IC Adrian Toomes: The Vulture
Season I - Part One
"Suck on this, pigs!"
A costumed criminal was exchanging fire with a squad of police officers, who were taking cover behind their patrol cars. As Adrian Toomes drifted above the scene, he seemed to remember this creep. Mentally going over his file, Adrian recogonized him as Elias Wortham, who operated under the moniker: Cardiac.
"It's no use! We can't get close enough to him to get a clear shot! As long as he's got that weapon of his, we don't stand a chance!"
Adrian recognized this voice. It was Jimmy the Rookie. The young officer who Adrian had spent his last hours of policedom with. The young officer who had always looked at Adrian as a sort of father figure. Adrian wondered what Jimmy the Rookie thought of him these days...
Satisfied with his assessment of the situation, Adrian swooped down, hoping to land a knock out punch to the side of Cardiac's head. Unfortunately, Adrian had misjudged his velocity and his blow missed by a good two feet.
"Hey!" Cardiac yelled in surprise. "What do you think you're doing birdbrain?"
Adrian circled back around and dove in for another attempt. This time, Cardiac dodged the blow and fired a blast from his weapon that caught Adrian on the left wing. A few feathers were blown off and several were still on fire. Thrown off by this development, Adrian lost control and slammed on to the roof of a nearby building. Below him, he could hear Cardiac laughing.
"Happy landings Big Bird!" The criminal called out.
Adrian got to his feet and watched the scene below him once more. His hands had been torn up pretty badly by the fall, but the other than that, the armored suit had protected him nicely. Adrian watched as one of the officers close to Jimmy the Rookie was struck in the shoulder by one of Cardiac's blasts. The officer slumped to the ground, smoke pouring from his wound. Enough was enough.
Adrian swooped in once more, determined to end the conflict. With one swift, well-timed kick, Adrian snapped Cardiac's weapon in half. The enhanced strength the suit provided was quite beneficial.
"You idiot!" Cardiac shouted, his face full of rage. "Do you have any idea how much one of those costs?"
Adrian smiled to himself as he turned in midair and darted back towards his opponent. He noticed a large electrical box right behind Cardiac and saw it as a way to quickly defeat his first adversary. Adrian moved in swiftly and deliver a double-fisted blow to Cadiac's chest, which sent the criminal flying backwards into the electrical box.
Cardiac screamed in agony as the electricity coursed through his body. Then he collapsed in a plume of smoke. Adrian landed beside his smoldering body, and stared down at his foe, relieved to see that Cardiac was indeed still breathing.
"Hands on your head, NOW!"
Adrian turned to see the squad of police closing in on him with guns drawn. All except for Jimmy the Rookie, who was staring, mouth wide open, in shock. With incredible speed Adrian exploded off the ground and was hundreds of feet in the air before he heard the first bullet whiz by. He was a criminal now. But he took comfort in knowing he had done his job.
* * *
It hadn't taken long for his reputation to die. It was only the day after he stole the suit that a special news bulletin had interrupted Adrian's favorite television program. He was the story of the day. Ex-police chief turned thief. Dangerous armored suit gone missing.
"Wherever Adrian Toomes is, we urge him to come forward and bring the stolen evidence with him. No harm will come to him if he complies with these orders immediately. In light of his years of service, the New York Police Department is willing to overlook this offence in exchange for a hasty return of the missing flight suit."
Evan Radditch's words. The dirty words of a lying worm. Adrian was nowhere to be found of course. He had been in the game long enough to know what to do and where to hide. He knew where the police would look and where they wouldn't. He knew who he could trust to give him a place to live and who would rat him out.
It only took him a few days to repair Blackie Drago's suit, and after a couple of late night tests, he found that flying was not too difficult. Cardiac had been his first victim, but he would not be the last. He had bigger fish to fry. There were bigger threats to the city.
Like Spider-Man.
