10965/Cars go Boom

From United Heroes MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Cars go Boom
Date of Scene: 02 February 2020
Location: Lower East Side, Manhattan
Synopsis: The Punisher arrives disrupting a peaceful evening
Cast of Characters: Samuel Morgan, Phantasm (Drago), Raven, Punisher




Samuel Morgan has posed:
    They say you don't miss what you have until it's gone. But when for most of your life sleep has been something snatched in short bursts or spent in the torpor of utter exhaustion, dreaming can come as a shock. Nightmares... now those Bean knew well, very well, reliving the same one night after night ever since the incident. Except... except for those few nights. Those few blessed nights, when he actually dreamed. And he knew where to get more restful sleep, just a phone call away. Probably. He had to try. So Bean had called Nick to meet him here, on this very street, in about five minutes time.

    Five minutes, because even after a few hours getting his ass handed to him in the Dojo, Bean is still on high alert. And that means getting somewhere before anyone else to scope out the ground. It means being fashionably early to every appointment. And so he walks, without the ever faithful Bear, over to the agreed on spot from the Chikara Dojo, backpack slung casually over one shoulder. It masks the fact that he rarely moves his right arm as he walks...

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Well it just so happened Nick was at the studio when he got a phone call from Samuel requesting his help with something. Being that he gave Bean the number in case he needed help. The answer at the time was a given.

As for his friend Wade? Eh, Wade wouldn't miss him. He was so busy working on balancing the work schedule that an elephant could traipse through the small office, smushing everything in sight and he'd probably just ask the packyderm to quiet down before going back to his laptop without so much as a blink

So the rocker, hair tucked away in the knitcap yet again to avoid recognition by any odd fans hanging around the studio, heads to the spot designated by Bean. His hands tucked in his pockets. Not to look innocent, but more because it's freaking cold out. The expression on his face is a little less nonchalant and more concerned.

Raven has posed:
    Raven doesn't travel very far, very often. When she does, she typically tends to favor places like... Well, Shawarma Palace. Tonight was an odd night- one of mild cravings for something other than pizza, but not so odd as to be something other than some combination of a meat and a bread. Some twenty minutes ago, Raven stepped out of an alleyway and made her way into the restaurant.

    Just now, as things seem to be happening on this very street, Raven steps her way out of the eatery, idly chowing down on the restaurant's namesake. Alone, at night, the woman leaving the restaurant has little to do, as yet, with what may take place- but she's not the type to leave her nose out of anything for very long.

Punisher has posed:
It might have even have been a quiet night if they had waited just an hour later. Just an hour later....

Instead, Samuel can suddenly feel a spike of military grade encrypted transmissions. At least three separate lines... and two return signals. Moments later, and one of the regularly looking vans at the end of the block back where Samuel came from suddenly becomes a transmission hub... and a series of weapons systems come online inside of it.

About ten seconds later, a black sedan starts to go down the street, followed by two more.

Just as they hit the manhole, Samuel can feel a 'pulse' of transmission from that white van, and the lead sedan suddenly explodes from a focused detonation.

It's not enough to send shrapnel everywhere, but it's most definitely enough to total the inside completely. the two inside the vehicle are dead instantly.

Shortly after, the white van starts up, and turns into the street, blocking off retreat for the remaining two... and the side door opens up before locking into place; the Punisher stands just behind a mounted M60.

"TELL YOUR BOSS THE PUNISHER SAYS HELLO!" the man known to the world as Frank Castle says in cheerful greeting.... before he moves to open fire, full auto, into the back of those two black sedans.

Everyone can easily tell there are people inside of them, and that lead car was totaled just enough that they can't leave that way, either.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Coming up on the meeting point, Bean lifts a hand in greeting towards Nick. His left hand... the right is hanging onto the strap of his backpack. "Hey, how are..." and that's as far as he gets. There is only one source of such a transmission that Bean knows in the city, especially coming from a nondescript white van. "... ah shit, cover!"

    He never sees the explosion. By then, he's behind the engine block of a parked car, hoping that an inline six cylinder will be enough to deflect whatever is about to sprinkle around the street. Damned city cars...

    The rattle of the M60 makes him doubt his refuge. Does .50 BMG penetrate an engine block? He's not going to find out. The backpack is abandoned as he runs in a crouch along the sidewalk towards Nick, hoping that he hasn't been hit by any stray rounds.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
As Nick sees Sam, his steps move a little quicker towards the younger male, "Are you oka-"

His words stop as Bean shouts an instruction and dives down. Unfortunately explosions aren't punches or knives so Nick's not as familiar with dealing with those types of things. But he is pretty good at reading people and, Bean's reaction seems legit. He ducks down, trying to get as low as he can get before the chaos kicks in.

It was likely when the gunfire started up that Nick changed. Being that he was now kissing the pavement, the reversal of the facial features was obscured. His clothing. Well, there's a reason he avoids patterns.

Raven has posed:
    There is a form of communication that Raven is in tune with that travels faster than technology. The speed of thought. Raven is happily having her dinner, when the sudden spike in feelings of aggression around her clues her into the oncoming ambush. Her frown, ever present, deepens in an instant. The question for her, then, is not whether something bad is going to happen- but -where.-

    Raven takes one wary bite, before the explosion. It seems to, momentarily, nonplus her. She doesn't flinch, or dive for cover, even as the bullets start flying. The food she's holding is nonchalantly thrown to the side.

    "Yeah. Okay."

    Raven strides towards the firing line with the heroes' confidence. Soon after those first couple of steps, she has left the ground, calling upon darkness and trailing shadow behind her. She makes her presence known, then- calling out in a language that has something approaching English sounds to it, but is unlike anything most have ever heard.

    "Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos!"

    The magic springs up, the circle of the shield she intends to form surrounding the vehicle upon which Frank is currently firing. It's definitely too late for the occupants, but it might get him to stop -shooting.-

Punisher has posed:
Truth be told, the Punisher wasn't going to unload the entire belt.... but Raven probably saved a couple cars from becoming total wrecks doing that.

She also might have pissed off Frank, who wasn't counting on magical intervention for underworld enforcers.

"What the fuck is it this time." Punisher grumps over the commlink to Microchip, who was watching the whole thing from a drone that just started flying. A drone Samuel can likely spot by this point. "Never seen that sort of tech on the street, Frank. It might be magic... we /have/ been seeing more magic on the street lately, after all." Microchip advises Punisher.

A moment later, and Punisher steps out from behind the mounted gun, and slams his fist into the side of the door, which automatically unlocks and closes back up with a smooth precision. "I'm going to confirm the kills."

With his usual outfit of a skull vest and black trenchcoat, Punisher takes the SPAZ-12 from his back, hits the charging handle, and starts to walk over to the shield.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    At speed, but keeping low, Bean gets to Nick and tries to grab the man by the shoulder to get him away from the gunfire. Tries to at any rate... his hand goes straight through. Huh. But this is not the time to dwell on the insubstantiality of his friend, the mutants wants to finish this before bystanders get seriously injured. The arrival of a hero seriously complicates matters. Analysing the situation, he figures the center car is the main target, an HVT being moved in convoy. Fine then. Modern cars have all sorts of vulnerabilities to a determined technopath.

    For one, the engine dies for no reason. In the cabin, the door locks engage and the windows lock in the closed position. Phones in the vehicle die a sudden and mysterious death. And just for the hell of it, the airconditioning turns into full on heater mode and just won't shut off...

    This is probably the first time Bean has sent a message to Microchip directly, and he does so over the frequency that constantly tethers The Punisher to this unseen figure.

    >> Target disabled. Advisory: cease fire. Terminate HVT?

    Naturally, the deluge of half-inch diameter bullets may have done that already, but certain is certain. Microchip can easily see Bean in cover behind a car, giving a 'Friendlies near' signal to the drone.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Not aware that Bean was reaching for him, there is no subconcious attempt to have a point of contact for the friend to touch, nor does he feel anything.

But oh GOD did he hear all that gunfire. Grumbling, Nick starts to push himself up glancing around for Samuel. "I hope that's not why you called me out here." He mutters to the younger guy, glancing to the eclipsed car and then towards a form of movement coming out of a van. A brow lifts, "Oh hell no."

Raven has posed:
    Raven floats through the air, this unnatural, yet effortlessly imperious, air about her. Her hands find themselves within the pockets of her hoodie, and those purple eyes of hers seem to glow faintly in the shadow of her hood. Whether or not she is famous enough that Frank Castle knows who she is, seems to be irrelevent to her. She approaches without fear.

    The shield faired well- but where the bullets struck there are the starburst patterns of bulletproof glass, the rounds themselves punched in by a small enough margin to prevent them from scattering off of its round surface. The sound of her boots touching down onto the asphalt is audible enough.

    "Frank Castle."

    The ragged voice of the Titans' sorceress seems to carry better than it has any right to amongst the flames of the burning wreck at the lead of the caravan. "They are dead, or dying. There is no escape for the others. What you seek to do next is murder."

    Frank, probably, doesn't need to be told that.

Punisher has posed:
"Stand by." Punisher mutters into the commlink. "Frank, I have that kid from before who's broken the encryption key telling me 'friendlies' are near, like I need to know there are innocents around. He's a bit clueless if he hasn't realized we plan these things." Microchip begins to frantically type, and Samuel can already see Microchip is switching encryption keys.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the Punisher simply... stares at Raven, SPAZ-12 idling against his chest, trenchcoat gently swaying with the wind. "Frank Castle is dead, girl.... and this isn't murder. It's punishment. These were underworld thugs who just came back from a beatdown on a shopkeeper not far from here. Nearly beat him half to death. You know what's gonna happen? He 'fell down some stairs'-" Punisher gestures to the cars with the barrel, "-and these assholes will get away with it, because the boys in blue for this area won't get him to testify."

He looks Raven right in the eyes, "are you gonna try to stop me from confirming the kills?"

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    No reply. Of course there would be no reply... Bean's not quite sure what he was expecting there. But he needs to get out of here, quickly, and that means he can't have Frank arguing with this newly arrived hero. Every second wasted between them talking is a second the nearest patrol car is getting closer. And he cannot be anywhere near this, not even as a witness. So, time for unilateral action. He glances over to Nick. "Actually, I just wanted to talk about another good night's sleep. But hang on a moment." His eyes have taken on that bright look again, his expression entirely dead.

    "Oh shit, I think it's going to blow!" He calls it just as he overloads every electrical system in the cars that he can reach... and that's an awful lot of them. With all the fuel leaking around, it doesn't take long... smoke starts to billow up within moments. Those people trapped inside? It's going to take dental records to identify them.

    After that, he settles a slightly more animated look on Nick. "Time we got gone, what do you say?"

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick's eyes widen as the scene is very much defining the most likely outcome here. And one he's not really wanting to experience again, nor does he wish for his young friend to either. Not quite knowing how much Bean has had a hand in creating it, of course.

"We're going to talk about this later." Nick promises, "But right now whatever you do-"

A hand grabs on to Bean's. "Don't let go."

Trust given or not, the knitcapped man leaps back, yanking Bean with him into a nearby dream. The last thing seen over where the two were being the surprised face of Bean popping out of view. Likely not the exit he was expecting.

Raven has posed:
    Raven's expression lingers firmly in the gear of Neutral-Disapproving. Her gaze lingers on Frank for a time. "I know who is dead and who is not." she offers, this cryptic statement of disbelief. "Whether you admit it or not isn't my problem." Her attention hasn't left Frank, and her head rocks to one side. "Were I to try and stop you, would you shoot me?"

    She doesn't let the thought linger for long at all, before continuing. "The man won't testify out of fear. Giving him that fear, for his life, fear of the pain they'll cause, that they -did- cause, you condemn them to death for it. And yet here you stand, laying mines beneath the road and unloading on a group of thugs with a machine gun. What do the innocent people in their homes feel? To be awoken in the night to the noise of hell breaking loose in the street? You can justify the death you bring however you want, I have more personal targets for that conversation. But what you are doing here is not justice. It is gratification."

    Her impartiality to their deaths is punctuated by what she -doesn't- do, specifically much if anything to save the middle car.

Punisher has posed:
"If they survive, I'll just go after them again... so I'll take your word for it." Punisher declares, before he turns around and starts to head back to the Battle Van.

Just a few feet away, Punisher glances back over his shoulder, "You're not a target, so I have no quarrel with you. Try to stop me, and we'll have problems." His fist comes up and slams the side of the Van once, and it automatically opens up again... before closing again as Punisher walks inside.

Unless Raven stops him, it looks like Punisher is leaving the scene.