5296/The Great Trains Robbery

The Great Trains Robbery
Date of Scene:	21 February 2021
Location:	25 miles north of NYC where a major train junction and high way junction intersect
Synopsis:	All bad guys captured. All loot saved. No one injured.
Cast of Characters:	Jovian Anderson, Gwen Stacy, Steve Rogers, Natasha Cranston
Tinyplot:	[[Log Tinyplot::Fortune and Glory]]

---

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Jovian sits in the first class passenger seat of the car, wondering why he is here. He doesn't normally do meeting son trains, he isn't an Agent of Shield or Mission Impossible or any such thing, you send him an email for a bounty or a job and he does it. Sometimes you meet at a person's house...a train?

He sits wondering when a slick lawyer in a $20K suit sits down across from him and says, "Mr. Anderson?"

"Yes?"

"Good, very glad to meet you. I wanted to verify, was this you?"

He shows Jovian with a fabrige egg in his hand in a bank, looking into a camera and saying "I claim ownership of this Egg"

Jovian blinks and shakes his head,"I mean, it was me, but it was my doppleganger..."

"Excuse me...what?" The lawyer looke cross.

"It wasn't me, just someone who..."

The Lawyer sighs, "Very well. And where is this...'doppleganger'?"

"Dead." Jovian's voice is tight.

"Oh?" The lawyer seems ghoulishly chipper,"Well good. Excellent, that makes you the closest to ...next of kin?"

"I....guess? What is this about?"

"An opportunity Mr Anderson, one not seen in a hundred years...." he leaned forward and smiled..."Here's what I mean...."

In another car in the train, a man in a Yellow Fedora gets up and starts walking to the back. He looks at his watch and nods, pressing "Send" in a text so that not that far away 4 uniformed masked thugs drive up in two hot rods beside an armor car driving at 70 miles an hour. An immediate distress call is placed out for any aid, law enforcement or super hero that can help. This car is carrying particularly valuable beribonds" said car is only 10 minutes away from where the train passes right under the interstate. On the train, the man in the yellow Fedora smiles to himself, checking his watch and a GPS on his phone.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
After the robbery that took place a few days back Gwen has been tracking the 'one that got away', or in this case Typewriter. Not exactly the type of villains she went after, mages not being her go-to. But being a friendly neighborhood Ghost Spider meant she had to end this before the man continued his assaults.

Rumors and investigation had made her be at this train today, something was going to come down here. She was dressed in a sweater, tight yoga pants and sneakers. Underneath she had her Ghost Spider suit but it wasn't exactly one that let her go around unnoticed. So she was sitting on a carriage not far down from where Typewriter and Bolo are at, fiddling with her phone, looking up and down the lane.. Yet it's when her danger sense starts flagging up that she springs up to her feet. Something is going down.

Gwen starts walking down the lane, hands in her pockets and towards the source, brows furrowed as tension rises.

"Ok, Gwen. You can take on a mage can't you? Sure you can." she murmurs to herself.

Steve Rogers has posed:
In the skies a few dozen miles away, the contrails of a plane are drawing a line of white across the sky. No government mind control chemicals being injected into the air thankfully, so the tinfoil hat wearers needn't worry. But the plane is an unusual, a quinjet with the Avengers logo on it.

Within the plane, Steve Rogers is leaning against the back of the pilot's chair, while one of the technicians who help maintain the craft is in the pilot chair. "Notice how it doesn't roll the same amount to each side? It's fine for flying, but should we have to take it into combat," Steve says to the man as the pilot banks the plane to the left and to the right, finding what Steve had said. There are inconsistent amounts of turn for equal amounts of stick movement.

"Yep, I can feel that. We can take a look, probably the-" the pilot is saying, when a red on the console comes on with a beeping.

Steve leans forward, looking at the console. "An alarm," he says, and flips a few switches to bring up more information to the screen. "An armored car sending for help. Get me down there," Steve says, moving further back into the plane. He is just in civilian clothing, but has a costume in the plane. "Glad I brought my shield," he says as he begins hurriedly changing.

The quinjet banks over and begins descending towards the armored car tens of thousands of feet below.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
        Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of Man?

    The distress call comes as no surprise to Natasha; while Typewriter has been enjoying a spate of typical beginner's luck, he has a great deal yet to learn about operational security -- which is why she also knows about his designs on the cargo carried on the train -- and why 'Jenny' got on at the most recent stop with a tattered gym bag full of gear that no one paid much attention to.

    News of the distress call is pinged to her phone, and she takes her cue and heads into the restroom for a quick change.

Black suit, scarf, greatcoat, cloak, hat, guns... And with a twist of will, the Shadow fades from perception before heading back out into the carriage, ready to act when the primary players show their hand.

Jovian Anderson has posed:
The truck gets closer to the giant red X, and Typewriter smiles to himself of what he's thought of this time around. He reaches down to his wrist and types "C"....

"What do you mean," Jovian asks vaguely wondering if he should be bending spoons with his mind, "That the egg was an invitation?"

"I mean just that Mr Anderson, if you accept it, millions and millions of dollars can be yours, but you have to find it, and if you do, invitations will be sent to others. You'll get a leg up, but nothing after all, is free."

"What's the catch?" This is just surreal...Jovian is completely clueless of the crimes going on around him and does not even notice the phone message inviting him to help the truck approaching rapidly.

The highly athletic gang membes leap from the car and bolt on to the side of the truck, and begin climbing up as they climb up and see the quinn jet slowly descending. One of them swears. "Abort?" one of the drivers asks.

"We can't. We're not being PAID for the dang truck...."

The trains run on time in the North East US, they're slick, they are nice, and they are very posh. And yet they get a chance to learn how other countries run their trains as a sudden swarm of violet portals appear and dozens and dozens of VERY VERY confused chickens suddenly plop down on the floor feathers akimbo. Typewriter smiles to himself and moves towards the back of the car as shrieks of confusion panic and outrage hit the passenger car.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
What is it with this guy and animals?! That's what Gwen is thinking when those chickens pop up and start creating chaos. But it tells her she is in the right place. And now it was time to hunt, but first....

Gwen opens a side door to a passenger's cabin, finding it thankfully empty and steps in. Time to change. Unfortunately one of those chickens also pursues her in there, squawking and getting feathers everywhere.

"Okay Gertie.." Yes, she named the chicken. "... Gwen has to change.." she starts getting out of her sweater and pants, stuffing them swiftly into her backpack. While at the same time dodging beaks and claws from the confused chicken. Tense!

She does *eventually* get herself dressed up, hood up, mask on, webshooters in place. Ghost Spider was ready! Time to-- OW! Gertie beaks her hand hard.

"I thought we were starting to become friends, Gertie.." she slips out of the cabin and starts running through the chaotic cars, dodging and jumping.

"Excuse me, Spider coming through." acrobatic moves to dodge both chickens and passengers. She shoots a web up to the ceiling and uses it to push herself up, swinging across..

Steve Rogers has posed:
As the quinjet descends, Cap moves and opens the ramp at the rear of the plane. He grab hold of the edge of the doorway there and leans out, timing things as the pilot uses the vertical thrusters to slow the plain to about the speed of truck. Moving just a little faster than it and overtaking it.

"Perfect," Steve Rogers replies, glancing over his shoulder towards the pilot and technician. "And thanks for looking at that yaw problem." And then he jumps out, timing his leap to fall and land on the roof of the armored car with a loud clang.

Captain America crouches to help reduce the wind tugging at him as the armored car keeps driving. "Gentlemen," Steve says to the gang members who have similarly boarded the armored car. "I think you maybe have this mistaken for a Metro Transit Authority bus? If so, please return to your vehicle immediately."

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Admittedly, the sudden chickens are a surprise the Shadow hadn't seen coming, but aside from the sudden chaos they aren't much of a threat -- and in fact, they serve to illustrate her quarry, who is the only one /not/ reacting with shock and confusion at the appearance.

    The addition of a white and black spider-person swinging from the ceiling brings a brief smile underneath her scarf - it's always heartening to know you aren't alone. But first... A slight moment of karmic justice.

    Chickens aren't exactly some of Nature's deep thinkers. Their minds aren't terribly complicated -- especially not to someone who can cloud the minds of fully conscious humans. All it takes is some concentration, some focus.... And one by one, each chicken becomes convinced that the biggest, juiciest, tastiest corn cob they have ever seen is walking toward the back of the car, and they are suddenly all very hungry...

Jovian Anderson has posed:
What Typewriter lacks in opearational security he makes up for in tactical brilliance. He anticipated heroes on the train and has an observer in every car to alert him if a hero appears. UNfortunately, that happens at precisely the moment the chickens start pecking the exceptionally delicious Shag Carpet like it is the best thing ever. Try not to think about the poor janitors on this train...

Typewriter curses and reaches for his wrist to type "G"

Jovian may not be as observant as others, but he can't NOT notice a whole bunch of freaking chickens appear out of nowhere and is suddenly shrouded in nothing but darkness since he simply doesn't have TIME to suit up and several chickens are bolo'd in darkness constructs before the mind control happens and

...The Lawyer says, "AHEM, Mr Anderson," he says discretely, "REALLY I think the magician should be your target NOT the livestock, oh and do you accept?"

"What? Sure." Jovian looks up to see The Shadow and Ghost Spider approaching the conjurer who realizes that he is vastly outnumbered, FORTUNATELY for him he IS a conjurer of cheap tricks

G is for ...GANG

As 10 hoodlums show up via silver portal disk, looking super angry and super confused, "What the..."

Typewriter points at the heroes, "They did it!"

The gang does not look happy as Typewriter moves into the cargo car.

MEanwhile on the Armored Car....

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? CAPTAIN FREAKING AMERICA?"

"You're the best Mr America."

"....Captain."
"AL?! Manners!"

"It's Captain. He is an actual-"

Typewriter shrieks over the comm, "Would you STOP arguing about the History Channel and activate the contingeny?"

"I dunno Mr Typewriter sir, the ball bearings in this traiffic..."

Both of the cars get over ridden remotely as the trunks open and a dozen ball bearings open all at once, and shockingly, the men leap OFF the armored car and ON to the one driven by the gang. They manage to stop one, but the other opens sending ball bearings onto the crowded high way.

Apparently being polite DOES matter.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Woah, controlling them too? If this was Gotham I am sure they'd call you Chicken-Catcher!" In homage to the great Rat-Catcher. Gotham and it's names for villains! But Gwen doesn't seem to realize they are being controlled by Nat instead. Sneaky!

She is just about to catch up when ..., hoodlums?! She drops to the ground right in front of them, opens her hands to the sides. "Guys, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation to all of this..." She tosses a punch to the first hoodlum to send him sprawling, a snapkick on the second and then she jumps up and over, trying to go past to continue her pursuit. No courtesy! But these guys are hoodlums. One way or another they deserve a beating!

Argh, if only she gets a clear shot at those hands!

She dodges and weaves attacks as if she was in a Matrix movie, making sure to not be there when the gang members try to hit her and at the same time continuing on to the cargo car.

"Hey Bolo, how about some backup eh?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
The men jump back from the armored car to their vehicle, and for a moment Steve thinks maybe this is going to be an easy one. Not that he can let them drive off, but at least the threat to the drivers of the armored car has been removed.

The sound of those truck doors clanging open and the ping of thousands of ball bearings releasing onto the highway causes Captain American to whirl around. He has enough time to let out a sigh and mutter, "Oh-" before the armored car hits the ball bearings, spinning out of control and cutting off whatever word Steve had chosen to express the current situation.

Steve grabs ahold of the edge of the roof as the armored car spins around haphazardly, bounces off another car that is also losing control, and then hits a guardrail. While it bounces off the guardrail, the impact is enough to send Steve flying as he loses his grip. He hits the grassy median, bouncing once and then coming down on his shield, sliding across the grass on it like it were a disc sled.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Seeing a shadow move on its own can be disconcerting enough. Looking at it while it seemingly pulls away from the wall and solidifies, going from two-dimensional to three, is downright unsettling. The Shadow stands still for a moment longer to let the mooks get the full impression, but when Gwen starts swinging, so does she.

    To most people, a train carriage would be considered an inconveniently cramped space to have a fight in -- but the first thing that parkour teaches is that there's no such thing as an obstacle, only opportunities. She pushes off, using an armrest as a boost to bounce off the headrest of the next bench for momentum, landing a spinning kick to the head of the nearest mook, rolling with the impact to come up with a straight punch to the solar plexus of the next one, then takes the third into an arm lock and uses the leverage to slam his head against the nearest convenient hard surface before glancing at Gwen. "You're more maneuverable and faster. I'll keep this party going; get to him and make sure to web his hands so he can't use them. Go!"

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Bolo nods to Natasha....not that she would see that in a giant glob of darkness, but he adds, "Yes. I'll help back here." Of course, he could easily PHASE through the gang members who are NONE too pleased at Gwen's punchingness and really want to attack her until HOLY @#$@#$#$ as the shadow steps out of the wall. One of the gang members says, "That's....that's the SHADOW!"

"What the hell is that?!" The gang member asks as the bolo made of darkness sweeps out and wraps him up followed by a quick punch to the face and a rapid bolo beyond it. One attacks Jovian who instantly phases out and the gang members, despite outnumbering Natasha and Jovian 5 to one...well...4.5 to one are FREAKED OUT

Should she try, Gwen is able to bypass the guards with relative ease though Typewriter is able to chuckle to the NINE guards watching the chemicals with fully automated assault rifles in tactical gear, "People assume I'm just a conjurer, but...that works both ways."

"HALT! Who goes the-" and...

B is for BYE as the nine guards suddenly find themselves right next to Captain America and the Armored Truck...the guards are, to say the least, highly disoriented, and Typewriter is about to wish he had saved that trick for Gwen...

Meanwhile, the Lionfire Gang is torn, and arguing amongst themselves. Half want to drive off and half want to rob the truck like they were paid to do. The leader, Drake, finally ends the argument, "If this was anyone else, we'd use the laser rifles...but it's CAPTAIN AMERICA..."

"So what, you want us to stop and direct traffic?!"

"Holy @#$@#$ NINE guards just appeared next to Captain America!!"

"Typewriter sold us out that bastard! Hit it! Get us out of here!"

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Oh, sure. Recognize the Shadow and not Ghost Spider! "I need to work more on my brand recognition..." she mutters just as she gets out of the way of a punch, making it so the thug hits his friend. Close quarters! Anything goes! But with reinforcements coming she rolls past and through the thugs, a thumbs up given to the Shadow. "On it!"

And holy ****. Those guards were just whisked away. Not bad, but there's no way that she will be letting the man continue this. "Hey, Typewriter.." she starts running, throwing herself forward, "Ever thought about upgrading from a typewriter to, I dunno ..., a keyboard?" sure, taunt the big bad mage.

But that's how Gwen rolls, taunting to keep them off balance!

She starts with a flying kick, propelling herself from a nearby seat, aiming to keep those hands away from the tattoos!

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve is running back to the armored car which has come to a halt, as have most of the cars on the highway, whether on the road or having slid off of it, when suddenly nine armed men appear from nowhere nearby.

Cap lifts his shield and prepares to fight them when one of the holds up his gun. "Captain America!? How'd we get here. We were on the train," he says, and just then the train on the tracks not too far distant gives a pull on its horn, drawing Steve's attention that way. The guard finishes, "Someone teleported us out here, was after our cargo!"

Steve frowns and sees the truck of bad guys starting to back away. He moves over to a guard, pulling his gun out of his hand and using it to put one round after another into the truck's engine. About the time the clip runs out, so has the truck, the engine sputtering and dying.

Captain America hands the gun back. "That truck has men who were trying to rob the armored car. Detain them, and I'll go see to the train," he says. He doesn't wait for an answer, taking off sprinting and angling his way up towards the railroad tracks, running as fast as a car if not quite at highway speeds. He can't stick around to talk to the guards further.

He has a train to catch.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
In cramped quarters like these, numbers aren't as much of an advantage as they could be... But even if they were, they still wouldn't be /enough/ of one to outweigh how badly the mooks are outclassed.

     Worse, from the mooks' point of view, is that they have to divide their attention -- their boss might need backup, but the moment one turns to pursue Gwen he's grabbed from behind, spun and thrown bodily into one of his colleagues, knocking both out of position and right in the path of Bolo's next attack...

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Bolo sends out another Bolo, made of darkness wrapping the goon and punching another in the face. The gang tries to spread out....but there is one detail everyone forgot about...while mind controlled to be calm a full blown FLOOR combat rouses the chickens which confuses the guards to no end. Between Natasha's combat prowess and Jovian's ability to phase through the chaos, the heroes are taking out the mooks and the gang is not being very effective. Finally, morale breaks and they start to retreat...

Granted, this is toward Typewriter and Gwen but....

"Ghost Spider...this IS a keyboard, QWERT-" he shouts in concern as she does a flying kick at ludicrous speed and he sort of dance steps with the clicking of keyboards back and makes a block but as she lays in blow after blow he is finding it hard to reach his wrist. He can hold his own in combat and seems to match her point for point, but cant make contact until the hat is knocked from his head and the odd "Clacking" noise stops and his combat skills go down.

Three spotters in the train stand up and move towards the back, edging around the gang and chickens and....well OK they're edging slowly.

Typewriter moves one of the barrels of noxious chemicals with all kinds of dangerous hazard warnings on it and looks about to kick it.

The Train Guards out gun the gang 9 to 4, and shot guns to full milspec assault gear.

The Lionfire gang throws up their hands and are rapidly zip tied.


Without a stunt double, Captain America is able to move on to the freeway and drop down on the train at PRECISELY the moment it roars underfoot grabbing on to a car as the train moves under the highway.

There is a fender bender, and swearing but no one is (remarkably) hurt.

Steve Rogers has posed:
The shield relocated to hang from the magnetic hook on his back, Steve Rogers pumps his arms, running fast as a car and then leaping off the highway bridge, legs still pumping in the air, arms keeping him upright as he lands on the train, rolling as he hits, the rubber soles of his boots gripping the train roof enough he comes up in a crouch, caught up to the train's speed.

A quick look forward and back and Steve runs forward, heading for the gap between cars where he swings down and then opens up a door, entering what turns out to be the cargo car that the guards were teleported out of.

Ahead he sees the Typist facing off a woman in a spider costume. The Typist doesn't seem aware of him, and though Cap recognizes Ghost Spider, if he had any doubts about which was the bad guy, that foot perching on the barrel of toxic chemicals would be enough to settle the matter.

Steve pulls his shield off his back, eyes going to Ghost Spider. He can't quite tell if he's met her gaze given her eyes are covered. But something tells him he has. Rather than throw the shield himself, he just tosses it in the air, letting it hang their vertically in the air behind the Typist, at least until gravity reclaims it. The star towards Ghost Spider.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Sorry, I am an AZERTY kinda gal..." Kick. Punch. Block. Gwen continues to move. Fast. Keeping those pesky hands away from the tattoos so no more spells come out. Though the man *can* keep up, that's impressive..

"Got some levels in fighter too, eh?" See? She can nerd as well.

One close-by blow sends that hat flying and with those abilities coming down she is readying for the final blow when...

"Careful! Clear the way!" This said to the people running in from behind..

She knows space and there's no way she can web that barrel down before-- Oh, look at that. Captain America himself? No time to think on how he got here!

She shoots a web from her wrist, it narrowly missing Typewriter. If that was her target! Instead it's to the shield right behind the man, hitting it and then pulling it back. HARD. Aimed right at the man's head to try to knock him out.

"Shadow, can you get the guy's hat? It's his power source!"

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    The Shadow makes no immediate sign of having heard Gwen's call, choosing instead to duck down and leg-sweep one of the remaining goons, but as the figure rises up again they sprint down the now mostly clear corridor and snath the hat from the floor, taking a moment to examine it.

    "Hrmph. Poor craftsmanship -- and worse fashion sense," they remark, crumpling the felt into an unrecognizable shape.

Jovian Anderson has posed:
The hat makes a piteous cry as the animated spirit is confumbuleted, not killed or even truly hurt but bolloxed to the point of uselessness for quite some time and as it flies back to Typewriter's head it is most assuredly flattened.

Without the hat to increase his stamina, dexterity and strength as well as skill, Typewriter is just another mage....a one trick pony albiet with one VERY useful trick but before he can type "R" is for Robot....he is double tagged and the vibrananium shield slams into the back of his head GABONG!!!! and his eyes cross and he collapses unconcious.

Not every magician is of the Disney variety, but this one is and the instant he is unconcious prismatic disks appear all over the train.

The gang, beaten, bruised, confused and harried, cowering at this point as Natasha runs past and Bolo wraps up two more vanish back to New Jersey, a punishment unto itself...

The chickens return to the farm from whence they came....

The guards reappear inside of the train, looking VERY confused just having finished zip tieing the Lionfire Gang for the police to show up looking very skeptical as the highly athletic gang kip ups and begins to run away....but they dont get far as about nine police cars approach on both sides of the highway...

And the three spotters who WERE going to aid Typewriter, quietly move back before the lawyer whispers in Jovian's ear who smiles and promptly bolos all three...

The guards say to the three heroes, "Thanks. These chemicals are extremley dangerous! If he had kicked them over it would have been bad!"

One might ask why they were on a PASSENGER train then, but that's a question for another time....

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers steps forward and picks up his shield, pulling free the spiderweb that clings to it. In a tone of approval, Captain America says, "Nicely done, Ghost Spider." He looks down at the Typist, crouching down to check and make sure he's alright, but unconscious. "I gather from everything that disappeared when he went down - were those chickens? - this is the person that teleported a bunch of armed guards into the armored car robbery I was dealing with?" he asks.

Steve straightens and not seeing any other signs of danger, returns the shield to his back. He steps forward nearer to the female heroes, noting Shadow there with the crumpled hat. "It looks like you two have things well in hand already. Anything that I can assist with?" he asks them.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Well, you really do have a way of being in the right place when a gal needs you, uh?" Ghost Spider says, voice muffled under her mask but not hiding both her amusement but also her thanks at the man's sudden appearance. Hands rest on her hips, she looking at the Typewriter. "This guy robbed a bank a while back too. Great to have finally gotten our hands on him." she says before sighing when the Captain speaks about the chickens. A sigh. "Yes..." a beat, "The man likes to summon animals. Last time I was being hunted down by this giant hippo and ..." she waves her dismissal. "Well, it's done."

She looks back to Shadow as well, giving her a thumbs up, "Good job with that hat, now to get him to jail. But I am sure our friends here..." and she looks at the guards, " ... can help with that?"

"How about a selfie, mmm?" She then suggests at the 'gang' of heroes.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    The Shadow inclines their head. "He may need protective custody as well," the Shadow adds, holding out the mangled remains of the hat. "he double-crossed his former employers -- a gang calling itself the Nazca Cartel. They will very likely want to eke their own pound of flesh out of his hide. Perhaps you'll be able to convince him to tell you about them in exchange for protection. As to the man himself, he will be harmless as long as he's not allowed to touch any of the letter tattoos on his body. Gloves or hand and arm restraints should suffice."

    The sound that follows was most likely a chuckle. "That said, the situation appears to be under control and I'll take my leave. Well met, Captain Rogers. Miss Ghost Spider, a pleasure to have worked with you. Until next we meet..."

    A nod, a bow, and a touch to the hat as if to mimic taking it off... And the figure fades back into the shadows, and out of human perception.

    Briefly afterwards, 'Jenny' emerges from the restroom and resumes her seat, resting her head against the sports bag she's wedged between herself and the window as a cushion while the train rides on...

Jovian Anderson has posed:
The lawyer smiles and says, "Well DONE Mr Anderson, I think you can lower the darkness now, since as I said, I represent a trust that has a vested interest in finding an heir. We get paid, when you, or anyone who follows the right clues gets paid. It all started a hundred years ago..."

He begins talking as Jovian blurs into the crowd of passengers milling about trying to avoid the gift the chickens gave that didnt teleport away...

Ew.

If allowed, the guards pose for selfies WITH Cap and Ghost Spider and ...no one photographs the Shadow except one guard who got well...A shadow.

W.A.N.D. arrives later and takes Typewriter into custody, putting the Yellow Hat in a nice floating black box and traffic is restored below 30 minutes later.