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Ah, 'tis the season. The snow is falling, Christmas decorations on the tree at Rockefeller Plaza, and someone decided to be a Grinch and rob the Christmas bonuses of half a dozen department stores.
The bank went all right. No alarms were set off until after the six crooks fled in the Brinks armored truck, a 25-ton behemoth that might as well be a tank on wheels instead of treads.
What they would not be aware of for a good ten seconds would be the Chevrolet sedan coming up behind them. The driver had been watching racing movies for the past year, and when the mysterious woman in white, black, and purple asked, he was only too willing to oblige.
So, now he was in HOT PURSUIT while the White Widow rides atop the hood of the car, keeping perfect balance.
And singing.
"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, jingle all the way!
Oh, what fun it is to ride on a hardtop Chevrolet…!"
There are certain things you might expect when you're a robber speeding away in a getaway vehicle. It may feel safer when your getaway vehicle is something of a tank, and must feel great that it comes preloaded with loot. But one of the things you least expect, is for an Amazon warrior of myth, to appear out of nowhere in full regalia, hoisting a shield and bracing herself for impact as she apparently thinks herself capable of blocking the racing vehicle with her defensive stance.
Strange and surprising for sure, but who is driving the vehicle? Is he the sort of man who would run a woman over, no matter how ridiculously out of time her manner of dress was? Would he perhaps be a man that would dare stop or veer aside to try and avoid taking a life? That remains to be seen…
Dashing through New York in a Chevrolet Hatchback…
Anya makes a face as she finds herself adding lyrics to the song she'd just overheard from the White Widow. A robbery is in progress and it seems that Anya is shadowing the perpetrators. This Spider is wearing sreet clothes - khaki hip huggers and a blue blouse. Skirtsare probably not a wise couse of aciton when swinging above the city. She flings a spider-shaped metallic grapple through the air nd latchs onto the building across from the bank. Anya jumps at the high point of the arc and flips through the air, over the next building. And again, continuing the swing long, graceful motions.
It seems the spiders both intend on stopping this robbery. At least until there's an Amazon planting herself in front of the vheicle like a road block. "Are you crazy, lady? You're going to get crushed!" Apparently Spider-Girl hasn't thought this through because now she's swinging into traffic using a street lamp. What's she going to do, tackle Diana out of the way?
Hopefully the driver's not the kind of guy who would run over a pair of weirdly dressed women in broad daylight. That could hurt.
Julie is, meanwhile, in her uncle's shop's parts-runner: a mildly-hopped up little green Studebaker pickup truck, just opening the door as vehicles rush on by… She, however, cries out something in Italian as the vehicles rush on by closer, "Someone's gonna get hurt that way." It's almost reflex to raise a hand when she opens the door, feeling the massive axle of the truck spinning, and there's a strange VRRR of something like sound of some dynamo, she latches on and starts somehow *slowing that motion down preciptiously.* Stopping accidents being one of the first tricks the girl learned…
Chris is behind the wheel of the armored truck, and had gotten it up to 45 when…
Then the woman stepped out into the road.
For a moment, he goggles at the getup. She looked like that girl in that gladiator movie. Then reality reasserted itself.
The job had been planned meticulously, handled properly, executed flawlessly. But one thing was paramount—no deaths. You could get a nickel for armed robbery, but killing someone. That could get you the CHAIR.
So his instinct was to turn the wheel to the right, just enough to bypass the woman with the sword, but those poor parking meters are never going to eat a dime ever again.
It's about when he is passing the woman that the vehicle begins to slow down. He checked the brakes, but they were okay. So why were they slowing?
"We got PROBLEMS!" he yelled to the back.
Diana is bracing for impact, when the driver proves himself the sort who would not run a woman over, no matter her getup. She, however, has more gifts than just a questionable if not outright archaic fashion sense. Her speed is beyond expectation, when she whirls around, and thanks to Julie slowing down the speeding vehicle, potentially manages to bash it hard enough with her shield to flip it on its side. Her main concern is to get the vehicle to stop moving, to avoid any accidents on the road. With the upcoming impact, she lets out a rather Sparta worthy cry of battle.
"Well, that was… Unexpected." Diana whirls to bring her shield to bear and anya pulls hard on the line she's swinging form, narrowly averting a now unnecessary dive into traffic. SHe's staring openly at Diana which might be why she nearly careens into an oncoming truck. there are other issues. With the dirver swerving other vehicles have to follow suit and suddenly the street is chaos. Spider-Girl comes to land atop one of the cars and then she's vaulting through the sudden traffic jam.
Dizzy whoas a little at the display of Amazonian warrior might, … directing her attention to similar tricks to prevent bystanders, or the pursuing Chevy, from crashing too badly on the winter streets. She slips on a pair of sunglasses, then, and finds a bit of cover behind the next parked vehicle in line. There's probably going to be guns, next. More vehicles to slow, for now, as she finds what grip she can for various squealing tires.
She…knocked it over.
SHE. KNOCKED. IT OVER.
Widow goggled at the sudden reversal of fortune, then realized she was approaching one herself, at 50 MPH.
"WADE, BRAKES!" she yelled over her shoulder, and Wade did what the movies said was the right thing to do…and stomped on the brakes.
Widow had released her hold on the hood on order to jump, and the sudden deceleration launched her into the air as Wade careened into a mailbox.
yes, folks, you'll believe a spider can fly. Almost.
A white, black and purple blur was propelled past the battle-hardened Amazon, who got a glimpse of the figure waving to her as she flew past, only to land on the side of the truck. Which was now the roof.
With the Brinks truck toppled over it's side, its very weight ensuring it won't skid for too long before stopping, Diana resets her shield back in place behind her back and underneath her red cape. She then walks slowly towards the toppled truck to check on the driver, despite what may seem from her action, she is concerned for his well being.
She has no way of knowing of Dizzy's involvement, so doesn't even look in her direction. Gwen and Anya get looks, but as they've not fully engaged yet, at least as far as Diana perceives, she just keeps alert about them while checking on the driver, "are you okay…?" She asks while looking through the upturned door.
Julie is, meanwhile, preoccupied with the Chevy, seeing the brakes presumably lock up, mumbles, "Idiot," at the driver… She *didn't* get her racing experience from movies, after all: it occupies her attention a few moments to simply latch onto the steering wheel to induce a quick fishtail to bleed off the car's speed, then induce oversteer the other way, to induce a spin and slide before trying to fight the hydraulics of drum brakes, …she hopes it's a familiar carburetor and turns the throttle linkage instead for throttle-steer and traction. Poor would-be-race-driver might never properly learn from the experience, but it ought to avoid a fatality.
Anya… is stuck dealing with traffic. Cars are spiraling in various directions as every driver has a different idea of what maneuvers to take to avoid crashing headlong into the vehicle next to them. Anya herself is forced to leap acrobatically off the top of a mustang as it skitters along the street. In other words, sheer chaos is ensuing all over the Manhattan streets.
Wade finds himself doing some of the best stunt driving he's ever done…unaware he's not really doing it. The Chevy doesn't hit anyone, and the wet street doesn't mean he stops on a dime, but he ends up nudging the mailbox instead of plowing into it.
Chris looks at the woman striding up, asking if he's all right. He holds up his hands, then hears some moaning going on in the back. Not much padding in an armored car, and the bags of money were a little dense to feel like kisses from kittens.
"I'm fine…but I think my friends in the back need an ambulance."
Widow hears the driver and frowns, moving to the rear of the truck. "Can anyone in there open the door? Any…oh, heck with it."
She grasps the handle and yanks. The door comes out an inch, bolts popping.
Diana nods at the driver, "you were being reckless, there is a price to pay for that…" but before she can turn to check on his friend in the back, she sees Gwen already seeing to it, so she asks, "can you get an ambulance for them?" She literally has no clue how to get one, at least she has a conception of what it is.
Anya finds herself bracing i nfront of a car as it nearly bowls her over. The diminutive Latino girl wit hthe huge sun glasses is stronger than she looks because hte hood crumples and the vehicle skids. Rather than bowling the girl over it comes ot a halt. And then there are shouts of "Call 911!" going off all around her. A hydrant is spewing water into the cold winter air. Horns are blaring. Spider-Girl does the only thing that a proper superheroine can do in such a situation. She flips does a forward flip over the car in front of her and then… Walks to the payphone. Heroism at its finest. "What is wrong with you people? Why hasn't anyone called the pol-… Does anyone have a nickel?!"
Julie winces a little at rending metal, then peeks up as the back doors of the Brinks truck don't burst open as yet. She runs back around to the passenger side of her own truck, and picks up a radio handset. "Ay, Carmine, you there? There's a bit of a pileup at sixth and, ah, Think about 39th street, pick up, woulddya?" Peeks up through the windshield, again, and sighs a bit. Fumbles for an x-shaped tire iron under the seat, "Ay, Carmine, stop goofing off, how bout? I need you to call this in," Dizzy says after a few moments. Finally , there's an answer, and she says, "Yeah, I'm awright, you got that? Brinks truck rolled over, so cops and stuff, right? And, I guess maybe warm up a couple rigs, not sure how big this one was. I gotta go see if I can help." With that, she's coming out of the vehicle toward whatever nearest banged-up vehicles there are, keeping a good eye out for trouble from the armored car. "Ay, everyone ok in here?"
Geez, who could guess the door to an armored truck would be so hard to open?
Widow looked to Anya, then reached into the pocket and pulled out a couple of dimes, the first coins she could reach. "Hey! Catch!" She tosses the two coins to her, the silver glinting in the light. "Call it in as a 10-32! Multiple 10-54s!"
She looked back to the door, then bore down, clinging to the door, then HEAVING. There is s shriek of metal and then the door pops open, Widow nearly falling off the rig when it does. She looks inside to see five other people laying in a jumble of arms and legs.
Diana just wanted to stop potential travesty from the risk she perceived from the speeding tank of a vehicle. What she's not interested is fame or limelight or getting credit for having done anything. So in the commotion of all the heroes rushing to ensure the proper authorities will get there to assist the people who were hurt, she disappears from sight, nothing more for her to do. One moment she's there, the next there's a fleeting cloaked person withdrawing into a side street.
Anya catches the dimes without looking up but it seems she has already found another way to deal with her payphone issue because she's placing her call. And so Spider-Girl takes up the important task of contacitng law enforcement.
"…No, I said I was at-"
"Can you hear me now?"
"How about NOW?!"
Who knew car accidents were so loud? The information does get communicated at least. Eventually.
Julie wanders through the various skidded cars, listening for, well, the expected police sirens, calls or not, before approaching the toppled van. Looks around at or for masked figures, "I don't suppose anyone knows what's going on around here?" She indicates the formerly-speeding armored car. Girl in sunglasses, dressed in work clothes, spinning a lug-wrench idly between her fingers.
Widow is taking a breath, hearing people calling out, the girl in sunglasses on the phone. She looks around and spots Julie. She is about to say something when she looks around.
Where'd the woman in armor go? The one who shoves armored trucks around?
She leaps up to the top of the roof. "Armed robbery, Federal Reserve Bank on 15th Avenue. Chased them here, until…"
She glimpses something. A figure, moving fast. And then the figure is gone.
"Dangit." She looks back to Julie. "We need to get ambulances in here! Need to make room!"
And as she says it, there is the sudden flare of red and blue lights, distant, but getting closer.
Julie nods, and points, "And how bout them robbers, then? They out cold or something?" Decides, "Can you keep an eye on em? I'll try and clear the way back there."
Widow looked inside, then grimaced. "Okay, Some of them are awake, but none of them are in any shape to run." She peeked in at the driver. "And he's out, too. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go chase a phantom."
And with that, she fires a webline and is off.
Websling along,
as she goes along,
zooming through a winter wonderland.