15350/When Strikes The Scorpion

When Strikes The Scorpion
Date of Scene:	16 July 2023
Location:	Central Park, Manhattan
Synopsis:	The Scorpion stalks Spider-Man in Central Park. The Lizard makes an unexpected appearance as well. While both threats are routed thanks to all the heroes on the scene... it does not go smoothly.
Cast of Characters:	Spider-Man, Spider-Woman (Drew), Blink, Wolverine, Crush, Hawkeye (Bishop)

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Spider-Man has posed:
New York City continues to swelter under a heatwave, a little haze seeming to hover just above the ground as the sun beats down on the asphalte and pavement, on the concrete, reflected brightly off of the towering skyscrapers of glass and steel. And anyone with an ouch of common sense seeks out their own little oasis of cool, of relief from that unrelenting heat where they can.

No one has ever particularly accused Peter Parker -- the Amazing Spider-man -- of having an abundance of common sense of course. While the brutal heat of midday has given away to the more languid, lingering heat of twilight, it is still unpleasantly sticky out. The setting of the sun has done nothing to alleviate that.

Of course as bad as it is outside, it might be a little bit worse in his shoebox of an apartment, and the greenery of Central Park does seem to offer some small modicum of relief. And while there might be other options to be found, the simple truth of the matter is that somewhere out here amidst the trees and brush, the rolling green lawns and paths, the ponds and various landmarks that make this park so renouned, Dr. Curt Conners is going to be found, menacing park-goers as his much more scaly alter-ego.

That might not be his fault, but one way or another Spidey does consider it his responsibility. So he swings from tree to light staunchion, seeking his wayward friend as others take advantage of the last of the dying light fading from the city, leaving the sky a rich midnight blue tapestry overhead.

And all the while unfriendly eyes watch, creeping amongst the treeline of the park as a dangerous predator shadows his prey...

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
There were threats made.

A normal person probably wouldn't call them that. Encouragements, maybe, or suggestions. Nudgings, certainly. But Jessica's mind doesn't always track the way a normal person's would, thanks to her unusual upbringing. /You need to get outside more. Get fresh air,/ her therapist told her with a meaningful look she interpreted as a threat.

Jessica is holding a grudge, now, because even in the thin pale blue tank top (which has a #adultlife and a picture of an ice-cream), white shorts and slippers, she's sweating like crazy as she walks along the path in Central Park. "This sucks." To emphasize her point, she kicks a rock. The rock goes flying towards the trees, and she feels marginally better as she plods along the path.

Thanks to her sharp hearing, Jess can hear rustling in the trees. She can also hear five distinct conversations and a salacious encounter in the bushes, also, so she's not exactly in an alert state.

Blink has posed:
Blink is still learning, practicing her skills. She checks an internet camera to see that her favorite spot in Mutant Town is unoccupied, and portals here way here from Genosha. Fixing her little black dress, purse on her shoulder, then then makes her way downtown. Got to scout more places, get familiar, for future endeavors.

And so she climbs out of a subwaystation, and steps out into Central Park. Because that'll be a convenient place to learn, and to portal to.

Wolverine has posed:
Logan is near Central Park. He's out here on personal business. When rumors start to swirl about a giant Lizard scaring people, he grumbles. "Another mutant either abusin' their gifts or needin' to get em' under control," he really hoped this isn't some kind of group like the Brotherhood. Hurrying to his bike he pulls off a saddle bag then moves in an alleyway.

Flipping open the bag, a yellow costume stares back at him. Logan curses that he didn't have the fore thought to bring the stealth suit. Even with Scott saying something like, "All the black leather makes people nervous," in the past. A giant lizard means there's a hunt.

Still, would do the world some good to see the X-Men in a good light. And so, Logan will slip into the yellow and blue before tearing out of the alleyway in costume.

Rushing into the park, Logan begins to track the creature. By keep his nose low to the ground, metaphorically speaking, he grabs a scent. That scent guides him to various signs of a giant Lizard moving about. And he does see a creature moving in the brush line before long.

Since he's not wearing the stealth suit there's no need to be quiet. In his mind it's time to get loud, maybe messy, "BIG GUY!" Logan snarls. A second later a "SHNKT!" cuts through the brief silence of the air. All six claws burst forward. "Want a real fight!" And for effect he'll run the claws against each. Let the metal meet metal and that sound carry. Logan figures this is like angering a bear. If you come off looking like a threat, it's bound to charge at you. He's applying the same logic to whatever this Lizard creature is.

Crush has posed:
Crush seems to be arguing with a chain and a hook. Which would seem really, really dumb, except that the chain is clearly moving, the heavy hook on its end like the head of a snake. The argument seems to be getting agitated.

"Nononono, you did that on purpose, I do not believe you, you let that guy fall. Look, I don't care, I didn't even really wanna save him, that's why I kicked the crap out of him in the first place. But letting him think he was saved and dropping him off the side of the building? Man, that's just MEAN," she says.

Crush then bursts out laughing, "There's gotta be a hot dog stand somewhere around here. C'mon, gonna load up on pig anuses and innards before we go lookin' for a fight," she says.

Noises? Trees? Creatures? No idea what you're talkin' about.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Central Park often has plenty of outdoor archery things going on. and occasionally Hawkeye makes the occasional public appearance. Well the clearly awesomer, younger and easier on the eyes Kate Bishop version.

Other than showing off a few trick shots and harmless trick arrows. Most of her time was coaching and helping judge a junior competition. Thankfuly most of then shooting was done from the cover of plenty of shaded coverings put up by the organizers. Also well away enough that when screaming and terror of a giant lizard dude and a bunch of other heroes starts up Kate, can organize them to get clear.

Though the last thing anyone really would want is to be any where near a bunch of kids with bows and arrows.

Once they've cleared, Kate has her quiver and bow in hand and starts looking for the source of the ruckus.

Spider-Man has posed:
Despite the weather -- or maybe because of it -- there are plenty of people out and about, enjoying the -- relatively speaking -- fresh air of the park and the faint relief that the setting sun brings, no matter how warm and sticky it might still be. Afterall, there are millions of people in the city and more than a few of them probably have apartments that are almost as bad as Peter Parker's.

Almost.

People walk the paths under the glow of those lamps that are slowly flickering to life throughout the park as the sun goes down. They cycle, or play soccer on the grassy lawns. A public archery display draws a few eyes as well, the shots somehow even more impressive in the dim light. And yes, there are no doubt a few of them out there doing salicious things, perhaps to specifically distract Jessica. It seems like the sort of thing that they might do afterall. No doubt her therapist put them up to it.

There is no shortage of hot dog vendors and other distributors of popular street food out there as well. While the park might have been vacated well before dusk at one time, these are different days and while the crowds might have lessened there are still plenty of people about.

It is the tingle in the back of his head that first warns him that all is not quite like it should be and Spider-Man's slow survey of the park comes to an abrupt pause as he lands atop one of those lamps that cast a pool of illumination down on the path before, crouched there with feet and hands both pressed to the narrow landing beneath him, glancing about from his higher vantage point.

Which is the only reason at all that he has any warning when a great big gob of green acid is suddenly launched from the nearby brush, soaring overhead though no doubt some of the caustic liquid drips down to burn at the asphalt path below before it cleanly slides through the metal of the pole.

Spidey yelps as his perch suddenly begins to tip precariously to one side, trying to leap free and managing to do so with surprising grace. But as he does so he takes note of the couple walking hand in hand unaware, right in the path of the falling pole. Twisting in midair, he sprays out a webline to snag that debris, pulling it out of harms way. But in turn leaving him vulnerable, unable to find another safe perch as he comes crashing down on the grassy hill with a loud 'ooooof'.

And naturally that is exactly when a figure in a green suit with a great big mechanical tail latched onto the back of it comes leaping out of the brush, acid still dripping ominiously from the tip of that tail as it seems to stretch out overhead and come crashing down towards where the winded webhead lays sprawled on the ground.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
People are shooting things with arrows! That's exciting. Less exciting is that they're kids and mostly not hitting the targets they're aiming at, so Jessica pulls up short to watch from a distance. As the noise of some disturbance scatters the participants, Jessica's frowning, glancing around, and stopping as she recognizes the familiar figure of Kate Bishop.

Jessica's hand lifts, and then stops. Does Kate know her secret identity? Damn. That was one of the memories that Wanda neatly parceled up and hid in her brain, one of the ones she hasn't yet been able to pluck free from the unfortunate tinkering that happened.

Secret identities, so troublesome.

While she's debating with herself on whether to follow to the source of the noise or, like many other park-goers, wisely depart rapidly in the other direction, she notices something else. It's a unique combination of a yelp and the sound of injury. It's familiar. Probably a sad state of affairs that she can recognize the presence of Spider-Man through the sound of him crashing to the ground.

It's a Spider-thing.

With a rattled sigh, she heads in that direction. She's dressed all in civilian clothing though so the moment she spots that giant lizard creature leaping towards her bestie, the big /nope/ in her head has her turning around, even as she stubs her toe on a rock.

Karma. Jessica scowls down at it a second, then, in a flash of inspiration, picks it up and throws it towards the lizard. She puts some strength behind it, too, the idea to distract the lizard from eating Spider-Man. She hasn't figured out what step 2 is yet. But it probably involves running a lot, which, given she's already sweating, is going to suck even more. "This is your fault, Spidey!"

Blink has posed:
Blink happens to be n the right place at the right time, or well, the wrong place? In any case, the right path in the park to see acid being flung through the air.

"Oh!"

So she goes into her purse, putting her hand on a knife. Not pulling it out. But... having it ready TO pull out. She starts to creep TOWARD the situation, eyes open.

Not the best outfit for this. Oh my god. But what it is, it is.

Wolverine has posed:
Seeing someone new enter the fray is an interesting sight. They're not exactly a lizard. The way that tail curls with a tip, Logan wonders if this is some kind of Drepanosaurus-like motif. Technically a lizard, but when people say the word lizard they think about the things in aquariums. Logan thinks this person is a dinosaur lover or enthusiast. He pictured someone called "Scorpion" to be in black.

Going toward the fallen Spider-Man, Logan just tries to make there in time to do something. If he gets a shot, he'll try lunging at Scorpion. The last thing he wants is Spider-Man to get hurt. Webhead matters too much to someone Logan cares about. So, Logan is putting everything he can into this.

Crush has posed:
Crush doesn't have a secret identity. Hell, she barely has an identity, other than the name she gave herself and the one her adoptive parents gave her after they found her. Which, to be fair, is a pretty cool name. But not as cool as Crush.

The Czarnian babe was well into her second chili dog when suddenly - SPIDER-MAN. SCORPION. Other...people!

"Aw, hell yeah, a fight! About damn time, I heard New York was poppin', but I been bored af. Why are you people running? This is gonna be good. Kick his ass, Spidey!"

Mmmmmmmmmm, chili dogs.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Well Kate does share an apartment with the other Hawkeye, so it's probably likely. That one might be off doing other stuff at the moment. But if she does know who Spider-Woman is under the mask, she's not about to let that out. Kate's identity may be public doesn't mean everyone else's is.

Nor is she gonna throw code names around when people aren't in uniform yet. And big fight scenes do help distract from the brunette's throwing rocks at lizards.

Luckily those kids and the actual adult supervision are being evacuated to safety. Despite the eagerness to help like a bunch of little Hawkeyes, nobody is fighting in the shade on this summer day.

The others joining the fight get tracked, their movements need to be followed incase of any stray shots. Some might have healing factors but she doesn't know everyone. Plus it might piss the big Czarnian girl and the Short Canadian off. Even the hot pink girl is registered. No much to keep track of. "Wait so who's bad guys are these? Someone keeping a chart of who has beef with whom?" she calls out curiously. The guy in the green suit and tail getting a hmm. "Oh, is it these two, one cosplaying at the other? I mean I get it, no hate." That's directed more to Scorpion. Well aware she can't judge since she is in purple armored hear herself and using a bow and arrow.

Said bow being drawn back on and a pair of arrows being nocked. A tranq arrow and a taser arrow. Hopefully able to pierce armor, suit or scales. Though it's scales she has an eye on first. Connors could do with a nap.

Spider-Man has posed:
While Spiders might be pretty darn agile, acrobatic even, they sadly lack the tendancy of cats to land on their feet. And certainly Spidey is providing some pretty conclusive evidence as of late that their back is a much more likely landing zone.

Much to his regret. Ow.

While his back is certainly not thanking him and he is most certainly winded, the air rushing out of him at that tell-tale 'ooooof' that Jessica has now heard enough to recognize on queue, he is still normally a little quicker then this. But the impact with the ground has clearly left the webhead a little stunned and seeing that mechanical tail come crashing down towards him is enough to make those mirrored lense inserts in his mask stretch about as open wide as possible.

Spidey tries to roll, he really does. It's instinctive and normally he doesn't even need to think about it, not with that tingle in the back of his head going mad at the imminent danger of having his skull and upper torso crushed. But muscles don't seem to want to work.

That tail looms large, the acidic good practically dripping as it prepares to fire as well. It's really not the last thing that Pete wants to see in life, all things considered. And then, suddenly, it is no longer there, his life no longer flashing before his life.

And the last minute save? Well that goes to Wolverine of course. There's a reason why he's the best at what he does, even if what he does isn't very pretty. That flying body tackle might not be the most beautiful example ever thrown, but Spidey would definitely give it a solid ten. And he's not even a Russian judge. Either way, the scorpion-suited criminal is knocked aside at the last second, that tail crashing down mere inches from Spider-Man's head, digging into the turf as Mac Gargan stumbles, only that mechanical tail digging into the earth keeping him from going flying or falling.

"What the fu--" he starts, voice furious as that tail comes flying around, lashing out towards Logan to drive him back -- or into the ground, you know, whichever -- as Gargan works himself up into a fury.

Which is when Hawkeye's arrow flies across the grassy lawn, even in the dim light and back and forth between the Scorpion and Wolverine, still finding it's mark, digging painfully into Gargan's side as he lets out a yelp of pain. And that fury explodes, bursts of acid gobs flying crazily about -- including right at Jessica's feet to send her sprawling as the earth is literally eaten away all around her.

If the nearby park-goers needed any more reason to go running, that's certainly it and a good half-dozen sprint along the path towards the exit, at least until they come face to face with the knife-wielding Blink. A woman squeals and swings her purse erratically at the pink elfin girl. "It's another one!"

Meanwhile, behind Crush there is the sound of a crash and a crunch as the hotdog cart that she had been frequently finds it absolutely demolished, it's stunned proprietor sprawled out on the ground, looking up at wide eyes at who just destroyed his livelihood.

Or rather what.

A giant, six-foot tall upright reptiloid stands there amongst the ruins of the cart, that long snout sniffing at the remains and finding most of the tasty treats crushed beneath the twisted metal and ruined awning. Hissing with displeasure, the Lizard raises his snout into the air and catches a whiff of something appealling.

The chilli-dog still in Crushes hand. Another angry hiss sounds and that green monstrocity hurls itself towards the Czarnian, clawed limbs extended!

Blink has posed:
Blink sighs. Oh right, they hate the pink thing too. Whatever. She takes out her knife. Black, sharp, professional. A good stabby tool for someone who can move fast with a trick.

The scorpion seems like a HUGE problem, but at the same time, it seems like there are some hugely powerful people going after it. So honestly she's just going to turn her attention to this reptiloid. Frankly, harassing that poor cart owner bugs her on an emotional level, in a way that a huge acid-flinging creature does not.

So she approaches, and from a distances, starts circling the reptiloid. With a glance at Crush, she calls out "You'll pay for that. How much does one of those carts cost? A few thousand bucks?"

Wolverine has posed:
Logan tries to avoid the giant tail. He's trying to pick his shot. Logan is trying to cut into, or remove, a piece of that tail. Honestly, he thinks this is just some kind of mechanized suit rather than something fused to the wearer. Growling low, he is just willing to take a hit if it secures his own attack. Acid burns do heal afterall. Sadly, anything involving the actual Lizard goes unnoticed for the moment. The Lizard isn't trying to stab him with an acid spewing tail.

Crush has posed:
Crush turns at the sound of the shattered cart. She knows the sound of destruction all too well. It's one of her favorites, after all.

She was enjoying the show. Spidey's got some moves, that Scorpion guy is crazy (having a tail has to be weird, right?), all kinds of chaos. Somebody shot an ARROW, for god's sake. Crush doesn't think she's ever seen anyone use arrows outside of Robin Hood movies or that Hungry Game movie from when she was a kid.

And now there's a dinosaur guy that just crushed a hot dog cart.

"I love this town!" she yells, baring her teeth, oversharp canines pronounced as she cracks her knuckles. "Awright, you wanna go, pal, I can make you my Jurassic BITCH," she says, charging forward and going to throw a punch right at the thing's snout.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
There's enough tranquilizers in that arrow head to knock out a landshark on a rampage but it still takes a fair amount of time to take effect, That's what the taser part of the arrow is for,

If anything the intended spasms should get her target twitching enough for someone to get a free shot and knock someone the heck out.

Spitting acid from a tail was probably not the expected outcome. "Say it don't spray it!" she yells. Punning is not exclusive to Spiders after all. "How does that even work anyway. Does he have to clench his cheeks like trying to poop or like trying to not poop?" the important questions.

All this while she lines up shots on the Lizard next. Same two sorts of arrows. She could shoot five of them and still hit but that can always be tried later, For now getting the green menaces slowed down for the heavier hitters is her plan.

Spider-Man has posed:
That brief moment of reprieve was exactly what the doctor ordered and Spidey manages to roll onto his side and climb back to his feet -- with a little less then his customary speed and agility admittedly -- though one hand almost immediately goes to the small of his back, pressing there as he hunches over like a little old man.

He has taken a little bit of a beating as of late and his back has taken the worst measure of it. "Did anyone get the license of the truck that just hit me?" he asks, a plantive note to his words.

Forcing himself straight, he waves in the vague direction of Jessica, not yet realizing that she has trouble of her own to deal with. "Thank you, thank you for your support. Your friendly neighborhood punching bag is here to blame for all your assorted problems. Please direct all complaints to this ear, as there is a horrible ringing in my other one. And for god's sake, don't right to Jameson at the Bugle with stories of what a menace I am. He doesn't need any help coming up with new stories," he complains.

Then his eyes finally fasten on the fight playing out in front of him, blinking slowly as Logan fends off the crazed swings of the Scorpion. "Okay, maybe that's where the ringing is coming from," he says, hands coming up as he takes a bead on the green suited scorpion man, ready to web him up.

Meanwhile Mac Gargan continues to fight with the figure in front of him, those tails coming down in brutal swipes that tear up the grass and leave deep gouges in the turf, while scattered blasts of that acid do much the same. The arrow that's embedded in his side isn't doing him any favors, but whatever tranquilizers that might be pumping into him don't seem to have slowed him down yet. Indeed, when that taser arrow threatens to strike home, that whirling tails knocks it aside at the last moment. "...kill you...!" Gargan snarls, his attention at least temporarily on Logan.

Across the lawn and on the path, the little battle with the Lizard is reaching it's own frenzied peak, though for a change the transformed Dr. Curt Conners may have bit off a little more then he can chew.

That doesn't mean that he doesn't want another bite however -- specifically of that chilli-dog that Crush clutches and the Lizard claws at her, drawing to reach that hand. Clearly someone is hungry. Clearly he should have found a different target.

The punch to his snout draws a loud, angry hiss from the reptiloid and he staggers back, that frayed white lab coat it wears tearing even more as it tries to shake its head, clearing it from the power behind the attack it clearly didn't expect. It finds itself stumbling towards Blink instead and for a moment it's anger focuses on her instead, that heavy tail lashing out towards the elfin woman before the enraged reptile-man leaps at her instead.

If it can't have a chilli-dog for dinner, apparently mutant is a good second choice.

Blink has posed:
Blink catches herself. She's startled by the turn toward her. She shoudln't be. She called out at the lizard after all. But she is. So she steels herself after the gasp, and makes a series of careful portals, getting past the tail and possibly BLASTING it with an energy wave, slashing at the lizard's back, but most importantly getting past to end up beside Crush.

"Nice punch." she breathes.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
There's no running, surprisingly. Jessica gives a relieved sigh when she spots the unlikely mixture of superheros jumping in, and she settles back into cheer squad mode. "Woo! Go, stab him with your... multiple knives? Hands?" She's pondering that just as a glob of acid lands in front of her, eating away at the earth, and sending her tumbling down after it.

Well. This is unfortunate.

Not only does she tumble forward into that ever-increasing hole, Jessica's force to use all of her agility to keep herself from touching the acid that's still burning away, some of which drops onto her tank top.

"Asshole! That was my favorite top!"

At least the woman's still alive? Even if she's out of sight and out of the fight.

Crush has posed:
"MY DAWG!" Crush yells in dismay.

She's getting ready to wallop the Lizard in vengeance for her fallen snack and its precious nitrites when suddenly Blink is beside her and has also added some energy blasting at the scaly monster. Crush isn't used to people helping her. Calling 911, throwing things at her, shooting at her, sure. Helping? Not so much.

"Thanks, babe!" she says. Then she grasps at the Lizard's head and gives him a rather vicious headbutt to the dome, followed by grabbing him by the waist and preparing the hurl him over head, "You ever here of skeet shootin'?" she winks at Blink, then moves to toss the Lizard into the air, "PULL!"

Wolverine has posed:
Arrows bite into Gargan's flesh. Logan smirks for a moment. Later he would thank the archer. Maybe even buy them a beer when this is all over. A snarl leaves Logan and he rushes Scorpion. His body might block the archer's shots, but the mutant is trying to take away Scorpion's range. There are two ways to do that. Either move out of the tail's range or get in -real- close. Force the tail into unnatural motions. Plus, it may make the tail an interesting target for others.

The mutant tries to tackle Scorpion. Then just come down with the claws. Aiming for shoulders, hands, just anything that could immobilize the guy without killing them. Ocean blue eyes looking down at the villain. The mutant growls and snarls.

"This all ya got!?" Logan just waits for burns, cuts and anything from the tail.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Hawkeye already has her shots lined up at Connors now. The Taser arrow that Gargan deflected getting a squinty frown. "Rude. Just no respect for peoples' property. I bet cutting tails off won't kill either of these guys!" she has to agree with Jessica on that one while suggesting some possibly painful tactics. It was a nice top.

The lizard soon has a pair of arrows flying toward him in the same single volley. Kate's aim is good enough to not worry about hitting Crush or Blink. But she does make sure he's distracted thoroughly. Being headbutted by a big buff alien chick is plenty distracting. The launching makes it easier. Just needs some leading on the shot so both arrows fly true.

Hopefully he doesn't land too far away.

Spider-Man has posed:
The Lizard is not having a particularly good time of it as of late.

While his efforts might have ruined the chilli-dog for Crush, it didn't exactly get him a meal out of it. Nor are his attempts to eat Blink instead any more effective as the mutant simply portals aside and then shoves him with that wave of energy for good measure, sending him staggering. Before it can decide just who to go after, Crush is there, first bringing that headbutt down on him before literally grabbing him by the tail and sending him flying through the air.

That's quite an arm on her. She could probably go pro.

Arcing downward towards the ground a painned hiss suddenly sounds from the transformed Dr. Conners as those arrows track him perfectly, impacting his side, first pumping those tranquilizers into him before sending a jolt with the taser arrow.

And that's enough for the reptiloid. Between his last encounter with Spidey, Jess and the living nightmare, and tonight the creature begins to limp off before dropping to all fours and speeds up, racing towards the nearby pond that glitters under the moonlight overhead, diving beneath that starlit surface to disappear from sight.

Rather distracted by the much closer confrontation, it is only when the Lizard is launched into the air that Spidey notices that the Scorpion isn't the only threat out there. He is also the one that he came looking for in the first place and he turns for a moment. "Doc! Hey Doc, stop!" he calls out after the reptiloid, even taking a few steps in that direction before the creature plunges back into the water. "Damnit!" he says under his breath.

Another night of failure of helping the friend front it seems. That hurts. Not quite as much as his back at the moment, maybe. But it definitely hurts.

While Dr. Conner's plight might be playing on his mind, there is the more immediate situation playing out right here on the torn up lawn -- ten to one the parks authority is going to blame him for this! -- and Spidey turns back to try and give Logan a hand.

Not that the mutant Wolverine seems to need much of one. No longer able to keep him at bay, as Logan gets in close, as those claws start to find their mark some of that rage from Mac Gargan turns to fear, those claws tearing through his outfit like it was paper, leaving him scored on his shoulders and hands, those awkward swings of his tail no longer able to either find or even drive away his attacker.

So increasingly the Scorpion is giving ground, trying to get away, realizing that his attempt to put an end to Spider-Man has got him into a whole host of trouble instead.

Which is when Spidey tries to intervene, to lend a hand. Those weblines shoot out and in a second there is a solid coating of that sticky webbing covering the tip of the Scorpions tail, cutting off the flow of acid for at least a moment. Giving it a hard yank, Spider-Man starts to pull his old foe off balance... when the tail swings back the other way.

Hard.

Suddenly it is Spidey who is pulled off balance. Indeed, pulled right off his feet as the momentum of the tail swings him in a crazy arc, the wall-crawler clinging to his line and trying to find enough purchase to stop his flight. Instead he finds himself flying straight towards Logan, limbs akimbo. "Watch out!" he calls out.

Talk about your Fastball Specials.

Blink has posed:
Blink takes the hint. Watching Crush and her more carefully, she readies her knife. Oh my god this may be gross. Scrunching her face, she braces her knife arm, and portals right at the flying lizard. Once to to get right in and stab, which feels like overkill with the energy wave of her portal itself hitting the monster in the face. Worst case.. this may be a messy experience.

Just in case this is messy, she readies to portal again immediately, coming out over the grass, doing a tuck and roll to land!

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
From the hole, there's more cursing. Jessica unfortunately doesn't have spider webs to pull herself up with, and her bio-kinetic energy doesn't do much on the shifting edges of the newly made hole, so she has to do it old school. Namely, she cheats and just leaps up, landing and rolling -- hoping no one's got a camera pointed her way. With extreme dignity, she dusts herself off, scowling at the artful holes burned into her tank top.

"Rude." Jessica has to agree with Kate on that one. They agree on so many things, even cheeseburgers. Spidey might have a run for his money on being Jessica's BFF at this rate.

"All right. I was gone for like, five seconds-" definitely longer than that. "How did we get a second bad guy up in this thing? What is going on?"

Questions for the ages, Jess.

She cracks her knuckles, about to move forward, when ol' lizard head goes zooming off towards the safety of the pond. She puffs out a breath of annoyance, but decides her previous decision not to pursue is a smart one. She glances back just in time to see Spidey zooming towards Logan. "Ooh. Owww." She's already anticipating pain. She's sympathetic like that!

Crush has posed:
Crush shakes out her arms and laughs, "Oooooooooooooooh yeah, that's more like it! Extinct again, too bad, so sad," she says, clapping her hands together like she's dusting them off.

She kicks through the rubble of the vendor and finds one of the bottled sodas, unscrewing the top and taking a long sip as she fingerguns at Blink with her other hand.

"Good shootin', Tex. What's with all the wild animal guys? Is that a thing here? Lizards, scorpions, spiders...that short guy. He's gotta be somethin', right? Like a badger or a groundhog or somethin'," she says.

"COME ON SPIDEY DON'T GO DOWN LIKE THAT WHOOP HIS ASS ALREADY!"

Wolverine has posed:
Logan plans on chasing after Gargan. Just give him chase, again not wanting to kill the guy, but hoping maybe Spider-Man could web the guy since no one here has handcuffs. And speaking of Spider-Man, as if right on cue Logan hears the webhead. While spidey has Spider-Senses, Logan does not. Sadly, by the time he registers Spidey coming toward him, it's too late. The webhead collides into Logan, knocking him off Scorpion. Oh, it hurts. It's every day someone around a buck-sixty gets tossed into you like a stone and it does some damage. Logan groans and starts to pick himself up. "The Hell?" he groans looking toward the webhead.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"I hope that blockage doesn't over pressure that tail." Where is the acid stored, is it produced on the fly? so many questions about that suit.

The escaping Connors gets a frown but guys like him always turn back up. "You know I think possibly we just had bad guys just having the same idea at the same time. Originality is a scarce resource these days. Hell someone once suggested I go by Taskmistres last time I busted out one of my swords. Thank goodness I don't use whips. How that " she states to Jess after jogging up to check on her friend.

Spidey colliding with Logan gets a wince. "Oof. The Avengers we clear are not." everyone has a bad day.

at least Kate can try and help with another arow aimed at Gargan while he's still there.

Net arrow, made with high tensile but thinner wire to fit in the arrow head. Usually saved for rampaging animals, not so thin it could cut anyone just, contain.

Normally not fit for human containment though.

Spider-Man has posed:
Ol' Wrecking Ball Spider-Man, that's what they call him.

He is pretty agile, there's no doubt about that. He and his weblines do a good job of defying gravity on a regular basis and the way he contorts his body in midair can be down right impressive. There's definitely more then a few advantages in being bitten by a radioactive spider. At least if you don't curl up and die from radiation poisoning instead.

But for all of his many abilities Spider-Man can't completely defy the laws of physics. Mass, momentum, all of it sort of plays against him and while the smart thing to do would be to simply let go of the webline, to go flying out across the grassy hill once more, Peter can be a little stubborn sometimes, a little too determined to pull through at the last minute whether by genius, ability or sheer luck. Usually it works.

Sometimes it doesn't.

Spidey isn't the biggest guy and Logan is pretty damn solid, but he has a whole lot of momentum built up thanks to the arc of that swing. Which means that Peter seems a whole lot heavier then he actually is. By a pretty good factor at that. Enough so that when he plows straight into Wolverine it is not a light collision.

Again a yelp escapes Peter as he slams into the other man, sending them both sprawling to the ground. For some it might be a little comical. Not so much for Spidey though and he doesn't exactly leap back to his feet immediately, instead letting out a groan. "Sorry, sorry," he says, the webline he was clinging too suddenly going taunt once more.

Then he is abruptly off of Logan. But only because he's being dragged face first across the grassy lawn towards the trees.

At least until the spray of acid from that tail finally dissolves the webbing at the tip of it, leaving the webhead with nothing but a faceful of dirt as Gargan seems to decide that discretion is the better part of revenge afterall and tears for the woods. That net arrow falls towards him -- only to take an untimely burst of acid that begins to dissolve that tightly netted web of cable.

Spidey comes up spluttering from the dirt, his suit practically one big grass stain at this point and fires off a desperate volley of web-balls at the retreating villain. For a moment they splatter all around him, slamming into trees a fraction of a second too late as the Scoripion sprints past, deeper into the woods.

Leaving the nearby woods absolutely dripping with artificial webbing. It practically looks like it should be Halloween.

"Well... this is a little embarassing..." Spider-Man mutters, trying to clamber back to his feet. Not for the first time this evening.

Blink has posed:
Blink flops out in the grass a moment whent he job is done. Fixing her dress, then rolling onto her back and slowly sitting up. "Not what I expected," she sighs, wiping her hands off in the grass, and the knife, before the knife can get slipped back into her purse, and she can get up to get all sorted again.

Eyes on the very acidic situation over THAT way.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Taskmistress?" Jessica is both sympathetic and incredulous on Kate's behalf, giving the archer a dismayed look as she approaches. "That's awful. I hope you punched them in the face. Or give me their names and I'll punch them in the face. I can add it to my list."

She has a list. Anyone surprised?

"Do you see this shit?" Jessica lifts the hem of her tank top to show Kate, the edges burned away by acid. It could be worse. It could be her skin. But: "This is my favorite. For this week, anyway. Also, let's not mention this to the A... uh, team. I'm trying to get back into the good books. Second-Hawkeye might vouch for me but I think Iron Man's still on the fence." Yeah, right now, Kate's been promoted to First-Hawkeye. Mazel Tov!

Then the collision happens between Spider-Man and Logan. There's not much Jessica could do to help, really, even were she inclined to break her secret identity. Knock one out in advance with her venom blast? Probably not really welcome. So she watches, because who can look away from a good car-crash? Or Spider-crash, in this case.

The moment Spidey yelps, she puts a finger upwards, and nods decisively. "That's the sound of Spidey doing good work. Wonder if I can get JARVIS to write a program to listen for that sound? That could be-" and then she stops, cups hands around her mouth, and calls, "I'll slip you the card of my dry cleaner, Spidey!" Because that can't be good for the suit, no matter how tough. "Good job!" she gives a helpful thumbs up that might, in fact, not be helpful, given both the bad guys got away. Still, that cheerful sideline support is extended to both Blink and Crush along with a beaming smile.

Crush has posed:
"KEEP RUNNING YA BIG TAILED BITCH!"

Crush cackles and chugs her soda, then, seeing Blink flopped down in the grass, does some flopping of her own, dropping down on her butt and sitting cross legged, the spikes on her shoulders and her leather bracelets shining in the sun.

"At least we didn't crash into each other," she says, offering the other girl a fistbump, then yelling at Spider-Man and his amazing friends. "Good fight, guys, good fight. I mean, he was only one guy and there's like four of you, but still, he had a tail and shit."

Wolverine has posed:
"Yer on my sh*t list fer two reasons webs," Logan grunts. By Spidey's count this should be only one incident. What else has Spidey done to this guy? That's a question for another day.

Logan groans as he tries to center himself. Ocean blue eyes flick about the place. He tries to figure out the fresh round of chaos moving about. Looking around, he's trying to see everything that's happening about.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
There's an awkward shrug, as much for that acid doing it's thing as it is for not punching the people that think the other codename than what she took was better. "No need for punching. I did the whole disappointed glare thing. I also pointed out that wearing a skull mask is not a good look for anyone." she explains.

The escaping Scorpion gets a poke of her tongue against the corner of her lips. "Okay, gonna need to start getting non corrosive coatings on everything and load up with some alkaline arrows." everyone seems to be grouping together so at least she doesn't have to yell any more.

"Her dry cleaner is pretty good too!" she further recommends.

"The acid thing was kinda unexpected. But then so was yeeting lizards where they could run away as well." she points out to Crush. "Tranq darts should slow them down for a while, not body got hurt that doesn't require anything more than a beer, Could be better, but could be a lot worse."

Spider-Man has posed:
The big hope here? That in all the confusion and chaos, with most of the nearby park-goers out enjoying the summer night, that no one nearby stuck around to immortalize this particular moment with a cellphone video. That is not really something that Spidey wants to try and live down.

Which, of course means that given the ol' Parker Luck there is almost certainly someone out there with a video record of this incident, one that will surely be uploaded in the next minute or two and that a dozen people will have sent the link to J. Jonah Jameson only minutes after that.

There are actually days that Peter is reasonably happy about his life. Occasionally good things do happen to him. This is not one of those times however.

"Just... kill me now," he mumbles, hunched over and rubbing at the front of his costume, the costumary red and blue now decidedly mixed in with numerous stains of green. Where it is not torn entirely. Someone is going to be spending the rest of the evening with a scrub brush, detergerent and a good sewing kit looks like.

The exciting life of a superhero. Wooooo!

A familair voice calls out that familiar 'good job', but Spidey is pretty sure that he didn't see his bestie out there in all the confusion. And if anyone can respect the anonymity of a good secret identity, it is definitely him. He would certainly never announce his identity to the general public. Not even if Tony Stark asked him to. Nope.

So without turning around and trying to seek out Spider-Woman's voice, he simply lifts his hand in a thumb's up gesture once more. "Much appreciated. You can leave it at the spot you stole my hotdog," he calls back.

Crush and Blink get a thumbs up too. "Go team. We'll get 'em next time. Stick around for even mroe sporting cliches," he offers up.

And then there is Logan. Glancing back towards the other man as he regains his feet and starts off into the woods, Spidey blinks. "Two reasons? I mean, I get the one and I really am sorry. It wasn't my fault? But why two? Give me a break here... ehhh. You know what, just add it to my tab. I'm used to it."

And with that, the down-on-hios-luck wall-crawler fires off a webline and leaps into the air, starting to swing off. His suit mangled, his friend gone missing again and his dignity -- what he had left of it already -- in tatters. More so. Just another successful night for your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Speaking of disappointed looks, Jessica's giving Kate one /right now/ because she can't add to her punching-people list. "Hm. Well, you're utterly correct on the skull mask comment, at least." Fashion matters. Just, not to Jess. "Like how can you see through that thing? Utterly impractical." Speaking of costume malfunctions, she kind of winces in sympathy with Spider-Man. They've all been there. "I did NOT steal your hotdog!" the sheer audacity! The guff! She's completely innocent. But he will find a card tucked there later, wedged into the window sill.

Jessica's brow wrinkles at Crush's words and she leans towards Kate, whispering not-so-quietly: "Wait, was that a diss? I think that was a diss." Sometimes the woman doesn't pick up on super obvious social cues. "Want me to put her on the list, too?"

Pointing towards the pond, she adds, "Aquatic breathers seem to be the only way. That's the second time I've seen that giant lizard hide in the water. And I'm allergic to water," she's absolutely not, "So someone needs to person-up and head in after that sometime." Not her. And definitely not today. "I desperately need a shower and to change into my unicorn pants. My therapist is not going to believe that. I can hear him already 'this is totally you projecting your reluctance to engage, Jessica'." There's an eyeroll. "Burgers and drinks later?" to Kate, before she heads for Fifth Avenue and the glorious shower awaiting her there.