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It must be Tuesday.
All Mary Jane wanted to do was deposit a check from her parents in the bank. Just a little extra to help with the band, since Gwen was being so awesome with fronting a huge part of the expense that MJ was getting to be guilty. So she basically asked her folks for a little extra money to help get started and stuff. So now she got to feel guilty about that too. Guilt, thy name is Mary Jane Watson.
But there she was, standing in line at the teller, and not noticing the quartet of armed goons coming into the bank right then, along with a pair of rather outlandishly dressed men. One is in a blue and white winter outfit, despite the warm autumn, while the other is in a heat-resistant suit. The one in blue and white grins and fires a blast from his ray gun at the nearest security guard, freezing him inside a solid block of ice! "Alright, folks, this is a robbery! Hand over your money, and we won't put you, dare I say… on ice!"
Peter Parker happens to patronize this particular branch as well, given it's proximity to campus. There was no other way to get that many ps into that sentence. Anyways, he's quite a deal behind MJ and truly doesn't even notice she's there. He just needs to cash this Jameson check like RIGHT quick. He walks in, sees the muggers and the tingly senses at the base of his neck start goin' a-crazay. He dips down behind that little island where you fill out your deposit slips. Yeah, that's the spot!
There is a pleasant looking young man standing behind MJ, in glasses and a bowtie—he smiles at her! "Hello! Est-ce que tu crois au coup de foudre au premier regard ou est-ce que je dois repasser?" Then he clears his throat and looks up, as… uh. He's going to — yup, Captain Cold just froze that poor guy solid. Doug frowns at Captain Cold and Heatwave. "Like bad fish sticks. Frozen on one side and burnt on the other."
Amanda Sefton does not keep her money in the bank. She probably /should/, but money has long been treated as a communal thing among the Circus she calls home, and… it would still feel weird, keeping it somewhere like this. She is not inside. Where she is, is outside, having teleported (accidentally) onto the roof of the building across the street, skittering to a halt moments before the edge. Well, that'll teach her to not keep still when teleporting! She happens to catch the men arming themselves just as they enter, and she frowns. Is there never a quiet day in this city?
MJ was about to respond to the young man's French, but then she does what any normal teenage girl would do when she sees a security guard frozen solid by a raygun. She screams in terror, taking a few steps back. Which, of course, gets the attention of the villains.
Captain Cold waves his raygun nonchalantly at Mary Jane, "Well, Heatwave, looks like we have a volunteer to be our hostage! Come here, miss, and you won't be turned into an ice cube." He sneers a bit, as Heatwave looks at Cold, "Seriously, Len… the ginger?"
Cold snorts, "Hey, she spoke first, she gets picked. It's not like there aren't air holes in there." He then gestures with the raygun again, "Miss. Here. NOW."
Out from behind that little island thing where you fill out the deposit slips a red and blue clad spiderguy leaps into the air and onto the roof. "You know, my mom always said opposites attract, but I thought that was for dates and stuff. I didn't know it included knocking off banks or anything," Spider-Man says, hanging upside down. "Seriously, y'all need new costumes. Those are the lamest."
Doug lets out a sigh of relief, when Spider-Man arrives, and then he moves to gently take Mary Jane by the wrist. "Excuse me miss," He says, beaming genially, "We should probably get out of the way…" He looks around, and then says, "I'm Doug, by the way. It's very nice to meet you, let's get behind the counter."
Another teleport and Amanda ends up right up to the doors. She's dressed in a lot of white: long, flowing hooded coat, a domino mask over the upper part of her face, gloves, boots. She's really into the white look, apparently. She puts her hands on both doors and pulls them open hard, conjuring a stiff wind to help her with the dramatic flair. Mostly because it'll take the attention away from everyone inside, and onto her. After that, well…
MJ looks over at Douglas, then grins, "Spider-Man, thank goodness!" She glances at Doug, then nods and hops nimbly behind the counter, though she peeks out to watch the show.
Meanwhile, with the appearance of Spidey and Amanda, Heatwave trains his own raygun at Spidey, a roaring gout of flame spraying upwards towards him. Captain Cold, on the other hand, trains his weapon on Amanda saying, "Well, as it is, gentlemen DO prefer blondes… now just come along quietly miss, since one hostage is just as good as another…"
Boy, is HE in for a rude awakening!
Now you see me, now you don't. Spider-Man thwips away quickly, narrowly dodging the barrage of flame that comes his way and undoubtedly starts at least part of the ceiling ablaze. "Hot potato, hot potato!" the Wall-Crawler exclaims as Amanda starts in on her bit. Even while piping off, Spidey is still thinking and looking at all of the angles he can. Out thwips a web which lands wide on one of those leather chairs that they have you sit in so you feel so professional while talking about that loan you really shouldn't be getting. That kind of chair is what Spidey flings at Heatwave from the side.
Doug looks at MJ, and says, "I think Spider-Man and the Lady in White need an opening." He looks around, and then he gropes around on a shelf… before he comes up with… a stapler.
But it's not just any stapler. It's a Swingline. One of those solid steel, sand-weighted beasts from days gone by that never, ever break. Doug hefts it in his hand, and then he looks to MJ. "Kiss for luck?" Then he winks at her, and pops up, before he cocks his hand back and aims that heavy mother for right between Captain Cold's shoulderblades.
Amanda Sefton smirks. "I decline," she says in that sort-of-German accent of hers. Fire on the building is far more pressing that the man in the parka, and she quickly flickers her fingers, surrounding the flames in a dome that collapses inwards, dousing the flames out in a wash of water that drops to the floor below seconds later…. or it would, if Amanda then didn't 'catch' the water midair and aim it in Heatwave's direction. Or rather, aim it at that bulky equipment he lugs about. Thank goodness for that Spider-distraction!
|ROLL| Douglas +rolls 1d20 for: 7
MJ wrinkles her nose and, despite the danger of the situation, says, "Um, how about no," at the request of a kiss. Still, she does watch the stapler sail off… and clatter just short of Captain Cold.
Heatwave, meanwhile, finds himself dealing with a shorted out pack thanks to the water, "Arg! Damnit, I gotta fix…" Then he looks up and sees a chair flying at him, sending him to the ground with a thud.
Which, in turn, has the goon squad fire their mundane guns at Amanda and Spidey, trying to hit the two of them as Captain Cold looks down at the stapler, and then over at Doug and MJ. He raises his raygun towards them and smiles, "Any last words, lovebirds?"
At which point MJ can't help but blurt, "He's NOT my boyfriend!" Great. Awesome last words Mary Jane.
Spider-Man is…sauntering on the ceiling as he dodges the shotgun blasts with a little too much lack of care. Almost too late he notices that 1) that's MJ and 2) she's about to get iced by Captain Cold. Both literally and figuratively. He webs to each side and finds himself hoping that the flames encroach midflight. He pushes the science nerd from his mind and tries to fling his body towards Cold in an attempt to knock the gun away.
"Ah well, I never the best football player at school," Doug says, with a sigh. Staplers aren't aerodynamic. So he says something in Zulu, instead. "Leyo phalaka yenza ubonakale njengesihogo se-ayisikhilimu esihogweni." That parka makes you look like Hell's ice cream man. "Also, I was going to give her digits but she already turned me down, man! Your ray gun couldn't possibly match that level of cold." He has his hands up. He's trying to distract the guy…
Arms extended, Amanda crosses her arms, hands outstretched, the gesture similar to closing curtains. A shimmering light appears in front of her, blocking any of the shotgun blasts heaed her way. There are potential hostages and too many firearms, even if the flamethrower-guy is shorted out for the time being. "I think you don't know how to play nice with those," she tells the goon squad. "You don't mind if I replace them with something nicer, do you?" A transmutation spell is - for Amanda - far more complex this simple arcane manipulation. More energy is required, more channeling, and the circle of energy that appears at her hands flash through a few colours before… POOF!
The goon squad is now holding baguettes.
Mary Jane glares at Doug, "Geez, even if I was single I wouldn't kiss you with that attitude!" Okay, self-preservation instincts aren't her strongest suit, even as Captain Cold snickers as he takes aim, only to get leveled by a teenager that has the proportional strength of a spider. Needless to say, his raygun goes flying as he falls to the ground.
The other goons blink, holding their baguettes as they look at each other, then they… well, drop the baguettes and put their hands up. Except for one, who holds onto the baguette as he raises his hands.
"Psst, Phil. What are you doing?!?"
"It looks like a really good baguette, Steve!"
"At least the French had the good sense on when to capitulate!" exclaims Spider-Man as he lands in his classic pose. Legs splayed, knees bent, one hand to brace and the other at the ready with some webbing. "No, don't say anything. Just go away." He fires at Cold's mouth.
"Hey, it's all right," Doug says, out of the corner of his mouth, "I just had to keep him talking so he wouldn't kill us, and I could tell making him laugh would be more successful than pleading for my life—" He watches Spider-Man, uh, shut Captain Cold up, and rubs the back of his neck.
"Brought in fresh from Paris," Amanda tells the goon squad, nodding. Another gesture reverses the light shield in front of her, circling the goon squad with it. "You may as well eat before the police show up to take you to jail. I don't think it would be a last meal, but…"
Captain Cold WOULD say something witty at that, but all that comes out is a muffled *MFFMFFFMPHHPHMH!* as Mary Jane grins at Spidey, "Wow, guess I was just lucky that you're here, huh?" She shakes her head, looking a bit bemused. "That's twice now you've saved my bacon."
Soon, the distant wailing of sirens can be heard, as the goons and their leaders look pretty subdued for the moment.
"Luckiest gal I know," Spider-Man says with a self-affirming nod. It almost sounds like his voice attempted to lower an octave as he talked to her. There's an awkward silence. He reaches out to try and ruffle Doug's hair. "Thanks for the assist." It's clear the sirens make him nervous and he quickly moves towards the exit, "And you, French Baguette lady, I think you have style for miles and miles. Gotta go."
Doug's coif gets messed up by Spider-Man, which makes him close one eye. "So, uh," He says to Mary Jane. "I'm Doug." He gives her his phone number scribbled onto bank stationary. "Call me?"
Amanda Sefton opens her mouth to correct the webslinger, but realizes she has no idea what she'd even call herself. So instead she just gives the wallcrawler and firm nod. "I try." Unlike Sider-Man, she only teleports away at the very last moment, so she can dispel her wall for the police to get at the goon squad. Then she's gone in a flash of light.
Mary Jane blinks, "Um, sure, yeah." She is nice enough to take the number, anyway. Though she looks a little skeptical, as she grins, "I dunno, Baguette Lady has a cool ring to it…"