6495/Ahoy, Ninjas!

Ahoy, Ninjas!
Date of Scene:	14 February 2019
Location:	New York City gaming arcade
Synopsis:	Jessica and T'Challa go toe to toe with a video game to prove that they don't suck.
Cast of Characters:	Spider-Woman (Drew), Black Panther

---

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
It's a quiet Wednesday evening. Not much going on around the mansion, so instead of going out and borrowing trouble, Jessica decided that it might be best to go out and get some training in one of the more orthodox ways. She fired off a text, containing an address, a time, and the words "Bring your A Game." And at that appointed time, Jessica will be waiting outside, fully intent on making the most of the evening.

Black Panther has posed:
There is a bit of a sound of an aircraft flying overhead, though none is visible. Jessica, having flown the Wakandan jet, would know by now the difference in the sound it makes compared to other planes. And with her hearing? Yes, she should probably be expecting someone to drop in from above fairy shortly. And sure enough there he is, T'Challa in his Black Panther suit, dropping to the ground with arm's crossed from who knows how high.

Super hero landing!

He straigthens from the landing, and has a bag slung over his back as well. He strides over to join Jessica, those steps having a fluidness that few outside of dancers seem to have. His headgear retracts and he says, "I wasn't sure which A-game you intended. So I brought a change of clothes," he says as he smiles at her, his eyes warming further at the sight of Jessica.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica stands leaning against a building with a dark pink and green canopy over the door. The sign over the canopy reads "GAMEWORKS," and Jess is dressed casually, in black leggings and a long ivory tunic. Sneakers. Ponytail.

"Well, you certainly pull out all the stops for entrances, don't you?" She tilts her head. "You're probably a /little/ overdressed for the mission, though. Glad you brought clothes. This is a tough crowd, and image is /everything/....and if you go in there like this? Well, prepare to get mobbed by five-year-olds..."

Black Panther has posed:
Black Panther motions to his bag with his aforementioned change of clothes. "You did not tell me /which/ A-game to bring," he complains. "And do not imagine I suspect it was anything other than intentional," T'Challa chides with a gentle smile. His eyes show just how pleased he is to see her.

It has been a few days. Jessica would know he returned to Wakanda for a few days. Then there was talk of a crashed ship. The same Dark Elves that Thor had warned them about, which T'Challa and Thor went to investigate.

But then T'Challa looks worried. "Five-year-olds?" he asks, looking toward the door. "I think we may need Dr. Banner's larger self to handle the onslaught," he muses quietly, rubbing at his chin. "Very well. Let me change." He walks around the corner of the building, before looking back around it. "And no peeking!"

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Oh no, that's fine," Jessica replies. "Feel free, I'm sure no one will happen upon you while you're changing around the corner!" She waits patiently by the door and watches the passers-by. "I'm deadly at Skee Ball, I'm warning you now!" she calls to him, uncertain if he's even in earshot anymore. "I mean, those machines are in there quaking right now, just knowing that I'm out here. They're probably locking up all the balls, as we speak!"

Black Panther has posed:
T'Challa comes back around the corner, wearing black slacks and a nice sweater. Enough to keep the worst of the chill off at least. He did mention thermal underwear after the trip to Minnesota. Maybe he's wearing them now.

The gravel crunches under his feet as he rejoins Jessica outside the door of the gaming arcade. "You are deadly, period, Miss Drew," he tells her with a soft smile. "And I am pretty sure that webs are not allowed on these games," he reminds her in a warm tone. He moves to hold the door open for her and motion for her to go in first. "So you have frequented this place before? How did you come across it?" he asks.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"I don't need webs...and I think we agreed on Jessica, did we not?" She arches a brow as she slips in the door, thanking him as she goes. "I used to come here all the time to blow off steam. Just something fun, but it sort of makes me happy to come back now and then. A nostalgia thing, I guess? Arcades are for kids, but this place has a lot of more grown-up games.

Inside, the place sounds a lot busier than it really is. Bells, chimes, and sirens emanate from various areas in the arcade, wherever people are playing. And sometimes, unattended games with blare out with music or sound effects, in an attempt to catch the attention of anyone passing by. "Besides, I figure if I can get enough tickets, I can get an Iron Man PEZ Dispenser for Miss Potts. She can...I dunno, put it on her desk or somethin'."

Black Panther has posed:
T'Challa follows inside and says, "We did agree on Jessica. But sometimes first names are not the same as a last name, no? 'We have ways of making you talk, Mr. Bond,'" T'Challa says, switching to his villainous voice for the last part. "It just would not be the same if they called him 'James' there. When talking about your lethality with skeeball? I believe Miss Drew was called for," he says.

T'Challa looks around and he gets a soft smile as he hears of her history with the place. "It looks like a good place to blow off steam," he says. Before raising one eyebrow. "Unless I beat you?" He gives her a questioning look.

Gauntlet. Thrown. Down.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Simple," Jessica replies. "If you beat me, then I'll just mug you on the way out and take your tickets." She shrugs, handing the man at the counter two twenty dollar bills and holding up two fingers. The man takes the cash and slides two cups of tokens back across the counter to Jessica. One of those, Jessica hands over to T'Challa. "I mean forty dollars for a PEZ dispenser is /more/ than fair, I think. Right?"

Black Panther has posed:
The air is filled with the ringing of bells and explosions from video games, and kids laughing and arguing. T'Challa smiles as he looks about and then turns back to Jessica as she reveals her dastardly plan for assuring enough tickets. He shakes his head with a sad expression. "It is true, what they say of the crime in New York," he says with a few soft tsking notices thrown in.

He accepts the cup of tokens and says, "I am sure it would have all the more meaning for Miss Potts," T'Challa says with a smile. He turns back to the games. "So, skeeball right away? Or do you save it for the coup de grace?"

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jess narrows her eyes toward the Skee Ball machines, noting what appears to be a twelve-year-old and perhaps his little brother, on two of the lanes. The other two are open, but she shakes her head. "Nah, I can't shatter the dreams of a kid that young," she says, and turns back toward a large LCD display on the wall. There are four screens stacked atop one another, each showing one floor of what appears to be an abandoned warehouse, with ninjas meandering about. As they do.

Four seats attached to poles stand facing the screens, and each seat has a seatbelt. "No, THIS is my game..."

Black Panther has posed:
Black Panther turns to survey the gaming floor. Some are familiar to him. Others not. A few years at Oxford does leave him familiar with a number of Western things. But apparently only the more popular forms of games apply in that regard. "Is this a game? Or a ride?" T'Challa asks as he walks over, looking at the seats curiously.

He turns back to Jessica. "Well then, let us proceed. You will have to explain it to me." He takes a seat and looks at the screen. "Very foolish how they have deployed themselves. Captain Rogers could take out all but two in one throw, I imagine," he says, noting the angle available for a bouncing shield.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Oh no, these are the worst ninjas /ever/," Jessica confesses. "If he threw the shield, those last two would throw themselves into its trajectory just to say they were a part of something." She nods, and seats herself in the next chair, belting herself in as she starts dunking four tokens in the slot next to her chair. "We have to clear floors. Just us against all those guys. And we're shooting," she adds, pulling a handgun attached by a cord to the chair from a holster at its side. "Plus, these guys shoot you back. As...ninjas do." She shrugs. "Some have swords. Some shoot. None of them are any good. But I'm a horrible shot...." she confesses.

Black Panther has posed:
"Ninjas that shoot? Have they lost all sense of tradition?" T'Challa says, shaking his head sadly, tsking as he takes a seat and fastens the seat belt. "Very well," he says, hefting the gun or whatever they are given to attack the ninjas back with. "Ninja killers, assemble," he says, looking over to Jessica with his serious game face on. Before giving her a quick grin and looking back. "I am ready," he tells her, gun raised and ready to do battle.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
With a siren and a flashing red light, the game is afoot. All the ninjas have disappeared. They begin peeking out from behind boxes, shooting toward the point of view of Jessica and T'Challa. One ninja bounces out of the shadows and toward the forefront, slashing at Jessica's vantage point as animated blood splashes the screen. Jessica panics and fires three rounds off, busting a crate out from in front of a ninja that flees to another crate, unharmed. Jessica's health bar drops by one quarter. "Once all these dirtbags are clear, we go up a floor!" As if she's going anywhere, shooting like that.

Black Panther has posed:
T'Challa misses with his first shot. And then with his second. "This gun shoots as straight as one of Tony's prototype designs," T'Challa says, staring at it just as a ninja leaps out to head for him. T'Challa pulls the gun up and manages to hit him just before he can slash with his katana. "I hate cutting weapons," he comments, aiming more careful now and starting to pick off a few of the ninjas. "And what happens when we reach the top?" he inquires as another ninja goes down in a gory spray of blood.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"I have noooo ideeeea," Jess admits, closing one eye and aiming at a ninja peeking out from behind a box. She fires, and knocks a plant pot out of the window behind him. "I'm pretty sure I've never gotten off the first floor..." She bites her tongue to hold it still as the tip is extended just past one corner of her mouth, and she squeezes off another shot as the ninja charges her. The ninja explodes in a particularly gory splash of red. "YEAH! THAT'S WHAT YOU /GET/!!" Because there's nothing better than trash-talking fake ninjas on a tv screen.

Black Panther has posed:
Black Panther watches the potted plant explode. "We need to work firearms into our training," he comments in a teasing voice. "Clint would disown both of us if he saw our shooting." He fires and provides more evidence for this statement as he misses a ninja's head, hitting a box instead, the ninja darting to find other cover. "You will not successfully hide from me," T'Challa declares to the screen. He shoots the new crate, blowing it apart and prepares to shoot the revealed ninja, only to find that he isn't there!

"He successfully hid from me."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica has utterly lost her composure, with that statement. Laughing, she's still squeezing off shots, trying to knock off ninjas who charge the screen. Strangely, she has suddenly become quite the markswoman, because as she laughs, each of her shots finds its mark, and the remaining ninjas are cleared from the floor. A yellow spinny light above the screens flashes, along with what sounds like an air raid siren as T'Challa's and Jessica's seats jolt upward to square them with the next floor of the warehouse. More ninjas. More plants that haven't been shot yet. And one...pirate? One pirate.

Black Panther has posed:
Their coordination is too good for their aim to not start adjusting before very long. And T'Challa's shooting starts to show it as more and more ninjas are going down before they manage to make it to the screen. "I question this game's historical accuracy, Jessica. I do not believe ninjas and pirates ever worked together," he says in a serious tone. His eyes flicker over towards Jessica to see if she bought his deadpan delivery. It costs him a quarter of his health bar, though T'Challa drills the offending ninja through the eye.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jess nods to the ninja with one eye. "Give that man an eyepatch, and we'll have TWO pirates." Somehow, the pirate seems to be faster and more agile than the ninjas. His animations, appearance, and even the quality of his form, look out of step with the game, as if he was added as an afterthought by some rogue animator just to see if he could get away with it. "I feel like you're just looking for something to complain about," Jess replies as T'Challa bemoans the accuracy of the game's historic value. "I mean, I don't really believe ninjas live in warehouses and keep potted plants, to be honest."

Black Panther has posed:
"On the contrary." BANG! "Ninjas meditate and seek balance." POW! "The peaceful feeling that one gets from flora of various types? Quite appealing to ninjas as they seek to center themselves." BAM!

T'Challa catches the pirate on the move, shooting his wooden leg which results in him waving his hook in anger. "And besides. After a tough mission, what is a ninja supposed to smoke to relax?" he asks. This time the African man can't manage to keep a straight face all the way through. But hopefully Jessica is paying too mention attention to the pirate limping to her side of the screen to notice.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
And /that/ was when it happened. The pirate hid. BEHIND a potted plant. Which was approximately the size of his head. All while Jessica smirked at T'Challa's observations.

"ALL RIGHT, YOU'VE DONE IT NOW, I'VE GOT THE /MAD/ PLANT SHOOTIN' SKILLS!" Jessica throws the taunt at the screen and the plant pot explodes. The pirate, seemingly unfazed by the incident, continues limping across the screen toward T'Challa's side. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?! What are these, bullets or Tic Tacs??"

Black Panther has posed:
"I can use something stronger on him," T'Challa suggests, pulling out a vibranium knife and hefting it point first as he takes aim at the screen. "Or, perhaps not." He raises his gun and fires.

"Avast, ye landlubber!" the pirate cries out, falling over backwards. Little cannonball-like bombs with lit fuses bounce all over the screen from him and obliterate nearly 1/3 of the warehouse and all the ninjas in that area.

T'Challa sheathes the knife. "That was... so... worth it," he says in a departure from his usual precise Oxford English.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica laughs as she fires one more shot that kills one ninja, and seems to somehow ricochet off and explode the last one. "No fair killing the boss while there are still henchmen on the screen!" And the little yellow light goes off above them, their chairs jolting upward another story. Now about twenty feet in the air, the third level is revealed. But there are no ninjas. Just a bunch more plant pots, and a singular giant box.

"They're clearly terrified of us," Jess observes, looking over the scene trying to spot anyone to shoot. She shrugs, and fires at a plant pot in a row in the window, and when it explodes, a tiny ninja pops out and runs to hide behind another pot. "Bugger. They're itty little things. Wonder where the boss is hiding..."

Black Panther has posed:
"Look at all of the plants. This is your level," T'Challa tells Jessica. "You just know that New York will be attacked by a plant monster. Sooner or later. And if so? We are sending you out to deal with i. Armed with your plastic gun there."

He begins sniping potted plants. Picking targets so the tiny ninjas will have to try to hide behind plants that already have other ninjas so they have no where to go. "Do we take out all of the plants before we try the big box?" he asks her.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"By the rules of the game boss, I think we /have/ to take out the plants and ninjas first," Jess laments, shooting at Lilliputian ninjas with surprising accuracy. "I suspect their target fields are the same size as the regular ninjas," Jess observes. "Because there is NO WAY I should be hitting these guys." She is rapid-fire shooting plant pots, until some of the pots have two or three ninjas behind them, and more running against the side because the space is full behind it.

Black Panther has posed:
Plants go down like the game was a aguave field and Cinco de Mayo was just a month off. Ninjas die by the... well not really by the dozens. One at a time, with lots of bang-bang from the two fearless ninja hunters.

T'Challa looks about the screen, getting the last plant and forcing the ninja over into Jessica's sights. Bam! He's dead! "Alright, time for the big box," T'Challa says, reloading and hitting it a few times until it splinters to reveal the contents.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
As T'Challa and Jess shoot the box over and over again, the box seems to get up on two legs and run about the screen, screaming, until at last, with one shot from T'Challa, it has a dramatic death scene and falls over. The yellow light woop woops overhead, and the chairs lurch upward to the fourth and final level."

"Ugh!" Jess shouts as the chair comes to an abrupt stop, and she looks over to T'Challa. "The BOX was the boss??"

Black Panther has posed:
T'Challa holds up his hands, one with the gun and the other empty to shrug. "This is /your/ game, little spider," he reminds her with a grin. "I think the way this is going? The last boss is probably a giant potted plant." He readies his gun. "Or possibly Lex Luther."

T'Challa glances down below them. "This must be exciting for a child to be up this high, if they ever made it to here," he comments before looking back to the game. Pew-Pew! Wait, wrong game.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Maybe! If so, it's SO DEAD!!" In the center of the screen is a giant potted plant that promptly sprouts legs and begins to dance about. Jessica squees and shoots it merrily, repeatedly, and with mirth and vengeance. "DIE PLANT!!" And between the two of them, they kill the plant in short order. It is at this point that the true boss emerges.

It is a tiny Pirate. Skittering about with one foot and one peg. With no boxes for cover.

"You know, I somehow get the feeling that this game was designed by Minimal Effort, Inc."

Black Panther has posed:
T'Challa lets out a laugh. He reloads his gun and begins shooting. Each hit makes the pirate change directions. Left, then right. Left, then right. Soon he and Jessica are in a rhythm, hitting him with nearly every shot. One reloading while the other keeps the rain of fire up.

With each hit his face grows more and more red, starting at his chin and working its way up. Until finally, Jessica scores a hit on his face which explodes, showering the screen with digital confetti.

And a message...

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"CONGRATULATIONS, YOU DON'T SUCK!" reads Jessica as the message appears on the screen. the chairs slowly descend to the floor level again, and tickets are shooting out of two consoles in a prolific manner in front of the two. As they unbelt, and begin to gather their respective tickets, Jess can't help noticing that T'Challa is getting way more. But she won't complain. She's going to end up with all of them before it's over, anyway.

With a nod to the screen, Jess grins. "We don't, you know."

Black Panther has posed:
T'Challa is still sitting in his chair looking at the screen as Jessica gathers up tickets. At her pronouncement, he turns just his head to slowly look over at her.

He pulls out a pair of sunglasses that he puts on.

"Neither, do we blow."

YEAAAAAAAHHHHH!!