7761/So what just happened

So what just happened
Date of Scene:	09 September 2021
Location:	Staten Island
Synopsis:	After Captain Stacy has been shot and Gwen has gone with him to the hospital, Bando, Kaida, and Kamala try to decompress what just happened.
Cast of Characters:	Bando George, Kamala Khan, Kaida Connolly, Gwen Stacy

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Bando George has posed:
(This scene directly follows #7748 "What, How, Why")

    Bando followed Kamala out the back of the fort, right there on the water front as he appears on the shore with a *fwump*. The attackers are virtually no where to be seen. Wherever they were going, they've cleared the area. He looks down at his blood stained arms and chest, and then kneels by the water. "I tried, I really tried," he says, dropping his bag and using the sea water to rinse his arms.

Kamala Khan has posed:
    Ms. Marvel stands behind Bando George at the water line, scarves and hair blowing about in the coastal winds. She watches the other teen wash the captain's blood off of his arms with a gentle look of concern just barely noticable underneath her domino mask. Ms. Marvel reaches out to pat Bando on his bare shoulder but stops just before making contact. She pulls her hand back awkwardly and tries again. Nope. Too uncomfortable. She settles on folding her arms across her chest.

    "I know, Bando," Ms. Marvel replies gently. "It's all you can do. It's not your fault."

Kaida Connolly has posed:
It wasn't long after the incident that Kaida went searching. That nose of hers is powerful enough to find scents most don't, so she went sniffing. She used the scents of the bad guys to follow them to escape vehicles that had long since left. While she could potentially catch up, it'd be a hard process and not something she could be sure about. Not worth it right now. She instead goes another route and starts looking for another scent. The scent of heroes!

Before long she is following a blood trail to a pair near the water and shakes her head as she approaches. She knows the feeling of failure. Hard not to screw up from time to time when you are tiny. Still, she approaches and finally leaps up on to a branch of a small nearby tree and calls out, "How is that helping?" Calls the small voice that idly flops down on the branch causing it to rock a little with the small weight.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Ghost Spider had stayed by the Captain as the group left, waiting for SWAT to intervene, going through the procedures almost like a 'drone'. She was 'lucky' that her name was known, one of the Titans. A hero so some said. But that hadn't made her able to prevent her father being shot.

The sound of ambulances had creeped in, paramedics. 'Lucky to be alive' one said. 'Critical condition..', 'Take him to surgery.' Ghost Spider was there, registering the words even if her eyes couldn't leave the fallen captain.

Once they are on the way to the hospital so is Gwen, swinging atop buildings.

Bando George has posed:
    Bando shakes his head, his jaw set forward. "Whatever," he grunts in return, only to be suddenly surprised by the voice next to him. He jumps, losing balance and falling rear first into the shallow water. "What!" he exclaims. "Did that mouse just talk?" He tilts his head, regarding Kaida, and not bothering to extract himself from the water.

Kamala Khan has posed:
    Two eyebrows peek up past her domino mask as Ms. Marvel falls silent. She'll let Bando blow off steam in her direction if that helps him. She doesn't protest or snap back. Instead, she nods her head and continues quietly standing there on the shore line. Bando's sudden outburst about a talking mouse in such close proximity to hero work? It must be...

    "Kaida, it's alright," she replies quietly before even spotting the tiny hero. The two met at a recent rooftop gathering of younger heroes. Naturally, Kaida ate almost all the pizza.

Kaida Connolly has posed:
"Ya know, I had thought about several really rude retorts for that but I know you are emotionally sensitive right now so I am gonna let you have that." Kaida responds and let's out a slow, annoyed sigh. She shakes her head and then shifts up to a sitting position and looks to Kamala with a blink.

"It is very not alright. He is over here feeling bad about something he could not control. Definitely not alright." She then looks over at Bando and leans forward.

"That is shorthand for 'get over it,' by the way."

Bando George has posed:
    Bando glances up at Kamala, and back again at Kaida. "Um, okay," he says, rather uncertain how to process a talking rodent. He pulls himself back out of the water, brushing his wet rear, as if that would help. It doesn't. He lets out a sigh. He's wet, missing half his clothes, and still has spatters of blood on him. As Kaida tells him he needs to get over it, he arches his brow. "And now its giving me life coaching. Okay," he lets out a sigh. "Look," he glances back at Ms. Marvel, what name did she say. "Kaida? I'm not feeling bad, okay, people just /died/. Feeling bad doesn't cover it even a little bit, and apparently," he waves back at the fort, "Ghost Spider's dad might be one of them."

Kamala Khan has posed:
    A line forms across Ms. Marvel's brow. A finger is pointed in Kaida's direction. It expands just a touch -- a subconscious extension of Ms. Marvel's feelings on this. "You leave him alone," she gently demands. Ms. Marvel gives the mouse a ~look~ that suggests an '...and I mean it!' addition to her words.

    Ms. Marvel falls silent again. Without an idea of what to say to improve this situation, she instead reaches up to unravel her scarf. She holds it out for Bando to use.

Kaida Connolly has posed:
Kaida eyes that finger and then her, "What?! Did he shoot them? My gosh, he is over here acting. like he did. If he did, then I'd have punched him, too." She nods and points back at her, "There is a reason it is called the Avengers and not the Prevengers." Kaida puts her hands on her hips and looks to Bando before looking back to Kamala with a huff.

Bando George has posed:
    "No, but I got in the middle of it, and..." he grabs his head. "Look, you weren't there, I was there, okay?" Of course, he has no idea that she was there. "Anyway, we should probably find out how Ghost Spider is or something. He pulls out his phone. Gwen said that she'd call him. He hesitates. "Or should we wait?" He asks Kamala, looking uncertain.

Kamala Khan has posed:
    "You're not wrong, Kaida, but shut up, huh?" Ms. Marvel replies with a huff of her own. She tried to be diplomatic about it, but even Ms. Marvel is not immune to the teenage instinct to just tell someone to shut up when she disagrees with them. When Bando doesn't take her offered scarf, Ms. Marvel reaches up and twirls it back into position around her neck.

    "Might be better to wait, Bando," she suggests gently. "She could have her hands full. She'll call when she's ready."

Kaida Connolly has posed:
A blink and then a stare before a slow breath is sucked in and then Kaida holds up a finger to Kamala while looking to Bando, "First, if I weren't there, you'd be dead. End of story. Second!" Kaida turns her gaze to Kamala.

"I don't shut up. I don't know how. He needs to get upset but not like," She waves her hand at Bando, "Like whatever this is. Get angry! Sadness solves NOTHING!" She stands up with incredible alacrity and puts both her hands on her hips and eyes Kamala, "And don' t you DARE tell someone who IS a LITERAL mouse in a big person's world to shut up about how to feel about failure or watching people die. I am an expert!"

Bando George has posed:
    Bando sighs, "Fine, I'll just shut up and play the bottle it inside since a mouse doesn't want to hear me vent," he declares, throwing his hands up in the air. "And I'm not sad, I'm confused. I can't remember what happened very well. I teleported too many times and my brain is like spaghetti. Why am I even talking about this? I don't even understand what happened back there, and what I feel isn't really important right now. Ghost Spider's dad is like, dying, and that's way more important. I need to remember what happened."

Kamala Khan has posed:
    Ms. Marvel squints. The finger gets pointed again. "I'm not telling you how to feel. I'm telling you to stop telling /him/ how to feel! Keep it to yourself." She folds her arms across her chest and stares back at Kaida. "Plus, you know, Ghost Spider's abbu was taken away in an ambulance, so maybe just chill for right now." She finishes up her point by expanding her cheeks and blowing an errant lock of hair out of her face. Smoooooth.

    Ms. Marvel takes a breath and turns her head towards Bando again. "He'll be alright. You'll see. You did your part. It's time for the doctors to do theirs," she tries. She doesn't bother pulling at the threads of 'what happened back there.' If he can't remember, her pressing it isn't going to help matters.

    Some music can be heard from inside Ms. Marvel's bangle bracelets. It's 'We Are The Champions' by Queen. She slips her fingers into a hidden compartment in the bracelets and pulls out her phone. She gives the others the universal 'be quiet' gesture -- the index finger against the lips -- and answers it. Ms. Marvel turns from the group and speaks into the phone in hushed tones.

    "Hello, Abbu. I'm.......No..... No, I really did..... I'm....Okay.... Okay! Yes. Grounded till I'm a grandmother, I /know/! No, I wasn't talking back. Okay. Okay. Okay! Bye!"

    Ms. Marvel turns back to the others and shrugs her shoulders. "I have to go. Another crime is happening in Jersey City," she lies, quite obviously. She takes a breath and looks down at Bando and Kaida. "Bando, he'll be okay. You'll see," she says again. "See you both later. Text me with any updates!" With that settled, Ms. Marvel starts running in the direction of the bridge. After consulting her phone screen, she changes direction and starts heading towards the actual direction of the bridge. She EMBIGGENS and begins stomping through the neighborhood on her way back to New Jersey.