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It's midday in Brooklyn, and surprisingly warm, up in the 60's today. And with things this warm, it's not weird to see mosquitos out in a last ditch effort to feed before the cold forces them into hibernation. What /is/ unusual is seeing mosquitoes the size of condors flying in formation. It looks like they just swarmed out of Brooklyn Bridge Park, and are storming through Brooklyn Heights.
Each one is about 10 feet across the wingspan, and maybe 8 feet long in the body, with a horrifying 2 foot long stabby bit protruding from the front - the bit mosquitoes are most well known for. These monsters look like they could drain a person dry, and they are a fleet of at least two dozen, apparently escorting a mutant bug that looks more like a person, than a simply enlarged insect.
A tall lanky green humanoid that could only have come from a preying mantis originally, but is now decidedly humanoid, and humanly feminine for some ungodly reason, stalks along with the droning insects as her escort.
Somewhere, in a neighboring dimension, Science throws its papers in the air in the universal gesture for giving up, and heads out to a bar.
Back in our dimension, this mantis woman is wearing the loose pants and tied, sleeveless tunic common to monks. She is barefoot, has digitigrade legs, and her arms have one too many joints. Both sets of forearms are lined with serrated blades that look to be part of her, but her hands are almost disturbingly human. Aside from the enormous mantis eyes, her face is also very human, though green-skinned.
She marches along, and laughs in a raspy voice as people on the street commence with the Running and the Screaming. Two brave police officers take cover behind their squad car and open fire, even as civilians around them are pounced on by long-needled horror shows on wings. In a blur, the mantis woman moves her arm blades to block the bullets, sending them ricocheting around the street.
Then she smiles. And leaps the hundred feet, landing with hardly a sound on the place where the cops were an instant ago. Confused, she looks around and sees Spider-Girl with the thwipped cops in hand, shoving them to keep running the other way.
"Go, /GO/," Spider-Girl shouts at the stunned officers, who finally get the picture and begin directing the civilians into a more orderly retreat. Meanwhile, Anya leaps up onto the top of a car nearby and shouts, "Come on, you! You think you're so tou-WUH!" Anya is interrupted by divebombing mosquitoes and she has to roll out of the way, webbing up enough to foul its wings and make it crash into and through a plate glass window.
At least the mozzies don't seem to tough. The crashed one seems to be permanently out of commission. Nevertheless, Spider-Girl is grossly outnumbered! How will she survive?!
*
Today was supposed to be a quiet afternoon to help settle the Baxter Building's newest (temporary) resident. A little bit of shopping to get her some clothes that fit, some walking around the city to get reacquainted with it and see what a difference three years can make… you know. Normal stuff. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
The shopping had gone off without a hitch, at least. Adapting to everything else… still a work in progress.
"I know they aren't my memories, Seo," the brunette quietly confesses to the infinitely-more-famous woman she's walking alongside, and her expression is troubled. "But — they are. They're all I've got. I… uh." She trails off, steps gradually coming to a halt as she catches sight of a Giant Bug Swarm zipping past at the next intersection.
There is no hesitation. The girl just presses the shopping bag she's carrying into poor Sue's arms, still oblivious to the fact that she's THE INVISIBLE WOMAN and should probably be taking point in a situation like this. "Stay here," she says firmly, and she breaks into a sprint towards trouble, dragging her new scarf up around her face as she goes.
Well. She does think she's Peter Parker.
*
Dark eyes watch !Peter with silent consideration. While others may try to solve the teen's problems, Seo has spent the better part of the morning listening to the tension, and strongly identifying with that confusion she obviously feels. "Not your memories, but still your memories. Something you do and don't own," because there aren't others to be had. She inhales a deep breath as the Giant Bug Swarm descends at the intersection. She lifts her hands… to receive a shopping bag in them.
This prompts Sue to arch a wry eyebrow. Yeah. That just happened. "AISH!" !Peter is still getting her bearings. This can only be bad news.
"Hello — " she turns to a passerby, who immediately recognizes her, and interrupts her thought.
"You're Sue Storm!!"
"…yes. And I need you to do a really important mission for me. I need you to take this," she unloads the shopping bag on the passer-by, "to the Baxter Building. Leave it for Reed, Johnny, or Ben in the lobby. Tell them Sue left it." She smirks. "No, just leave it for Johnny," because baby brother will not be utterly confused by his sister leaving clothes in the lobby.
Psionic energy comes beneath Sue, causing her to fly through the air towards the large mantis. Hard mental pellets of psionic energy descend on the green bug, an easy distraction so the Spider-gals can get civilians away.
*
It's hard to tell what this mob of bugs was after, but the police station at the end of the street seems like a good bet. Or bad, depending on your point of view.
The mantis woman, known in some circles already as Ms. Green, surveys the new threats. She sees Anya is pretty well occupied with mozzies, apparently decides Drew isn't focused on her yet, and leaps to make an attack at Sue Storm.
"Why are you protecting them?" she rasps, her blades in a blur. She's distracted by the psionic pulses, but they don't seem to have quite the same effect on her insectoid brain that they normally would. Still, the distraction sends one arm slicing through the front corner of a car parked nearby, down through the metal, and stopping when she pops the tire.
"They /hunt/ you people…" Ms Green seems somewhat perplexed by the mutants defending humans, but not enough to stand down.
Across the street Anya bounds up into the air, jumping high even without the use of webbing, and comes down /hard/ on one of the back of a mosquito, breaking it's back with a sickening crunch, and driving it to the ground beneath her, like a video game character who hasn't been invented yet.
When Anya spies Drew running in she waves her hands from on top of a car roof, "No, the /other/ way!" The distraction though gets Anya tackled from behind, smacking her face on the top of the car. The mosquito pounces on her back, long needle-nose poised to plunge into her back, but Anya is dazed! Could this be the end of Spider-Girl?
*
Alas, !Peter does not recognize aish… yet. Give her time, she'll have plenty of opportunity to get the gist from context cues. She gets her scarf tied securely to hide the lower half of her face and charges on, eyes tracking Anya as goes sailing through the air.
At least, until the big green one goes leaping past her towards Sue. And talks. Oh, that can't possibly be a good thing! Skidding to a halt halfway across the street, she whips around and points towards Ms. Green —
She blinks owlishly when a line of webbing lanches from her fingertip and towards the giant mantis, clearly just as surprised as anyone else. No time to think about that, though! She just hopes the webline caught hold of enough of the mantis, because if it did, she can grab onto the line with both hands, plant one foot, and haul back as hard as she can.
The hope is that she can send Ms. Green there flying into the mosquito on Spider-Girl's back and, ideally, off of it.
*
"Because someone has to," Seo replies as her hands lift into the air. The burst of telekinesis towards the mantis acts as a crusher of sorts, binding invisible energy around the green bug to squish it, very slowly, like the bug it is. This certainly isn't her first rodeo. Her eyebrows lift as she tightens her invisible grip around the mantis, "Why do you attack them?" she's equally perplexed.
But then green is on the move, and evidently outside her purview, driving Seo's attention back to the mosquitos and their horde. An invisible barrier lifts to form around the horde, and like a kind of rallying sheepdog, draw them closer together to eliminate the space between them, eating the space as it closes in on itself.
*
/FOOSH/ Ms. Green smashes into the mosquito on top of Anya and both of them, Green and the mozzie, go crashing to the side. Fortunately, the mosquito is smooshed dead in the process. But since it was grabbing at Anya with it's nasty little feet, Anya is flung bodily up into the air.
She's about 30 feet up when her dazedness wears off, and she makes a garbled, confused noise before weblines snap out from her hands. Twisting in the air, she finds that she has basically added reins to a mosquito, and the small woman is standing on its back, directing it by pulling on the lines.
Her expression changes quickly from horrified confusion, to realization, to thrilled exultation. "Hyah! Giddyup!" Anya leans, pulls on the reins, and aims her mount right at two other mosquitoes. She only manages to spear one of them, but the other is caught in the charge. All three crash to the ground as Anya backflips off of them, arcing through the air.
The corralling of the swarm seems to be having some strange effects on the mozzies in general. Used to being able to swoop and dive as they like, it is unusual for them to be cramped and crowded together. They jostle, and as some lose the room they need to flap their wings, they start jabbing and attacking each other.
"No!" cries Ms. Green, too distracted to answer Sue's question now. "Attack /them/!" This mostly gets the mozzies back in line, but things don't look great for the swarm.
*
Releasing the webline, the masked brunette kind of stumbles backward a step and stares as her little bit of improv… works? She looks down at her hands for a moment, then over her shoulder, towards Seo.
Even with most of her face hidden beneath her scarf, the glimmer of exhileration in !Peter's eyes is unmistakable. This is cool.
She takes a quick look around to gauge the situation, bouncing on her toes. Okay, most of the mosquitoes seem to be largely taking care of themselves, for… some reason. And Spider-Girl seems to have the stragglers in check. So that's handled. That just leaves… the big one. "Aw, geez…
She takes a deep breath before she takes off towards Ms. Green at a dead sprint, eyes momentarily widening when she realizes just how fast she can actually go. This is new. So is being able to launch herself up into the air, twisting around to try and sail into the mantis' head at high speed, feet first."
*
The mosquitoes in the forcefield are pressured further and further, forced into each other's space, even as Ms. Green announces the need to attack the others, not each other. Seo's mind presses the forcefield around them into a tighter space, creating a smaller box that encapsulates them, and aiming to squish them — like the bugs they are.
The field itself becomes taut — firm rather than bubbly — with a kind of tight-knit created mental energy that represents hard walls. And, once adequately pleased that the bugs are contained enough, two outer walls draw together quickly, aiming to snuff the life out of the bugs.
*
Hauling herself up from the car she slammed against, Green's posture is sagged and annoyed more than actually hurt. Then she sees the bottoms of !Peter's feet coming straight at her face. Her super reflexes give her just enough time to bring her arms up in an 'X' across her front, trying to give Drew a razor sharp edge to land on.
Meanwhile, the mosquitoes are in real bad shape. Mashed closer and closer together, the mass of them begins to churn against itself, effectively canceling the real threat they had offered. They leave behind only the stench of insect blood and guts which ooze across the sidewalk where the mass is crashing to the ground near Sue.
"Whoa-shit!" Anya shouts when Drew goes flying past her, aimed right at Green's crossed razor blades. Spider-Girl grunts and thwips a line at Drew's back. It's too late to save her unscathed, but at least she won't be sliced in half by the mantid slap-chop. Anya hauls back on the line, very likely to end up with a face full of Drew.
*
Green's not the only one with super reflexes, but !Peter lacks experience. All she can do is twist around in the air on a purely instinctual level to try and avoid the crossed blades, arms windmilling in the air as a very un-ladylike "shitshitSHITSHITSHIT— " accompanies her seemingly doomed flight.
So thank goodness for Spider-Girl. !Peter's swearing is abruptly halted when the line YANKS her back, though not before she's yelping out in pain. At least the blade only managed to sink into the sole of her shoe and not completely through her foot, so this is a win, right?
She will reflect on this after she finishes bowling poor Anya over.
*
ROLL: Sue +rolls 1d100 for a result of: 50
*
ROLL: Sue +rolls 1d100 for a result of: 23
*
Mental energy expended has Seo lowering her hands and honing her gaze on Green. Her dark eyes, filled with determination cause that same mental bubble to form around the mantis, but the haze of it is evident as the wind changes direction.
Without the shell around them, protecting her from the scent, smell of mosquito innards wafts in Sue's direction, and Sue's expression sours. She frowns lightly, and her mental will waivers.
The queasiness pales her skin, and turns her pallor somewhat green. And now there are two Greens in play. Seo is beginning to regret loading up on ginger ale and saltines.
*
ROLL: Anya +rolls 1d100 for a result of: 67
*
ROLL: Sue +rolls 1d100 for a result of: 85
*
Green is a sudden flurry, trapped inside that bubble. She performs a complicated whirling series of martial arts moves, some of which only seem possible for someone with two elbows, like her. Clearly outnumbered, and by three serious super-humans to boot, Ms. Green wants to retreat, but she can't land a good hit or fight her way out of the forcefield.
Anya tries to roll with the impact as best she can, wrapping her arms around Drew so neither of them ricochet off in a weird direction, and intentionally putting her own body between Drew and the side of the car they crash into at high speed.
An Anya-sized dent is crushed into the passenger side door, and glass tinkles to the pavement around them. A dazed but technically-conscious Spider-Girl still holds on to Drew with arms and legs, apparently not aware they've already come to a stop. "Guuhhh…" is her primary contribution to their new acquaintance.
*
Don't feel too bad, Anya. !Peter's not faring much better. This is her first rodeo, after all, and even with a human shield, crashing into the side of a car doesn't feel great.
"Gnnnnngh" is her entirely coherent, witty contribution as she remains sort of awkwardly sprawled back against the smaller girl's front. But after a moment, it is joined by a pained hiss as the nasty cut on the bottom of her foot makes it presence known.
"Thuh… this isn't so fun anymore," she declares in a wobbly voice, one hand coming up to the side of her head. Ow. …wait. Awkwardly, she tries to look back over her shoulder, hazel eyes going wide. Hello, adrenaline spike. "Oh jeez! Are you okay?!"
*
Seo can feel the queasiness take over. Still atop an invisible platform of her own making, she bends at the waist and wraps her arms around herself. The faltered position also shorts out the forcefield around the giant mantis. As Sue reaches out a hand, there is literally nothing to hold thanks to being high up in the air. Dizziness accompanies that sudden nausea, and as she tries to hold herself up, everything beneath her gives out.
Including the contents of her stomach which meet the pavement below, traveling many feet in their exit from her body.
She scrubs her face and can feel the forcefield under her shorting out. Sue Storm is falling.
*
The instant the force bubble collapses around her, Ms. Green launches into the air, clearing the three story building next to her. She hits the roof and running and is on her way wherever it is she goes.
Anya on the other hand, dazed as she is, only focuses when she sees Sue Storm, THE Sue Storm, faltering on her platform and starting to fall. "Oh no…" Anya starts, but she doesn't have time to say any more than, "Catch!" Still stuck in the crumpled skin of the crushed car, Anya grabs Drew by the hips, turns her to face Sue, and plants one spandex'd foot on Drew's butt cheek.
With a grunt, Anya /launches/ Drew straight at Sue. Heads up, Sue!
*
"Catch?" the other girl echoes, blinking in confusion. And then she is being manhandled by this masked menace, manhandled she says, letting out an undignified squawk of protest. "What do you — hey, hands! HANDS! HAAAAAAAAAAANDS— !"
At least Drew's eyes are well and truly open when she's launched through the air, on a direct trajectory towards Sue. Ohhhhh, she sees now. She throws her arms out in front of herself to try and make the catch, and if there is a god, she will not also catch the contents of Sue's stomach.
But this is a clone of Peter Parker we're talking about, here. Guess what her luck is like.
"oh god"
*
ROLL: Sue +rolls 1d100 for a result of: 34
*
ROLL: Drew +rolls 1d100 for a result of: 6
*
There really isn't space to think about the drop to the ground, or to process what on earth is going on — just the sheer drop and mental exhaustion that can't quite stop. There are no brakes, just the still ambling fall to the ground only to be caught by the woman hurtling through the air towards her.
The pair end up in a strange trajectory that drives them in a tumbling mass that does, indeed, end up in the contents of Sue's stomach.
It's fortunate, however, that !Peter does manage to catch the increasingly addled Doctor Storm who, thanks to the trip, has become all the more nauseated.
Good luck with that, !Peter!
*
With the squeal of rending metal, Spider-Girl wrenches herself free of the car door and gets to her feet. She glances around for any immediate threats, but doesn't see any right away. She's battered and bruised, and her suit is torn in a dozen different places, but she /walks/ over to where Sue and Drew have landed in a very messy heap. With the half-mask, it's obvious that the side of Anya's jaw is already turning purple.
"Hey, you two ok?" she sounds sort of out of breath, and she leans forward, hands on knees to look them over. She frowns and wrinkles her nose, but doesn't actually say anything about how gross this is. Instead, she just reaches down and tries to help untangle everyone, and get them seated upright. Barf will have to be cleaned off later.
*
With her arms stretched out in front of her beneath Sue's shoulders and knees, !Peter just… lays facedown on the pavement, silently thankful that her scarf still has her nose and mouth covered. That might be the only thing that's gone right, here.
Even when Anya comes to check on them, she just stays flat, blood beginning to seep from the hole in the sole of her shoe. Muffledly, she offers these words of reassurance: "Please kill me. I'd consider it a favor."
*
The relatively graceless landing has Seo rolling onto her back with a long groan before forcing herself onto her stomach to release anything remaining contents inside it — which is mostly bile. Wearily, she presses a hand to her forehead and rocks onto her knees to put some distance between herself and the mess along the pavement. The back of her sleeve wipes across her mouth and her head shakes at some unuttered question that she asks herself.
It's only then that Spider-Girl's question registers. Carefully, she shifts and twists before shooting Anya a weary look. "We need to get home. I need to check — " her head ticks toward Anya, her imminent responsibility. "But I'll be fine."