7565/punch drunk

punch drunk
Date of Scene:	21 May 2019
Location:	Upper East Side, Manhattan
Synopsis:	Spidey gets hit with a Prius and Ghost Spider takes down some thugs.
Cast of Characters:	Spider-Man, Ghost Spider

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Spider-Man has posed:
There's so many productive things Peter could be doing right now. He could be finishing his physics paper or working on pictures for the Bugles morning website release... he could even be spending the night watching netflix and chilling with cold chinese takeaway, but none of that offers the clarity of mind that does swinging through New York at night. The City that never sleeps offers a breath taking vista view as he passes from webline to webline between the towering monoliths of industry.

The Bedford Towers or Roxxon Building lined with glittering lights as cleaning staff and late night workers burn the midnight oil. Or the streets far below lined with pedestrians trying to find some after party to keep the long night going with an endless plate of offerings. Spider-Man extends his arms out after flipping out of a swing and drinks it all in, the beauty of the chaos, like some dotted light show preformed specifically for his pleasure.

If not for the sound of tires squeeling and the accompanying sirens it might actually remain tranquil, serene even. "Never a dull moment." He murmurs, angling himself down to build up speed so that when he fires another thread of silken web it sends him swinging like a bullet with his feet arching forward to throw his body weight into it.

Ghost Spider has posed:
Well Peter is not wrong.

Gwen has been quickly learning that swinging through the city at night or day or really anytime is beautiful rush. New Yorkers really don't have any idea what they are missing walking the streets and driving in their cars every day.

"The city should really have sky trains instead of subways." muses Gwen as she swings along, arching through the sky and just soaring. Not that dissimilar from the fun Peter is having not all that far away.

"Oh snap!" when Gwen hears the sirens and what she thinks is a chase due to the squeals of the tires. Another webline is thwipped that way and she veers off heading fast to see what is going on. She hopes it is exciting.

Spider-Man has posed:
The lead vehicle is a brown sedan, sliding through each turn as the loaded vehicle veers dangerously towards startled pedestrians lining the street. The traffic isn't as bad as during the day, but there are still enough cars on the road to make the concept of a chase through New York's districts a work of damage control. The police cars, multiple and more joining at each block, are pulled back far enough to respond more safely, but the driver in the sedan doesn't play by those same rules.

They bounce off one vehicle and push it off course into a row of cars parked along the sidewalk only to over correct and hit vehicles on the other as it dances a dangerous tango with oncoming traffic, which itself makes for civilians jerking out of the way creating a mess of cars and potential casualties.

One such civilian in a Prius nearly takes out a bristo seating area with a few people enjoying a late night snack after a long night partying. The horn blares and the tires squeel when breaks are struck, but there's no stopping the momentum if left unchecked. Spider-Man sees it and diverts his course to intercept, leaping out off his line into the path of the oncoming vehicle to bodily eat the impact before he smashes into a table of six or seven, twenty something year old civilians.

There is no way to take a hit like that gracefully and not even Spider-Man is that impressive. When he's hit, he's thrown like a baseball through the table and directly through the big glass window into the shops main floor like a cascading, backwards rolling ball of blue and red jello. But the Prius is stopped, so.. ends, justified?

There WILL be more such situations if that sedan isn't stopped though and the driver doesn't seem the least bit deturred by having likely killed the Wallcrawler. If anything, it's empowered him that they might actually get away as he yanks the wheel into a sliding turn that takes them down an alley like something in a pinball machine bouncing off a bumper.

Ghost Spider has posed:
Gwen swings into view just in time to see Spidey take a Prius to save a whole lot of civilians "Noo!" but to her credit she doesn't swing down to see if he is okay.

It definitely is more than enough to get her adrenaline going though as she fires off another line and curves trying to catch up with the Sedan now, much more focused.

Honestly this is not the kind of exciting she was hoping for. She really hopes Spider-man isn't a squashed bug.

Her hot pursuit is slowed down a bit though when she has to let go of her webline and thwip thwip with both hands to catch the next richotting vehicle before it runs off the road. Leaving it like a bug in a web.

Frankly having seen what happened to Spidey she wasn't about to throw herself in front of it to slow down the car.

Thankfully the downwards momentum of her falling and firing instead of swinging can be turned, with another THWIP, into a more powerful swing before she hits the ground. One that ends with her planting the landing, SUPER HERO LANDING, on top of the Sedan now.

"I did it!" okay she is super proud of her novice self there. "Wait.. why didn't I just web it." woops.

Spider-Man has posed:
There's some kind of chatter of multiple voices from within the sedan when Gwen crunches down upon the roof in her super hero landing. At first the driver feels compelled to dislodge her by jerking the wheel side to side, but when that leads to two wheels coming up off the street dangerously close to toppling, the opt for a more direct approach to removing their unwanted passanger. Hopefully Gwen has the same kind of spider-senses as does Peter because the occupants inside open fire with a mix of handguns and small calliber rapid fire weapons. Nothing heavier than an uzi, but do those distinctions really matter at this range?

Spidey, meanwhile, is clawing his way out of the broken window with a dazed sort of stumbling when he tumbles over the half-wall into a group of onlookers who were staring in at him in shock that he might actually have been killed. Some big guy catches him and points down the street, Spidey bouncing off and in an awkward spin in that direction that sees him grabbing hold of a chair, then a table, and then a fire hydrant to stablize himself as the cobwebs on his senses start to clear. "Say what you want about Prius', but they can throw a punch..." He slurs out of a foggy brain and shots off a web to try and swing only to barely make it a few feet and land atop a parked truck.

"Does someone have some ibuprofen?" Laying splayed out in the back of said truck staring up at the sky that all kind of looks like a blur to him. "I hurt in places that I don't want to talk about in mixed company."

The Sedan tries to pull down an alleyway as they fire at Gwen, it's a dangerous decision and could very well lead to great calamity.

Ghost Spider has posed:
"Wheeee" is what is exclaimed when the car goes up briefly on two wheels.

This is short lived.

Thankfully Ghost Spider does have Spider Sense. She just isn't as good at going with the flow of it yet as Peter is. Mostly because this is actually one of the first times a whole lot of people have started shooting at her at once.

Somehow Gwen manages to not just let go and fall off the car when they open fire through the roof. "Aieee!" which isn't very superheroic. First the new Spider tries to dodge and after realizing there are more bullets coming in at her she has to change it up.

Part of that realization is when she takes a solid graze to her side "OW" which is thankfully not severe thanks to the weave of her costume, the roof of the sedan, and her own spider given durability. Still that stung like all hell and is going to leave a bruise.

She quickly flips over and down onto the side of the car away from being shot at for the moment. always keep moving. Moments later her fist goes through the window of the back passenger seat and she grabs for, yanks, and flings a guy out, pausing to thwip webbing to catch him and stick him to an alley wall.

She leaps back onto the roof before they start shooting at her on the side and scrambles along trying to move faster than their aim to the next back seat, driver's side.

Spider-Man has posed:
Several things work in Gwen's favor here, but the most important of all these is a lesson in firearms in close quarters. They are very loud, like unimaginably loud, and when fired in such tight confines as a sedan can be deafening and disorienting to anyone not wearing earplug... which none of these men are doing. That leads to the second most important thing working in Gwen's favor: These are not well trained combatants or mercenaries. They're hoods who boosted the worst possible vehicle as a get away car and are ill equipped to fight a Spider, even an untested Spider.

The first of the goons is yanked out of the vehicle with relative ease and webbed against the wall where he struggles helpless against the silken threads binding him to the brick and the others, well they do their best, bless their souls, but they're all screaming in pain from busted ear drums. It would be funny, if not for the guns involved. One of them DOES try and shoot at her, which really doesn't have to hit her since they're not aimming vertically anymore, but out to the side of the street where there's still a few people scrambling for cover.

Spidey falls out of the back of the truck and jogs down the sidewalk, not yet ready for all the velocity that accompanies swinging, "Excuse me... pardon me.. nice hat.." Pushing through pedestrians who are too brave or stupid to get out of the way of potential gunfire. Police cruisers are still in pursuit and they look like they're nearing the line where they'll start firing back at the sedan just to to prevent any civilian casualities.

Ghost Spider has posed:
Well Gwen has to catch a break at some point.

Also fighting hoods on a moving car is sort of the Spider Person equivalent of the Danger Room isn't it?

Anyhow Gwen will take every advantage she can get, reaching down super fast and pulling the second thug out now and flinging him along with webbing. "Hang in there!" she yells after him and is proud of herself for a split moment.

At that point she swings herself down and in through the broken window to the backseat. Firing a load of webbing at the hood in the passenger seat and reaching out to grab ahold of the back of the head of the driver. "STOP THE CAR" and gives him some encouragement with a bit of a squeeze, just a tiny bit though because well she doesn't want to explode his head.

Spider-Man has posed:
"Ayieeeeee!" Says flying goon #2 as he's thrown out of the vehicle like so much trash and webbed against the brickwall. The pair remaining inside aren't anymore equipped to deal with Gwen now in the backseat than they were dealing with her on the out. The passanger starts to turn with his gun to point at her, but she webs the barrel and his upper arms to the dash. The driver, head in her hand, screams with the pain of a growing headache and tries his best to comply with her demand.

The vehicle goes from forty to stopped too fast for the beat up vehicle to compensate and careens dangerously up on the right side two wheels ready to topple over in the middle of the street. Spider-Man sees it and throws both hands forward to fire a pair of weblines at the under-carrage. He strains a little and pulls it back down onto all fours with a crunch as the suspension gives up its battle. Smoke rolls up from the radiator and red and blue lights of sirens turn the street into a dance hall as the vehicle is surrounded by officers now pointing pistols over their safety glass of the doors to their cruisers. "Everyone out of the vehicle!"

Spidey stumbles a few more steps and leans up against the rear compartment of a buick, supporting his weight on one elbow. "I'm fine guys..." Waving away literally no one who have neither asked of his well being nor acknowledged his presence at all, "Thanks for asking."

Which nobody did.

Ghost Spider has posed:
Okay that so did not play out the way Gwen thought it would. It definitely went better in her head than in reality.

When the car careens and then topples over into the street Gwen is bounced around (NO SEATBELT, Honestly this should be a PSA, also a teachable moment) along with a "Ah EE .. A a E E eeeee uffff..."

Followed by the car being pulled back up onto the correct side. "AcK...ufff!"

Inside the car Gwen coughs a bit from the smoke from the radiator that also comes in from the vents. "Ugn.. painkillers Stat..." she didn't miss the orders from the cops though.

The driver is tossed out first, followed by a shaky webshot which adheres him to the ground.

Moments later after the sound of ripping metal and plastic the passenger is tossed out his side, attached to part of the dash and not going anywhere.

At that point Gwen steps out hands raised, her costume hiding the many bruises she got from that rollercoaster ride. Though one hand is tilted so she could theoretically web and yank to pull herself clear. "They are all yours officers!" chipper sounding, trying to mask the pain of her headache.

Spider-Man has posed:
The officers move in to secure the already secured goons with weapons trained upon them like there still might be some kind of threat, while a few others keep their pistols pointed at Gwen. Technically vigilantism is still a crime, Spider-Man has just worked through most of the hiccups with individual officers for benefit of the doubt. For now it appears that courtesy extends to Ghost Spider as well. She did just stop this with limited injury and almost all property damage was the fault of the criminals, afterall.

Spidey waves weakly from his place against the car at the other spider themed hero, "Nice moves with the thing you did, I saw it all, really impressive how you... ya know what you did, I'm not going to bore you with details." He didn't see much of it, ya see. "Anybody got some aspirin? An Icepack maybe?" Waving a hand, but nobody is paying attention.

They're busy watching the newest vigilante.

"A stiff drink? Nothing? Okay, don't worry about it, I'm good." Waving, nonchallant, dismissive, totally not a little hurt.

There's a lot of damage to deal with and this is going to turn into an official pooper party for party poopers in short order, so Spidey points upwards towards the roofs with an upnod at Gwen a second before two lines fling him in that direction. "Regrets, regrets... so many regrets." The world, she will not stop spinning.

Ghost Spider has posed:
Honestly Gwen can totally relate about wanting the ice pack, painkillers, stiff drinks.

"Well I .. right.. you got them...." she nods to the cops and still keeps her hands up because a non-trivial amount of the officers are still watching her with guns. I mean on the bright side they aren't shooting and her spider-sense isn't blaring. So that is a win right.

"Well you definitely have this really under control. It was good working with you all. Good job there Officer Comesky." either she read his name off his uniform or she recognized him. I mean it's plausible she read it and doesn't just know him because he works for her dad.

About then she THWIPS and pulls herself up to the left and then another THWIP and she pulls herself up towards the roof quickly swinging. Mostly being evasive just in case a cop takes a startled shot.

Once clear she follows Peter to the roof tops.

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter doesn't chose a rooftop near where this all ended, but one far enough away that any Eagles in the air keeping tabs on the scene wouldn't spy the pair of spiders sitting there talking. He's almost to the Bronx by the time he feels safe enough to land and find somewhere to lay down, in this case an air conditioning unit, with his forearm laid across his eyes to block out the light... it is not making his head feel any better.

"Note to self, add medical supplies to my belt. Aspirin, a shot of whiskey... definitely the aspirin part." Murmuring distractedly, distantly even, to himself from beneath his dirty, mask and costume. There's a few gashes, but those wounds are superficial. Turns out Prius' and windows are a terrible combination.

Once Gwen landds he rolls his head to face her, but doesn't bother sitting up for fear of nausea, "Did you come up with something better than Ghost Spider?"

Ghost Spider has posed:
Gwen does not stick a superhero landing this time, she just lands and then plops down on her own ass on the rooftop nearby. "I am pretty sure mixing aspirin and whiskey is a bad idea."

"Also no. No I have not. Spider-Woman is still taken. If someone calls me Spider-Girl I am going to web them to a city garbage truck. So Still Ghost Spider." she looks over to Spidery.

"Are you okay.. I mean you did take a Prius right to the face." pause "Also why didn't you just web in front of it like a giant web braking system instead of using your face?"

The mask is pretty muffled but she does sound, a bit familiar, probably one of those things that will start nagging at someone.

Spider-Man has posed:
"Maybe, but my headache would feel better and that's really the most important thing." Spidey reasons, finally trying to sit up and immediately regretting it. It isn't as bad as it was a few minutes prior, but it's not completely back to normal either. "Whoa..." One hand to his temple, steadying with the other against the airconditioner.

"Okay I'm good." Hands up then hands down on his thighs. "I didn't have a lot of time to think about it. Nor did I think a Prius would do that to me, which is admittedly poor judgement on my part. Physics don't change just because a care runs on electricity." Not even sounding defensive. As if this is the first time a bad decision in the field led to near death experience for Spider-Man. Barely a day in the life if there's not a broken bone, "You sound really familiar."

Wiggling pointing at Gwen, "Did you use to deliver Tai food?" Snap pointing.

Ghost Spider has posed:
I do not nor have I ever delivered Tai Food." the masked woman gives Peter an odd look at that point. Tai Food. "I mean how would someone serving Tai Food run into an irradiated spider with mutagenic properties." puzzled.

"You sound a bit familiar too." she admits and looks out at the city. "So you said Radioactive Spider... have you ever heard of something called Mutagen?" a curious look back to Peter and his HVAC resting place.

A bit ADHD, but then she is talking to Spider-Man even if he is concussed. "Oh hey.. can we spar sometime. I have literally no idea what I am doing in a fist fight and I am a wee bit concerned about punching a normal martial arts instructor even in practice..." the mental image definitely flashes through her head of knocking some guys head of.

Spider-Man has posed:
"Why are you assuming Thai delivery women's importance, that's what I want to know." Peter says nonchallantly from where he's sitting with his feet dangling off the side of the conditioning unit, "I mean, I delivered pizzas for a few weeks back in high school and I managed to run into a radiated... I mean is it really a radioactive spider? I feel like that's an inappropriate descriptive to define what it was." His hands turn up and then slap down on his costumed thighs.

"Genetically modified spider is more accurate right? What would radiating a spider do besides break down the DNA binding into the molecular parts... I guess if it was high doses of Gamma radiation, but I would argue strongly that even that would be an isolated incident with so many outlier variables involved that creating it more than once to any substantial similar outcome with be the statisical equivilant of hitting a bullsign with a dark thrown from space on a planet two thousand light years away."

His eyes narrow and open expressively, "I guess, sometime, but not now. You just fought all those guys and I'm sure you're tired. I want you at your best." It has nothing to do with his headache and general body wariness.

Ghost Spider has posed:
Gwen ponders why he seems so very familiar there.

There is a laugh though as he starts talking about DNA binding and then considers. "Okay fair. It was definitely mildly irradiated with exotic radiation, and yes that includes Gamma as part of the process.. but yes it mostly genetically modified in several distinct ways merging different Spider DNA with Human DNA." there is a frown behind her mask.

"Honestly I couldn't tell you why that Spider bite worked like it did, or how it could have possibly happened twice and I made the stupid thing. There is no way it's bite should have done this.. it isn't like it had a retro-virus in it's venom and even if it did .. like you said it would be like hitting a bullseye .. well good metaphor. Especially twice."

At that point she waves a hand "Also .. definitely not right now. Some other time." pause "Hey do you have a number?" she pulls out the thin burner phone from an inner suit pocket showing a brief flash of pink normal skin.

Spider-Man has posed:
"See, now you're thinking fourth demensionally." Spidey says as if that makes any sense on the conversation, "I call it my happy accident and try not to think about the logistics too hard, ya know?" His hands spread a little and he hops down off the air conditioner to test his balance. He doesn't stumble and emits a quiet yippie celebratorilly, "I don't." Double pointing at Gwen, "Well, I do, but I don't have one for Spider-Man. He has way cooler toys than the other guy."

One of which slips out of his pocket and flips through the air towards Gwen, "It's a sim-chip. Insert it into a smartphone and you've got yourself a two way radio between us. Kind of nifty, very low-tech, but it works and I like working low-tech solutions."

With an expressive expellation of air, Spider-Man bobs his head awkwardly a few times while gazing around the rooftop, "Alrighty then, I think we're bordering on revealing our secret identities territory and I'm not comfortable with that yet, so I'm gonna take off." Pointing both thumbs over his shoulder, then double points at Gwen, "When the news says all that was my fault, would you mind telling people I ate a Prius? I'm good with bad press, but my PR guy says that eye witnesses helps my general brand and I'm all about marketing."

Ghost Spider has posed:
Gwen reaches up and snaps the sim-chip out of the air with excellent Spider "Oh.. I just use a burner phone that is pay as you go so it isn't associated with other me at all." she does tuck it away now. "Thanks though... this will be very useful, I'll just get a burner phone to slot it into for you."

"Uh.. I wasn't bordering on anything of the sort!" mask eyes really wide with alarm now. "Also.. sure... ate a Prius. Got it... oh and if you run across a guy named Shredder.. a bunch of ninjas.. or some mutagen.. call me right away okay!"

Spider-Man has posed:
"Mutagen, Shredder, which is totally a super villain name, and ninjas.." Spidey bobs his head a few times on his way to the roofs edge, standing with his toes hovering out over the void above the street. "I'll give you a ring if I run into any of that." He takes a deep breath and turns into a lean back fall off the roof. "Seeya around Ghost. Still say you need to work on the name, but..." Big shrug as he disappears from view temporarily.

The sound of a web firing later and he's swings up over the rooftops in the direction of, roughly, of Queens. Give or take. It's a big city.