[Undisclosed NYC] One Way Or Another (Closed)

True to Scarlet Spider's word, the truck in question rapidly came into view. Whatever faded branding that had been on the truck's side before was illegible, either from the age of the thing or the roughshod scrubbing that had been done to it. It wasn't a small thing, but that didn't stop it from barreling down the Manhattan streets like it was trying to crash into something. Whoever was behind the wheel didn't seem to worry, though, given how the vehicle didn't actually run into anything (or anyone). They had a route, and they were going to stick to it.



But then, the man stepping out of a jutting alley had other plans. For Scarlet Spider and Black Cat, he was immediately noticeable. He was heads and shoulders above your regular grunt, and dressed twice as well, excusing his top-heavy cranium that bordered on Cro-Magnon. He moved as slow as you would expect for someone of his size and bulk... up until he didn't. The man known squarely as Hammerhead darted out into the street like a man possessed. It didn't matter that the driver made a split-second swerve to veer around him - he swung out his head like a rhinoceros, and when it made contact with the truck, it sounded like a train collision. Metal sheared, and the truck was sent reeling, flipping, and finally landing with a terrible lop-sided crash onto the road. Sparks flew in all directions from the multiple impacts, threatening to set something on fire before settling into coals. Parts of the truck had been dislodged in several directions, including the bumper and one of the tires. The rear hinges of the cargo trunk held, barely.

If there were guards on standby in the back of the truck, they weren't piling out. Neither was the driver, who had thoroughly gotten his bell rung. Even so, he forced himself up, his hands fumbling on the door. Hammerhead walked over to the driver's side, now taking his time. He gripped the door, and with a single tug, ripped it off of its hinges. Hammerhead's strength was often underwritten among the Maggia - the man could trade blows with the Kingpin on a good day... if he ever wanted to. From here, Scarlet Spider would be able to pick up on the familiar glint of his knuckle dusters, already affixed to one hand. He started to reach inside- BANG! There was the ring of a gunshot, immediately followed by a shrill pinging noise. The spent slug fell off of Hammerhead's brow, then sizzled uselessly on the pavement. He grunted, staring down the driver, snarling.

The man was pulled out of the wreck with half as much effort as the door, now several feet off the ground. He flailed against Hammerhead, but it wouldn't have made a difference even if he had his strength.

Kaine’s demeanor changes when the truck comes into view, a layer of tense anticipation energizing the air around him. He is taut and ready to spring at a moment’s notice. His laser-focus snaps over to Hammerhead showing himself. Too late for the truck and driver, but Scarlet Spider shows no reaction to the violent crash. He is waiting for some signal - the perfect moment.

He doesn’t expect Cat to come out from under his arm, nor was he expecting the lingering warmth on his wrist to give him strength. He rises with her, moving silently onto the ledge of the building he’d been dangling from. Somewhere in the way his eyes follow and take everything in, his head tilts her direction. He sees her tip her head, and it’s as if she’d lifted a gate. He leaps, a tremendous force released, and sends a web to swing towards his quarry. As he swings, Scarlet Spider activates his stealth suit and disappears to the naked eye. It only takes one more swing as Hammerhead lifts the driver into the air.

His web and the sound of swift air go easily unnoticed in the sound and site of the crash below. His instinct has flared to life, and he aims himself straight at Hammerhead’s side, both feet out to slam directly into his ribcage where his lifted arm had created a clear opening, and force him to drop the man.

Felicia takes the time to appreciate Spider slinging his way into the fight, head tipping further in curiosity as he disappears from sight. She smirks, reminding herself to ask him about that little trick the next time they meet up. While she herself would not want something to make stealing so easy, it could be useful for other tasks.

Like hunting Spiders.

That's where her admiration ends.

She's seen Peter in action so much. She's had first-hand experience with Ghost-Spider. Felicia knows in her heart that both would have done something to free the guard from Hammerhead first. Hell, they would have quipped and perhaps tried to talk the bulwark of a man down.

The pretty Spider does no such thing. Felicia flinches, unable to turn her eyes away from the sight as the very human guard is dragged along with the villain. For the first time, she is so glad that she does not have super hearing as she can only imagine the sounds of that man's body impacting the ground. That does nothing to erase the scream she had heard.

It's fine Cat, she tells herself, people die all the time. Those grey eyes fall on the overturned truck and she inches closer to the edge of the roof. Right. She knows there has to be something in there that Hammerhead wants and now she wants it as well. Felicia attaches her grapple to the roof and lowers herself to the ground, mindful to be quiet as she moves.

Hammerhead, quite literally, didn't see it coming. In fact, he did not see any of it coming. It had been months since he had last clashed with the web-head, and had started to think his luck had finally started to change. Tonight changed all of that. His head jerked up to the streetlamp, where he found the webbing, and nothing at all. This was enough time for the other webbing to find him, sticking to his massive frame in the same way that paintballs painted the side of a barn - very little substantial effect, but annoying as hell to deal with. The man audibly snarled, already a little limited in his movements as he started to tear through some of the webs over his body with sheer force.

"SPIDER-MAN! I knew ya couldn't stay away!... Hmph. Whassamatta? Scared'a goin' head ta head?" Hammerhead continued to thrash about, scanning the area for any sign of the wall-crawler. Instead, he caught a glimpse of something else. He didn't make anything of it for now, but someone like Black Cat could tell when they were perceived, even if it was in passing. He quickly turned away from her general vicinity, instead directing his ire at the nearby streetlamp with a vicious turn of his head. At best, it was about to be bent at a gross angle. At worst, the thing was about to come clean off, (invisible) Scarlet Spider included.

Well that answers that. Kaine watched as Hammerhead pulled at the webbing like a particularly bothersome cobweb. His mask's eyes narrowed. He'd been pretty sure it was going to be a brawl, but that pretty much confirmed it. It'd take a lot of material to keep the guy still long enough for the cops to get here, and even more to keep him from just pummeling his way through them like the sorry sight in the asphalt.

But then Hammer called out for Spider-Man. He felt his hackles raise in irritation – of course the guy was going to think it was the main Spider. No. You don't get the courtesy of a rematch. Kaine thought, coldly. He prepared to pounce, still hidden, and keep disorienting him into playing more stupid than normal. There was clear instinctual calculation in his invisible movements, feeling out for the right moment when he saw Hammerhead spot something. Someone.

Kaine's entire demeanor changed. He knew instantly where Black Cat was and that it was pure luck that Hammer was too distracted to really register her. He saw her duck out of sight, but Kaine was already on the move. Screw stealth. All that was gonna do was give Hammerhead a reason to chase a target he could see. If he'd given himself time to think about it, he could've justified it by knowing his stealth mode was gonna need battery for the getaway. But as it was, the idea of leaving this... person... who, for some reason he couldn't understand, trusted him, out to dry against a guy like that... That didn't sound like something a partner was supposed to do. Sounded like something that'd make him just as scum as the ones who'd let her down before.

Change of plans, time to improvise.

Blood boiling, Kaine leapt from the Streetlight, taking a new and much noisier path to the street. On the last jump he dropped stealth to land 20 feet behind Hammerhead, opposite side from the van. Open playing field. If this was gonna be a fight, he'd make it a good one. Just gotta get lead-for-brain's attention. "Hey! Some calling card, having a hard head. All that brain damage make you blind, too? Or just stupid?"Kaine called out, dropping his stance wide, fists coming up in front of his face in a boxer's ready pose.

"Wrong Spider."