Independence Day race for your life (Open Ask first)

[stormshadow]

Let's celebrate the 4th of July weekend with a fun-themed 5K run!
Your $25 Participation Fee Includes:
- A chip timed 5K (course is USATF certified), starting at Central Park on Sunday 7/3 beginning at 8am
- A custom Red, White & Blue race bib, Sticker or Iron on
- A custom-designed gender-specific technical tank for Ladies or a sleeveless tee for Men
- A beautiful handmade one-of-a-kind steel finisher's medal
- We will be giving away at least $500 in gift cards ($1,000 if we get 200 participants) to local breweries after the event; drawings will be at 9 am and registered participants must be present to win (drawings will be by bib # - keep your bib on after the race)
- Special prizes for each age group winners: 1-4 overall adult Male/Female & teen groups

"The First Red, White and Blue 5k race on a beautiful July 3 Sunday morning. A new tradition in the city of New York this leads to the 4th of July our Independence Day a special fireworks celebration beginning at approximately 9:00 o'clock PM Eastern Time pm Monday. Hope everyone can enjoy the laughs and the fun of celebrating our nation. We are proud citizens of The United States of America, citizens of New York please enjoy the festivities of this glorious weekend. "


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Jack O'Lantern


Jason Macendale Jr. Woke up on a crisp morning in July, going to be a hot one today. With the temperature in the 90’s. Might seem like an average New Yorker to everybody else, Jason was a former CIA agent. He took the brutality of the job too seriously, which led to his downfall. He became the villain known as Jackal O’Lantern. His son which he loves the most in this world is running in a race today and he really wants to see him even if it’s from afar. The teenager known as Jay Macendale is his son. Only ten minutes to the race starts, he hops on his glider ready to watch from afar.

"HaHaHa...We are living our best days; I really hate it when it's so-called heroes interfere in my plans. Now they might win these small battles but I'm going to win the war. I need them to fear me once more, their screams bring a smile to my face. My son has grown up very quickly over the years unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to see him because they think I'm unstable, crazy, a lunatic. I'll prove them wrong, all of them."
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Posting order Stormshadow, BWs2k, WebDevil, Zania

[BWS2K]

The Free Spirit!

Cathy Webster woke up early in the morning once again thankful for air conditioning. Her small apartment had a lot of redeeming qualities - affordable rent, a luxurious cast iron clawfoot, friendly neighbors who didn't ask too many questions about why somebody might be coming and going at odd hours that seemed to somehow coincide with the sound of sirens and emergency vehicles zooming across the city - but decent air flow was not one of them. "Sorry Mother Earth," she muttered, rolling over and apologizing to literally the planet, "...but a gal's got to get a decent night's sleep and this Illinoisan melts at temps higher than low 80's. Whatever the carbon footprint of a jillion BTU's on that unit is, it's worth it!" Cathy grabbed her gray sweats off the floor and pulled them on, aware of the irony. "Observe thou my penance..." Glasses on, ponytail up, sans make-up, and she was out the door for a quick morning jog around Coney Island. Twenty minutes later she was taking a cool shower and planning out the day. Managing a secret identity was definitely the hardest part about being a superhero. "If I bike to East 76th and 5th," she thought out loud while tracing a route through a city map on the wall, "...I can duck in the parking garage, change outfits, and be there in plenty of time... as the zestful masked do-gooder and enemy of oppression, the Free Spirit!" And so it was, ten minutes before the race started, that the patriot-themed hero was warming up with dozens of others - some of whom didn't even seem to be involved with the race but couldn't pass up the spectacle of such an extraordinary individual engaging in something as ordinary as a 5K run. Cathy Webster wouldn't be caught dead in a spotlight like that, but the Free Spirit - just Free to her friends - had worked alongside Captain America for years now. She knew how to work a crowd: "I'm glad you could all make it this morning," she said between stretches. "Physical fitness really is important to living a long and healthy life!"

[webdevil]

Fourth of July was always great to catch some BBQ grub and some fireworks in the park. It was also packed to the hilt with all kinds of events and trouble. Fortunately, wherever trouble was, Peter Parker was never all that far behind. It came to him like a magnet, he couldn't help it. Yeah right, he thought, you leap into it with both feet.

In this case, however, he was meeting Mary Jane after she finished her latest rehearsal and they would enjoy the afternoon festivities pending no world threatening crisis occurred that required the services of one Amazing Spider-Man. It was summer vacation, no school to prep the next day, he was free as much as somebody with two months off could be. Two months. Yikes, where was he gonna find the work? It was one thing to be a part-time science teacher at Midtown High in Queens during the school year, but this downtime made him question how was he going to supplement their income?

He considered for a moment selling more pics to the Bugle - heck there was a charity run going on this afternoon. Ok but photographers are a dime a dozen, would his shots (even from unique angles only he could get) have any better chance of selling than the staff photographer Robbie hired recently? After a moment, he began to doubt it. Sure he had worked at the Bugle for years, but stroke only got him so far if the assignment wasn't something only he - Peter Parker - could involve himself in. Ah, who was he kidding, he left the journalist life behind, his focus was elsewhere now. Let the new blood or the old heads like Ben Urich deal with it.

He spent so much time pondering this, he barely had a second's notice to have his Spider-Sense warn him he was about to bump into somebody. Barely peeling out of the way, he got a glimpse of who it was.

"Jay?" he said stunned, noticing a young man he recognized oh too well. First as his teacher, Mr. Parker, at Midtown High in Introduction to General Sciences, and even more so as Spider-Man: As the son of Jason Macendaele, former Hobgoblin and currently under the alias, Jack O'Lantern.

"Mr. Parker?" said Jay in surprise that quickly turned into annoyance at being recognized. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same question, kiddo, except the number pinned to your shirt gives me a good guess," said Peter slyly. Jay scowled in awkward teenaged embarrassment. Peter recognized that face oh too well. He remembered the angst that came with being a teenager, and the Spider powers did not help alleviate them one bit. If anything? They enhanced them.

"Yeah? Well, just, trying to get my service in, you know? Put myself out there," said Jay.

"That's great!" said Peter with that friendly tone that always unsettled students due to him being older but not "old" in the sense that the kids were accustomed to.

- - -

Ben Urich ashed another cigarette after some Karen gave him a rather foul look. He was outside, it wasn't like it was illegal there yet, lady! He was asked by Robbie for a favour to cover the charity 4th of July event because all the staff reporters were on vacation and given potential superheroes being around for the festivities, it was worth a look. Ben was the Editor-in-Chief now of the sub-department, the Pulse, which meant if superheroes were involved, the old reporter was not far behind.

Sure enough, at least one cape had appeared on the scene. A C-lister that Ben believed was called Free Spirit that worked alongside Captain America at one time. Seemed like a nice girl, very chipper. It was a farcry from the usual superhero affair he dealt with over in Hell's Kitchen. In hindsight, Ben thought, maybe Robbie did him a favor by asking him to cover the assignment if just to get away from the political intrigue of the Daredevil war. Not to mention better hours to write.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar face indeed: Peter Parker. Seemed like he was talking to one of the participants in the race as if he knew him. Kid looked about school age, and Ben knew Peter worked as a teacher now. Probably was. Once Peter had bade the kid his goodbyes, he turned and stopped short seeing the old reporter staring at him. Peter smiled and approached him.

"I swear, you must be a psychic yourself, Ben. I think about whether or not you were going to cover this event and suddenly here you are," said Peter wryly. Ben gave a hacking chuckle.

"In fairness, Robbie asked me to be here. Not sure why you are?" asked Ben shrewdly.

"On or off the record?" asked Peter with a knowing smirk. Ben shook his head and chuckled again.

"Nah, the wife is at rehearsals and said we'd meet later for dinner and fireworks. I just decided instead of being couped up in the apartment with the Playstation to just come on down and see what was up," said Peter looking back at the racers and then the other costumed person taking the lead. Peter's eyes flickered at registering the Captain America-esque figure. He swore he knew her from somewhere but never worked with her before to his knowledge. As Spider-Man he could have sworn he had teamed up with practically every hero in the universe and the next at times. Ben did not notice the expression, however as he reached into his pocket to check his phone.

"Ah so the millennial has culture now, does he?" he said as he checked the time on his Android. Peter gave him a sardonic look at then Ben put his hand up.

"Okay, you got me. But in fairness, being a parent is not easy. Doris took Timmy to the Mets game and he's texting me videos from the seats they got,"

"Well that sounds like fun. Probably beats a Yankees game at least," said Peter.

"I suppose it would. Your students were okay, though, right?" asked Ben, having reported the incident at the Yankee game that involved Spider-Man and the Venom symbiote a few weeks back.

"Yeah. Yeah. Everyone's okay. Just seems to be whenever I am part of a field trip, disaster strikes," said Peter.

"Ehhh, nothing you haven't handled before. At least here there's no students today, right?"

"Just the one. But I don't know if he'll be taking Sciences next year so who knows," said Peter, putting a thumb over his shoulder at Jay. Ben leaned over to get a look at the kid then back at Peter. Peter gave a glance back himself.

"They grow up too fast..."

Ben nodded sagely. He recognized the boy too: Jack O'Lantern's son. He thought of Timmy - and Leapfrog - and his expression softened.

"I know what you mean..."

[zania]

I don't really know why I can't let it go,
Why I can't let it go sometimes
Caught up in this spider web

---

A race for the 4th of July sounded just like the thing that was right up his alley. For Patrick, his predecessor had gained numerous awards for his athleticism and various accomplishments, until they were all stripped away once officials found out who he was related to. Fortunately for him, he inherited that athletic prowess from his predecessor due to the cloning process.

Standing among the crowd that was lined up for the race, he wore a pair of white sneakers and red shorts, on which was pinned the racing bib. He didn't wear a shirt, since the day was warm and was likely only going to get hotter as things went on.

As he stretched, preparing for the race to begin, he noticed a woman also among the crowd chatting with some of the others as she also stretched. Her outfit reminded him a bit of Captain America. It fit and was very patriotic, considering this was a 4th of July run. He would have done something just as patriotic, but he didn't want to be confused for Captain America. The guy was one of his idols, and it wouldn't be right if someone thought that he was Cap. As far as he was concerned, there was only one true Captain America. He was satisfied just being the Scarlet Spider.

He made his way over to the woman that had been warming up and flashed her a small smile. "That's an understatement," he said in response to her comment about physical fitness. "Do you do this race often?"

---

Spider web
This spider web of life

[stormshadow]

Mr. Li

Mr. Li woke up early in the morning and was ready for a big breakfast, a continental breakfast, he had many choices, almost ten different versions of eggs off the top, everything from pancakes, donuts, sausage, and even small chicken sliders. His whole staff was invited. The day started out beautiful after he spend the next half hour getting ready, he jumped in his limo and headed to the race Arriving at the race he seen many people ready to start so many in the red, white, and blue you could tell it was almost the 4th of July. Unfortunately, there were a few protesters, but he really didn't know what they were protesting, it was kind of a generic protest. People were lined up all along the roadsides ready to cheer everybody on as they ran. Mr. Li was one of the main sponsors of this, so he was happy to show up. "This is going to be a wonderful day. So much fun."

About ten minutes before the race. An old man with a slight limp arrives to the stage and preps the microphones as stadium music plays in the background. The old man speaks, "Good morning, everyone thank you for coming out to the race. So how is everyone? Are you ready to race on this beautiful morning? Who knows there might be some real fireworks at the end of this race Ha, Ha, Ha. Mr. Li of F.E.A.S.T. has offered some prize money $5000 to the first man and woman to cross the line second and third place will receive $1000. Without further ado we welcome Mr. Li head of F.E.A.S.T. and Co-sponsor of this race."


Mr.Li arrives at the stage; many people have already made it to the starting line ready to start. He looks around and approaches the stage ready to give his fast speech before the race starts. A few people were missing for some reason perhaps they were late.


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Jason Macendale Jr.

Jason Macendale Jr. Was peeking down off the top of one of the highest skyscrapers in New York. His glider had a small gleam on it, so he landed it on top of the building. He finally spotted his son again, he really wanted to go down there but then again, he's a wanted man and it would not go over well with authorities. With the press all over this would be a disaster for him. He also has a few people trying to kill him one in particular is the current Hobgoblin. His alarm went off late last night at one of his warehouses. He checked the phone to get a look at some of the cameras last night and he really didn't notice anything missing except for a few pumpkin bombs but maybe they were just misplaced. Now he just spotted the wealthy man Mr. Li who would be great to snatch and grab and make some money off but that's not why he's here. The guy on the mic sounded a lot like how someone talks that he knows, he just couldn't place his voice it was different.

[BWS2K]

"Do you do this race often?"

In the middle of a burpee exercise, Cathy stood and turned at the question to see the young man approaching: "As often as there's a Fourth!" she replied with a smile.

Technically, this was her first time, but that probably didn't matter. Small talk allowed for certain exaggerations.

Hearing the announcement, she paused to listen. The runners in her vicinity had already been suitably pumped by some light group warm-ups with Free Spirit, so they were primed for the applause and cheers in response to the speaker. Five thousand dollars was a lot of money but no way was someone with her obvious advantages going to actually outshine everybody else. It was fun enough being here and getting involved. No need to rub it in.

Mr. Li was not a name that rang familiar with Cathy, other than what might've been on the signage for the event.

"Name's Free Spirit, but most just call me Free," she continued conversing with the man in red shorts at a lower tone of voice. "And yourself?"

[webdevil]

As Martin Li made his appearance to give out the opening ceremonies, Peter's famous Spider-Sense that warns him of danger forced him to look towards Li. Peter's eyes widened. He had not seen Martin Li since Hellzone as he recalled, what in the world was he doing here? HOW could he be here?

In fairness, the last time Peter had seen Martin Li, there were two distinctions: One, it was not in fact Peter Parker but Spider-Man, and the next, it was Mister Negative - Li's monochrome alter ego - as he vyed for control of the gang war that later became known as Hellzone. That is, of course, until he and several of his fellow New York cohorts in the hero community they now refer to themselves as the Defenders (albeit loosely despite having a headquarters) put their collective boots to his head and he lost all his territory to Wilson Fisk. But his remergence as Martin Li was certainly surprising.

"What is - -" said Peter aloud but Ben caught it.

"Hm?" he asked.

Peter put a hand on the back of his neck.

"N-nothing..." said Peter passively. Ben gave him a searching look and a grunt.

But that was when Peter's Spider-Sense blared again, this time not towards Li (tho that was still giving his head a pounding), but towards the rooftops just beyond the boundaries. Now what? This was a job for Spider-Man, he knew that now to be absolutely certain, but how could he slip away?

[zania]

I don't really know why I can't let it go,
Why I can't let it go sometimes
Caught up in this spider web

---

Patrick listened as the woman said that she did this race as often as there was a a 4th. He nodded, believing what she had said. It looked like several competitors did this on a yearly basis, especially with some of their attire that they wore. If it made the race more fun, there was no harm in it.

He listened to the announcement that was made, which included prizes for the winners. It'd be nice to win something, but honestly with being part of the Avengers Academy he wouldn't want to keep the money even if he won it. He'd donate it to a charity where it would do the most good in the lives of others.

After the announcement, he listened as the woman introduced herself as Free Spirit but most just called her Free. That was an unusual name, although it fit for an event like this. He gave her a small smile and then responded, "Nice to meet you, free. I'm Patrick."

---

Spider web
This spider web of life

[stormshadow]

Mr. Li


Mr. Li spots a few familiar faces in the crowd even Peter Parker. The crowd was rather large this year. Mr. Li waits while the national anthem is played. He stands proud at the microphone shortly after the song he speaks.

 "I'm Mr. Li a proud New Yorker. As we enjoy our freedoms take time to give thanks to the great country that gave it to us. Everyone on behalf of F.E.A.S.T. Thank you all for coming today. I hope you will all race your hearts out; this is for a great cause and most importantly fun. Such a wonderful day. So much fun. Everyone finish lining up we are about to start. I hope you all enjoy your holiday. The countdown of course... Are you ready...five, four, three, two, one!!!"

A loud gunshot goes off and the crowd begins moving.

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Jason Macendale Jr.

"That's my boy. I hate being this far away. What is going on, something is way off?"

Jason looks out to the crowd and sees his son. Today was a day of fun for him cheering on his son from afar while still hiding from authorities. His head began ringing again, the type of crazy pain he felt long time ago when he was possessed by a Demon. He looks around in panic state. He lands on the top of one of the buildings. An eerie sound saying something hard to understand.

" What?? What is going on? My son... he is in danger why... how? No, this can't be he is gone, dead I tell you. N'astirh is it you? What are you up to? I am confused... Sins of the father!! Is that what I just heard?"

Jason leaps off the glider for a moment. The gunshot startles him. He quickly regains his composure.

"HaHaHa... It is nothing, I'm just a bit off today."
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Posting order Stormshadow, BWs2k, WebDevil, Zania

[BWS2K]

"Nice to meet you, Patrick," responded Cathy. "Enjoy the race!"

Li's countdown had primed the runners and the gunshot sent a the front wave of them surging forward. Free Spirit could've easily sprinted ahead of most present but decided to take a more leisurely pace as encouragement to the first-timers and those were there for fun rather than to win. No need to rub it in that costumed supers were... well, supers.

Smiling and waving to children and cameras alike, Cathy made her way along and enjoyed the moment for what it was - a chance to be seen, to engage the community, and not have to worry about explosions or supervillainy. That was a rarity, for sure.

In fact, a big event like this with coverage and some big names attached... Cathy sighed and began to check what she could see of rooftops, windows, alleys, and sidelines as she swept her smiling gaze through the passing crowd. This was pretty much exactly the kind of thing that ended with screaming and getting punched, zapped, or burned.

[webdevil]

Spider-Sense blared again, this time from a different direction. Peter pried his eyes away from Martin Li and towards the rooftop. His senses were not exactly Wolverine or Black Panther level, but he could spot anything out of place from any angle of the New York skyline and sure enough, saw a flaming glider-like disc and a man leaping to the rooftop for cover. Peter's eyes widened. He almost cried "Jack O'Lantern!?" but he managed to keep the words in his throat. He turned to Ben.

"Excuse me, Ben. I think I see MJ," he said. Ben gave a surprised look but nodded with a wave and looked towards the runners as the race began, hoping to get a word with the supers. That suited Peter just fine as he had to find an alley. Trying really hard not to move not much quicker than a normal human, the tedious jaunt to across the street took several minutes more than he wanted. The fact there was a lack of action (or at least action that did not raise beyond the New York din) in that time was a small comfort when his Spider-Sense was now cranked. Once he was covered by the safety of the alley way, he pulled off his clothes in a hurry and within five seconds was pulling on the gloves with web shooters and mask that made him the Amazing Spider-Man. Crawling towards the roof, he had to first get a lock on Jack before he could even think about Martin Li. As long as he wasn't in that weird monochrome filter form that turned him into Mr. Negative, then the people would be safe, which meant Jack was priority. Besides, there was a fellow hero down there to help with civilians, allowing Spidey to freely search. Provided Jack didn't start throwing bombs.

One he was on the roof, he began searching for Jack and spotted him on the roof. Now to - -

Spider Sense.

[zania]

I don't really know why I can't let it go,
Why I can't let it go sometimes
Caught up in this spider web

---

Patrick listened as Free said that it was nice to meet him and that he would enjoy the race. Right after that, he heard the announcement from a person who introduced himself as Mr Li who thanked everyone on behalf of FEAST for showing up and participating in the event. He then hoped that everyone enjoyed the holiday and then counted down.

No sooner had he done that, the sound of a gunshot went off. Right after that, everyone started moving.

Without hesitation, Patrick followed the crowd, running right along with them. This was his first race, so he didn't want to go too fast right away. He wanted to pace himself for now. Depending on how things went, he'd likely increase his speed later on when fatigue would set in among the other runners. And, if he did win, instead of keeping the prize, he was going to make sure to donate it to charity. It was only fitting, especially considering he was staying with the Avengers Academy and that gave him a place to stay.

---

Spider web
This spider web of life

[stormshadow]

Mr. Li

 "And they are off. We will see everyone at the finish line." Mr. Li Left the stage area and started walking to his limo.

"What a great day the proceeds will help out. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. I'm going to head over to the finish line."
He speaks to a man who looks like he has triad tattoos. "Very well Mr. Li the fireworks at the end are set up as requested. I would take your time going to the end of the race. Hopefully all eyes will be on the finish." Mr. Li looked back at the man and tilted his head he was supposed to not rush for some reason. He decided to wait about ten minutes the race would be over by the time he got there.

15 minutes later:

Mr. Li was on his way to the finish line. News of the first group of runners were coming to the finish line. They could hear what sounded like fireworks going off. Right before he arrived it looked like some had crossed the finish line then a group of young adults approached. Then what looked like a horrific sight. From what Mr. Li saw it looked like the whole block exploded the sound vibrating as it shook the limo causing the driver to crash into another car. "No!!Oh my god!!" A few other loud explosions began going off similar to pumpkin bombs.


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Jason Macendale Jr.



Jason was excited his son made it further ahead going into what looked like a group of teenagers. He was a proud dad cheering on his son. "That's my boy. Go Jay! What is going on, Jay go faster you can win this!" His state-of-the-art sensors were going off he had a 360 view someone was coming. He moved across the top of the building. He didn't see anything going on. He kept looking something was tripping off his radar. He proceeds to look for a few minutes being evasive then went back to the race and begin moving roof top to roof top with fast paced speed to watch the race. He even saw a few mishaps on the way, a few people fell down. "I don't need this right now."

About 15 minutes later: 
"That's my boy. Pass her up. Damn she is fast. You can win this. Jay go." Jack turns and looks in a few directions. Whoever was following kept up even with his evasive maneuvers. Was it the Hobgoblin? He wasn't sure yet. "You are messing up my moment here, whoever you are, I suggest you back off before you get hurt. I'm as mean as they come!! Hehehe!!"He turns his glider around in circle then goes higher up to get a better look. The first group is finishing up the race.

[BWS2K]

Oh, the fireworks - nice! Someone must've-

Cathy's thoughts were shattered as the ground suddenly rocked violently. She stumbled to her knees while others grabbed lamp posts, parked cars, or anything else to steady themselves. Unfortunately, few who lived in the city could mistake what had just happened.

And then there were sounds of it happening several more times.

Cathy scanned the nearby crowd - all seemed safe. She'd taken her time racing, which had placed her near the end of the pack with slower runners. A great place to be for encouragement and community-building, for sure, but that put her a considerable distance from where she could already see smoke rising ahead.

"Don't panic, folks!" she shouted to those around her. "You know the drill - look for a safe spot to hunker down a while and someone'll let you know when it's all clear!"

With those parting words, she sprinted ahead, vaulting over cars and dodging fleeing pedestrians. First priority would be helping the injured and evacuating the area... but something told her this was no accident.

[webdevil]

And on cue, explosions down below. From this high up, they looked like Jack managed to fire off a few pumpkin bombs but with Mister Negative down below and Hellzone still fresh in people's minds? It could have been him as well. However, Occam's Razor. It most likely was Jack. He almost moved towards aiding the citizens down below until he remembered there were other superheroes down below who were handling it, allowing him to concentrate fully on his task above. Spotting him circling towards the street, he fired a pair of weblines to a few support poles and let go, allowing momentum to do the work of impact for him.

"You are messing up my moment here, whoever you are, I suggest you back off before you get hurt. I'm as mean as they come!! Hehehe!!"

"I dunno, Jack," came Spider-Man's dulcet tones as he twisted mid-air greater and quicker than any Olympic level gymnast could ever pull off and planting both feet right into the small of Jack's back. Too much experience made Peter doubt that it would knock him off his glider (Unless Macendale was truly so stupid that after the past few years of their battles he had not installed magnetic grips into his boots) but the momentum from that blow would certainly create having magnetic boots its own set of disadvantages.

"- You were more intimidating when you wore the orange cape!"

Spider-Man bounced away and sprung around, firing another webline to an adjacent building and allowing it to carry him in a large looping arc to spin around and follow up his surprise with another blow.