11311/The Monster Men: Snatched

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The Monster Men: Snatched
Date of Scene: 09 April 2020
Location: St. Francis' Homeless Shelter, Brooklynn
Synopsis: An attempted kidnapping goes wrong. Cloak and Dagger intervene and The Punisher gives chase.
Thanks to: Hugo Strange
Cast of Characters: Hugo Strange, Phantasm (Drago), Punisher, Cloak, Dagger
Tinyplot: Digging Up The Past
Tinyplot2: Milk Cartons


Hugo Strange has posed:
The St Francis Homless Shelter was a homless shelter in Brooklynn ran by the local Diocese. For the 5 years, this Shelter has been providing help for Brooklynn's less fortunate. Recently however, regular tenants of this "safe place" have started vanishing. The missing people, alarmingly enough, had a similar patter. All of them were men between the ages of 25-50, well-built, with almost all of them having some form of military service. This has lead to fears that their was a serial killer loose in the neighborhood. But, no bodies were ever found.

Despite all of this, the Shelter was still running, and was giving away new clothes today. As the Homless and other less fortunate crowded around to get the clothes, their was a unmarked black van idling in a narby corner, out of sight. The Doctor needed new test subjects, and this Homeless Shelter had provided many good ones. As the van sat there, the driver, a heavy-set man with a beard wearing a purple dress shirt, blue slacks, and a ugly green tie grabbed a disposable cell-phone and said into it,

"We are here Doctor, will call ya back once we find a good subject."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
It seems that some shelters get a surplus of certain supplies donated to them so it stands to reason that near enough shelters are working together for their common goal. Having just recently stopped by to drop off a box of extra clothing, Nick steps out of the building, blending in pretty well to his surroundings, doing pretty well with hiding his quasi-celebrity status.

Perhaps this ability to NOT stand out all the time is why he got asked to make this run. Or perhaps it's because New Hope was INCREDIBLY short handed for a Wednesday and couldn't spare their REGULAR-regulars for the drop off run and Nick stopping by was convenient. Tomayto, Tomahto.

He is indeed dressed in Goodwill's 'finest'. A solid colored, non-patterned pair of pants, worn old gray tee, battered jacket, knit cap, and worn old pair of shoes. Combined with the accumulated facial hair from his latest film role, the musician looks less like a rocker and more like some of the regulars here. Unlike when the performer came in earlier with a box, he's leaving empty handed, save for the backpack he had slung on his shoulders earlier, the bag still a bit full from his shopping trip earlier in the day.

Punisher has posed:
Another non-descript white van was parked nearby. This one was geared to the gills... with all of it hidden. Part armory, part Command Center, a milspec drone and a set of portable cameras were watching the neighborhood around the Homeless Shelter, with Microchip in the back watching it all with a monitor wall.

Punisher? He's inside the shelter itself, wearing casual clothing over a covert gear web and skull vest. He looks like he belongs, with that baseball cap and a 'keeping my head down' posture at one of the tables as he ate some soup.

He's currently masquerading as Frank Halman, Retired Vet down on his luck.

Cloak has posed:
The adult population weren't often on Cloak and Dagger's radar, unless they were the sort causing the trouble. However, a certain age bracket and type going missing? Well, that just hits on some personal memories and no small amount of traumatic ones. Up on the rooftop overlooking the shelter, a man-sized point of darkness forms where before there'd been nothing but sky and brick. There's a man's dark face in the mass, and then from it steps a pale woman dressed in white.

"This is the place." Says Cloak to his companion as he looks upon the downtrodden and luckless. Dagger silently crosses her arms across her chest as she looks along the street, taking stock of the place with a sharp, focused look on her face.

Dagger has posed:
"This is indeed the place." Dagger says as she is dressed in her brilliant white leotard with the image of a sword cut out across the front to reveal her skin. It's a bit risque of an outfit choice, but these days, she is hardly subtle, or innocent. The blue eyes of the angel narrow as she watches the streets and those who come and go.

"Military men in their adult ages." She says with a furrow of her brows. "No kids. That isn't a typical MO for a kidnapper, or even a serial killer. Seems like a high risk target.. especially if they are trained to fight back."

Hugo Strange has posed:
The Men in the Van continued to watch the shelter, hoping to catch a specimen to the Doctor's liking. Suddenly, a man wearing a Orange Dress Shirt, Green Slacks, and a Purple tie suddenly pats the driver's shoulder and points towards Nick. The driver raises an eyebrow, but shrugs as he pulls up his cellphone and calls The Doctor. After a few moments of ringing, someone picks up and the man begins to talk,

"Yeah Boss, think we found one. How old? About, 21 I guess. I don't see any signs of military service. Ya want him anyway? Oh really, alright, see ya soon."

The man sighs and turns to the rest of the men and says,

"The Doc says to grab him. He thinks that we are builidng a profile, and that could be bad news. Get the sedative ready Bruno."

Bruno, a tall, Olive-skinned man nodded and reached into a biohazard container, and pulled out a syringe and the van started to drive towards Nick. It is driving the speed limit to avoid any attention.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick stifles a bit of a yawn with his free hand. Oh man, what a busy day its been, bouncing all over the place. Combined with that club fight from the previous night and- Well, it's a good thing he's heading back home. Well- after a detour to New Hope to pick up the rest of his belongings that is.

Coming to a stop, he looks both ways for any traffic. Station entrance is on the OTHER side of the street, idiot.

Dagger has posed:
As Cloak and Dagger continue their vigilance upon the rooftop, the glowing angel leans forward a bit to continue inspecting those that come and go below. So far, nothing looks to be out of the ordinary. "This could just be a dead end." She says to her grumbly partner. "Maybe they just left on their own free will. Homeless shelters aren't apartments. It's not as if people expect them to live there forever. Weather is getting nicer. Maybe they just found their walking feed."

Cloak has posed:
"The homeless know one another." Says Cloak to Dagger from their vantage point. "Same as knowing your neighbors. If they say people are missing, then they likely are. No point in walking away when every other place is the same. We need to find a better view, watch this place for awhile, learn who belongs and who doesn't."

Hugo Strange has posed:
Nick would suddenly see a van stop nearby at a stip sign. It idled there for a few minutes, as if waiting for something to happen. Suddenly, the back doors flew open and Bruno, and another man wearing a Yellow Dress Shirt, White Slacks, and a Yellow poka-dot tie came out of the van and rushed towards Nick. The two men were wearing ski masks, and one of them was clutching what appeared to be a syringe, the other a baseball bat. Once they got close enough the man with the bat took a swing at Nick's head.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
It could be debated upon what drew Nick's attention first to the impending trouble. It could be the presence of the glob of white in his peripheral vision coming lingering for a while instead of just passing by him. Even more so, abiding by the traffic laws when no law enforcement in sight.

Honestly, a van stopping for a pedestrian from any distance in New York when not at a crosswalk should have been the very first indicator. And yes, it did raise up a bit of awareness to the car itself.

But it would be lying to not say that the burning of Nick's retina's at the introduction of the clownish calamity in the middle of April coming out of the vehicle wasn't the king of tip offs. Even Nick's outfits don't go to that point.

As the men approach, a flashback to a similar scene setting seems to awaken a dormant side to the musician.

The one that comes closest gets greeted with a fist to the throat before he starts backing up quickly, arm reaching back to allow for the loosely hanging backpack to sling down, hand grabbing on to the strap tail for him to swing the full backback at the bat man.

"BACK OFF!" A voice booms from the small, but apparently alert and not all that amused performer.

Dagger has posed:
The loud voice of Nick shouting catches Dagger's attention as she tilts her head over. "Cloak. I believe we have found our prey!" With that, she leaps off the roof in a beautiful arc, snagging the rails of the fire escape before she gives a graceful backflip to the ground. She takes off forward quickly, her hands burning with holy light as three blades form between each knuckle.

"Stop!" Her voice calls out through the night, her body shining like a glowing supernova as she yanks her hand back, then flings it forward to send a trio of blades towards the back of the baseball bat carrying man. "Your run of stealing innocents from these streets ends tonight, for now you must face the dark and the light of Cloak and Dagger! You will be punished!"

Punisher has posed:
No law enfocement... but law Punishment for sure.

"Frank, we may have-yeah, we have a bite. Head outside, I have the drone on it." Microchip barks over the commlink to the Punisher.

Inside the Shelter, Punisher is already standing up and heading for the door. "Talk to me." Punisher barks. "Black van, unmarked, right next to Yellow Dress Shirt, White Slacks. The booming voice seems to be the target."

By the time the Punisher was outside, he was already drawing his Beretta 9mm from the gear web holster, and heading in that direction.

He kept it close to his chest, just underneath a piece of clothing, to keep from attracting attention as he focused on the scene as it continued.

Meanwhile, up above, a stealth milspec drone was just coming directly over the unfolding scene.

Cloak has posed:
As he often does, Cloak leaves the introductions and demands to halt to his partner. He doesn't need to say a thing. It doesn't matter to him if they stop or run, one is just more entertaining. He watches Dagger leap down into the fray and then takes two steps back. On the second, he's gone, emerging in the literal blink of an eye and a shroud of rippling black behind the bat-wielder. His teeth are bared in a predator's expression, a smile better befitting a crocodile than a man, and as that reptile welcomes little fishies, so too does the shadowman. His arms stretch wide in fabric and show the void beneath.

Hugo Strange has posed:
The man with the bat is hit by the surprsingly hard backpack and stumbles a bit, clutching his head in pain. Suddenly, he is bombarded by three daggers made of light As Cloak and Dagger make their appearance on the scene. As the man wit the bat falls to the ground and starts to scream in pain from the Daggers, the man with the Syringe suddenly rushes back into the van and slams the door shut. The van suddenly starts to drive away.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
With the guy holding the bat stunned and others joining in to handle matters, Nick steps back, looking to the scene going on before him as the backpack smacks to the ground with an audible thud. The zipper partitions slightly, allowing one of the many replacement drumsticks to peek out of the newly formed gap.

Sound of the pack drawing his attention, he pulls the bag towards him, picking it up to put it back on his shoulder while starting to take slow breaths.

Punisher has posed:
When the van goes, so does Punisher.

"Pick me up, far end. Keep the drone on the van." Punisher barks into the commlink as he goes. By this point, Cloak and Dagger can see him toss aside his baseball cap as he takes off at a dead sprint for the corner. As soon as he's within earshot of the two; "I don't know who you are, but keep your distance from the van. I have a plan. Don't fuck it up, newless cluebies." Punisher barks at the two.

At this point in The War, Punisher has been a constant presence in the media. His war against the underworld has been a subject of weekly casualty counts, especially with the Foot clan trying to keep control of the New York underworld.

Within moments, a white van comes to a slow drive, and Punisher jumps onto the back rail of it in a supremely practiced motion as his partner picks him up.

"After them. Let them lead us to the lair." Punisher barks over the commlink to Microchip as he works his way into the back.

Dagger has posed:
Spinning like a dancer, Dagger lets her light fly as she attempts to tag the man with the syringe as he races for the van. "The other is escaping!" She calls out to Cloak as she sends a hard kick of her foot into the stomach of the man on the ground, sending him into the waiting dark abyss of her partner's shapless form. Another soul for the darkness to consume.

At the sound The Punisher's voice, she snaps her chin upwards and narrows her eyes. "He is the one that murders in cold blood in the name of some twisted sense of justice." As if that is any different from what they do? Technically, they don't murder anyone. Technically. "It looks as if we chase the same prey." Her hands quit glowing as the knives disappear from her palms.

"We should follow them. From afar." Her eyes turn towards Nick. "Are you okay?"

Cloak has posed:
Technically. Maybe. Does someone have to miss them for it to count? Now isn't the time for moral debates.

"So they think." Cloak drawls to Dagger on the topic of escape, while he swings closed the folds of his cloak to entrap the man within and leaving no evidence behind that he was there - no shape, no sound, nothing. "Distance is largely irrelevant. I could be in the same space as he is, but he wouldn't know. Come on."

He looks but once to Nick, a quick up and down regard. He seems in one piece, and so Cloak's interest seems to expire at that point. "Dagger, we have work to do."

Hugo Strange has posed:
As the men drove away, the driver took out his cell phone and dialed up the boss again. After a few minutes of un-interuppted yelling from the phone, the call suddenly ends. The driver then truns to the rest of the kidnappers and says," Keep driving, go around in circles if ya have to. The boss wants us to confuse anyone follwoing us before returning to base."

So,the van began to violate traffick laws as it surved down alleys, made sudden turns, ran red lights, and other violations in a attempt to throw off any pursuers.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick nods, finishing the breath he's on before adding words, eyes looking over to the white outf-AHh- He looks up quickly, fixing his eyes on Dagger's "Yeah, just looking to be one of those weeks." He looks over to Cloak as well, opting not to bring up the vanishing man trick. "Thanks."

Punisher has posed:
It doesn't matter if anyone is following or not. The Drone is designed for recon, and would likely spot them without a problem. Nonetheless, once Punisher is in the front cabin, he looks to Microchip, "Any chance to get a face match yet?" Microchip shakes his head, "Focused on these numbnuts up there."

Punisher nods, going silent. Now... it was stalking for them, for more prey.