2013.04.30 - We're Going On A Bear Hunt

The Bronx is never truly quiet.

The sound of the myriad of denizens, hailing from almost all walks of life, echo up and down the streets even as a mild evening settles over the neighborhood. Out on the street a group of kids jump rope at an ever-increasing pace, calling out a complicated rhyme that is utterly lost on anyone over the age of ten.

Up above the streets, Spider-Man swings on his nightly patrol. Web after web carrying him across streets as he lands, if only for a moment, on the rooftops to fling himself off again a moment later. Just another night.

Sure, the Iceman does the patrol thing sometimes. Just not out here in the Bronx. No, tonight he's just out fooling around after visiting a friend in the city. In his costume and iced up, he's sliding over the streets on his trademark iceslides. Using the quick crumbling type so he's not leaving a massive trail of icy structure behind him, he's humming a tune as he goes. When movement catches his eye, Iceman glances over and spots the web-slinging wallcrawler. Smirking a bit, he alters course so he can try to catch up to the other hero.

The sudden, uncharacteristic chill in the air followed by the buzz at the back of his skull prompts Spidey to glance sideways. He doesn't slow his swinging, though he doesn't speed it up to get away from the coolest of the X-Men.

"Hey," he calls over the rush of air, "Nice bandana."

Speeding up a little, Iceman's aiming to slide alongside the web-slinger. "Thanks. Nice tights," he calls back. "How's it goin', Spidey?" he adds, offering a grin.

“Can't complain,” Spidey replies, pausing a moment to hitch a ride on the flying ice trail, “Nobody out causing a fuss. One car thief but he wasn't so bright. And now, I've got a free ride around the Bronx.”

He grins beneath the mask, looking down at the street below to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. He lifts his head to say something else when a enormous crash sounds down below, like something immensely heavy colliding with something else equally weighty.

“Hey, Iceman?” the Wallcrawler says, looking up at him and pointing down towards the street, “Mind taking a detour? Something tells me I'm gonna need to save up my webbing for whatever that was.”

Iceman jumps slightly when Spidey joins him on the slide. He makes sure to strengthen the ice a bit, not wanting the other guy to fall. "Free? Dude, what makes you think this ride is free? Let's see a Metrocard," he jokes. "Glad it's been quiet. Only ran into a mugger myself," he adds.

The sudden crash has the icy mutant tensing and looking around. A quick glance at where Spider-Man is pointing and the X-man nods. "Air Iceman, on the way!" he calls out, starting to head where pointed. "Hang on because I forgot the seatbelts!"

Once they're near the street, the source of the chaotic sounds quickly makes itself obvious.

The entire front of what looks to have been a hole-in-the-wall bar has spilled out across the street, shattered glass carpeting the sidewalk and a rising cloud of dust filling the air. A man, easily two-hundred pounds of muscle if he's an ounce, lies beaten up and bruised. He's slumped against the side of a parked car, half-embedded in the bodywork with his bald head lolling against his chest. Unconscious.

A broad-shouldred figure, almost twice the unconscious mans height, lumbers out of the gloom of the hole in the wall. Almost seven feet tall, the most noticeable feature about him is the furry bear suit that covers his entire body save for his face.

“Aw jeez,” Spidey mutters from alongside Iceman, burying his face in his palm, “I hate this guy.”

When they get close enough to the ground, Iceman slows the slide down so they can investigate what's going on. He winces slightly at the sight of the wrecked bar, shaking his head sadly at it. Bringing the slide closer to the unconscious man to check on him, the mutuant frowns. "Damn, one too many to drink, buddy?" he jokes at the guy even if he can't answer.

"Huh?" Iceman looks over at the manin the bear suit and blinks a few times. And then he ends up laughing. "Dude!" he laughs, holding his side with one hand and point with the other. "Look out, Teddy Ruxpin is on a rampage!"

“Good one,” Spidey calls back to Iceman, leaping off the ice platform to land on the top of a lamp post and turning his attention to the bear-man, “Grizzly, Grizzly, Grizzly. What'd I tell you about rampaging?”

Grizzly seemed all to happy to ignore the icy mutant to lunge after Spidey, but when Iceman talks he turns and immediately charges towards him, “What'd you say, you little punk? I'll tear you apart!”

"Oh man," Iceman shakes his head, smile never leaving his face. "And I thought that Shocker guy was funny," he adds. "Grizzly? Really?" he asks, apparently unbothered by the big guy charging him. He points a hand at the street and creates an ice-slick on the road before stepping out of the way in hopes of making Grizzly slip and go sliding into a wall. "Are we sure this isn't 'Help, I've been Eaten by a Bearskin Rug'-Man?"

“Pretty sure he's Grizzly,” Spidey calls back, “If there's another guy running around dressed like that then I weep for super villains everywhere.”

Grizzly, despite looking straight at the mutant coated in ice, is surprised when the ice slick materializes on the ground beneath his feet. An almost-comical look of astonishment and horror crosses his face as his feet slip out from under him, causing him to crash onto his face. His momentum slides him away, onto the pavement and into the brick wall. He thuds against it noisily, leaving a dull, cracked imprint in the masonry.

“C'mere, you scamp,” Spider-Man shouts after Grizzly, firing a line of web and yanking on it heavily to pull the guy back out into the street, “Time to take your medicine.”

"You mean you don't already?" Iceman asks, wincing at the impact and then flashing a grin Spidey's way. "I mean this guy looks like his costume shrunk in the wash," he laughs, hopping back a step to get out of the way of the webbed bear-man. "Medicine, huh? Will you be giving him his shots, Doctor?"

Even as Grizzly struggles against the webbing that the Web-Head has bound him up in, Spidey tries to drag him nearer to Iceman.

“Nope, just some heavy bandaging,” Spidey replies, immediately shaking his head, “Okay, enough with the medical jokes. I think I pulled a funny muscle. Besides, we need to wrap this guy up quick – that webbing isn't going to hold for long.”

Meanwhile, Grizzly roars and writhes on the pavement as the strands of web snap and tear while he struggles against them.

"Better than breaking your funny bone," Iceman counters almost automatically. He cracks his knuckles as Grizzly starts breaking free. "Don't worry, I'll cool him off," he says, unleashing a frigid beam at Grizzly to bind him in ice.

“Get off!” Grizzly roars, struggling against the icy binds that do a much better job of holding him, “I'll tear your f-- mmph! MRPH!”

The bear-themed villain is suddenly cut off when a burst of webbing covers his mouth, muffling him. Spidey does his best to reinforce the ice, wrapping it up in a healthy layer of webbing that makes even the super-strong Grizzly struggle in futility.

“Hush now, teddy bear,” Spidey says in a mock-soothing tone, perching on top the half-ruined car and watching Iceman do his work, “Hopefully somebody put a call in to the super-police. This guy isn't going to fit in the back of a paddy wagon.”

Iceman shakes his head at the struggling, strengthening the ice as he goes. The web gag gets another grin sent Spider-Man's way before Bobby gets back to work. As a finishing touch, he makes a little ice sign with 'No Feeding the Bear' carved into it next to Grizzly. "I'd call myself but no phone," he gestures at himself. Sure he could use his X-men comlink but he's forgotten he's able to do that right now.

“Me neither,” Spidey replies, pulling the sides of his tights out to symbolize his lack of pockets, “Should we just, I don't know, leave him here?”

His brow knits beneath his mask as he contemplates that notion. Fortunately, however, the bartender emerges from the hole in the front of his bar and waves a hand at Iceman and Spidey.

“No problem,” the Bartender shouts to them, “Called the Coppers. They're on there way.”

Spider-Man nods in appreciation, glancing over towards Iceman with a shrug, “Funny how everything wraps itself up like that, huh?”

"Errr...we could but he's kind of blocking traffic," Iceman replies, rubbing the back of his head. "I could make some sick ramps but that would probably cause more trouble than stop," he says. The bartender's call gets the icy mutant blinking then grinning. "Great! Thanks, man!" he calls. Turning back to Spider-Man, he grins again. "Yeah. Wrapped up nice and neat in a little bow," a beat "Ooh!" he turns and lets loose with another icy beam to form a frozen bow on Grizzly's head. "Yeah, I'm the coolest," he says, blowing a puff of air at the tip of his finger as if blowing the smoke away from the barrel of a gun.

“Good one,” Spidey nods in approval at the bow, webbing the big ice block that is Grizzly to the ground just to be sure, “There we go.”

Spider-Man looks over his shoulder as the sound of distant sirens fill the air, including the whir of helicopters overhead, “I don't know about you, but I'm gonna skedaddle before they get here.”

He lifts a hand, pressing the pressure plate of his web-shooter only to hear the futile hiss of his cartridges running empty, “Uh oh. So, uh, Iceman. Hate to impose again but think you can give me a lift to the Whitestone Bridge?”

Iceman can't help but laugh at the lack of webbing. The idea that a guy called 'Spider-Man' can run out of webs is just funny to him. He gestures Spidey over and nods. "C'mon. Air Iceman has a flight that way leaving now. Sorry, no movie or meal service."

“Yeah, yeah,” Spidey mutters, climbing up onto the ice platform, “Happens when I have to web the hell out of a super-powered bear guy to hold him in place.”

As the platform takes off, he reaches into his belt and produces a pair of cartridges. He rolls up his sleeves, revealing the mechanical web-shooters which he reloads with practiced skill as he speaks.

“Thanks for the help back there. Last time I had to bury him in cement. It was a pain in the butt.”

"Could have just told me to use more ice," Iceman points out cheerfully as he slides them along. He's tempted to do his usual tricks and stunts but when he notices Spider-Man reloading, he keeps the ride smooth. "Hey, no worries, webhead. I'm happy to help out whenever I'm around. I need to get some more action in."

“Not enough excitement with the X-Men?” Spidey asks, finishing up with the reloading as his web-shooters give a small beep and click.

The other suggestion simply prompts him to laugh, “Nah, I prefer to put my webs where my mouth is. Unless you want to follow me around and be my sidekick, I probably shouldn't make a habit of expecting you to come and ice the big guys up.”

He turns the empty cartridge over in his fingers, “I might have to work on a stronger formula.”

"There's excitement, it's just not the same with a big group as it is with one or other dudes. The excitement gets divided up too much," Iceman remarks. There's then a snort. "Dude, you're totally my side-kick," he replies simply. The empty cartridge gets a glance. "Sorry, I'm no help there. Science is Beast's gig, not mine."

“S'why I work alone. Nobody to argue with over who is the sidekick.”

Well, that and he never seems to last with teams. But there's no point in telling Iceman that little factoid. With the web-shooters reloaded and Whitestone Bridge in sight, Spidey stands up on the platform and pats the mutant on the back.

“Alright, man, time for me to go. Thanks for the lift.”

"Then just go for partners. Less arguing," Iceman replies. He speeds up as they get closer to the bridge. "Anytime, Spidey. Catch ya later."

Spidey throws off a half salute in farewell before plunging forward off the flying ice platform, nose-diving towards the street below. As he falls, his hand sticks out and fires a web that catches onto the nearby bridge and allows him to swing at speed down and away in the direction of Queens. Homeward bound.