From her perch, Tesseract spotted the concussive burst high up on the suit's back, right between its shoulders...and further, caught a glimpse of a little piece of metal flipping away. That was the opening she needed! She flashed across to a neighboring building's fire escape, giving her line of sight to the now-exposed panel on the robot suit's back. She winked out again and appeared just above the suit's helmet, dropping down onto it from above. Immediately she swung herself around and hooked her feet into little vent-looking apertures on its sides and kept her left arm looped up and around the helmet's jawline to keep herself anchored as she examined what the panel had concealed. It wasn't as simple as a big red button, or a handle or a lever. There was a small panel of buttons, several switches, a gauge or two. Probably was designed not to open unless certain emergency criteria were met. Buuuut... She got her pistol up in there against a gauge and shot into it. The riot bullets were too soft to penetrate human flesh, let alone armor...but they still hit pretty hard. More than hard enough to damage sensitive electronic components. A spray of sparks fountained up from the gauge, and several lights went from green to yellow. Gwen had to pause then to shift herself down and to the side, avoiding the suit pilot's attempts to awkwardly reach back and dislodge her. The suit's arms however weren't as flexible as human ones...that much armor around the shoulders prohibited it, to say nothing of the engineering challenges of making a ball-and-socket joint that was combat-worthy. Her feet were heating up as well, from the exhaust being vented where she was standing. Not much time, not much time... Deprived of its ability to detect damage to itself though, the suit was...as she'd hoped...designed to err on the side of caution. Each switch, when flipped, lit the corresponding row of buttons up. The system was armed! The suit rumbled and started backing up towards the wall behind it! Gwen was about to teleport away when a combined attack from her allies forced the pilot to pause and protect himself. This might be her last chance to do this! If he backed against the wall, there'd be no way to get an opening here again until the suit was inoperative anyway... She flicked her goggles to UV mode and spotted the telltale fluorescence on several of the buttons. Human skin oil. These buttons were...hopefully...the last ones to be pushed. And hopefully the sequence was high to low because she couldn't really tell what order they'd been pressed in... *click* *click* *click* *click* Four buttons, one from each row. A sequence she hoped would initiate an emergency power-down and open the pilot chamber. No sooner was the last button pressed than the suit broke away from the melee and slammed back against the wall! Tesseract was, by that time, gone.

Marc grunted, seeing the mech take damage but still going on the attack against them all. He dodged the blasts aimed at him acrobatically, somersaulting behind the mech and taking aim at the panel Tesseract had indicated earlier with another blast of impact webbing. They'd been at this too long, and briefly he spared a glance to Ariel, who he'd rescued before this thing showed up.

The mech took the blows as best it could, its intricate systems analyzed and reacted to the assault. It was not designed for this sort of fighting, but it had been anticipating an encounter like this. The blows did nothing to deter it from its goal: the downfall of these so called Super-heroes now infesting the world. RJ's kick connected with a resounding thud, and the mech staggered, its balance disrupted momentarily. Its systems readjusted, causing it to regain its footing just in time to pummeled by Tesseract's disorintering assault staggering it again. The combined effort of RJ and Tesseract caught its attention and forced it to divide focus between them and the enigmatic Silver-Spider who stood defiantly against it. The mech recalibrated its strategy, no longer underestimating the collective prowess of its opponents. It unleashed a barrage of high-powered energy blasts in quick succession, aiming to overwhelm and incapacitate them. The alleyway was filled with the deafening sounds of explosions and crackling energy as the three heroes dodged and weaved through the onslaught.

"Here goes," Tesseract muttered to herself...then she vaulted off her perch and teleported up over the hulking mechanical frame. She dropped down towards it, pistol in hand, and fired down at the helmet as she fell. Round after round splatted against the armor. The gelcap riot rounds had no chance of penetrating that metal hide, but they imparted their full load of kinetic energy. Battering him, rocking him, distracting and dazing. She then let herself impact the armor as well, legs bunched up for a fall-enhanced kick that she hoped would knock the suit off-balance just as that webbing hit. The moment she'd hit home, Tesseract vanished again...reappearing in mid-somersault roll back at street level to get clear. "I went high, you went low; we be fast and he be slow!" she said, whirling to face the return onslaught. (Team attack, 12 successes!)

"Works for me, Trademark Infringement!" RJ retorted as she pulled her balaclava back down over her mouth. Only now did she spot the Spiderguy's partner further down the alley. "We'll bring the asshole down before Disney and Sony come looking for you!" When she was dealing with gangers and hoods in and around her suburb, she had to watch herself, limit herself, lest she be more destructive than intended. There had been unfortunate mistakes. She was definitely more... aggressive than she'd been before, more... dominate. But this was a robot of some sort. She could go all out with concern for the consequences. "Round two, you steel shitbird," RJ growled, and even through her balaclava, her fierce smirk was obvious. Three blurring steps and she launched herself at the Mech once again, her hands grabbing the edges of the plates on its chest with a grip stronger than iron. And with that leverage, she began driving her knee into its chest like a piledriver, using mass and muscle and the Spiderguy's weirdly dense webbing to try and knock the Mech down.

"Yeah, real Tough, still I've got a plan!" The newcomer had already been hurt, They had to end this fight, fast. "Tesseract go high, I'll go low, Pretty Lady, do whatever you can to put him down!" He set himself and prepared another blast of impact webbing. This had to work or the metal machine would wear them down, not to mention destroy more of the buildings. As he fired the impact webbing he saw it impact the lower legs of the mech like a cannonball, it was moving much faster than it had before, imparting much more kinetic force. He hoped it was enough to unbalance the mech enough so the others could finish the job.

Tracking down the Jade Dragon. The Flying Girl the other day. And now this guy! Seemed like enhanced vigilantes were popping up all over Chicago this week. RJ mentally amended herself to the list. Where do they get their supersuits?! She had heard the cracking of bricks before seeing the flash of light, so had been quick to slam on the breaks. As a police officer and detective, she had had to prioritize which felonies to charge and investigate. She had rarely bothered with petty drug crimes, unless to use as a step to get someone for more severe crimes. As a private citizen, she only got involved in what she wished. With her time on CPD, and her own nature, she couldn't look away from an assault happening right in front of her. Admittedly, she didn't know who the aggressor was, and with enhanced beings, it could be hard to tell. But RJ let her biases rule in this instant and would side with the smaller, presumably more human than not guy in the silver suit instead of the giant black metal robot. RJ was out of her car before the Camry stopped rocking, pulling her balaclava on. "Hey, bud! Need a hand?" Rolling up acrobatically from his dodge, Marc glanced back and saw a woman across the street from the alley. A little taller than average, seemingly very fit, black jeans over strong legs, Iron Maiden shirt stretched over a very pleasantly endowed torso. Short, black leather jacket. Black balaclava that did nothing to conceal the most intensely blue eyes he had ever seen. "I wouldn't want you to bother yourself, ma'am," Marc bantered, but RJ could get hear the strain in his light tone and smell his stress. "I don't mind. It's been a frustrating day, and I could use some stress relief." RJ should have assessed the situation more calmly, looked for other threads and how best to deal with them before committing. But hitting something right now felt like a real good idea. Before Marc could object, the woman was dashing across the street at astonishing speed, launching herself in a tremendous leap before she was even in the alleyway proper. She cleared the Silver Spider by at least two dozen feet to slam her full weight into metal robot, her fist smashing into its chest. With the way the robot staggered, the woman weighed more than she looked, and she struck with more than human force. The Mech didn't seem to care. It caught its balance and knocked the woman aside with a sweep of its thick arm. RJ hit a wall hard enough to crack more bricks but landed on her feet. She spat aside a gob of blood on the ground, ignored the dull throb in her shoulder, and opened and closed her hand, knuckles reddened and bloody. "Tough fucker, ain't he?"

The magnetic pulses violently missed their intended targets, crashing into the brick walls of the narrow alleyway. The impact sent debris flying in all directions, shattering bricks and bending steel with a deafening noise. One pulse narrowly missed Gwen's head as it tore through the corner of the wall, careening into the dark street beyond. Meanwhile, RJ was driving home through the deserted streets when a blinding flash of light caught her attention and shattered bricks flew across her path. She slammed on the brakes and looked to her left, where she saw an alley and two figures locked in a fierce battle - a towering robot and a man in a sleek silver costume! In a split second, the Spider-Bullet whizzed through the air and collided with the armored figure's abdomen with a loud explosion. The force of impact caused bits of metal to fly off, but the behemoth retaliated by lifting itself off the ground using multiple small rockets. With lightning speed, it swung its massive metal fists at the spider, who barely managed to dodge them in time.

He saw the arm come up, even after he'd webbed up the autoguns, figuring it still had other ways of attacking. As the gauntlet began to shine, he frowned under his mask and waited until the last possible moment to launch himself into a diving somersault, following through the roll coming up into a crouch before putting aiming an attack he seldom used. The Webbing that came from his hand hardened more than steel in mere moments, a projectile of what he'd called impact webbing since the beginning, with incredible kinetic force, aimed for the android's gut.

Gwen's stomach clenches at the sudden movement! For a horrible, horrifying heartbeat she's staring down the barrel of this weapon; dark metal gauntlets gleaming with the reflected, hellish light of these loops of energy forming. Then she's across the alley, like a bad jumpcut in an amateur video. One moment there, the next here. Radiating rings of wrath expand through the spot she'd been standing just a split second ago and splatter into the wall of a building, ravaging the paint and cracking the bricks beneath. But she'd seen what she needed. That hatch was the only access point she'd found. It had to have what they needed to shut this thing down. "Spider! Back of his neck, there's a panel! Can you get the cover off??" Then she realized he'd fired with both arms. Oh shit. "...Spider?"

Gwen's eyes narrowed as she scanned the suit for any possible access points, her mind working quickly to assess the situation.She couldn’t see any way to open the suit but she did spot a small panel on the back of the suit near the base of the neck, she knew that could be the way in. As Gwen scanned the great armored figure sat up and twisted to face her its arms curuscatiing with rings of white energy. It raised both arms one at Gwen and the other back at Marc and the energy rings shot out at both of the heroes!

Gwen darted through space, blipping to a spot near where the enormous suit fell. Taking advantage of its momentary vulnerability, she got in close enough to get a good look at the suit's structure. There had to be SOME way of manually releasing the pilot's hatch, she figured. Otherwise that suit would be an armored coffin if something went wrong and he needed to get out, but couldn't open it from inside. It might be well hidden, or hard to access, or require a key or something...but there would be SOMETHING. Hopefully something she could work out how to use, and get him out of that suit before anyone got hurt!

The Siena Tavern... RJ flowed to her feet, accepting Li's hand, a smirking twitching her lips. "I'm still deciding on that myself, James. But its been very interesting, and it was an excellent steak. Until tomorrow, then." Bemused, she allowed him his token gallantry of helping her into her jacket, then took her leave as Li took care of the bill. She made her way to her nondescript Camry halfway down the block, the compact making a squeak as she sat down in the driver's seat, her fingers tapping on the wheel as she waited and watched. The dark and distance wasn't an impediment to her eyes. In a few minutes, Li made his appearance, and strolled over to the Tavern's parking lot and to a black BMW. RJ nodded, noting make and model and the license plate. It wasn't just she distrusted Li, exactly. But he knew more about her than she might have wished and she wanted more opportunity to know when he was lurking about. And the question about compensation hadn't been just about paying her bills. She'd been burned before, and official paperwork would help with preventing her getting thrown under another bus, if there should be one. She let Li leave first, then drove her Camry back to her office. The department was paying her fees, so she had to finish up the paperwork on the jobs she already had. A package for Mary Kaufman to finalize her divorce in her favour, even if RJ wasn't entirely done with what Kaufman had tangled her up in. Declining a job for the moment, and suggesting another firm if the client didn't want to wait. Outsourcing the tracking down of Becky Wellington, and offering her husband what she already had. It was well past midnight when she locked up her office and drove home. Fortunately, she didn't need much more than two or three hours sleep. She could have worked throughout the night, but she had an angry cat to take care of at home. Bastard was always angry, really, but she could do some extra research on Chinatown as easily at home as in the office.

The Siena Tavern... Li leaned back in his chair, considering RJ's question. "Yes, we do have a discretionary fund for outside consultation. We can fund you for a week and see what turns up. After that, we can revisit things and determine if we need to extend the arrangement." He pulled out a pen and notepad from his pocket and scribbled down some notes. "I'll have my assistant set up interviews for you with the people on this list," he said, sliding the paper over to RJ. "Most of them are business owners or residents in Chinatown who have either been helped or harmed by the vigilantes' actions." RJ took the list and scanned it quickly before folding it and tucking it into her pocket. "Sounds good to me," she said with a nod. "I'll start tomorrow, if that works for you." Li nodded in agreement. "That would be perfect. I'll let my assistant know to expect you tomorrow morning." He stood up from his chair and extended his hand once more. "It was a pleasure meeting you, RJ."

The Siena Tavern... RJ's chair creaked as she shifted her weight, weighing Li's ideas from a sidelong glance. He was sounding almost like a handler, as though she was a CI. Well, not that, but close. And he was offering a good number of leads. If they didn't all end useless, it would let her start the investigation running. And, admittedly, after one of her own jobs as a PI got her entangled in something larger, she was curious to see where it led. "Okay, call me interested, James," RJ said, stretching out a hand to shake on the deal, firm but not crushing. A smirk twitched at the corner of her mouth. "And as you want me for my skills as a PI, among other things, I'm sure you have a slush fund to cover my per diem, right? I'm still relatively new, so my rates are very reasonable." While she wasn't exactly hurting, her lifestyle had come down a lot since divorcing her husband. She didn't precisely miss the wealth her ex had, unlike the miserable piece of shit himself, but she still had bills to pay she hadn't really needed to think about before, and plenty to replace after giving them up in the divorce or that her 'glow-up' necessitated.

The deafening impact of Marc's attack sent the metallic behemoth stumbling backwards, its barrage of gunfire momentarily halted. With calculated grace, Marc landed on his feet and locked his gaze on the machine as it frantically tried to regain its balance. Without hesitation, he unleashed another round of webbing, this time targeting the gunbarrels with precision and clogging them up, rendering the weapons useless.

Marc moved with superhuman speed pulling Aria and Tesseract out of the immediate line of fire as the machine began to unload an ungodly amount of rounds. He yelled over the roar of the guns "Get her out of here, we can meet up where we met the other day!" With that he turned back to the metal menace and sent out a webline from each hand, hitting the thing's shoulders, before pulling back hard. Far from strong enough to pull it over, he did unbalance it which was enough. Using the tension in the weblines like a spring, he launched himself from the concrete into a powerful flying kick. His heels impacted what would have been the gut of a normal man with every bit of might he could marshal to the task.

The Siena Tavern... Li shook his head once more, "There's no need for you to wear a mask. You're a licensed private detective, and I'll give you the names of people who have either benefited or been victimized by the vigilanties' actions. Your job will be to speak with them and gather any information about the identity of the Vigilantee. I'll schedule interviews for you to conduct." In an alley downtown... “Eradication.” With that pronouncement the two bulges on the machines shoulders opened and two machine-guns snapped out and began raining death down the alleyway!

All likelihood, I'm looking for the same woman, RJ mused as she continued to make short work of her big steak. Should have taken my activities on the down low more seriously, it's starting to bite me in the ass. Only getting a real mask, now. Idiot! James Li was too clever by half, or had friends in all the right places. Probably both. "Splash back outside of Chinatown is unfortunate, but I can't say I'm all opposed to the disruption." RJ admitted. She finished her beer with a long pull, then caught the eye of their waiter and with a pointed nod, ordered another. And she didn't have to bend as many rules as she would have, had she still had a badge. "Seems like you don't mind a few creatively interpreted rules, either, James." She offered him a brief smile to soften any accusation. "Let's say I'm willing to help you find this... person." Whoops! That was almost a careless mistake I'm sure Li wouldn't have missed. "How do you see us going about it? I'm going to stand out in Chinatown. Even with a mask." She stood out almost as bad in Ashburn, where demographics said whites were about 10%, but at least she had learned Spanish in her rookie year to be deal with the residents in her first precinct.

"Okay, Badass power armor, or maybe some sort of android. Either way, that's a new one. Clearly, someone's been playing abit too much 40K." He sighed inwardly, even as he tried to discern any weakpoint. His danger sense was still pinging actively, and he wasn't smiling at all. They had to protect the civilian and subdue or escape from the armor. He surmised it could be an android, but at the same time the way it stood screamed that there was a human inside, or at least calling the shots. "So you gonna tell me what this is all about, before or after we do this?" He was ready in a defensive position between Aria and their robotic attacker, gearing up to fight a defensive battle.

The Siena Tavern... James raised an eyebrow at RJ's nonchalant demeanor. He took a sip of his wine, swirling it around in his glass before setting it back down on the table. "The thing is, RJ, this vigilante seems to have a particular interest in these criminal activities spilling out of Chinatown," he began, his pale blue eyes piercing through her facade. "He or she is targeting those who are exploiting the vulnerable, preying on the innocent. And from what I've gathered, you have a reputation for seeking justice, even if it means bending the rules a little." James leaned back in his seat, assessing RJ's reaction carefully. RJ felt a flicker of unease at James' words. She hadn't expected her actions to draw attention from someone like him. She had always operated under the radar, doing what needed to be done without seeking recognition. She met James' gaze squarely. "If you're implying that I have something to do with this vigilante," she started. “No, no… definitely not. But you are a detective and you have talents. This Vigilante probably means well, most assuredly does, mean well, but their actions are upsetting the balance of power, not just in chinatown, but in the whole city. We need to talk to this person. To do that we need to find them. To find them I need you.”

In an Alley... “I... I wasn't their target. I don't even know who they are. Or who you are, what you are?" The figure's voice was shaky and small, revealing her to be a girl upon closer inspection. Her clothes were tattered and dirty, and her hair was cropped short. Marc took in the girl's appearance and words, his glowing eyes softening with understanding. He reached out a hand to help her up from the ground, speaking in a gentle tone, "You're safe now. You don't have to be afraid anymore." The girl hesitated for a moment before cautiously taking his hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet. She looked up at him with a mix of fear and gratitude in her eyes. As the commotion in the alley began to settle, Gwen appeared beside Marc and the girl, her suit emitting a soft glow as she surveyed the scene. "Looks like you had things under control," she remarked with a smile. Marc nodded in response before turning back to the girl. "What's your name?" he asked kindly. The girl hesitated before timidly whispering, "Aria." Gwen's expression softened at the sound of the girl's name. "Well, Aria, it seems like you've had a rough night." An electronic voice interrupted from the entrance of the alley, "It's about to get rougher." Both Tesseract and Silver Spider spun around to face the source of the voice and saw an eight-foot-tall robotic creature standing at the mouth of the alley.

The Siena Tavern... RJ focused on the piece of succulent steak on her fork, the scents of fine food and fine wines permeating the restaurant that she was so much more aware of now, so that her eyes wouldn't flick towards her satchel and what was in it. James might look young, but so did she, and he seemed sharp. Has money too, considering the suit and able to get a booth at the Tavern on such short notice. Though in good shape, James was rather slim for her tastes, but good looking, and she had to admit, him knowing about her, at least some, added a certain spice. She had been anything but an outsider in the CPD, having family in the force, but she was an outsider now. Her lips curled as ideas flowed through her thoughts while she savoured a bite of the excellent ribeye... She shook the distracting thoughts away with a sip of beer. "I may have noticed something about the Tongs acting outside of Chinatown while on an unrelated job," RJ admitted without added detail, while not commenting on Captain Murphy sharing her secrets. "Seems like that's an issue for the other districts. This vigilante is only helping your metrics. I'm not even on the force anymore. Not sure how this involves me." She flashed James a winsome smirk. "I'm just a new, relatively honest PI now."

Marc didn't waste the opportunity the arrival of another super afforded him, and targeted the leader now, sending out a lariat of web at the leader, which wrapped around him securely, and pulled back with all his enhanced strength, Bringing the leader to him. As he came forward, quite against his will, Marc held out his arm and performed what's best called a clothesline slam, arresting his momentum and slamming him bodily into the ground. The webs offered some protection against breaking anything, but it was rough treatment to be sure. He looked over his shoulder to the person he'd first questioned, who'd been pursued by these guys. "So, why exactly were they after you?"

Office of Beyond The Verge Investigations... There was silence on the line for a couple of seconds. “I’m a friend of Capt. Murphy’s. Do you know the Siena Tavern over by the Navy pier? Meet me there in a half hour.” RJ hung up the phone, her mind already racing with possibilities. The mention of Captain Murphy only added to the intrigue. She quickly gathered her things, slipping the Jade Dragon back into her satchel before heading out of the office. The rain had let up slightly, leaving the streets glistening under the soft glow of streetlights. RJ made her way to her car, thoughts swirling as she navigated through the familiar city streets. The Siena Tavern was not far from where she was, and she knew it well - a popular spot for both tourists and locals alike. As she pulled up to the tavern, RJ couldn't shake the feeling that this meeting would be anything but ordinary. She pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped into the warm ambiance of the restaurant. The smell of garlic and simmering tomato sauce filled the air, mixing with the murmur of patrons enjoying their meals. Detective Li was waiting at a secluded booth in the corner, his alert eyes scanning the room as if searching for potential threats. He stood as RJ approached, a faint smile playing on his lips. Detective Li looked young and appeared to be of mixed ancestry. He was average height and slender but seemed fit. Dressed in a nice suit, pricier than what most detectives would wear. He had short dark hair, but it was hard in the tavern light to tell if it was black or just a very dark brown. His features were pleasant but not exceptional with his most striking feature, pale blue eyes, which looked like ice. "Detective Li, I presume?" RJ said as she slid into the booth across from him. He nodded, his expression serious. "Please, call me James. And you must be Riley Vergas, or should I say RJ?" RJ raised an eyebrow at the use of her alias. "You've done your homework." James leaned back in his seat, his gaze never leaving hers. "I know more than just your alias, RJ. I know about your unique abilities and your… recent encounters with some of the criminal element that plague china town." RJ's eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of wariness crossing her features. "And how exactly do you know all that?" James paused as the waiter approached, offering them menus and taking their drink orders. As the waiter left to fulfill their drink order, they had a moment to peruse the menu and make their selections. “Murph sent me a video of the robbery at the Check Cashing Store. The perps who actually robbed the place belong to a gang the operates out of chinatown. I know Murph from when she was sergeant in the 9th and I was a rookie. Murph and I got along we were both outsiders,” he barks a short laugh, “not in chinatown, in the Department.” The waiter returned with their drinks, for RJ a tall, crisp Bell's Kalamazoo and for Li, a chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc that sparkled in the dim lighting. As they sipped on their drinks, the aroma of simmering steak and fragrant herbs wafted towards them from the kitchen. Their mouths watered as they perused the menu, RJ ultimately deciding on the 22 oz. Bone-In Prime Ribeye, while James opted for the House Spaghetti cooked with chunks of succulent crab meat. After the waiter finished taking their order and left, James leaned in closer and lowered his voice. "As I was saying earlier, Murph sent me a video of the perfs' illegal activities. It's not surprising that they hit a shop outside of Chinatown. Crime rates have dropped significantly in CT over the past three months, but it's not because of our efforts at the Department, even though we're taking credit for it. There's a vigilante operating in CT, but we have no leads on who it could be. No one is talking. The gangs are still present and carrying out their traditional roles. But now, other crimes such as robbery, drug trafficking, gun trafficking, prostitution, human trafficking, and fraud are moving out of their usual territory."