1963-08-13 - The Incredible Spider Menace
Summary: Spider-man comes to aid of a woman in trouble. It doesn't go well.
Related: None
Theme Song: None
kitty peter travis 


*

It's early o'clock on a Saturday morning, and the seedier element in the Park is just closing shop for the night. Over the course of one evening, there have been countless muggings, numerous assaults, and even the occasional fight amongst the increasingly restless residents that frequent the park.

At this hour in the morning, people are either up late or up early — it's simply one of those teetering moments and questionable time frames. With a smirk, Kitty Pryde is one of the latter: awake early. She'd ducked out of the mansion early in the morning. She's back to the park to look around, and go for a run — an ill-advised activity for such a diminutive woman while the crime rate around New York City has been spiking so.

The light jog around the park has her feet meeting the pavement in an even rhythm with a smirk on her face. Evidently there's something ironic or funny about running here, but the vague secret is just that — a curious edge of mischief on her face and in her expression.

*

The crime rate may be high, and heck it may very well be rising, but the young man known as Peter Parker has been doing his part to try and keep it down. Though tonight, he'd been distracted, drawn over to the area of Mutant Town and Hell's Kitchen. The protests of the previous day most likely having caused some lashing out amongst the people of those communities. There had been a fire (possibly arson), a clash between the Irish and the Italians that threatened to spill over, and any number of 'smaller' crimes that do not feel small at all to the people experiencing them.

Yet he is finally able to get away, even as the first hints of the sun creep up over the horizon and cast the park in a faint gleam of illumination. Sleep is definitely something he'd been looking forward to, but for Spider-Man, landing lightly upon the corner of a building that overlooks the park, something is still niggling at the back of his mind… not quite the jangle of his spider-sense, but definitely… something.

*

Travis Evans is a man that has never slept well; he's lucky to get a few hours a night, and those few hours ended early today. The man is on his way through the park to pass a few hours before he starts his day, which is perhaps not the most safety-conscious decision, but he seems unconcerned for his own person. He walks along the main path at a leisurely gait, smoking a cigarette and keeping an eye out around him. Travis' path is exactly opposite that of the jogging Kitty, such that one will need to move out of the other's way, should the distance between them continue to close.

*

Left. Right. Left. Right.

The constant feel of her feet hitting the pavement almost puts Kitty in a trance. Running is like therapy, particularly in its consistent offering of some sense of peace and reflection. But today there is no real peace, just a jumble of thoughts needing to find some resolution. She spies Travis ahead, and her eyes grant him easy acknowledgment as she comes alongside a bush.

That she gets tugged into.

The would-be cause for alarm might draw attention, save for the fact that the diminutive brunette emerges several seconds later. There's a delayed response and she actually calls, "Help!"

Tucked away in the bush is a would-be assailant, not unconscious, with a knife in his grip. "Uh… someone should call the police."

*

LOG EDIT: Not conscious

*

Distantly, against that building's silhouette is Spider-Man's merged with the shadowy facade. He lifts his head slightly, craning his neck as he hears that faint call, and takes only a handful of moments to locate the source of it. From this angle he doesn't have a line of sight on the trail, nor the young woman. But he's never one to ignore such a call.

Leaping off the side of the building, he drops like a stone, twisting as he turns and extending one hand out to fire a webline with a /thwip!/ that cuts across the distance and snares a lamp post. He snaps his hand back and to the side while holding the line, shifting his fall into an arc and flipping towards the post. It gives him enough momentum to leap up into the air in a somersault and then fire another webline to snare the top of a tree.

Landing at the very top of that old pine tree that stands tall and sentinel over the park, the trunk bends under his newly placed weight as he perches there, one foot and one arm holding him up as he's now able to see…

Hnh.

An unconscious guy, and a gal seemingly wiping her hands clean of a mugger's assault.

"Uhhh, hey." His voice lifts as the guy in the red and blue pajamas sort of hangs there.

*

Travis isn't slow to react, but by the time his pace has picked up enough to actually approach a level of usefulness, the girl seems to have handled the situation herself. He jogs toward her, discarding the mostly-finished cigarette in the process, and gets close enough to see the knife-wielding knocked-out almost-assailant. He looks from the prone man to the woman, a little bit of an incredulous expression on his face. Most of the women he knew wouldn't have fared so well. "Are you.. alright?" He asks, before being distracted by the pyjama-clad tree-hanger. He glances up, blinks, and then moves to step in front of Kitty, as if to protect her from the red-blue-pajama'd interloper. "Don't worry, Miss, I won't let him hurt you," he says, as if trying to sound some kind of heroic. His pulse rises, and adrenaline starts to flow, but he doesn't make any terribly sudden movements which might trigger an attack. Just playing the heroic defender of the already-put-upon damsel.

*

"I… yes. I'm okay — " Kitty's cheeks flush at Travis as she glances over her shoulder towards the bush. "Yeah." She manages a flicker of a smile. Well, Spider-man is definitely not something Kitty sees every day, and she sees some pretty incredible things, and so she openly stares. Her eyes widen slightly and she notes in a deadpanned tone, "I think you forgot to get dressed this morning. And I'm pretty sure jammy onesies went out last season." Her arms cross over her chest.

Her neck cranes around Travis to eyes Spidey, knowing full-well that she may have to abandon the damsel in distress routine; Kitty Pryde is very RARELY a damsel in distress. Her eyes squint at Spider-man, and her own pulse spikes. Instinctively, she takes a step closer to Travis, fully prepared to do whatever she needs to protect the poor passerby.

*

A splayed-fingered and webbed hand facepalms right onto Spidey's mask as he heaves a /sigh/ but then he holds up his hands, _somehow_ balancing right there on the side of the tree with just his feet holding him up in a sort of crouch. "Oy."

But he spreads his hands out towards them, "No, hey. No, sorry. I heard you yell for help and was going to see if you…" But then he sees their expressions and looks back and forth, "Look hey, sorry for bugging you guys."

He crawls upwards on the trunk some, "I'll go call the police and let them know some guy tried to stab you. You look like you got this under control."

Then, under his breath, he murmurs. "I should take up drinking."

*

"Right," says Travis, staring the Spider down (or up, really). He doesn't seem all that threatening in the flesh, so Travis thinks. He stares for a moment, trying to determine if he's actually a threat, as the papers would have him believe. He doesn't seem particularly dangerous, except for the impressive acrobatic displays. Even so, he reads enough of the news to know better. "How do I know you didn't set this whole thing up.. criminal menace," he mutters, not moving from between the Spider-Man and the girl he's ostensibly protecting.

*

Kitty issues a vague nod as it seems like Spidey is retreating. Good. That is all that matters, right? And then the passerby continues to talk to the spider, earning a small cringe. Provoking criminal menaces doesn't seem like the smartest decision.

But while the two men talk, and Kitty remains close enough to grab the civilian should she have to, her would-be assailant comes to enough to jump from the bush only to push the woman he'd just attempted to mug. Kitty stumbles forward onto the jogging path (prompting her hands to scrape against the rough cement), and the attacker begins to run away from the scene.

*

The Spider-Menace stays perched there up on the treetop and turns his head to the side, reflective visors giving Kitty and Travis' reflections back to themselves as he eyes them askance. "I umm, you're saying. Let me get this straight,"

Spider-Man drops a few feet, so he can balance on a lower branch as he gestures with no small amount of incredulity. "That I arranged with my criminal accomplice for him to jump passersby with a knife while I watch from on high and… do what? Wave my pom-poms for him?"

And really, Spider-Man should just leave, but it's likely his patience is a little thing. He takes a breath and sighs a bit, then adds. "Look, guys. Seriously. Sorry. I was just passing by. I'll go call the cops. Let me…"

And then the criminal makes his break for it…

And suddenly that Spider-Person is a blur of movement. There's no hesitation then, simple movement, acceleration, and a flicker of red and blue that drops down from the tree even as a webshooter /thwips!/ a blast of webbing that snares the runner as he makes a break for it and _yoinks_ him back into Spider-Man's waiting arms.

"Hi," Is all that's said before the guy is tossed straight up into the air and suddenly he's webbed to that lower branch, like some terribly uncomfortable caterpillar in a half-finished cocoon.

Yet once that's clear he turns towards Kitty and extends a hand, "Are you alright? Sorry I should have…"

*

Travis' reflexes are decent, but not quick enough to catch Kitty before she falls. Admittedly, there's a lot going on, and he doesn't have the benefit of what you'd call 'useful' powers. Under normal circumstances, he might go after the fleeing mugger, but with the Spider-Menace hanging around, who is clearly faster than Travis could ever hope to manage, considering how quickly he just webbed up the knife-wielder.. what exactly does Travis think he's going to do? It's all a bit of a blur, and then suddenly the Spider turns toward the girl Travis has decided is his damsel to save, and basically throws himself between the two, attempting to tackle the Spider-man to the ground in an ill-considered bout of supposed bravery. This cannot possibly end badly. Right?

*

*

Nancy has arrived.

*

Nancy leaves, heading towards Upper West Side [UWS].

*

Nancy has left.

*

Unlike most of New York, Kitty has a mind of her own. From her spot on the pavement, she watches the Spider-Menace dispatch the retreating assailant, and openly stares at the unfolding scene. Something in her tells her to consider what has actually just happened, which is why when Spider-Man extends a hand to her, she doesn't recoil, and instead begins to reach out to him… only to be interrupted by a flying Travis attempting to tackle the Spider-Man. As a reflex rather than a conscious action, she phases, becoming incorporeal to the world at large, essentially causing any would be help from Spidey to be fruitless, and hilarious as there is, quiet literally, no hand to grasp.

*

Not to disparage Travis, but when things are flying… Spider-Man has a way of perceiving things faster than normal. He can see the young man gathering his legs under him, can see the look of _conviction_ in his eyes, can even see him 'girding his loins' as he launches himself right at the wallcrawler.

It gives Spidey enough time to say, "Ohfortheloveof…"

/FWOOMPF!/ Travis charges right into Spider-Man and proceeds to try and take him down to the ground, though as he dives in he's reaching out, grabbing and those hands seem to fail finding something to grab, it's like as Spider-Man turns he's just out of reach. To the world at normal speed he spins to the side in a whirl of motion and then five fingertips light upon Travis' back to try and snare him and prevent him from falling onto the hard concrete, though also sort of keeping him at arm's length.

"Buddy… seriously. I wish nothing but good things for you and your girlfriend."

*

Travis is quite easily handled by the Spider-Man, and is suitably embarrassed by his lack of physical prowess. At least he didn't fall face-first into the cement. "I'm not your buddy, pal," he retorts, "And she's not my girlfriend, just trying to help a lady in distress," he says, his voice just a touch uncertain. He's in over his head here, that much is sure. After a moment he manages to find his footing, but the Spider-Man seems to be holding onto him. Travis struggles against the grip, and his eyes go to Kitty, "Run!" he calls to the girl, thinking now might be her chance, since the Spider-Man is distracted for the moment.

*

Kitty's eyes widen as Travis is held there by the Spider-man and it's her turn to protect the poor civilian passerby. Even with the instruction to run, she knows she's probably more qualified to handle the criminal menace than her would-be knight-in-shining-whatever.

"Let him go!" She leaps from her current position on the ground and runs towards the pair. She reaches for the man being held, and touches him with her hand, pulling him into a world intangibility out of the Spidey's grasp.

She physically pulls the man through Spider-man, and once on the other side attempts to kick the back of Spidey's knee. "Don't touch him again," she hisses.

*

"Hey, come on, I'm not…" Spider-Man keeps holding Travis out at arm's length if only so the guy can't swing on him from there. But he isn't ready for the wild aggressions of a girl named Kitty! She starts at him and he raises his other hand as if to check her charge as he hunkers down a bit while trying to most likely hold her off from her vicious surprise attack. But then, when she passes through him, his eyes go wide behind that mask.

Her hand closes on Travis' and she yoinks him out of the material state and out of Spidey's grip even as he starts to turn around…

And then /whack!/ her kick hits him in the back of the leg causing him to complain, "Ow, hey!"

He flips forward, rolling with it, and planting a hand upon the ground to _push_ himself into the air and flip back and away, landing in a crouch facing them with his hands held up.

"Ok, look! I give up! You guys win. Uhh. Lo. I am defeated. Curses you meddling youngsters!"

*

Travis is in no small amount of shock as his body goes from 'able to interact with solid matter' to not. Kitty pulls him through Spider-Man, and that doesn't really do anything to help his situation. "What the f-" he starts to say after Kitty releases him, but lets it fall off before finishing the statement. Seems she doesn't so much need his help, what with the super powers and the apparent martial-arts training. But even so, once they've cleared a safe distance from the Spider-Man, he reaches for the girl's arm in an attempt to convince her to come with him, you know, for her own safety? "Let's get out of here, Miss," he implores her.

*

Kitty's hands remain balled into fists, ready to go on the defensive if she should need to, but with Spidey retreating, she lowers her arms back to her sides and takes a step towards Travis, "Sorry. You're right, we need to go." She motions further up the path to lead them both away.

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