the ground to make her life much easier as Natasha made her way to the docks, and she's currently perched on a convenient overhanging beam while studying the shipping efforts with an experienced eye...

Vivian Vision has posed:
As the green haired girl approaches the noise of the docks shifts subtly. The gruff Russian complaints about work replaced with jeers and catcalls in heavily accented English. A few men around the periphery exchange pointed looks. Something about the containers they have just off-loaded seems to have them on edge.

Over at the edge of the dockyard Kamala and her friend might get a hint that something is up. A white van pulls up and several tough looking men get out. One is clearly better dressed than the others and has a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist and the rest all have very bulky coats on that don't quite manage to hide the submachine guns they're carrying.

The mystery teenager approaching the ship finally gets within speaking distance and asks, very politely, if she may inspect the ship for contraband. The crew react as if this was the funniest thing they've heard all year. Laughing so hard the crews of nearby ships glance over and then very quickly make themselves scarce.

The Shadow can likely spot a few of the lookouts shift to high alert as one of the men from the crew walk over to the green haired girl. Whatever she says next is lost beneath the laughter, but suddenly no-one is laughing any more and the busy dockyard gets very very quiet....

Kamala Khan has posed:
With such heated debate betweenx friends in full swing, Jamal all but misses the hint of machineguns visible beneath too tight coats... but Kamala doesn't. Double, then triple taking, she reaches up to grab hold of her besties shoulder and give him a little shake. "Hey... shh..." They take this route to school every day, and while some of these Russians look menacing, most of them are just Russian dudes who can be pretty friendly and amusing...

At least in Kamala's experience, but she's a pretty up beat person.

One of them, Svel, sometimes gives the pair money for cokes when the weather gets a little hotter. It doesn't absolve him of his criminal doings, just means he's not nearly as bad a guy where it pretains to the people he sees everyday. This is a truism amongst almost every form of Mafia on Earth, they get to know the locals. Less so with Eastern European Mafiosos, but again, Kamala is very personable.

With that said?

Guns are bad. "Hey, we should, uh.. we should go." Urging Jamal on, who looks a little surprised but follows the directive push with a nod. Something in the air smells real bad and it's not the rotten docks and old fish washed up on the pier. Nevermind there's a teenager asking people to inspect containers. "Faster." More for his sake, than her own.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Even as the laughter dies away, a sharp voice cuts across the silence in near flawless Russian, seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. "<What would your mothers say to hear such language from your mouths>?"

    A low, sinister chuckle follows. "<The young lady asked you a polite question, scum. Where are your manners?>"

    Natasha moves around the perimeter of the interior, keeping up her shrouding abilities to confuse and conceal her location as she makes her way to the white van -- it'll need to be disabled before she gets to work, or the chief culprits might escape while she deals with the scum. With not one but three apparent teenagers on the scene she's going to have to be a little more drastic than usual -- although, of course, the green-haired one isn't exactly acting /like/ a teenager, and experienced Bludhavenites have learned not to make assumptions...

Vivian Vision has posed:
There's something about the atmosphere on the dock today which, if he were here, would make Svel go take a walk to buy himself a coke too. And that was before the shadows began talking...

Kamala begins hustling to get her friend away from the guns but just catches one of the men from the van talking on a cellphone about how they are 'collecting a new batch of girls'. Could a noble hearted hero ignore innocents in peril?

The Captain doesn't care much for voices from the shadows and, if his crew are getting nervous, decides to lead by example. He pulls back a muscular fist and slugs the Green haired girl square in the face.

There's a sickening crunch. A scream. But not the high pitched scream of a teenage girl, instead it's the Captain who howls in agony. Clutching a ruined hand he calls out "Kill them all! No witnesses." And begins staggering back to the ship.

The girl stands still, hair not even ruffled, even as the goons begin to level weapons at her.

Several goons take up a collection of chains, crowbars and two by fours. While others pull out AKs and begin looking around for the mystery voice. Ready and willing to fire at the slightest hint of an intruder.

Kamala Khan has posed:
"Crap..." Kamala doesn't want to get involved for a number of reasons that all involve, protecting her friend.. "Hey, Jamal, go on ahead okay, I have to go back and get my algebra book. I left it on my desk. Let Ms. Pendle know I'm on my way, though! Fifteen minutes, swear." This is not completely out of the realm of believability, Kamala is usually forgetting something in Jamal's experience! She is also always grounded!

So, while not specifically excited to leave her to walk by the dock alone, is willing to accept that she's done this once or twice before... Besides, his mom would beat the heck out of him if he were to be late for school! So he hustles off. Just be careful, Kammie...

Kammie adjusts the straps of her backpack and looks back the way she'd come, hustling herself to the only place a girl can change in this thick fog:

A port-a-john.

She flings open the first door and nearly vomits before she's even completely inside, "OH my Gosh! That smells like rotten death..." The second isn't much better, but at least there's none of it on the seats.

Besides which she's not sitting down.

Nor really changing besides putting on a bandana with holes cut into it around her face. She's still wearing a Captain Marvel shirt, she's still wearing her lime green hoodie, cream colored capres, and white sneakers.

"Alright..."

She doesn't leap so much as just grow one leg longer to send her up into the air when that leg recoils back up. Both hands grabbing a light fixture to pull her onto it like a rubberband snapping up into the rafters. "What could possibly go wrong? They're only Russian gangsters... with guns..."

Kamala leaps, grabs for another light, and misses! Falling with her arms and legs swinging in wild circles RIGHT into the center of those same goons who were talking about receiving a new batch of girls.

"... Crap.."

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    That raises an eyebrow, although it wasn't entirely unexpected -- it would have surprised Natasha more at this point if the girl /hadn't/ been more than she seemed.

    The other girl - clearly wearing /some/ kind of budget superhero costume - suddenly stretching to ridiculous proportions and propelling herself in the middle of the fray was something more of a surprise, and significantly complicates the threat environment. However, for now at least the guns are still the more immediate threat; she's just going to have to work fast and hope the girl's apparent elasticity will help protect her against blunt objects.

    There's nothing like holding a firearm in poor visibility when there's an invisible enemy around to make people nervous, and if there's one thing the Shadow is good at, it's ratcheting up the tension...

    One of the thugs is already muttering imprecations under his breath about the way this is going. The sudden mocking chuckle /right behind his left ear/ does nothing to ease his nerves, and he spins around with his rifle at the ready, only barely managing to keep from pulling the trigger before he almost shoots one of his compatriots by mistake. Then just as his shoulders begin to sag a fist blurs into existence inches from his face, too close and too fast to dodge, and everything goes black.

    His compatriot spins around at the sound but only sees his partner fall and a hint of mocking laughter carried on the fog. "<Careful with that toy, Ivgeni. Someone might get hurt...>"

    Meanwhile, Natasha is already on her way to intercept and disrupt the next pair of gun-armed thugs...

Vivian Vision has posed:
Briefcase and his four friends are just in the process of hustling for the commotion over by the boat when Kamala lands amongst them. Her flailing arm clocking one in the head, sending him sprawling, and the others turn and raise their guns. Only to realise if they shoot they'll hit each other!

"Boss it's..." He draws a blank. "Capes!" And falls back on the oldgeneric term for a superhero. Briefcase looks exasperated for a moment before yelling "I can see that. Get her!"

Those goons not preyed upon by the Shadow start shooting at Vivian. Ricochets plink off her convincing the melee goons not to charge in and mix things up.

The Captain pulls out a radio with his one good hand and mutters some instructions. His melee goons share a glance and begin pulling back to protect their firearm friends.

A moment later the crane swings overhead and with a CLUNK the container it's holding is released. There's an almighty crash and the green haired girl vanishes. Presumably crushed beneath the container!

Kamala Khan has posed:
Kamala really is a duck out of water.

~A short lesson on the meaning of that description~

A duck glides effortlessly across the surface of the water giving off the illusion that it is a calm experience. Often characterized be gentle ripples out behind the tail feathers... Conversely, beneath the surface the legs of the duck are kicking so furiously as to almost resemble a dog paddling to the surface! The contrast between appearances above and beneath the water, then, becomes a metaphor for something that looks calm, but is actually the very definition of not, at all, calm.

Kamala's right arm snaps out quickly, wrapping around the top of one of the three remaining firearms. Completely engulfing gun, hand, and wrist before yanking backwards. Kind of propelling herself forward with an elongating hind leg towards another. It stumbles the gunman, but doesn't take him off his feet because she's not a very well trained fighter and doesn't understand body mechanics completely. Still...

"No you don't!"

Left hand out to grab Briefcase by the back of his collar, give him a nice yank, and wind up wrapped around him like a Pakistani backpack. "This... is... not what I meant to do!" Using her own shifting body mass to whip him around so the, still three because the first has got his footing back by now, gun men.. are less inclined to shoot at her!

"Hey, stop .. pointing what am I dooooinnng..."

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    One of the armed thugs running to cover their boss never makes it -- a gloved hand wraps around his wrist out of nowhere and /yanks/ just as his feet hit some hitherto unseen object, and a hurried sprint turns into a full-on swan dive facefirst onto the pavement. When he comes to he'll probably need some dental work before he's fit to stand trial, but that's arguably going to be the least of his worries for the immediate future...

    When the container smashes into the ground the billowing fog briefly and vaguely but visibly outines a more or less human shape, but it's already in motion and has moved away before anyone can think to fire -- and then a pair of gunshots ring out and two of the gunmen go down, screaming and clutching the remains of their kneecaps.

    "<That was your one warning. There will not be another. Yield - or suffer the consequences.>"

Vivian Vision has posed:
Briefcase and his buddies don't really know how to deal with the whirlwind that is Kamala. And as she latches onto Briefcase and spins him the case clocks one of the goons and swings open spilling the contents all over the street. Someone cheaped out on his briefcase! Bags of white powder scatter all over the road. Some even split open and the poor goon who got clocked falls over and, from the way he's drooling, isn't getting up anytime soon.

The other two begins circling around the sides. Maybe they can rush her from two directions and club her with their guns! Briefcase meanwhile has gone very pale. The look of a man who just spilled three million dollars street value of cocaine all over the road and knows precisely how badly that'll end for him..

The Russians on the dockyard don't seem intent on giving up. Firing back in the direction of the gunshots and shouting the foulest of Russian sailer profanities. These are men who'll be rewarded for loyalty if they end up in jail or deported but punished severely if they surrender.

Kamala Khan has posed:
That definitely defines the heroic calliber Kamala brings to the battlefield: Accidental.

Spinning Briefcase around knocks out one goon, then drugs him up like an early 80s Florida dance club, but leaves her temporarily vulnerable to flanking manuevers that would be quite effective if this were a game of Total War. Total War, however, lacks the versatility of random serious of events caused by a teenager with super powers that she really isn't fully in control of!

Both her arms uncoil and latch onto the side of the white van and pull briefcase around like a top that goes spinning at one of his guards when she releases her legs grip around his waist. Legs that stretch, squeeze, and then pull her /beneath/ the vehicle and out the other side in the most deadly game of stay on your side ever played!

"Mistakes were made, mistakes were made!"

It just happens that she knocks a rearview mirror off in the process! A rearview mirror she picks up in a rapidly growing palm and hurls at another goon like a trebuchet, smacking him right in the bridge of the nose with just about the same force due to the recoiling nature of her elastic abilities.

"GUH!" <- That's a grunting sound for force multiplication.

"Stay on your side!"

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    That's the problem with the Mafiya - they fear their own bosses more than they fear the Shadow. That can be remedied -- but that's a longer-term action item, and this isn't the time or place. The panic shots are going wild for now, but even if they haven't a prayer of hitting her deliberately sooner or later someone's going to get hurt by accident.

    Another pair of gunshots ring out, another pair of kneecaps shatter -- and as one of the less-armed men turns to look at his fallen comrade, a figure blurs into focus just long enough to grab him from behind and fling him over its shoulder into the rest of the crowd. Those who happen to look in that direction get a quick glimpse of blue eyes over crimson and a black hat before the figure vanishes back into the fog with mocking laughter...

    ... Meanwhile, Kamala hears a voice by hear ear, still distorted but much softer. "Prevent that van from leaving; I'll handle these."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"Don't step on the product you idiots!" Briefcase wails as he spins and collapses. Crawling around trying to scoop up the plastic wrapped bundles of drugs. He doesn't seem intent on fighting at least. While the goon clocked by the mirror clutches at his face and mumbles "She bwoke muh nose."

His unharmed friend decides now is the time to end this. He levels his Uzi and wildly sprays the van with bullets! "I'll show you my side!" Bludhaven Goon school did not include a course on witty banter. They save that for people who might fight Spider-Man.

Over on the ship there's another commotion. Guns firing beneath the deck. Never for very long. Who could it be? Perhaps the Green haired girl? There's certainly no sign she's in the container and by now blood would have begun to pool if she was under it.

Some of the goons failing to find the Shadow make a break for the container. Spotting that one of the wooden crates inside has split open and has a few RPGs in it. Clearly they plan on just blowing up everything in the hope it'll be impossible to dodge!

The remaining goons with guns begins wildly spraying bullets to give covering fire.

In the distance police sirens can finally be heard, even the police here will only ignore a pitched gun battle for so long. Although in Bludhaven it might still be a few minutes before they get here...

Kamala Khan has posed:
There is a very girl, very high pitched, "AH!" That comes from the stretch Kamala.

Whether from the creepy Book of Shadows whispering by her ear, likely, or the uzi ping ping ping into the van behind which she's seeking cover, equally likely... Kamala is not having a very exciting adventure. "This is absolutely like when you try to do exploration in New Vegas and don't follow the /very/ linear route... wind up fighting deathclaws at level 3..." Murmuring to herself.

Her feet plant, growing about nine sizes bigger, and her back presses into /her/ side of the van. As she stretches, grows, and gains relative mass, it tips the van up on two wheels with a groan of protesting axel. Then topples it over on its side completely.

The creepy voice did say keep it from leaving!

Also, it comes pretty close to smashing the guy with the Uzi.

Now if she could just keep herself from growing!

Suddenly standing as tall as three or four crates stacked, Kamala is kind of lost as to how to make her body not keep doing this... more so when she flails, strikes one of those containers, and sends it rocketing towards a group of goons headed for the ship! "OH MY GOSH SORRY!" She's not yelling, she's just nearly 20 feet tall and that makes her pretty damn loud.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Gunfire, shouting, and near total chaos as the girl sends an entire container flying. Underneath her scarf, Natasha can't control a vicious grin as she's in her element -- so many things to keep track of that it's almost child's play to make her enemies miss one crucial detail or another...

    Two gunmen standing close together spin around as one to look at the source of a noise they heard -- and fail to notice what's materializing behind them until the Shadow grabs them and slams their heads together before fading again.

    The two that went for the container and the RPGs inside them suddenly see a tall, cloaked form in front of them, holding a pair of pistols. Two more gunshots later, both are on the ground with shattered tibia as the figure steps past them with a mocking "<Fools>".

    On the ship itself, one gunman is slightly more alert than his comrades and spots the vibration of the gangplank as if someone is rapidly dashing across it...

Vivian Vision has posed:
Uzi goon is /out/. This is so far above his paygrade that when his gun runs dry he just turns and runs for it. Briefcase frantically tries to scoop cocaine up before the wind can blow it away in the vague hope those sirens aren't coming to the docks. And the goon with the broken nose takes one look at the giant Kamala and throws his gun away. The other two goons from the van already having been disabled from injury and drugs respectively.

The crew are running very low on members now. With most of the AK goons either shot or totally out of ammo. Never mind the goons who are seriously rethinking surrender after seeing Kamala hurl a container like a childs toy!

This leaves the Captain at the top of the gangplank to deal with things himself. And of course he isn't the Captain for nothing! He drops the radio and draws his own pistol. Taking a few shots down the narrow gangplank - although his aim is thrown off when the ship violently shudders.

Inside the ship there is a thwump BOOM. One of the RPGs being fired perhaps? Followed by the FZZZT of an energy weapon and a CRASH as a square section of the hull glows white hot and then half the length of a shipping container bursts out the side.

Metal groans in protest as something immensely strong angles the container down. Forming a covered ramp off the ship.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    It's hard enough to aim at something you can't see. When it's also not moving like you expect it to, it gets even worse. The bullets zip off into empty air or strike nothing but gangplank -- and the captain's gun clicks empty just as the Shadow's form materializes right in front of him, already mid-leap...

    The flying kick takes him in the chest and bears him to the deck, where a couple of swift punches to the temple send him unconscious.

    The Shadow rises from their crouch, looking over the remaining goons with a forbidding glare. "Surrender... And live."

Vivian Vision has posed:
With some kind of giant elastic monster throwing shipping containers, a Shadowy force intent on destroying every kneecap in sight who has just punched their leader unconcious, police on the way and who knows what ripping the insides of the ship to shreds the crew reluctantly surrender.

Just in time for a container full of young women to start sliding down the new exit made in the side of the vessel. They babble in a collection of languages & accents mostly from Eastern Europe and rural Russia. Equal parts confused, scared and relieved.

The van gang probably won't get far. None of them can outrun the long legs of Ms Marvel! And even if they could the police are moments away. Probably closely followed by the media, eager to get a scoop for the evening news and tomorrows newspaper.

Of the Green haired girl there is no sign. As if she simply ceased to exist the moment the conflict is over.