8515/Nets don't work

Nets don't work
Date of Scene:	26 July 2019
Location:	Rooftop, NYC
Synopsis:	Kid Arachnid and Nadia stop a trio mercenaries from a not entirely well planned scheme.
Cast of Characters:	Kid Arachnid, Wasp (Pym)

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Kid Arachnid has posed:
Why is it so hot?! Oh. Right. Summer. Humidity through the roof, even after the sun has gone down, it's still miserable out. Add to that the fact that Miles' dorm lost AC due to some idiot throwing a bio-kinetic javelin through it. Seriously, how does anybody get work done in this city with all these costumed maniacs about?

Speaking of costumed maniacs, Miles Morales had to shed a few layers. Keeping the dark onesie and losing the shorts and hoodie for the evenings web swinging. He prefers the hoodie when out working his artistic talents anyway, more pockets. Tonight is all about cooling down and chilling out. Sadly, nobody told the trio of Eastern European professional killers about this. Their plans are decidedly leas chill. Perched on a cell tower, half eaten sandwich in one hand. Miles watches the three men set up what appears to be a massive, old timey camera.

Atop an old, vacant parking garage, three men in techno-tactical chic are hard at work. Tracking Nadia Pym is a near impossibility but they have a plan. They also have a contract and healthy respect for their own lives. Setting up the machine, a three tiered contraption suspended within a pyramid structure, they prepare. Duffle bags nearby left open, weapons and gear at the ready. One of the men is rummaging through a bag as the other two prime the machine. When they turn it on, a high pitched whine screams out in a frequency most likely reserved for tiny, tiny ears and Spider-senses. They're using an energy signature Nadia may be quite familiar with. Gear she may have even designed. All to draw her out. Sure beats grabbing a magnifying glass and scouring the sidewalks, right?

Kid Arachnid has posed:
All of this, of course, would be fantastic if Nadia had anything to detect a signal of this nature with... Sadly, she does not. Luckily, these professionals and overthinkers are literally a roof across from one of Nadia's flight paths! Coincidence?!

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
Nadia doesn't normally suit up and patrol the city, but lately she's had the sense that someone was following her. At least more than the usual gaggle of spies a defector from the Red Room would usually attract. A mystery ninja joining a gang fight and then a suspicious young woman approaches her in the library using social engineering techniques. So as well as her usual routine to lose a tail she's taken to flittering about the city on mechanical insect wings.

And while in theory a low pitched sound might be easier to hear at small sizes it's generally very impractical to travel at tiny size. You just make the distance you have to travel that much larger after all!

The mystery men on the rooftop don't look like ninja and at first she considers just flying past without stopping. But a second glance has her curious about the mystery machine they've assembled. Something vaguely familiar about it. Perhaps something a fellow member of the science class put together? The men putting it together certainly seem rather heavily armed for putting up anything legitimate too.

Kid Arachnid has posed:
"Gyeeaaah, man! That's the -worst-!" Miles winces at the screaming of his Spider-Sense, dropping his cubano to clutch his temples between gloved hands. Hooking his foot in the beams to keep from a nasty and embarassing fall, Miles remains momentarily in his high perch.

Now, hese three enterprising killers had a pretty solid plan. They thought. Suspended inside the support cage, the middle contraption about the size of an old microwave, starts to vibrate something awful. Then it contracts. Shrinking but unable to hold the size. It begins a rapid expansion and contraction, like a pulse. The beat of a heart. Or the steady thrum of SCIENCE.

Satisfied with their work, the two men working at the device leave it for the duffle bags. The third man taking a rather blocky rifle toward the edge of the roof. Scanning the horizon, he lifts the blaster. Saying something in Russian, he lifts it toward Nadia. Does he see her? Or does he just think he does?

That's when a sandwich flops at the gunmans feet. High above, Miles Morales curses under a breath.

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"Excuse me," Nadia calls out with a touch of a Russian accent, flying closer to the rooftop. "But I wanted to know if you had permission to be up on that roof? Or licenses for those firearms. Because if not I will be forced to take you to the authorities." Even as she speaks she's reducing in size. Not so much that the noise will become a problem, but enough that hitting her at sixty miles an hour would take an exceptional marksman.

"And honestly it would be much better for you to give up now. I do not really enjoying fighting people, but I can assure you I am /much/ better at it than you three." She takes aim with her wrist mounted energy weapons. If the guy with the blaster does open fire she'll be ready to shoot back.

Kid Arachnid has posed:
The sniper, second guessing what he had seen, has his hunch proven when Nadia speaks up on the approach. "It's her!" Sharpshooter planting his boot on the edge of the roof, he twists his forearm into the rifles nylon strap and levels it. "Oh no." He whispers as he scopes Nadia only to lose her just as fast.

Drawing firearms from the duffle bags, the other two join the fray. These sorts of things tend to not last long. Decisive shots and loose morals tend to finish fights quickly. The bigger of the two, a bald man with a linebackers build, levels what appears to be a high tech blunderbus. FWOOP! A titanium net explodes outward, the spaces between the threads far too wide to trap Nadia. The smaller of the three, a woman with dyed grey hair in a ponytail, looks up to where the sandwhich fell from. "Topside!" She opens fire as Miles jumps free from the cell tower. Diving straight down as the sharpshooter opens fire on Nadia!

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
The sharpshooter has just enough time to check his weapons scope before Nadia opens fire. A pair of high energy blasts that neatly cut the weapon into three pieces even as he pulls the trigger. "I did warn you," she says with a sigh. Shrinking between the gaps in the net even as it sails through the air. "Was that... was that really your plan? A /net/."

"Do you work with a woman named Betty? She did not seem like a professional and you three are... I don't mean to be rude but... clearly not professionals." Without reverting to normal size she slams into Sharpshooter, barely a bigger than a hand size, but with the mass of a full size person and enough strength to lift him clean off the ground. Still moving at full flight speed.

Kid Arachnid has posed:
Eyes widen behind yellow safety glasses. As the gun falls to pieces in his hands, the sniper is clearly caught off guard. It's noticeable. The big man snarls a command, possibly the one in charge. "Sidearm! Sidearm! Idiot!" He throws the netgun aside to draw his own sidearm and rattle off low calibur rapid shots. The net seemed a good idea at the time. So was using the machine they were told would track their target. It will not. This crew is amateur hour.

Miles twists away from a blast of energy from the woman on the rooftop. "Not cool! Not cool! Just want that sandwich! Honest!" Webbing shoots in a burst from his wrist and slaps the grey haired merc in the face. A muffled cry of surprise is cut short when Miles lands feet first on her head. "Whoa! Is the Wasp?! I don't own your t-shirts or anything but... oh, hey. C'mon, man." Miles' ramblng is cut short at the sight of the sharpshooter stepping on his sandwich. Dinner ruined. Webbing hits the bald bruiser in the calf and a jerk back unbalances the big man.

One down, the now tag teams focus is split and they are NOT handling it well. "Get her! Get her! She's the money, damn you!" The big man shouts as the sniper draws his sidearm to try and draw a bead on Nadia. He's instead aiming at a mosquito. Not her.

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"Every Spider themed superhero I have met has asked that," Nadia replies to the mystery hero. "I'm not the Wasp, but I've met her and she's pretty great. I'm Nadia, it's nice to meet you mister....?" She hmms thoughtfully. "Do you and the others not share notes? I assumed you were in some sort of gang together with the others with webshooters. Ghost Spider and her sidekick from the news... The Spider Menace was it?"

In the time the poor sniper has spent looking for Nadia he seems to have missed that she never actually let go after slamming into him. Instead she's just adjusted her grip on his tactical webbing, tricker than you might imagine at a small size, and then promptly lifts him clean off the ground. "You can surrender or I could put you down." She twirls in the air so very briefly he's dangling over the street. "Oh and did they not tell you? I'm practically bullet proof."

Kid Arachnid has posed:
"Just how many spider themed heroes have you met? Not to sound vain but, you know. Like to think I'm at most the third to say that. I can take a bronze medal. I'm not so proud." Miles replies from his perch atop an unconscious woman in merc gear. "Oh, hey! That's on me. I'm not Spider-Man but he's alright." A groan from beneath him and Miles quickly webs the woman down. THWIPTHWIP! "Mi-errrr... Crap, what was my name? Kid Arachnid? I gotta come up with something better."

The big, bald merc, watching the costumed heroes banter back and forth snarls in objection. "HEY! Stop that! YOU surrender!" He points the gun at Miles, getting immediately webbed in the face and arm. "Don't interrupt, it's rude." Miles says as Nadia lifts a now thrashing and surrendering assassin from the roof. "I give! I give! Not enough money! I give! Don't kill me! Pleeeaaase!" He begs. Miles tsks. "You're not gonna aaaactually drop him, right?"

Kid Arachnid has posed:
That's when Miles stands up, cocking his head aside and pointing at the tiny, tiny young woman hoisting a trained killer like a toy. "Hooooold up. Oh man. Did you say Spider-Man was the sidekick?! Can I record that? Just audio is fine, I promise!"

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"Three now yes. I really am curious how you're all making that web solution," Nadia replies, flitting through the air and dropping Sharpshooter onto the Merc with the recently webbed face and arm. "I... assumed he was the sidekick because Ghost Spider mentioned studying biochemistry. Which lead me to believe she created the adhesive you all use."

She puts her hands on her hips. Still tiny size. And then shakes her head. "I'd rather you did not record me. I already have spies after me. Possibly ninja."

Kid Arachnid has posed:
"You and me both, he hands me these web shooter bracelet things and is all... oh, hey. Stick around." When Nadia drops the sniper onto his cohort, Miles wastes no time in webbing them both together. The bigger man positively fuuuuuuming over his outright dismissal. The sniper? Just happy to not be street pizza. "So he hands me these things and is all, 'better figure out how to get a masters in chemical engineering, kid'. Absolutely awesome guy but who does that?"

Hopping off the pile of ebbed assassin, Miles claps his gloved hands clean. Sneakers untied, crunching on the rooftop gravel. Sneakers and spandex. Stylin'. "Heck, I haven't even met Ghost Spider yet. That's awesome, she cool? She's probably cool. Power Girl was cool. Taller in person. At the recording refusal, Miles laughs. "Okay, fair enough, right? First off, she doesn't make glue for us. I don't even know how I do it, I just do. Sticky. It's weird. Not as weird as ninjas and spies for enemies. Weird but very cool. Ninjas? Huh. Thought they were made up."

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
Nadia Pym tilts her head even as she reverts to normal size. Still hovering effortlessly in the air. "Gets a masters in chemical engineering? Oh plenty of people," she muses. "It's difficult but hardly impossible. I could probably learn the required science in a year or so. Well, I will do once I get round to it. Teaching myself coding and mechnical engineering right now. And working on some high energy physics projects..."

She lands next to the device. "Speaking of which.. Where is the off switch on this thing." She inspects the control panel and glances around on the off chance the user manual is nearby. The thugs after all do seem like the type to need written instructions for something this complex. "Ghost Spider is nice. I think. We have only met briefly and both times it was like this. Mid-combat."

Kid Arachnid has posed:
"Oh, yeah. I'm... Yeah, plenty of people." Miles waves offhandedly, pacing a wide circle now as he rounds the machine in question. Vibrating wildly, a blurry glow radiating off the three boxes. "Right? I'm... also... ahem, yeah." Just graduating high school and agonizing over mathematics majors and here is Nadia, punting his intellectual pride off the side of the building.

Rolling the mask up half his face, he crouches beside the smooshed sandwich. Poking at it sadly. "I was just ginna web it up real good and throw it in the bay. Not exactly my best plan but it had potential." Lifting the boot print mashed bread, he winces. Unrecoverable ham. Tragic. "You ever get into so much trouble before the costume? I put on the mask? Crazy town hijinks. Great networking though. Could do with less face punching?"

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"What if it contains something toxic?" Nadia points out, giving the device the supergenius once over. "Better to turn it off. Perhaps one of those thugs knows how to safely deactivate it?" She glances over at them. "And if they are helpful perhaps I will ask the police to /try/ protect them from their employers. They do not generally respond well to failure..." She tuts disapprovingly. "Erm... Well before I made my costume I was... in a Siberian boarding school for exceptionally bright students. Of sorts. It was very... different."

Kid Arachnid has posed:
"Things you learn in your first week of super heroing. Glowing, weird washing machines maybe toxic." Miles says with a half-assed smile. Popping back up to his feet, he pulls the mask back down. Seemingly uninterested in finishing his stepped on dinner now. "That sounds like a thing. Let's find out." Walking over to the sniper, Miles pokes a hole in their mouth webbing with a single digit jab. "Hey, you know how to turn this thingy off?"

The would be assassin, having been previously spared by Nadia, is all too willing in his confession. Even going so far as to explain where they got it and who was trying to capture her. He's very helpful. Miles re-webs the mans mouth. All the while, big bald is shouting muffled death threats. "Siberian boarding school beats Brooklyn Public. Not by a lot. Hey, you wanna duck out? I can clean this up. Could use the hero cred, you know?"

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"Ocean dumping is never a good idea. You might upset a water based superhero," Nadia points out earnestly. "Besides it's bad for the environment." She glances between the now disabled machine ahd the goons. "If you want to speak to the police that would be... fine with me actually. I am not really interested in the credit." She opens one of the pockets on her suit. "I am curious about this machine though. Would you mind if I took it with me to study?"

She readys a shrink capsule and, unless Kid Arachnid objects, will shrink the doohicky down and take it off with her. "I can always leave you a communications frequency you can reach me on. If the police ask you for it. It should only take me a little while to figure out."