She fiddled with one of the uneven locks of her hair, "Well... alright, if you think it'll work. Just... just don't let her think I'm doing something weird. I mean... I guess I am but..." She trailed off into incoherent muttering, and she remained largely quiet for the rest of the trip. She did seem to be reading some kind of textbook however, seemingly medical related.
Once home she took off her shoes and went to find her mother, before realizing she was probably working late again at the hospital. Taking up a plate of leftovers, she settled in to try and do what The Phantom asked and look for information about Spiderman's rogues gallery. Lacking any really investigative training however it's more just browsing various click bait articles and wikipedia, but maybe her strange memory will pick something useful up later. She mostly just hoped they wouldn't die, or anyone really. Not even the villian.
She double checked her windows to make sure there no Batmen around before finally going to sleep.
Felix has already started messing with the batarang, figuring out how they folded.
"If he ever wanted to come over for dinner, I'm sure mother would be delighted. She'd probably try and convince him to be my martial arts instructor."
As they parted ways, Felix started trying to remember what he read in the news about the web head. They'd probably get along. Maybe if he played his cards right, he could get his hands on a web shooter for his collection. Though he stuck to artifacts, he really enjoyed seeing all the super villain and super hero gadgetry.
~Friendly Neighborhood...~
The next monday, the team each got a text on their phones, the tone playing out the first few notes of the Spider-Man theme song. It read, Lieberman Station, ASAP, BP.
There, Jackie was in the middle of the crowd, carrying a large satchel and staring up at the train schedules. Wasn't no trouble getting here? He asked the team.
Masumi had been confused as to how her phone as playing a completely different sound clip for the text then normal, but chocked it up to superhero weirdness. Phantom had his ways after all.
"My teacher wasn't very happy, but that note you penned for me seemed to do the trick. I just hope I won't miss too much school... ...Also, I think my cab driver overpriced the fare." She mumbled, while looking through her backpack. It seemed like she had all the books she needed to make up her schoolwork tonight, and the initializer was sitting comfortably in the bottom.
She really should come up with a better way to carry that around...
Apocalypse seems happy. "It was quite pleasant. My uber driver had a great voice and I encouraged him to sing on the way here. Five star review."
Getting someplace on time wasn't very hard when you could teleport. Assuming, of course, your destination was within a reasonable distance. Atsuko simply walked out of an alleyway shortly after getting the message, dressed in casual wear appropriate for the middle of the city. "I'm more concerned about the trouble other people might be in." she observed. As far as she was concerned, her own comfort was a distant second in importance there.
"Sorry I'm late!"
Felix pants as he reaches the group.
"I was playing some World of Warcraft last night. My guild kicks people out for not doing regular raids, so I needed to meet my quota."
"Ah raids. Getting a bunch of people together and hoping everybody is on the same page." hes says, as if quite familiar with the subject. "It's sort of like the old days when I had minions."
"Wait, that game still exists? I thought it died years ago." She says, honestly surprised.
Well, this is New York. They do that. Jackie said to Masumi with a shrug, the corner of his lip forming into a dry smile.
Good attitude, Atsuko. Jackie said with a nod. We are public servents after all.
Jackie's only reply to hearing Felix was playing WoW was to blink, hum, then shake his head a little bit.
I miss those days. He said to Apocalypse. You used to have some of the most punchable minions outside of HYDRA.
Jackie led the team into the subway, grumbling something about stepping in gum, then grabbed the overhead railing. You're all familiar with Spider-Man, I'm assuming? He asked as the train began motion.
Atsuko gave Jackie the kind of expression that suggested she really wanted to say something snarky and sarcastic, but was too polite to actually do it.
(Even if she hadn't been familiar with the city's web-slinger before, she would have been after their previous case. Doing research was important... a fact she was both acutely aware of and made uncomfortable by, given people could also do research about her.)
"I have a few quote books and tried to replicate his web launcher as a side project. Could never get the formula right though..."
Felix had a pretty good opinion of the web head. He had hoped to run into him one day.
"Er, well... I tried my best?" She offered, shrugging her shoulders while not looking Jackie in the eye. She had honestly lost interest after that first night and spent much of her free time reading fan-fiction about Sam and Dean from supernatural. And something told her that the Phantom wouldn't really like that excuse all too much.
If you get anywhere with that, Felix, tell me about it. I've been curious as to how he does it for quite awhile now. He laughed. Would you believe that I used to think that those webs used to come out of glands in his wrists? Gross, right?
Basically, he can do whatever a spider can. He said. His rogue's gallery is what concerns me, right now, as he has quite a few freaks. A few Goblins, a few alien symbiotes that eat people, and a few guys in animal costumes. I'm sure at least one of them is in on this whole Cape-Killer thing. The question now is, which.
"The best way to start is... ability and motivation, right?" Atsuko asked, not quite the investigative savant many of the more experienced heroes became. That was the first thing that occurred to her, though. Obviously, anybody with the motivation and willingness to do something was a bit of a target - but you also had to consider who might possess the capability, or have the connections to manage it. Fortunately, they did have ways of gathering information...
"Easiest way would be to find Spiderman. I mean, why get in on cape killing unless you want to kill 'your' specific cape?"
Felix rubs his chin in thoughtful brainstorming.
"Maybe we can rob a bank to lure the spider out..."
She liked Felixes idea of first luring out spiderman and talking to him hero to hero, but robbing a bank seemed a bit far. Dr. Apocalypse was a pretty famous villian, but like he was now he seemed so... mundane. She however...
"Maybe I could lure him out..? By just, uh... walking around and being seen...? Maybe?"
The train stops. This is where we get out. Jackie said, moving on, smelling the air. Bad sign when the Queens station smells better than ours in Eden. He said. Still better than Gotham. The train stations there smell like an airport restroom.
Right now, who best I could think about where ability and motivation matches up are some of the more... For lack of a better word, 'sane' criminals. The ones that will actually work with others, like Electro or, don't laugh, Shocker.
Jackie quietly considers something. I know a few places where I'm pretty sure I'd be able to find him, but I'd have to go alone, and I don't think we have time for it. He smiled. Crime does sound tempting, right now, huh? Wouldn't really look good for our soon-to-be sponsors, would it? He said. Not that I'm saying 'no' or anything. He said, giving Felix and Masumi a face that gave the sentiment of winking without actually winking.
"Shame we don't have a Spider Symbol." Atsuko said. Then, after a few moments, she looked at Felix. "Uuuuunless you happen to have something that would work?" she asked, genuinely curious to hear if he did.
Felix pulls out Santa's magic bag and starts digging into it, sometimes reaching his entire arm in. Eventually, he dips his head inside for a closer look and he emerges, his hair covered in frost.
"I could impersonate the webhead with the Evil Monkey Choker. It'd definitely get his attention or at least one of his villains. That sound good?"
As he asks, he's already putting it on.
Apocalypse chuckles, "I'm not sure how well it would get his attention. Between clones, alternate timelines, parallel universes and convergent accidents it seems like there are plenty of Spider-Men to go around. He might just figure it's Tuesday."
Felix shrugs and goes ahead with the change and activates teh choker to become a visual copy of the famed web-head. AFter a few seconds of checking out the new look, Felix takes a running start at the wall, and leaps towards it.
He hits it, bounces off, and lands on his rump.
"Wish it came withe the powers..." he sighs.
She rubs the back of her head, looking away. "Yeah, I suppose that was a bad idea anyway..."
When she sees Felix take on the spidey persona she can't help but cover a snicker as the man falls flat on his rear. In an instant her soured mood is easily dispersed before it has a chance to take hold.
Darkstorm looked at Felix. I could try to fly you up, but that may be to obvious, and I can lift you and be invisible at the same time.
That doesn't work with what's under the mask, does it? Jackie asked with a raised brow. Just wondering is all. He said quickly.
I would pay money to see you carry Felix around Queens. Jackie said. It looks like this is going to be more difficult than I thought. Maybe if we-
There is a larger bang in the background, a few blocks away, followed by the sound of police sirens.
Nevermind. Jackie said, walking away from the noise. Suit up and follow the sirens, I'll be right with you, and so will, probably, Spider-Man. Be prepared for quips and sarcasm.
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Suits. Ha ha ha. ...Ha. Shaking her head a bit, Atsuko stepped into an alleyway and vanished, teleporting closer to the sound of the bang so she could try to get a better sense of what was going on. She went up first, of course - high vantage points tended to be ever so much better for information-gathering.
Felix had an important choice here.
He could run out as himself, being a courageous fellow to his peers. Or...
====
And so it was with great revelry that Felix started sprinting down the street dressed as the well known web-head, loudly humming the spiderman theme song of some well-known rip off that used the liscense unscrupiously.
"Anybody need a ride?" he asks as he heads into the sky. Telekinetic force lifts anybody looking for a lift.
He chuckles at the use of the song. He was proud of that little ditty. He had composed it under a pseudonym and designed it specifically to annoy Spider-Man.
Masumi hesitates, really wishing she had more time to prepare. After trying to scope out somewhere semi-private such as an alley way or a convenient phone booth, she'll rush over to it and withdraw her initializer device. Then, after taking a deep breath, shoves the needle covered points into her waiting forearm and waits for the alien mutagens to take hold...
When the team gets to the scene of the crime, they spot a street-blocking accident, one large man in what appears to be a rhinoceros suit, a man zipping about with wings on his arms, and one in an insulated suit that bears resemblance to a beehive.
Police cars are already arriving, but no sign of Spider-Man, yet.
What action do our heroes take?
Atsuko tapped her comm. "Uh, I don't know every bit villain..." she admitted. "Are these guys ones that Spider-Man normally has dibs on?" ...That word was still cool to use, right?
"Yes they are." He'll call out to the Rhino, "Алекси, как дела? Это плохое время? Как насчет того, чтобы сбросить этих проигравших и выпить?"
The girl opened her mouth in silent scream as the mutagen took hold, forcibly tearing her DNA apart and reshaping it into something new and horrifying. Teeth were usually the fist things to go, shrinking and reforming into their trademark points and making way for a second and third row. Her jaw had widened considerably to allow for the multitude of these dangerous weapons.
Hair was thinning away as it was being absorbed into her body to be re-purposed elsewhere. The girl's deep emerald green eyes dulled in color as they turned a milky gray which soon melded with her skin. The discoloration started to spread to the rest of her skin and increased her range of vision.
It never ceased to creep her out that her entire body essentially became one giant eye.
Felix arrives, clad in the spider's garbs, and points dramatically as if on a television host that enraptured the minds of children while their parents were hanging them upside down by their ankles.
"Have no fear! Spiderman is here!" he announces triumphantly.
Darkstorm stares at Felix and shakes his head. I got your back, spidey.
He hurls a ball of Bio-Energy at the person wearing the beehive suit.
...Not the bees, please. Looking at him, Atsuko focused the force of her will as a followup to the Darkstorm's burst of energy, intending to help bring him down and make it that much harder for these... um... was villains the right word, actually? They didn't quite seem like they deserved the name - but she wasn't going to let herself get arrogant and underestimate people, either. That could be really bad for her image one day, and she had enough problems with that as it was.
The Rhino turns and tilts his head at the doctor.
If it isn't Doctor Apocalypse. So The rumors are right, you're working with the capes.
He turned to Spider-Felix. With Spider-Man. He growled, flexing his fists and tapping one massive stump-foot on the pavement.
When the blast was hurled at the man in yellow, it was completely absorbed through the insulated suit. Even while wearing a full-face mask, he looked surprised that it didn't hurt.
You okay Shocker? Vulture asked from above.
...Yes? Shocker said.
All three men were affected by the blast of alien will, recoiling in pain, the Vulture flying high above to get away.
He shrugs, "Мне платят меньше, но расходы намного ниже."
I've stopped listening at 'pays less'.
Before the figures could really react and get their feet under them, Atsuko focused and sent another blast of willpower their way. She didn't normally go quite this heavy on trying to bring people down... but these three could cause a lot of collateral damage if left unchecked, and as much as possible, she wanted to avoid that sort of thing.
Rhino winces in pain, meaty hands reaching for his horned hand, while the Vulture shrieks, spiraling down and making a rough landing on the pavement.
Shocker, meanwhile, appears mostly unaffected, moving in towards Atsuko, pulling back his fist, charging it up, and throwing a punch.
Shocker runs up towards the spidey-suit-clad Felix and throws a punch.
Darkstorm watched his Bio-energy not affect shocker and decided to punch him. He channeled his bio energy into his arms, his muscles visibly growing. He flew over, attempting to land a punch to the face.
As the battle raged on below, Atsuko looked on for a moment, smiling slightly as the... Shocking... Shock King? Whatever. As they missed Felix. Well, dude was lucky. (...That was actually Felix still, wasn't it? Eh.)
The others looked like they had things under control, so Atsuko turned to the surrounding areas, looking for any civilians that might be in danger.