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Midtown, New York, the hustle and bustle of the mid-day rush is such a hectic thing that aliens from high above would classify humanity as some form of insectia simply from their seemingly well-ordered progression enacting the will of some ephemeral hive mind. But down on the streets humanity is definitely a creature of self-interest, and at times that does lead to a certain uniformity in action… other times, not so much.
A perfect example of it hurtles down the street, weaving in and out of traffic with the high-pitched whine of high powered engines that thrust a quartet of motorcycles down 45th. Each one of the motorbikes has a color of its own. Blue, red, green, and orange all are garbed exactly the same way, the same riding leathers in their own colors, the same BMX bikes, and all of them on their backs have slung large duffel bags…
Duffel bags that trail an occasional flurry of hundred dollar bills through the bullet holes in the bag on the back of Orange.
"Stay close! Fifteen seconds!"
"Losin' my loot, man!"
"Stick to the plan!" Voices all yelled back and forth as they drive.
"3… 2… 1. Now cops, mark it!"
And on cue the patrol car skids into pursuit at the intersection behind them, lights flashing and siren wailing.
"Light him up!"
BLAMBLAMBLAM! Pistols bark lead at their pursuer, shots accurate and smashing up the hood and windshield of the patrol car, the car jumping the curb and crashing heavily into a lamp post.
The bikes roar off!
The officer looks up in his shattered vehicle, window cracked only to see… a masked face?
"You ok there, buddy?"
"Wha…" Blearily the cop holds up a hand, "I'm fine, Spider-Man! Go get 'em!"
"Alright… you got it, chief!"
And with that, Spidey flips up into the air and /thwips/ darting into pursuit.
*
The mid-day rush means that Johnny Storm is finally out of classes for the day and free to make his way back home, where everything is quiet and calm and not at all chaotic. Ahahahahaha, right. That's why the young, freshly blond-haired Korean looks so resigned as he trudges his way down the street, a backpack strapped to his shoulders.
And why he looks almost relieved to hear gunfire. Oh, thank god, something that will delay his trip home.
With a quick mental note to thank Reed for the new backpack, Johnny doesn't even take it off — he just breaks into a sprint towards the commotion, waiting until he has a patch of sidewalk clear of other pedestrians before he launches himself up into the air to get a better look at the situation, erupting into flame on the way. "FLAME ON!"
Aha! Bad guys! He doesn't even see Spider-Man right away, too focused on hurtling after the group of Bad Guys. Priorities!
*
Those four bikes roar right by that corner where Johnny had been walking. People rush out of the way, there's a scream. Then a few people dart out into the road causing a few vehicles to honk their horns and squeal on their breaks while those daredevils try and snatch up some of the hundred dollar bills that had fallen to the sidewalk.
The next second, cutting across the lane of travel, is that red and blue blur of the Spectacular Spider-Man! "Coming through, one side, man with a mission!" His swing so darn low that he makes a few people duck as he arcs through that swing, lets go of his webline, then fires another to /snap/ him forward in pursuit.
On the bikes, "We got trouble, boss!"
Looking over his shoulder, Red frowns behind the helmet and tells his compatriots over their helmet radios, "Green, Orange, drop back. Get him to split his attention and pop him."
"Roger," From Green.
"Roger," From Orange.
The two motorcycles hit the brakes partially and suddenly are much closer to the hurtling form of Spider-Man. Their .45s come up and they take a bead…
"Wha, oh hey fellas." There's another thwip in mid-swing as he fires a web-splat into the barrel of Orange's pistol even as he leaps up onto the street lamp, swinging around it several times. But that gives Green a clear shot at him as he skids to a stop on the bike.
*
Just in time for a very precisely-aimed ball of fire to come streaking in a few inches in front of Green's visor — a warning shot quite literally fired 'cross the bow. "Head's up!"
The Human Torch reads the papers, but he's also in the papers frequently enough not to put much stock in them. Especially anything J. Jonah Jameson's signed off on. Right now, all he sees are two guys with guns and one guy trying to stop them. That's good enough for him.
The Torch is only trying to distract Green from taking his shot long enough for Spidey to handle him. He's more concerned with not losing track of the rest of the color-coded gang up ahead, zinging his way overhead with a convenient-to-track trail of flames left flickering in his wake.
*
"What the?!" Green jerks backwards and then /falls/ off his motorcycle, nothing to be ashamed of, a perfectly reasonable response to SUDDEN FIRE IN FACE! His pistol fires a few times trying to track the blazing burning form of the Human Torch…
Only for a glob of webbing to /splat/ right into his pistol, and then a net of webbing to trap him to the hood of a car. He strains, trying to get free even as Spider-Man's tying up his comrade Orange. Both of them yell after the two heroes as they take off in pursuit of the remaining men.
"Come back her you… you freaks!"
Those two motorcycles ahead, however, haven't wasted their time. They've sped through the intersections, making their way towards the river and the docks along it. They take a sharp turn along the long curve near Hell's Kitchen.
Torch is able to keep up with them, flying high and keeping an eyeball. Spider-Man… is able to catch up, but barely, and it takes him a good amount of acrobatics to flip over a rooftop, ricochet off a water tower, and then zip line straight ahead to fall into pace beside Torch.
"Thanks for the assist, Firebug." He runs along the side of a building, one hand holding him in line until the end as he leaps off. "But I got it from here."
*
The trail of fire is easy to follow and, man, he can apparently cut corners really sharply. Those poor bikers aren't going to shake him so easy.
The Torch glances to the side when Spider-Man catches up and, somewhere in all those flames, he flashes him a very broad grin before turning his attention back towards the remaining motorcycles.
"No problem, Webhead! You sure you don't want the extra hand?" Torch asks curiously. "I mean, I'm already all dressed up with nowhere else to go, but if you're sure…"
*
Of course in that moment the two bikes /BREAK!/ and one goes to the left, the other goes to the right, their engines roaring as they continue to dart in and out of traffic, weaving wildly and sluicing past the slowed vehicles in what looks like something of a traffic jam.
"Oh ok, twist my arm," He says and flashes what would be a smile sidelong… if his lips could be seen. "I got Red, you get Blue!" And as quick as that he breaks to the other direction, holding onto his webline with both hands as it swings clean through its arc around the corner of the building.
And off he goes, leaving Johnny to chase after the blue motorcycle that suddenly turns into a tall car park, the vehicle smashing through the yellow and white barrier and dashing into the parking lot itself.
*
Once the motorcycles split up, the Torch's expression brightens. Ha! "Look at those clever little goobers go," he muses, and with a crisp thumbs-up to Spider-Man's instructions, he goes tearing around the corner after Blue.
With a wolfish smile, Johnny starts really pouring on the speed to close the distance even as he drops down lower to the ground to come screaming into the car park behind the driver.
"I'm gonna melt your tire if you don't knock it off!" The Torch shouts, trying to be heard over the engine noise. It's probably pointless. "Slow down, man!"
*
"Oh no," The guy shouts back, "Don't melt my tire! Anything but that." And with the acoustics in there it might be hard to hear where the guy's voice comes from since his motorcycle's engine has stopped. When Johnny comes to a halt he'll find the motorcycle right there, abandoned in front of a car. Where'd the guy go? Really Torch wasn't far behind, like at all. Oh there the guy is!
/BLAM BLAM!/ He fires his pistol a few times at the Human Torch even as he makes a break for it towards the stairwell across the parking lot. Maybe twenty feet away, the guy's definitely got some chops though, he's gonna get to that staircase pretty quick and break line of sight… depending.
*
The Torch comes to an abrupt halt and hovers above the motorcycle, lips twisting to one side in irritation as he finds it sadly sans-rider. Oh hey! Gunfire!
The thing about being a Human Torch is that Johnny is… well… a human torch. He looks down at himself as the bullets vanish into his chest, momentum carrying them all the way through where their partially-melted remains splatter against the side of the car's windshield. He aims a very flat look at Blue and gives a very exaggerated roll of his eyes before he's in motion.
Though most of him is still made up of flames, it's one flesh and blood leg that comes sweeping in towards the back of the driver's knees to try dropping him. "That was very rude," Johnny declares. "You know, I think you owe me an apology."
*
The man goes down in a tumble, rolling forward in a fwubba-fwubba-fwump of tangled limbs, ending with him skidding to a halt with his palms flat on the ground and one knee to the side. He winces, rolling to the side and bringing his weapon up again. He takes careful aim straight at Torch's head and pulls the trigger…
Only realizing then that the receiver is already cocked back, no round ready to fire in the chamber. Then, on top of that impotent click of metal on metal, he hurls a few words at Torch. "Fine, fine! I'm sorry. Lemme go!" Flipping his visor up, he pulls his duffel bag off his shoulder and unzips it, showing stacks and stacks of hundreds as he tells the Fantastic Fellow, "I'll split this with ya, just gotta turn your head, tell the Spider-Guy you lost me, alright?"
And, for a moment, a look of hope enters the man's features, trying to convince Torch to grant him his freedom.
*
Still alight, the Human Torch touches down and takes a few steps closer to the man even as the gun is aimed at his head. He's not worried — the bullets did so much damage last time, after all.
But then the words start flying instead and he stops where he is, blinking owlishly as he looks between the man's face and the duffel full of cash. "I… you're trying to buy me off?" Johnny says slowly, his fiery face suddenly home to a very quizzical expression. "You're kidding, right?"
*
"No, no, seriously! I mean shit, man. Mutants gotta earn too, right?" The guy reaches in and extends a handful of hundreds along with a stack that's marked as $12,500 worth of cash. He thrusts them towards Torch even as he tries to get to his feet, boots scuffing upon the asphalt as he rises up. "Plenty more when that came from… heck, go back and get the duffels from my partner, it's a cool mill each, what do ya say?"
And, for a time, he does look actually hopeful. Sure there are a few do-gooders out there, and sure there are some costumed villains. But people are people, right? Everyone's got their motivations, their desires, their needs. All of this flits through his head as he cocks it to the side. "Got a boat waiting, out to international waters, all clear and free."
*
That same quizzical expression remains on Johnny's face even after the flames themselves go out, revealing the (very recognizable, but still) young Korean man in jeans, an IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME t-shirt, and backpack that he actually is. "Gee. That's awful tempting," he says slowly, taking a step closer.
You know. To bring himself close enough to take a hard swing at the poor guy's jaw, now that he wouldn't badly burn him in the process. "Trying to bribe one of the Fantastic Four? Seriously? Are you new?"
*
For a moment there's a look in his eyes that says, 'Fantastic who?' But then /CRACK!/ and he's hit right in the jaw, that impact jolting right up Johnny's arm even as it takes the guy down and smacks him hard right into the pavement. The motorcyclist is clean out, and probably going to be like that for a good chunk of time, even as the unbound money he'd been holding in his hand starts to catch on the wind.
But then there's a voice, upside down hanging over the edge of the car park's roof. All he can see is that bewebbed red mask with those mirrored lenses, cocked to the side as he looks curiously at Johnny Storm.
"So, you guys in the Fantastic Four are the real deal, huh?" He asks, and it sounds like he might actually be a bit surprised "I mean, don't get me wrong. I thought you might be. But… last three superhero guys I've talked to all tried to take me in."
As Spider-Man speaks he drops off the side, flipping down to land light upon the hood of a car, perched there with his forearms on his bent knees. "Wait, you're not going to, are you? Because then I'd be all sad."
*
Johnny peers down at the guy with a grimace as he shakes out his hand, grumbling under his breath in Korean. <If being famous wasn't such a drag, I might be insulted.>
The voice from behind him gets Johnny to turn around with a surprised blink and, upon seeing who it is — brace yourself for a shock, Spidey — he cracks a bright smile. "Oh, there you are. Got yours too?"
Then the question registers and Johnny waves a hand to dismiss it, shaking his head. "Naw. All I saw you doing was the same thing I was doing," he says dryly. "I try not to haul people in just because the newspaper says I should, you know?"
*
"Who, me, psh, of course." Spider-Man says, fingers touching the center of his chest, but then he crinkles his nose a bit. "I mean, yeah he gave me the slip for a sec. But I got him." He holds up a finger as if to signify that it wasn't a close thing, nor coincidence. Though it very well was. He hops off the car and extends a gloved hand towards Torch, "So, hey. I'm Spider-Man."
There's a beat of a pause as he waits for Torch to shake his hand, and if he does so Spidey doesn't press, more just gives a few firm shakes then draws back, over which he adds, "And hey, thanks for that. You'd be surprised how many people read that rag… I mean fine upstanding periodical of timely information."
*
After a quick look to make sure Blue is still out cold — yup! — Johnny reaches out to accept the extended hand for a friendly shake. "Johnny Storm. Or, the Human Torch, if we're being fancy," he says with one slightly narrowed eye. Once he's released the hand, he takes one step to the side and nods towards Blue, gesturing at him with one hand. "Do you wanna..?" He tries to imitate the web-shooting gesture as best he can, having only seem it very briefly, at high speed. But hey. He tried.
"The Bugle's got its bright points, but… man. If I was dating Trish Walker, I wouldn't be taking her on dates in Hell's Kitchen," Johnny says with a roll of his eyes. "Honestly. It hurts."
*
A small laugh slips from him, and distantly the sound of sirens might well be heard. But then Spidey keys in on the gesture and he says, "Oh hey, sure." The webbing /thwips/ and covers the guy in a nice net, locking him down for the authorities.
"Well, it was cool meeting you, Hothead." Spidey hops back, grabbing the ceiling with one foot and one hand. "But me and the fuzz don't exactly mix, if you get my meaning." He skitters towards the edge of the roof again to crawl back up out of view, but he pauses for a moment.
"Uhh," He turns to look across the way, "You mind if I might… come by and bug (haha) you guys? There was something I was thinking I could use a hand with… if you all aren't super busy."
*
Ah, sirens. His old friend. Johnny is less alarmed by the sound than Spidey is, of course — the perks of a good publicist, one supposes — and the grin he offers him is a very sympathetic one. "I get it. I'll tell them you helped," he promises, raking a hand back through his hair. "I dunno, maybe it'll help." It probably won't.
That question gets Johnny's curiosity. He nods once, expression brightening. "Of course! We're the top five floors," he notes, gesturing towards his face with one hand. "Since… well, I assume you wanna keep that on. The doorman would flip. I can let you in up top, though."
*
"Great!" Spider-Man's voice is animated as he gives Torch a thumbs up, "Thanks again, Torch!" And with that said he disappears from view, though a 'thwip' is most likely heard, even as a police cruiser pulls into the car park and starts in Johnny's direction.