Summary:Spidey chases down some criminals, right into Captain Marvel! Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongSuperstar in Me - Smash Into Pieces |
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A lot changes in ten years. AskJeeves and Yahoo have been surpassed by Google. Smartphones are more powerful than some computers. And Blockbuster has been replaced by Netflix and Hulu.
But some things don't. New York pizza is still the best, Chompie's still has the best bagels, and Old Man Jack is still running that hot dog stand on the southeat corner of Central Park, and his wife still makes the chili herself.
And Spring is coming, but it ain't here yet. Winds are brisk and the sky is cloudy.
As Breslin said, there are eight million stories in the naked city, and one novel has been returned after a ten-year hiatus.
Over the wreckage of Turtle Bay, a figure that might be familiar to those a decade ago hovers, energy sparkling around her frame. She hasn't aged, at least physically, but emotionally is another matter.
Could Captain Marvel have stopped the attack? Probably not, but that doesn't make her wonder if she couldn't have made a difference anyway. Emotions are a funny thing, as they don't really listen that much to the intellect.
The place is almost like Lodon during the World War 2 Blitz. One one side of the street, intact buildings. On the other, wreckage and devastation. A breeding place for rats.
Some rats drive.
"WhoawhoawhoawhoaWHOA!" Spider-Man yelled as he tumbled behind the Dodge Challenger as it barreled down the street towards Turtle Bay. He was attached to the back of the car's bumper by a 50-foot webline, but had been in midair when they had the momentarily brilliance to peel out before he could brace himself on the ground. He rolled back and forth like a sack of sand as the car barreled through the streets.
He spotted a discard trash can lid and snagged it with a webline. He knew that if he tried to snag a solid surface, there would be a brief tug-of-war with him in the middle, and then the bumper would rip off.
So he had to go for the alternative to stop being his own stuntman.
By the time the Challenger roared into Carol's view, a rumpled-looking guy in a red-and-blue costume was "skiing" being the car, his feet using a trash can lid to stay up on his feet. As the car turned a corner, the cartoon character behind it caromed up off a Dumpster, his feet curling up behind him enough for the lid to touch the spider symbol on his back, and she could clearly hear him say, "Backscratcher!"
Welcome back to New York, Carol Danvers.
Carol glanced down at the sight of the car chase, then flew down in a flash, landing in front of the Challenger. Apparently her idea of stopping the car is to… land in front of it. Which is risky for most people… but then again, Captain Marvel isn't most people, as she is glowing much brighter than normal at the present.
Spidey was starting to reel himself in when the woman seemed to suddenly appear in front of the car. He saw the costume. New York may be a fashion mecca, but her look screams uniform, not haute couture.
Then he hears the engine cycle higher instead of the screech of brakes, and he knew SOMEONE was about to get hurt. He only hoped it wasn't the woman in front of them.
The Dodge Challenger is a very robust carm and unless what most strong-armed supertypes believe, nore kinetic force is cause by a car driving INTO someone as opposed to it being THROWN at someone. However, this result is the same, and for those few on the civilzed side of the street and one enterprising yutz with a drone, the scene is borderline HILARIOUS.
The car may go from 0-60 in only a few seconds, but it can also go from 60-0 in no time at all. The front crumples around Carol as the three men inside (buckled in, thankfully) rocked against the seat belts as they were jolted in their seats.
Spider-Man is not so lucky. Inertia stands still for no man and Spidey hurtles into the rear window of the vehicle, buried in the tempered glass up to his shoulders. Dazed, he looks at the shocked man in the backseat and says waveringly, "…I hope you realize this means WAR…"
Captain Marvel doesn't even shift from the car impact, though her hair looks slightly mussed up. Blowing an errand strand of hair out of her face, she then tilts her head, energy glowing from her fist as she says, "Boys, I'll need to see your license and registration." With that, she steps around the car (which probably isn't going anywhere anytime soon) and moves to the driver's side door.
Well, one of the men is too dazed to do anything but just sit there. The driver, on the other hand, is awake enough to realize he didn't run the witch down like a stray kitten. So, in order to keep from getting arrested for the bodega job they just pulled, he does the only thing that makes sense to him.
He brings up the .44 pistol and fires point-blank at Carol's chest.
The guy in the back seat had similar designs on Spider-Man, but he is slower with his own Glock, and the roar of the Automag was thunderous enough to impress Thor. The sound and the sight of the gun causes Spidey to jerk back, which is good. It means the bullet only grazes his shoulder before he leaps back from the car.
There's a muffled *PTING* as the bullet bounces off of Carol's chest, and she then frowns, "Now now boys, you're going to hurt someone that way." She reaches down for the door of the car and just rips it /off/ the body, which is a damn shame as a Dodge Challenger really does deserve more respect than that. Then she grabs the gun from the driver and /melts/ it into slag in front of his eyes before looking over at the back seat shooter, "Drop it, NOW." The energy glowing around her is definitely more intense now as she sees Spider-Man getting shot at, and wanting to end this immediately.
The guy in the back had been lining up for another shot when she spoke, and when he looked at her, she could actually SEE the fight go out of him. He dropped the pistol and it bounced under the shotgun seat. He made no move to go after it. Based on the look on his face, he probably wasn't going to move again unless someone moved him. The driver, robbed (ha-ha) of his weapon, just stares at her. A prison cell is starting to look pretty good right about now.
Spider-Man groans slightly as he looks at the suit. The suit's not a week old, and it's already got THREE holes in it. THREE! Three holes…and now the long tear along his shoulder. He touched the furrow dug into his skin and winced. "Ah, MAN…" he mutters to himself.
He looks up and spots the glowing, non-street-pizza'd woman, and blinks. Even 20 feet away, he felt like he was close to a live power line.
Captain Marvel nods, "Much better. Now, come on. I'm sure you know the drill." She waves towards an approaching policeman, the energy around her vanishing to just faint motes that occasionally spark outwards, and as they take over the whole arresting thing with some sideways looks (but really, in New York what would they expect?)… Carol comes over towards Spider-Man and tilts her head, "Hey, you okay? Sorry about the sudden stop there. I didn't think they'd be crazy enough to do that."
Spider-Man grimaces. He is not approached by the cops, but they are giving him The Look. He didn't know how many were Bugle readers, but that look said that they would try to cuff him just on general principles if the blonde bulwark wasn't there.
He looked up from his sitting position on the asphalt to the woman. He seems to be doing a lot of this.
"I'll…" he grunts as he gets up. "I'll be all right. Apart from breaking my tailor's heart. Fourth time this week. It's gotta be them…it isn't ME, right?" He fishes out a blue industrial towel from under his left gloved hand and pressed it against the wound.
"Uhm…hi. I'm Spider-Man."
Carol grins, and offers a hand, "Captain Marvel. Good to meet you, Spider-Man." She looks at the wound, "You going to be alright there, Spider-Man?" She actually sounds a bit concerned, which… well, for Spidey's workplace is probably a nice change of pace for him.
"Captain…Marvel?" That name seems to resonate for some reason. He shakes the hand momentarily, then checks the wound. The bleeding is already slowing down. "I'll be fine. Just your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, the Evel Kneivel of the superheroing biz. Accept no substitutes, post no bills, etc., etc." He looks down to his left leg, where a hole there exposes a dime of pink skin, then to his inner right forearm, where another can be seen. "Only counts if you can't get back up again, right?"
Carol chuckles a bit, "True enough. It's good to see people trying to make this a better city." She grins, giving Spidey a bit of a curious look, "Been doing this long?" Since, well, he does sound a bit /young/, at least to her…
Spider-Man smiles wryly under the mask. "About…eighteen months. The first outfir was a lot rougher. Basically a ski mask, hoodie, sweat pants, socks, gloves. Cheapest hero on the block. Only recently put a new suit together…" He looks at the holes again. "…and I can't really repair it until next week."
Carol nods, "Yeah, it takes a bit of work… my first outfit, well…" She gets a bit of a wry look, "It was a touch drafty. This is a lot better." She grins, looking down at her current red and blue outfit, then looks at Spidey, "Might want to consider having some spares… though, have you ever thought about joining a team? Safety in numbers, and all that?"
Spider-Man blinked. "…Team? Me? Like who?" He sounds as if the idea never occurred to him. Because it didn't.
Captain Marvel shrugs, "Well, I mean, before I left, there were a couple teams. The Avengers, for one, though I haven't been around for a little while, so I don't know if they're still really operating. But it just might be easier to work with other people?" She smiles, "Just a thought, anyway."
Spider-Man snickered. Then he sniggered. Then it just snowballed into surprised laughter. "The AVENGERS? Yeah, THAT'LL be the day!"
The laughter did a great deal to dull the pain from the graze, so it helped on one level. Him, the Schmuck From Queens. Wow, that…that was good for a giggle. He could practically HEAR Stark's laughter right…"
"Uhm…ma'am?"
A uniformed police officer was standing about ten feet away. His holster was unsnapped, and his right hand was resting on the grip of his service pistol. "If you don't mind, we have to take him in for questioning."
Spidey looks to Carol, and says, "THAT is why."
Captain Marvel blinks, "Why would you need to take him in for questioning?" She shifts her position slightly, standing between Spidey and the police officer as she glances over her shoulder at Spidey, not quite understanding the reason for the laughter, but… well, it has been a while.
The cop looks uncomfortable. "Ma'am, we cannot discuss the charges with you."
"Well, maybe you can tell ME what I'm being charged with?" Spider-Man crosses his arms.
The cop doesn't move. "Sir, we just have to verify allegations that you are working with various criminal organizations. Just come down to the precinct, answer a few questions…"
"…and verify my identity?"
The cop cadged a bit, but said, "Yes, that WOULD be part of the process."
"ForGET it. I wear this mask for a reason."
The cop draws his pistol, pointing it at Spider-Man. "Sir, if you do not comply, we will have to add resisting arrest to the list of charges…"
Carol raises her hands, "Hey, look, I'll vouch for the kid. He's not doing anything wrong. I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding… I… um… uhoh…" She starts glowing, rather brightly, "Ah… powers are still a little out of practice, you… er, might want to step back guys!" And then she's glowing like a miniature little star, almost blinding to look at.
Though Spidey can definitely hear her whisper, "Go on, I got this!"
Spider-Man hisses back, "Thanks!" Then he fires a webline and launches himself upward. A good 80 feet up to the side of the building, just he jumps off and swings in the direction of downtown.
The cop is unable to see, and retreats back to the car. "This is car Echo Delta Two Nine, I have a sighting of Spider-Man. He is heading west at about 60-80 MPH!"
"Roger," Dispatch radioed back.
The cop turns to Carol, shielding his eyes.
After Spidey runs, Carol slows down her glowing, though it's still fairly prominent, "Hey, sorry about that, still getting used to how much nitrogen you guys have in the atmosphere. Eighty percent is a /lot/ you know…" She says that perfectly deadpan, giving the officer a 'who me' look.
The cop looks utterly stymied. Guess who got a C+ in physics in high school. "Uhhhh…right. Didn't…know," he said lamely, holstering his sidearm.
"Lenny! A little help here?" That was his partner Reynolds, who realized Spider-Man wasn't going into a cell like these guys were.
"Right…right." He gave Carol a sidelong glance, then hustled back to the patrol car to assist.