4878/Return Of The Shredder: II

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Return Of The Shredder: II
Date of Scene: 25 January 2021
Location: Pearl River Mart
Synopsis: Spider-Man and Mania stop a Jewelry Store robery but the Foot Clan get away with the lid of a burial Urn.
Cast of Characters: Shredder, Peter Parker, Andi Benton




Shredder has posed:
     Pearl River Mart is a place of comfort for a lot of the residents of New York City. It's a place where once one knows what to look for they can find almost anything they need from the shores of China.

     The skies are clear and people mill about enjoying their evenings shopping and spending to their heart's content. Light streams in from the world outside those blue skies in every direction. It's a bit nippy out but nothing one couldn't expect from the season during their shopping sprees.

     In the midst of the Pearl River Mart Stands a shop which has been set up in the recent weeks by a new immigrant. The man behind the counter bounds back and forth one side to the other as he polishes a gemstone in his grasp.

     He turns his radio up a little louder playing 'american' music for the visitors to enjoy during their shopping. Nothing on his little PDA broadcast any newer than the 1940's. Currently he moves his head from one side to the other bobbing in time with the voices of the mills brothers.

     His eyes have faded a milky white and his hair matches just barely as he whistles out into the mostly empty store. Each and every one of the shelves is lined with self proclaimed 'genuine jewelry' Though almost none of it declares what said genuine jewelry is exactly made from.

     His sons watch over the counter and guard the store with simple batons and home made security uniforms, a cheap camera set up in the corner of the shop to watch the place over.

Peter Parker has posed:
Just another day in the city.
Spider-Man wheels around the Chrysler Building to re-orient the trail leading to Chinatown. It's been a good day, and a meal over at the Golden Dragon sounds like a good idea.

And there there is the matter of his compatriot, the always-learning dynamic duo known colloquially as "Mania."
He could not deny Mania was a sharp mind and a tough cookie. Andi's innate intelligence, coupled with the symbiote primitive cunning and power, made for a truly effective team.

So, after Mania had handled a quartet of crooks not half an hour ago flawlessly, he felt treating her to the best Chinese food in town was a good treat.

<Okay...so, while we're on the hunt for the best beef chow mein in Little China, tell me about this new development, Mania.>

Andi Benton has posed:
One of the best ways to get through to someone's happy place is via food. That is no different with Andi and especially Mania, and if chocolate is involved...well, it's a lot safer to deal with than brains. A lot less messy, too.

Andi's had her ups and downs with Mania over most of the past year, but they've been settling into more of a routine. The symbiote has some childish aspects to it, a lot that runs on instinct and want, and Andi's had to make an extra effort to rein a lot of that in. A few times, she's almost gone too far. A few times, someone else has been there to help prevent a line from being crossed that it wouldn't be easy to go back from.

But, this symbiote has not sought to control her to the extent Venom has with Eddie Brock. Eddie himself seemed..weak the last time Andi saw him. Weak, and resigned to being ruled by Venom. She didn't want to end up like that.

Taking care of the quartet of hoodlums was child's play for Mania by this point. It didn't even take extra effort before they were wrapped up and bound. The first time Spider-Man saw Andi, she'd been helpless against a handful of members of a youth gang. That was before Mania. Now, 'helpless' is not a word one could apply to the duo, the bond of symbiote and host. With food the reward, the black and white figure swung after Spider-Man through the city, en route to the place Spider-Man had in mind.

"There were a bunch of Foot Clan, and this tengu that was really tall, and we fought them with a couple of mutants. One was a dog, and the other was a raptor. We remember the dog's name. It was Kainashi. But we forgot the other one. There were some people that they left for dead and we helped them for the ambulances, but then there were some people coming out of the building with someone who looked like a scientist, and we were about to throw down, but the cops got close and they all took off," they explain.

Shredder has posed:
     The skies begin to darken over Pearl River. From clear to bleak in a matter of seconds. It starts slow but rain has come to the region pouring down first soft but rapidly building worse by the moment.

     From the densely packed rush hour traffic several cars break off from the mass. General traffic sliding from one lane to the next as they move into position on every side of an 18 wheeler loaded down heavy on its front end the face of a goblin with a gormless grin. Down the side of the truck read the words Happy Toyz in bright and friendly colors.

     To the front and back of the truck are chromium plated pitch black cars and trucks of a half dozen varieties. Then down and round they roll to the back roads of Chinatown.

     The driver of the Happy Toyz Truck throws his hand up to the horn and pulls it down deep letting out a loud wailing sound which echoes far and wide through the traffic summoning yet more pitch black traffic out of the mix.

     Down on the ground the shopping's done while the shopping is good people chatter and chitter about their nine to five working through those wallets filled to the brim burning with a bit too much cash.

     The little old man behind the counter of Old Country Jewlery zooms in and out his little scope on a bright red diamond his milky eyes unable to see a thing as he offers a bit of a smile setting it down onto the counter, as a small trickle of customers roll their way in.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey nods. He might even know one of them, but Mania doesn't like the headset, so he doesn't have pictures.

Spidey is about to mention something to that effect when he gets that low, unpleasant tingle, the Something-Is-Not-Right level of Spider-Sense. He looks around as they pass over the market, but doesn't see anything...
...YET.

<Mania, let's stop here. I'm getting a tickle of the Spider-Sense, and I'm a little concerned. We can wait a few minutes here. Hope it's just a false-positive...>

Spider-Man vaults up to one of the roofs overlooking the market.
<Mania, do you see anything strange...?>

Andi Benton has posed:
It's unclear just how Mania's own danger sense works. Well, unclear to everyone but Mania and Andi. The symbiote doesn't have eyes literally everywhere, but it as good as sees in all directions, capable of spotting someone coming up from behind as easily as from the front. How it works in regard to unseen threats or weirdness, it may not be quite the same as it is for Spider-Man.

The darkening skies, the rain, the other things starting to go on below..she pauses, clinging to the side of a building before scaling the final story or two so she can perch at the top. "Something feels off, but we can't figure out what," comes the answer. "We probably aren't going to be eating as soon as we thought, are we?" symbiote and host both lament.

Shredder has posed:
     The driver of the truck takes one last drag of his cigar running it down to a stub. He reaches up to the sun blocker and pulls it down into place for a moment. A blonde girl no older than 6 looking him in the eyes from a faded photograph. He kisses two of his fingers and presses them up to the mouth of the photograph before suddenly swerving the wheel to the right hand side at full speed.

     From above one could see the semi slam hard into the chinatown walls bricks falling in every direction before the truck jack-knives tearing itself in two while it rolls onto its side.

     Dust and debris is kicked in every direction as the black cars begin to block off the other road one bumper lining up with the next in perfect timing down to the second with the wrecking of the semi truck.

     A nearby fire hydrant smashes open spilling water in all directions as out from the midst of panel vans and sewer grates spring men dressed in pitch black armor one red band across the eyes and another across the waste.

     They seem to come from every angle one can imagine pouring out like an ocean and into the front end of the Pearl River Mart as the skies blacken further the rain turning to a downpour.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey is about to answer when it all happens at once.
<Sealed off the exits. Chaos created. And LOOK WHAT WE GOT HERE, IT'S NINJA.>
Spidey fired a webline. <Lunch has to wait!>
And in the next moment, he is swinging down into the fray, going after the group of ninja.

Ladies and gentlemen, the cleanup crew has arrived!

Andi Benton has posed:
And there it is. The moment. The semi turns intentionally into the walls, causing a significant amount of damage by the time the truck splits apart from the impact and damage. With the black cars moving in immediately afterward in sync, Mania calls it out. "This is not an accident."

Sure enough, here come the Foot Clan ninja. "Really? These losers again?" she scowls, or one might assume a scowl based on the narrowing of the white eyes and the stiff reaction as she rises. "Try not to get yourself hurt," she follows up for Spider-Man, as if poking at him a bit.

As for Mania, she dives down and sends out globs of webbing that stick to a few faces, getting caught up with some of their weapons, sticking to bind legs together. Slow them down. That's the ticket.

Shredder has posed:
     Just a glance at these men show that most are far from the best and brightest in the world. Most had barely gotten their uniforms before going into combat. They know the basics of how to throw a punch and kick but that's about all.

     Some reach to their faces trying to rip off the webbing only to find their hands stuck to their faces falling down to the floor in writhing piles. Others rush forward thrilled to fight and die for a cause they believe. Not a single one is armed with a gun, no not one dare bring such a weapon. Instead you will find a sea of Tonfa, shuriken, staves, nunchaku, and other traditional weapons mixed with the occasional katana.

     In Spite of their lack of training there's a fire in these men that is lacking in the average Foot Clan soldier. Something has inspired them, lit a blazing inferno that's made them willing to die for.

     The tide is already slowed somewhat by the initial assault but there's no fear in the hearts of these young men, as they rocket forward. One man takes a swing towards Spider-man with a simple katana, an overhead strike easily predicted even without spider senses, but he sends it with a fire and passion as she shouts out his cry.

Peter Parker has posed:
Even without the KAAIIII yell (meant to focus power), Spidey saw it coming and webbed up the blade with one shooter and webbed up its wielder with the other, sticking him to a wall.

<Cannon fodder. Like cultists without training.> Spidey looked around to try and determine where they were headed. <Following the flow. Follow when you can, we can try to nip this in the butt before they get to wherever they are going!>

Andi Benton has posed:
Mania swings and weblines her way to the sides of the buildings to keep herself above the fray, both literally and figuratively. Getting stuck in the middle of that again is not something she's eager to do, but the top-down perspective also gives her a better view of Spider-Man and whatever situation he's in, allowing her to send out another line of webbing at someone getting too close to his blind side while he's caught up with someone else. Spider-Sense or not, what if you can't stop all attacks?

"They might be a distraction, but they might be after something, too." Or someone? Her knowledge of the Foot Clan is very limited - she'd done a search online after the last encounter - but this many at once, trained ninja or not..it's not for nothing. There is a purpose to it all.

Shredder has posed:
     Inside the mall proper people are already scattering the best they can moving in one direction and another. It's chaos in every direction except not quite every direction. In the crowds fleeing towards any exit they can find still remain a few who split off from the group, locals dressed in plainclothes ducking themselves beneath the crowds.

     A young woman no older than 8 pulls out from her hello kitty backpack a set of screwdrivers and passes it up towards a much older woman whom she had not come with who kneels beside the grate and begins to unscrew it one screw at a time.

     One of the local construction workers fleeing passes his paint mask along the way into her hand while he runs towards the back door shouting in chinese for others to follow him to the fire exit. Many civilians follow him right to freedom.

     The little girl places her mask on her face and in the process ties a small length of cloth against her forehead at the center a red footprint right in the midst of her forehead before she begins to crawl into the vent.

     Once inside the ventis replaced the civilians falling back into the crowd.

     Outside the fighting is pure chaos in every direction. Local security have all moved towards the front of the building in an attempt to stop the waves of looters wreaking havoc on the building as they make their way further into the building.

     Inside of Old Country Jewelry the security are already preparing themselves at the chaos out front. They lower the shutters on their rental space locking them into position and begin to seal up the various display cases. So preoccupied are the group that they don't notice the light clattering of something moving overhead.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man does a quick Internet pull of the floorplan from the NYC Hall of Records website and does a quick rundown, all while he is hopping over the crowd, some of them taking pictures.
He sees the name pop up a moment before he determines where the flow of goons is going. But it looks like they are sealing it already...

Something's wrong here.
Spider-Man makes one final jump, landing on his back and butt and sliding along the floor and under the shutter before it closes.
People blink as he stands up. "Don't mind me. Just your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!"

<Mania, they're going for this store, but I have no idea why. This attack stinks of a diversion. Keep an eye out for any others that look suspicious.>

Andi Benton has posed:
Mania does not know enough about these kinds of things to suspect whatever Spider-Man's working out, but he's obviously got something in mind given where the Foot Clan traffic is headed. From her perspective, it's just a bunch of beginner-level goons providing distractions. Hardly even worth fighting straight up this time, aside from keeping them from hurting others. That's mostly what she's focusing on now, crowd control and safety.

"Everyone dressed like that looks suspicious," she says. At least she's agreed to having voice communications up, if not the entire Spider package. "What store?"

Shredder has posed:
     There's raised voices all talking over each other at once, and not a single one in english as spider-man manages to slide in just as one of the guards manages to lock the shutters into place. <Look it's Antman!> One of them calls out with a smile only to be corrected. <No, it's Superman> Another one calls out over the first. <How did you get in here?> <He's so fast.><Flash?>

     "Spider-Man" The guards say in unison, clearly not having been in NYC for particularly long at all, to not recognize Spider-Man immediately.

     At the back the elderly man sets atop his comfortable chair stacked high with pillows, and several phone books to make himself the tallest man in the room. He looks over in the vague direction of the sound and calls out in Chinese. <I told you it was too early to close.> A smile crossing his face as he gives an apologetic nod of his head.

     Then would trigger the spider sense something above going wrong. Soon after the makeshift bomb would drop down out of the overhead vent. Designed to fill the entire room with a deadly gas.

     Outside the majority of the Foot Clan have been mopped up fairly handedly leaving a number of people webbed to the side of buildings, their own faces, and their own weapons in various directions as a few stragglers manage to make it to the doors of the Old Country Jewelry grabbing out the cutters ready to take the store down for themselves.

Peter Parker has posed:
And THERE is the Spider-Sense, in top form, going like a four-alarm fire as he sees the object drop out of the vent.

<Old Country Jewelry! Get people back from it we have a gas bomb in here!>

He swiftly covers the object in webbing, but that is only going to delay the inevitable. He yanks it towards him and calls out, "Windows to the outside! Where!?"

Holding the webbed-up bomb over his head, he wondered idly if Batman ever had to worry about this sort of thing...

Andi Benton has posed:
There is an audible sigh over the comms. Mania gripes, "Because of course there's a bomb." Gas, shrapnel, bug, nuclear, whatever it is, bombs are usually not a good thing to say the least. "Some are trying to break in. We will clear the area. What else do you need us to do?" the black-clad friend to the spiders asks.

Finally, she drops down into what's left of the fray, no qualms about roughly handling the ones with the cutters who are attempting to break in, physically grabbing and throwing them aside. That's when the mouth with so many sharp teeth takes shape, leading to her turning to face those nearby as she makes herself look more menacing. "Get away from here now if you know what's good for you, or we will make you wish you ran when you had the chance!" It's only a threat...right?

Shredder has posed:
     "Window" The old man repeats once. He mulls the word over in his head as the ball of webbing in Spider-Man's hands grows larger by the moment. He looks dead ahead not seeing what's going on right in front of himself. "Window." He repeats again. <Do we have any windows in here?> He asks his son's working security still not quite understanding the situation.

     The guards look around for a moment before moving over towards the front door of the shop they had just finished sealing backup to protect themselves from potential thieves. They work quickly throwing open locks and throwing open the doors only to be greeted with about 10 members of the Foot Clan, a Symbiote, a cutting torch, and an empty mall.

     In the chaos of the moment the vent in the back room opens slowly, before being sat to one side. From the depths crawls the little girl still wearing her hello kitty backpack. She walks silently with the grace of a ninja using the shadows and the chaos of the moment to her advantage, her small frame keeping her out of view. Of all things she takes the lid of a ceremonial urn containing the ashes of the man's wife, during the shouting, and places it inside of her pack.

Peter Parker has posed:
The webbed-up bomb gave an unsettling pulse, and he gave up.
"If you don't have a window, YOU DO NOW!" He went to the wall the floorplan showed led to the outside and PUNCHED the wall.
Drywall and brick and mortar gave way and he cleared a hole big enough for the bomb, then shoved it through. "Everyone DOWN!" he called out, blocking the hole with his torso.

Because some days are just like that.

Andi Benton has posed:
Spider-Man is not the only one thinking fast. After clearing the way in front of the building, Mania hears the new window or door being opened up in the side of the shop, at which point the webbed-up bomb is cast into the alley. A moment later, one of Mania's hands extends, arm stretching out in a way that is not humanly possible. The hand changes into more of a scoop a jai alai player would wear, if compared to something else that's similar, and the arm draws back in to swing around and send the bomb up into the sky at least a few hundred feet. "Duck and cover!"

Shredder has posed:
     And up it goes high into the air, and the day is saved! The ball explodes high in the air showering the sky in a sickly purple mist which dissipates into the black clouds as something flies overhead in the darkness watching a blackened streek more than anything else.

     The little girl zips her bag back shut and crawls her way back into the vent vanishing with her misbegotten gaines leaving no one any the wiser.

     The Foot have been bested and it looks like the Jewlery has been saved! Another days justice delivered safe and sound by the heroic efforts of New York Cities finest folks.

     Outside it sounds as if the police are already on their way to assist in salvaging the situation out front and rounding up the Ninja who staged this little attack, and this time it looks as if most of them haven't even done their typical vanishing trick! All and all a good haul of criminal scum right off of the street.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man sighed, then looked over to the shutter. <It looks like whatever they were after, they didn't get, Mania. But I don't know what they were after. Were they going to rob the place?>

Spidey sighed. <Jameson's going to have a field day with me punching through a shop's wall.> He smiled apologetically to the one behind the counter. "Sorry..."

Andi Benton has posed:
Mania's eyes squint at the aftermath of what took place in the sky. Who knows what that cloud of gas might have done if it reached anybody down below? But that's not the only reason she's staring up that way, the hand slowly returning to normal.

"We see you, you creepy fuck. Flying around like that. You're lucky we can't fly too," she says, the dual voice laced with a threat of what they'd do if they could just get their hands on the tengu. Because that's what they're convinced they just saw. Spider-Man might've picked up on some of that, if not all of it.

...what /if/ Mania could actually fly? It hasn't been attempted before.

//We think we can make wings if you want them, Andi.//
<<Yeah, and then we'd just..wait, what? Since when?>>
//Since you just thought about it. We can try later.//

Now she turns to the hero in red and blue. "You know they opened the door, right? Now can we go get some food? Fighting these losers has us hungry. And we have something to practice later." Whatever could Mania mean by that?

Shredder has posed:
     The little old man hops down off of his tall chair for a moment and walks over towards the vase on the ground. He grabs it with both hands and struggles to get himself back up to the level that he was at.

     <Grandfather allow me to help> One of the guards offers only to have his hand slapped as the tiny man clamours his way back into his sitting position setting the vase down onto the counter. "I am not the one you have to be sorry to." He slides the now lidless urn across the counter, the blind man speaking with a very thick accent.

     There's a gasp which fills the room as the guards take in sight of the urn noticing the absence of the ornate topper leaving the ashes in the open air along with the photograph of the elderly woman at the base. <Grandfather the lid is gone!>

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey turned at the note of alarm that's in the man's voice. Something happened and he missed it, and it sounds important. "Uhm...sorry, in English. What's missing, exactly?"

Andi Benton has posed:
Between the time Mania threatened the tengu and spoke to Spider-Man, the mouth had faded away to leave her back to what passes for normal. She keeps back while the others present figure out things are not quite right with something inside, not setting foot in the place herself. Spider-Man can deal with it.

Shredder has posed:
     "My wifes urn?. Desecrated." The old man looks furious and mournful as he feels the place where the lid should be himself. His hands wind up running through the ashes. His expression goes flat as his voice. Eyes close as he takes in a deep breath. <We will contact the Traids, this will not stand> He states firmly. <Even if it takes every coin I possess justice must have its price paid.> There is a hatred in his voice as the man speaks in mandarin towards the guards who nod with stoic expressions.

     The atmosphere of the place appears to have changed somewhat more even then when it appeared that the place was going to be robbed. "So much I can buy new, with insurance, but this urn was one of a kind."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey frowned. <Mania, I think you better go ahead. I think a robbery DID happen, and we missed it. I'm going to take some pictures, and meet you there, okay?>

Andi Benton has posed:
Crossing her arms, a somewhat uncomfortable expression shows in Mania's eyes as she shifts her weight from side to side. This is...awkward. The eyes then convey a sense of sympathy, but she says nothing more. Instead, she merely nods once to Spider-Man and takes a few steps back, then weblines her way out of the area en route to the place they'd originally planned on eating at. Lots of conflicting thoughts going on in her head right now.