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Central Park New York City
Mon Aug 15, 1963 — Mon Aug 15 13:54:54 2016
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Only a short time ago, Central Park was designated as a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of Agriculture, but already it serves as one of the primary tourist attractions in New York City. People are drawn to the grand 843 acre grounds, taking pictures infront of the magestic fountain or engaging in one of a hundred activities offered by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
All along Central Park Blvd, high rise apartments are available for the wealthy to reside close to what has long been considered the most magnificent display of argriculture in the United States. Dozens of entrances dot the exterior of the gated park, opening up on cobble stone and clear cut paths that traverse the grounds and offer a tour of the developed beauty the park has to offer.
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Contents:
Kitty - Dark haired. Wiry. Athletic.
Peter - Bookworm looking fellow of middling height.
Doom2 - is currently ON - SCENE IS BEING LOGGED.
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Exits:
[HA] Harlem [MT] Midtown
[UWS] Upper West Side
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The streets of New York can be very dangerous after dark. Areas close to the subways are often focal points for robbery and theft along with the occasional altercation. Sometimes it's due to the passage of tourists heading from one place to the other and moving enticingly so, and other times it's because the subway nearby offers a good means of getting some distance between them and the scene of the crime if they know the rail schedule… not to mention the possibility of diving onto the tracks and cutting across to the station on the other side. Sure it's risky, but sometimes it's better than getting caught.
Yet those places often pale in comparison to the paths of Central Park. The architect and landscaper who designed it had not thought for danger or possible ambush points, such thinking never entered into their mind. Instead they loved the idea of sweeping curves and lovely hidden planters with unique bits of flora to entice. Lovely lakes, and for bike-riders those overpasses and tunnels to make the place fun. Not knowing that each of those things give ways for a criminal to break line of sight, to hide, to take advantage of those moving by.
But the last year the amount of crimes in the park have diminished. Oh they still are trending upwards, but the presence of the park being one of the main points of Spider-Man's patrol has helped somewhat. Not that the Bugle would acknowledge such.
So tonight it would not be surprising to see the Amazing Spider-Man perched upon a building nearby, his knees drawn up and his hands flat between his feet, looking like a gargoyle casting his gaze downwards. From this angle he's got a good view, a place to observe the park, the near subway, and a few theaters that often get out late late.
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The odd thing about knowing but not remembering a personal time of imprisonment is the weird way it juxtaposes the necessity of freedom with the oddity of not spending conscious time without it. Kitty Pryde strides up from the subway with her shoulder bag crossed over her chest. She'd had a long chat with her parents on the phone, and the result had been not all that ideal.
Not that they could influence her the way they once did. There would be no extricating her from her chosen home. But the guilt has its effect. Her cheeks puff out with exasperation as she strides along the sidewalk to enter the park. She should be sleeping; she knows this. But there's no way she could sleep now. Not after the way she'd been so aggressively chided for her presumably poor judgment.
Her hands retreat into her light wash jeans. It's warm enough for her that her t-shirt suffices — for now anyways. Hopefully she'll head home before it gets too cold. Her steps pick up and beat against the cement
*
with a runner's confidence. And even though she's not remotely dressed for it, and with her shoulder bag slung across her body, she doesn't care. Somehow she's convinced the run will clear her head — not entirely, but just enough.
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A glance or two is given Kitty's way when she starts to run. In New York there are sometimes reasons people break out into a run, though usually it's connected to screaming or cursing followed by hasty pursuit. But not this time. So she darts past an older couple who sort of look after her, but seem to shrug to each other as if to say, 'kids these days.'
Yet the weather is right for it, there's enough of a breeze and the setting of the sun has let the temperature drop enough so that it's not uncomfortable at all. Perhaps even a chill in the coming hours might be feasible.
From his perch, Spider-Man doesn't see her or notice her at first. She's just another civilian. Though breaking into a run does draw the eye, but not long enough for there to be a glimmer of recognition. Yet something feels off, something's not right.
Turning his head to the side, Peter Parker can hear the faint tell tale jangle of his spider-sense starting to grow louder… and louder. He frowns behind that fabric mask, looking left and right. Nothing leaps out to the fore to scream danger, yet the feeling grows and grows.
Until there's a short sharp report of a loud explosion that sends a shockwave for a block and shakes the walls of neighboring buildings. Glass is heard tinkling down from several stories high as several windows are blown out, and there's a loud /WAAAAAAAAHGN/ of a fire alarm blaring from within a building that now sports a column of flame from its fifth story window in the center face.
There's no more hesitation, obviously that's where it must come from. Dropping off of the building, Spider-Man fires a web-line out that catches his descent and /yoinks/ him towards that building. He lets go of the line, flipping in the air to fire another and pull himself forward with such strength and speed that it almost be like he's flying.
Civilians that had been walking by had quickly rushed to get under cover from the falling glass, and several are pointing up at the flames and screaming. One man's rushed over to a payphone to try and get word out, while most of the crowd is filled with lookie-loos gasping and gawking.
It's only when Spider-Man shows up that someone shouts,
"Look, it's Spider-Man!"
"Oh no, those poor people!"
"Mutant scum!"
Yet even as those people shout he finishes his leap right in front of that column of flame and fires another web-line to catch the corner of the building to let him close the arc of his flight and to /crash/ straight into the window beside the flames.
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The sound of the explosion is enough to send Kitty into intangibility as she instinctively hits the deck — even with her ability, she reacts rather than thinks through the logic of the explosion. Glass passes through her despite having entered the park just before the building explodes. Mouth gaping, Kitty pivots on her heel to spy where the explosion has happened. Her mouth gapes and she runs back to the older couple to give instructions, "Get further out of the blast radius, and call 911! The people in the building are going to need help!"
Before waiting for a response, her feet beat on the pavement again, back towards the building that had endured such an explosion. She runs hard, allowing herself to turn incorporeal as she moves.
The pointed comments about Spider-Man prompt her chin to lift as she sprints back to where the lookie loos are gathering. She doesn't fight her way through the crowd — choosing to pass through rather than push against gawking bodies.
Another spray of broken glass has Kitty running into the building, looking all the crazier by the moment to the lookie-loos. Heat licks against her intangible body, but she's safe in this state. Her hands cup the sides of her mouth as a projector as she calls out, "Hello! I can help you! Anyone here!" Getting survivors out is her priority.
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Downstairs on the first floor she runs into a family of five trying to get out, they're rushing towards Kitty and moving towards the front door that swings open when the father slams his shoulder into it. He stands there making sure his children and then his wife get out, "Get outta here, girl!" He hollars at her even as he pushes on through the door and out.
The door across the hall from that one with the family is opening as well as two older women start to move as quickly as they can that way. She'll also hear voices and the sounds of footsteps from above as the stairwell at the end of the hall starts to fill with people. There's some hint of panic in their eyes, in their hurried pace. Luckily nobody's been knocked down yet, for assuredly they might well be trampled. But for now… the evacuation of the first two floors seems to be going well.
Too far away for her to hear, however, Spider-Man is in the burning apartments. He slams open the door with his shoulder and finds a kitchen, still burning, the wallpaper, the walls, the ceiling having caught on fire from the powerful blast. He pushes through, shielding his face with his arms and shouting, "Hello?! Anyone in here?!"
Into the next room, nobody, living room that's already catching on fire. Next room, down the hall. A bedroom, a woman and her child huddled in the corner as they take cover from another fire that looks like it was caused by some sort of large pot having been hurled through the wall by the explosion.
Another moment passes as the crowd looks on, and then suddenly from one of the windows, Spider-Man /leaps/ down, landing those several stories and bracing the woman and her baby daughter in his arms. He sets them down and yells, "Get them safe!" Before he rounds, takes a few strides and then /leaps/ straight up into that window again.
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The man hollering at her to get out earns a lopsided smirk, but doesn't deter the path that Pryde continues on. Her sprinting picks up pace. At this late hour, it seems likely most people are home.
Kitty treads upwards on a set of invisible, never seen stairs, pushing up through the third floor. She pulls herself onto the third floor, and the smell of smoke wafts through her senses. She shakes her head, and pushes her ability further. Even as she comes up through the floor an empty third-floor apartment, she knows something has gone wrong.
BANG
BANG
BANG
The loud echoing sound of effort outside the door prompts her to sprint through the wall to the hallway. Her eyes widen as evacuees line the third floor hallway — evacuation is much messier here.
"What's the hold up?" she asks a young mother next to her.
"The door won't budge!"
And sure enough the door to the stairwell is stuck. Kitty passes through the crowd of people and turns tangible at the end. Her eyes water with the smell of smoke, and she, along with two much larger men try to force the door open. But Kitty isn't built like a tank, and the door isn't moving.
Her lips tug downwards. The door isn't giving in any time soon. "Let me help you. I can get you through this. Please."
Desperation doesn't yield questions for those experiencing it, just a deep-seated desire to get out. Without asking anything about how Kitty intends to get them out, a mother and father each holding one of their children takes each of her hands.
She safely gets them on the other side of the door. With the group of four in the stairwell, Kitty instructs: "Get help to get this door open! This won't be fast!"
And with that, she slips through the stuck door again, to cart another group in their exit.
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Meanwhile, Spider-Man has flipped back out the window, landing heavily as he holds an old sickly man in his arms who has an oxygen mask over his face, the metal cannister held under Spider-Man's arm to keep it balanced. He breaks into a run once they're on the ground and sets the man down on the bus stop bench that sits opposite the burning building. "You'll be alright, sir." Spider-Man says quickly as the old man holds his mask to his face. An Ambulance, lights flashing and siren whirring is already pulling up and making its way through the crowd.
Once the man is settled, Spider-Man spins around and breaks into another run for the building. The top floor is clear now, the two apartments that had people in them emptied. The third floor now. He leaps up, catches a bounce off the lamp post and ricochets neatly through the third floor hallway window… landing right next to one of the concerned men standing outside that jammed door.
"There are people man, on the other side of the door. This girl… she… she went through."
"I got it, I got it. Go get clear!" Spider-Man yells and pushes the man towards the stairwell even as he turns back to that jammed door. There are definitely people on the other side, so he plants a foot on the wall, grabs the knob with both hands and /wrenches/ the whole damn thing off its hinges, pulling it open and tossing it aside.
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Panic draws over Kitty's features as she knows full well she's not nearly fast enough to get everyone through, but determination means continuing to help where she can. Relief comes in odd forms. Today, it's the sound of metal crunching from its hinges. The wrenched door off causes Kitty to come face to face with the Amazing Spider-Menace. "You!" Her face blanches slightly, but just for an instant as she beckons others to use the now opened door. "Go! Go! Go!" she urges the residents, prodding them to move forward.
But instead of going through the door herself, she treads down the hall, calling, "The way is open! Get to the stairs!" beckoning anyone dissuaded from that exit to rethink their stance. "Go to the stairs! Get out of the building!" her urging remains loud and clear.
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"Uh… you!" Spider-Man responds, perhaps not entirely recognizing Kitty… hey it was dark. But he steps back and gets out of people's way as he gestures to the side pointing with one arm towards the stairs and then making a circular motion with his other arm. "C'mon people, move it, move it!" The vigilante's voice is deeper than Kitty's but just as loud as he tries to get those people moving even as a part of the roof cracks and falls inwards. He quickly fires a /splat/ of webbing that stops it from blocking the way, though it only buys them a few moments before the web starts to burn as well.
"Go on!" A young woman hovers at the end of the hall near the stairway, "Our dog, Chester! Chester's still in his kennel!"
To which Spider-Man looks over that way towards the woman, then inside and he shoots a look at the people near. "Get out, I'll take a look. Go!"
And with that he darts back through the doorway that Kitty had come through, leaping over a pile of debris and dropping into a roll once past. He heads for the further apartment area.
*
The sound of whimpering from the apartment at the far end of the hall draws Kitty's attention. She runs through the closed door, coming out the other side to her own reflection. The hall mirror is expressly ignored. "Hello?!" She calls into the space, allowing herself to be corporeal again. Her eyes water from the smell and inhalation of smoke. She coughs and raises her t-shirt over her nose and mouth.
Her eyes flit about the apartment, looking for whatever occupant had made such noise only moments earlier. "Hello?!" she calls again. "I'm here to help you — you need to exit the building — "
But the apartment's occupant makes a skittery noise instead; a vague scratching against plastic. "Chara," she curses under he breath; the Yiddish coming to easily as her eyes scan for the critter inside.
A chunk of ceiling falls in front of her, and Kitty jumps backwards, narrowly missing its trajectory.
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The smoke is growing heavy, it's hard to see now on this floor, hard to breathe. She's there, she found the crate for carrying a dog to competitions or the like, fairly large for a Boxer it seems, a good sixty pound dog that is huddling in the back of the kennel and resting flat upon the floor. She sees Kitty and whines again, tail wagging plaintively as she reaches a paw out as if to try and push the wire gate open, but unable to against the lock.
But then she'll hear a voice behind her, "C'mon. I'll get the dog… you need to get out too." He grabs the handle and lifts the dog's crate as if it weight nothing, though more bulky than anything as another mass of the ceiling gives way. He lifts an arm and groans as he's forced to fend off the burning woodwork and then /throw/ it aside into the wall nearby. "C'mon!"
He offers her his hand again, a second time. But this time there is naught around him but flames and smoke and diffused light from the outside. It's a moment shared and in that instant she might even be able to see the eyes of the young man behind that visor.
And should she take his hand he'll move quickly to crash through the far wall with her and the dog shielded by his shoulder… to try and land down upon the ground and hopefully to safety.
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"Hi buddy~" Kitty virtually sings to the dog before the voice behind her speaks. Her lips part as he lifts the crate effortlessly and her head shakes lightly. "Yeah, this building is coming down, the integrity is already — " her physics self could babble more, but she's interrupted by a silent offer. The offered hand grants a single moment's hesitation, but she accepts it anyways, grasping it tightly.
Perhaps oddly for Spider-Man, however, when he would meet the wall, instead he, and his would be passengers, pass right through it. There is no noise as they land on the ground away from harm, and it's only when she lets go that he can really feel the ground beneath them.
She draws her hand back to her side. "We're both okay," Kitty says softly.
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It's only once they're clear, once he's reasonably certain that the building is empty now… that Spider-Man finally allows himself to slowly, just sloooowly, fall straight over onto his belly as he groans. "Man." With the flames flickering behind him, casting long shadows around them, it's pretty strange to see a man in red and blue pajamas just lying on the ground, only to slowly roll over onto his back as he coughs a few times, trying to get his lungs clear.
"That… was not a fun experience." He says quietly, probably assuming it's to himself.
The people who were inside are milling around, looking sadly up at the building even as the first fire truck is hooking itself up to the hydrant down the bloack. A stream of water starts firing into the building and that plume of red. The ambulance is seeing to people, and the young woman is opening the crate to grab her dog and hug her.
Spider-Man coughs again as he gives a small groan, but then the moment of reflection is broken by a police officer stepping through the crowd and drawing his service revolver to point it at Spider-Man, "Freeze!"
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It'd be easy to leave with the scene seemingly settling. The bit of smoke Kitty inhaled burns her lungs, but she's not in need of immediate attention. The building is clear. Emergency crews have arrived. No, there is no need for a girl who can walk through walls here. With a few shuffling steps, Kitty puts a bit of space between here and Spider-man, intending to return to the subway, knowing full-well she's going to wreak of smoke the whole trek home. But the voice of the officer tugs Kitty back.
Her eyes lid for a moment, and she strides back to where Spider-Man is standing, putting herself between the pair. "He didn't do anything besides save all," she gestures to the apartment's residents, "of these people." Her eyebrows lift. "Leave him alone today. Smoke inhalation is brutal, and he got his fair share." Pause. "Officer, please pick up your game of cat and mouse tomorrow." Her lips press together tightly.
*
And for once, Kitty's voice isn't alone. For once the crowd actually speaks up for Spider-Man. "Yeah, man. He saved our lives!"
The woman with the dog holds it close and says sharply, "He's a fucking hero, you asshole!" Just a second before she bursts into such heavy tears that it has her dog licking her face unrepentantly.
"He saved my family."
"Mine too. Him and this girl."
"Give him a break!"
And slowly… Spider-Man sits up, coughing still and looking around him at the New Yorkers that are actually standing up for him for once even as the officer looks… taken aback.
"But… but we have orders from the mayor…"
"Fuck the mayor!" Who says that first guy, who happens to be the man with the family. "This girl ran in, and Spider-Man helped her and you're just fucked!"
Spider-Man gains his feet fully and holds his hands up a bit as he backs away. "What's it going to be, pal?"
The cop blinks, looks at Kitty, back to Spider-Man… then he says. "I didn't see nothin'."
A quick ragged cheer goes up even as the vigilante steps back again, and for a moment Kitty might realize his gaze was on her. Just that moment before he turns and breaks into a run, leaping at the last moment and launching himself into the air when his webslinger fires with a /thwip!/ And suddenly he rounds the corner… gone.
*
As others stand up for the Spider, Kitty can't help but feel a twitch of a smile pull at the corners of her mouth. This is the New York she loves. This is the New York that knows to stand up for each other. This is why she does what she does. It's the right thing to do; people are better together.
When he backs off, the police officer receives a small nod. Good.
Kitty's hazel eyes follow Spider-Man as he makes a swift exit from the scene, and he gains another nod followed by an easier smile. She rubs absently at a smoke mark on her cheek as she strides back into the crowd, aiming to return to anonymity in the crowd. "Good job Spider-Man."
She turns down the block, back towards the subway, stopping in front of a newspaper vending machine for the Bugle. On the front in all caps it reads SPIDER MENACE STRIKES AGAIN. She smirks.
A glance is cast over her shoulder, and semi-convinced no one is watching, her hand reaches into the machine, busting the mechanism that dispenses the paper.
A smile of satisfaction draws over her features and her head shakes as she treads back to the subway.
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