Friday, February 20, 2015

[Heromux] A twist of fate

Summary: The fates plot against Kilroy
Location: Various
Date: 2015.02.20
Emitter: Kilroy Capital Conneticut
Players: N/A
NPCs: Ascot Conneticut, Mumblebeard, The Fates
Groups: Magic and Mysticism
Tone: Weird
Rating: Public


Clotho understood the world in ways that Lachesis and Atropos could not, but like all three of them, she could carry a grudge. And she held it highly. When her daughter had been taken, she had begged the others to allow them to use their vast powers to rescue her. They had spoken of duties and obligations and refused her. Because she was youngest, they thought her the weakest. They did not see how she studied not only her own duties but that of the others as well. They thought her predictable And so she had done the one thing none of them would ever expect. She used the flexibility of time and sent back agents to earlier, woven sections of the tapestry and undid the most complete cutting they had ever performed. Veolus had been regarded as the greatest threat to their power ever to walk under the stars. And she had changed things just enough to ensure that no only did he survive the destruction in some forms but that a limited vessel would allow a full return.
"I knew it!" Lacheis shrieked,"Look, he is already causing ripples!"
And it was risk, even knowledge was a dangerous thing. This threatened Ragnarok which was an anchor for so many things. For a moment Clotho regretted....but only a moment. They would not rescue her daughter. But there were others who would....

Atropos chuckled. "Now now. No need to panic. There are so many many threads to pull...look here..."
He had been nothing bit a machine to them, making millions of their supposedly unduplicatable currency. And then, somehow, the power had stopped. And so they had left him to rot in a cell with millions if other in one of their prison worlds. He would be here literally forever until, almost by chance, one of the guards let him close enough to grab their gun and passage back to the underworld...
Blessed release...
Franz looked at the mask as it lay there in the museum. Most thought it a mere piece of Norwegian art on loan, quite at the last minute and on display in New York for two weeks. They were wrong. It was an artifact of power if you knew the right words. Franz knew the right words.
Ascot had always known that keeping some coins behind in the underworld was a good idea. Such as when you wanted to bribe the guardian to Hades's vault, you could find all kinds of useful things. The essence of lichdom, the staff of death and this highly useful chime...one that would summon an enemy of his enemy. All quite useful but even Ascot was shocked when the tail ripped a hole in the fabric of reality...
Ascot smiled as the dragon emerged,"We should talk...."
The words were spoken in crisp rhythm and pitch, a demented human drum beat that caused the mask to glow a sudden eldritch emerald green, slowly calling on amcient devices put inside it long ago by a young god with great ambition...

[Heromux] Superadapt What?

Summary: An unlucky encounter leads to more mayhem than expected for Mustang in true Hawkeye fashion. He landed himself in the clutches of AIM, and sure he managed to escape but in the process he accidentally unleashed something AIM had been working on and now its causing some trouble in the streets of New York City. Someone should probably help stop it.
Location: The Bronx
Date: 2015-02-18
Emitter: Mustang
Players: Mustang, Hawkeye, Ant Man, Wasp, The Economy, and Rampart
NPCs: AIM Goons, Experimental Proto-Adaptoid, Bob: Agent of AIM, and a lot of goats.
Groups: Avengers, SHIELD
Tone: Heroic and Comedic (Maybe a little Weird too)
Rating: Public

One and a half hours ago, there were reports of AIM getting into a fight with a 'big green guy in purple' in another part of the city. There were sightings of the supervillain Mentallo as well and witnesses say AIM actually won. They loaded that big green guy in a van and took off from what the witnesses said. Searching that van out would have lead to the Bronx.
Specifically a fairly non-desript warehouse it was seen driving into. A warehouse for the last ten minutes have been shaking...and some rather worrying noises kind of like explosions coming from it. Some people have called the cops but most have cleared away. That turns out to be a good thing...since rather suddnly there's an explosion that blows out several windows and launches something through one of the ones on the second floor. A something that crashes down onto a parked car looking rather singed and burnt. That something? That'd be Mustang. "This could not be a worse day," he groans, actually bleeding some decidedly green blood from a few wounds.
Of course the universe punishes such a statement. There's a roar with a tinny edge before another figure comes crashing through a wall. A humanoid figure, roughly half human and half metallic but with green skin. It's holding a bow and wearing a quiver of arrows looking much like Mustang's as well. Glowing yellow eyes look around and the creature roars again before kicking a fire hydrant right off the street and into a nearby building as water gushes into the air. Yeah...not good.
Rampart's parents junkyard, and his base of operations happens to be /in/ the Bronx, and with Tweedle feeding news feeds from several social media sights about various sightings, Augustus had suited up and activated his drones, the 5 suits of armor flying in a wide formation it didn't take long for his feed to pick up people talking about the weird explosions coming from the warehouse district, so when the explosion happens, he's already in the vicinity. At first the teenager doesn't know who to attack, but when what comes to be a synthetic being lets out a roar and indiscriminately destroys some public property Rampart goes into a dive his drones forming up on either side. Bringing up their arms each drone fires a single hockey puck sized device that starts to glow aimed to hit and try to adhere to the monster. "You Alright?" the armor says through all five drones at the same time in an odd sort of harmony, their medical sensors scanning Mustang'
Kilroy had been using a ritual to track disruptions and criminal activity. Most don't know who he is, but since the dark spell last November and the massive raids against them, some have been getting wise enough to get at least dime store bargain basement spell casters which makes his inquiries...harder. Kilroy is still new at ritual himself, and while very powerful in his own sphere, he is still learning metamagic, so when he tries a sideways approach trying for damage, rather than assets, he gets an interesting 'loss' from AIM ....and discovers that said loss is moving around. Mobile property? Smells like a robot....
He checks that out, and flies toward the area in Rai Stone armor. He spots the massive explosion and then the fight below, but he's assessing the situation first. This 'robot' is worth a rediculous amount of money and anythign worth that much makes Kilroy cautious. More importantly...
Is it a sentinel? He's really trying not to make his whole life about Genosha at this point, and kind of wants to move on but he knows the universe doesn't always cooperate.
Clint Barton was at a SHIELD installation helping with a securoty systems upgrade, when he hears the reports, green guy in purple? That could be CJ. Clint looks over at Hank Pym and telsl the other agent, "This can wait, I think my boy is in trouble. And Well Aim is one of our jobs anyway." He then headsout with the other agent towards the reports of trouble. Along the way he makes sure all his gear is ready for action.
Hank Pym is puttering around with the update, though when Hawkeye mentions AIM and his son, he nods his understanding and hurries off after him. "I know AIM.." he says quietly. "They attacked Janet's father once. Where to?"
Mustang curses as the half metal man appears and starts wrecking more stuff. He begins peeling himself free from the car wreckage as Rampart appears. "Oh, don't be more beekeeper guys. I dealt with enough of them," he groans. The scans would reveal one thing right off the bat. Gamma Radiation. The archer in purple's like the Hulk. And while he's pretty badly battered, bruised, and bleeding, he's still standing. And healing faster than a normal person would. "Just fine. Careful, that thing hits as hard as I do. Maybe more," he warns, pushing aside the metal lump formerly known as a sedan.
If Kilroy is paying attention, he'll discover the losses for AIM just keep coming. There's smoke and yelling coming from the warehouse and while in the warehouse itself things look normal...there's a pretty huge hole in the floor revealing a lab. One that's on fire and wreck, full of a bunch of AIM guys running around in a panic. Some are trying to put out fires but others are gathering data and any undestroyed science and heading for escape tunnels.
The creature meanwhile stumbles when struck by the pucks and seems confused for just an moment as forcefields surround it. It snarls angrily and pounds on the fields, overloading them and tearing the pucks off itself. Eyes fix on the drones and the creature's metal half starts rippling and changing like liquid. Even as it takes aim at one drone, that metal shifts and twists until the creature is half green, bald human...and half a copy of one of the drones. And then it fires an arrow at the nearest drone. One that will register as EXPLOSIVE to any sensors.
The drones act in tandem layers of forcefields going up infront of the arror to try and entrap it slowing it down but it's not slowed down enough, the blast taking off one leg at the kneecap Rampart and the armors all go on the defensive forcefields snapping into place they start to circle the creature "What is this thing?" the drones call out sparks showering down from the one damaged leg.
Kilroy realizes that the thing Dangerous, capital D. There's a part of him that wants to believe it can't mimic magic, but given that it's mimicked ARROWS he'd find that something foolish to count on. He can't afford to let it mimic the ability that might call Fate down like a Most Harsh Mistress...but maybe it only mimics abilities used directly against it, not environmental effects....
Kilroy considers....he speaks with Veolus. They'd discussed this in theory, but now is time to push the limits. Time to be...weird. Smashing it with a Rai stone isn't a good idea....and the fact that collateral damage here isn't as big a deal....
And then there were goats. At an upper level of 50 tons, with each goat weighing 100 pounts....20 goats a ton...and suddenly ONE THOUSAND GOATS begin wandering around the Aim facility. Veolos keeps them away from the fire (they could do that themselves) while using CONTROL magic to begin to herd anyone who gets money from AIM out by their wallets or any other money on their person, telekinetically getting them away from the warehouse but stuck in place for the authorities to find.
Clint Barton smiles to Hank as he sets down the transport, "Welcome to the Bronx." He leaps out of the vechile ready for action and he sees the goats and the Adaptiod, "This could be harder then I thought." He admits. Sicne the thing already has arrows Clint does not hesistate to fire some at it. These are of the explosive variety sicne the automaton is a large threat. Hank Pym was calling Janet on the phone, knowing she has no love for AIM.. "Okay, see you soon." nodding to Clint as he hangs up. "Too bad that guy doesn't seem to be being very welcoming to it back.." he observes with a worried frown, spotting the signs of smoke and wreckage even before he can take in the fight. Armor suits, a hulk-like teenager, and some sort of cyborg-like person that's.. a mix of the two? "Well, this is different." he observes, curious despite the fighting.
Almost immediately, Clint and Hank hear Janet over the radio, along with the sound of rapidly buzzing wings. "I'm on my way, ETA a minute or so. Thankfully I was in the area. I'm getting a visual of the vicinity n--... Are those *goats*?" The incredulity in her voice suggests that her expression would be worth taking a picture of right about now.
"No damn clue but its angry and likes destroying things," Mustang calls out, gritting his teeth as the explosion goes off. "Watch out, I don't think that thing ever runs out...and it changed, the hell?" he complains, taking aim with an arrow of his own and letting it fly. He curses and spits out a little blood when a forcefield blocks the simple broadhead arrow. He's already starting to draw more arrows when he sees Clint's fly and looks over quickly. "Dad?!" he pauses and kicks himself. "I mean Hawkeye!" yes, he's glad to see the archer.
The cyborg creature gives another tinny roar when explosive arrows crash against its forcefields and make it stumble more. Eyes turn to Hawkeye and narrow before the creature actually speaks. "REDUNDANT DATA," the creture intones, lifting off the ground now. It points its bow at Clint and launches an arrow his way. Another explosive one. This thing is fond of them.
The appearance of goats in the warehouse raises a whole new round of noise. Cursing, confusing, more panic, one guy even breaks down crying. But it hampers the AIM guys pretty badly, the majority of them hauled away from the crumbling and burning lab thanks to Kilroy. None of them are happy about it. A few that spot Kilroy even take pot shots at him with lasers.
Rampart blinks and pauses for a moment the teen surprised by their sudden and very real appearance, the teen though has lived in New York City his entire life, and well.. odder things have happened. "I'll try and distract it." he calls out in tandem, the four drones suddenly 'exploding' their individual hexagonal links seperating and flying towards his main armor reconnecting and building upon his suit till a twenty five foot suit of armor is standing in his place the teen charging the hulking robot to try and take it on in melee..
The immaculately runed and etched stone armor Kilroy wears magically repairs itself as soon as the lasers hit it. Honestly, that wouldn't have even pierced Veolous's godly auro, armor or no. But it's enough to annoy Kilroy who creates Quipu around the AIM employees once clear of the fire, likely immobilizing them en masse, or at least the majority.
Veolus, in the meantime, keeps up with the plan, hoping that the Goats, now created, count as environmental effects rather than a direct attack. Half of them are rams, and are gifted with flight by the God's magic so that they can RAM the Super adaptoid with their horns, and then fly away. Veolus carefully keeps them out of the way of incoming fire from the heroes. The female sheep do not have horns, but they are living creatures and are made to fly over the robot dropping...what frightened animals are known to drop when flying.
Clint Barton dives and rolls as he sees the incoming arorw and thankfulyl his uniform protects him from the worst of the blast as he ends up just singed nad banged around but not seriously injured. He then calls out, "C.. Mustang we are here to back you up." He then readys another arrown he sends towards the Adaptiod this one and electro shock.
Hank grabs onto Hawkeye's arm and shrinks, towed along with his roll when the arrow explodes. He's still clinging onto Hawkeye's shoulder, now properly looking like Ant-Man as he exclaims, "That seemed like one of your arrows!" he's also puzzled by the goats which..are now flying? "If it's copying people, and it rejected you for redundancy, I wonder what sort of parameters and transference method it uses..? Can in compound unlimited stolen traits, or a limited few?" he wonders. And also wonders what would happen if it was made to copy, say, the goats. Hypothetically speaking.
Janet van Dyne comes arrowing in from the distance, bright green bolts zipping through the air from her bracelets and splashing against some of the still-armed and non-neutralized AIM agents (and probably some of the goats as well; thankfully the Wasp's energy bolts only knock victims unconscious). She's surprisingly on-task considering her earlier incredulity. Not that it keeps her from expressing it over the radio. "And now they're flying. I'd ask if this fight could get any weirder, but I'm afraid of the answer."
"Why are there flying goats?" Mustang demands, letting an arrow fly as well. This one acid. It splashes against the cyborg, causing some smoke and bubbling. The electro shock arrow hits next, lightning arcing around it before it snaps the arrow off and casts it aside. Before it can let loose the arrow its about to launch...goats. Several smack into it before it roars in frustration and grabs one out of the air...only to send it flying at Mustang. The noise is probably funny but Mustang being knocked of his feet by a poor goat...probably not. And the cyborg is catching the next goat...only to fling this one at Clint and Hank. Things get worse though, the metal parts of the cyborg shifting more. This time the half of the creature's head that doesn't look like one of Rampart's drones looks like its wearing half of Hank's helmet. And the creature begins to grow. Tall enough to match Rampart's size even if it ends up knocked back into the warehouse by his charge. Brick and mortar crumble and crash, the ground shaking more and windows shattering as more things explode down below.
Trapped or not, those AIM guys are still unhappy. There's a bunch unconscious before Wasp adds to that number. Oddly enough, there's one pulled out in just his underwear and helmet. Apparently he kept his wallet in one of those. It is a weird day.
Rampart's armor enhances his strength many fold when enlarged, his hands arms arms straining as he starts to grapple with the cyborg trying to lock up it's arms to prevent more flying goat flinging... "can someone shut this thing down already? it's starting to strain my servos." he calls out..
"Not good." Kilroy decides that the time has come to take a more direct hand. The idea was to distract it, but the goats aren't penetrating the armor. Kilroy arrives himself and SLAMS into it in the giant stone armor, chips of it flying off as he begins unleashing as many blows as he can.
Veolus, meanwhile gently sets the goats down and then after a few moments begins making coins come from its mouth just like Kilroy did to Apocalpse almost a year ago. Humiliating, but likely to make it upset and distracted if it is capable of such.
Veolus is a nice guy but being dead for 2000 years made him....
Not as bright as he could be."
Clint Barton is ntot trained in dodging goats, still it is not the oddest thing hurled at him during his carrer. he is na animal lover thogh so he lets the goat hit him rolling iwth the impact to keep from braking anything but he head up in a heap on the ground with a goat nearby, the wind knocked out of both of them.
Hank Pym yelps as the goat flies into Hawkeye. He jumps to the side, turning to see if Clint is okay. Looks like he's awake and unbroken, thank goodness, and the goat too, no less! "Nice catch." he congratulates, though the audio is mostly audible over the SHIELD radio when he's so small.
Pym turns back to the fight, fretting in response to Rampart's shouted urging, "..I'm not sure we -could- disable it's systems quickly; whatever's making it shift like that smacks of nanotechnology. But it -does- seem like it's a biological base organism.. and it seems to be mimicking anything that seems like a threat to it. Anything dangerous, bigger, badder.." he trails off. "Got an idea." he starts growing too-- it's not instantaneous, and he's a block or so away, but he'll soon be very visible, just as tall as Rampart and his opponent.
Janet van Dyne is flitting to and fro now, taking potshots at any AIM agents she sees still moving around the vicinity. She's talking on the radio as well. "If it's nanotech, does that mean trying to fly into the working and mess things up is a -bad- idea? ...Ooh, someone hit the jackpot. Dibs on the coins."
"Pretty sure this is what internal bleeding feels like," Mustang groans as he pushes back to his feet. He's glad he's kept his grip on his bow at least. He wipes some blood from his nose and looks up at the towering fighters before sighing. "I really miss the others at times like this," he murmurs, carefully selecting a new arrow.
Servos will probably be the least of Rampart's worries soon enough. The cyborg pushes back harder, strength increased even more than it already had been. It starts squeezing at Rampart's armor where they meet too, leaving indentations that Rampart will have to hammer out later...provided he survives at least. There's more metal shifting as the bot catches sight of the flitting Wasp briefly enough for yellow eyes to flash. This time, extra-large copies of Jan's bracelets appears on the cyborg's wrists. Before it gets a chance to sting though...Cannonball Kilroy. The cyborg is knocked away from Rampart and knocks pieces off another nearby building. The creature's eyes flash again and the robotic half takes on designs similar to Kilroy's armor over the metal...but then there's something wrong. "ERROR. ILLOGICAL DATA. ERRORRRRAAAAAAGGGGGH!" the robotic voice booms before the creature swats at Kilroy...and then starts firing. Quarters, dimes, nickles, and pennies are launched like machine gun ammo, imbedding in the concrete and shattering windows all over. They're oddly resistant to doing what Kilroy wants them to as well and would feel decidedly wrong to him. Like they just shouldn't be. But they're still being shot at Hank, Kilroy, Rampart, and the Bartons.
One of the AIM guys by Wasp breathes a sigh of relief when Wasp's distracted away from blasting him. He perks up from where he's stuck though. "You can get inside?! What, no! That's a good thing!" he says, trying to get some heroic attention.
"The antenna on your helmet, are they purely decorative, or do they serve a function?" the teen asks of Hank as the teen moves to once more to grab the robot to try and grapple with it. When he hears the answer "lets try interfacing with it, use your systems to try and connect to it's copy, I'll try doing the same with the portion that's mimicing my armor, maybe we can give it a shut down command." he tells the scientist as his sensors reach out to try and communicate with the portion of the cyborg that's copying him..
Kilroy decides that another talk with Veolus is in order, and after a few thoughts between them, Veolus does something simple...he focuses on trying to destroy the coin based ammo, as much as he can, as the machine generates it. It's not a sophisticated task and it isn't his most used ability, but it can do some good.
Kilroy, in the meanwhile, finally brings out the Rai stones, but in this case pushing himself to the limit he brings out 25 trying to shield as many people and buildings as possible. He can't shield everything, and he wishes now he could make them invisible, but at the last he can minimize the damage....
Clint Barton dives behind a car to let it abosrb the incoming coins, "I always wanted to get showered with money but not like this." he then fires off anothe arrow at the thing. This one not intending ot damage it but a smake arow in hte attempts to blind it. After al lit might not be able to see i nthe dark.
Hank responds to Janet, "Well, it means that every time it shifts, the technology it's using is actually restructuring it's body to some degree. So if you got inside the part that looks mechanical, it could turn into anything the next time it shifts with you inside it." unaware there's an AIM guy saying just the opposite next to Janet he adds, "That would be bad."
As the coins start flying, Hank's big enough now that he has to take cover behind a whole building to shield himself; he's tougher like this, but a few still ping off him painfully. Ducking down now he hears Rampart's question, shouting back the answer. At the teen's suggestion he says, "I'll see what I can do!"
Pym takes his own helmet off, though leaves the SHIELD earbud to say, "Might want to cover your ears." and starts trying to tweak his helmet to send feedback to it's copy; his own helmet starts whining quietly, but if this works, the helmet welded onto the adaptoid is abruptly shrieking with ear-splitting volume right on it's head. If they're lucky, their opponent will soon be blind -and- deaf.
Janet van Dyne pauses in her mayhem when her attention is drawn by the lackey pinned under a pair of goats. She flits a little closer. "What's that? If it's nanotech, the inside is a swarm of nanites, not big clunky machinery and wires that can be easily jammed..." She narrows her eyes, and points a fist at him, though she secretly dials back the stinger to 'painful.' "What do you know? Talk quick."
There's a thud as CJ dives for cover and manages to get behind the car with Hawkeye. He's looking beat up but still grins. "Too bad Uncle Bruce isn't here, huh?" he tries to make a joke, pushing back onto his feet and staying crouched behind the car.
Luck is on the side of the heroes today. Or something else. Who knows. But either way, that smoke arrow manages to wedge itself right in the middle where copied drone and copied helmet meet...and then suddenly the cyborg's head is covered in smoke and it yells in frustration. The sound doesn't exactly deafen the beast but it does swipe blindly, smashing against Rai stones and destorying cars. About half the coins it fires are just obliterated in mid-air, cutting down on the danger in the air. Oddly enough, the coins that the cyborg created don't last very long. They seem to break apart into little piles of the raw materials used to make those coins.
Not everything is lucky though. Seconds after Hank makes the noise assault the cyborg a new one is coming back through his helmet pretty loudly. Its a like a mix of an old dial-up modem, the rubbing of a windbreaker against itself, howling cats, and a Taylor Swift single all melded together in one very loud sound. And its coming out of Hank's helmet and being projected into Rampart's armor when they try connecting to cyborg. Rampart will be getting plenty of ERROR messages from the cyborg too. Apparently copying Kilroy didn't work out well for the creature.
"Ohgodpleasedon'tshoot!" the AIM goon yelps. "I'm Bob, Agent of AIM. I've got a cousin in HYDRA...uh...that's Anders from medical research. He's not one hundred percent nanite, we were testing out a prototype Adaptoid system based off some stuff we stole from a guy named Ivo and had to install a control core. It's inside him creating and directing all the nanites, if you can do something to it, all that stuff should shut down," he babbles. "It's where his left Kidney should be. He donated it so we figured we'd use the empty space..."
Queue the power armor with medical sensors scanning the cyborgs body the sensors find the device right where he said it was. "Does anyone here have any medical training?" he asks listening to the group, when there isn't a doctor in the house Augustus grimaces "ok.. someone make sure we got a doctor in the house.. I can see the thing, and I can remove it.. I'm going to try and do as little damage as I can, but I'm no surgeon" he calls out his two arms grappling with the creature as his armor seems to unfold itself from around him a pair of drone arms appearing right near where that kidney would have been to project a forcefield inside the body of the cyborg shaping it around the device first and trying to collapse the field around it crushing the device..
Kilroy closes in the Rai Stones, trying to immobilize and contain the creature as much as possible. As it smashes or bats aside on Rai Stone, the one sent away is destroyed and replaced almost as quickly as it is removed. Containment and minimizaiton is the primary goal now.
Luck no shot of Hawkeye's is ever luck that is skill my freinds. Clint clutches his hears in pain as the feedback happens and is magnified by his hearing aids. he turns them off ot end the pain but funtionally deafening him as well. He looks at the adaptiod once more. A bit of anger flares up and he sohoot, this one is just a normal sharp pointy arrow but it is on a true course for the creature.
Hank Pym ...is glad he took the helmet off before he tried that.. he leaves it on the ground, causing it to shrink back to it's normal size when he lets go of it-- for himself he keeps growing taller, pressing the limits of what he's successfully managed. "Hey!" he shouts, steadying himself on the top of the building, "Can't keep up?" he challenges. It's probably not the best as taunts go, but Hank isn't terribly well versed in being confrontational. At the very least he's looming over the adpatoid now, though it may be a moot point with everyone suddenly focusing on that absent left kidney.
Janet van Dyne just counts her lucky stars taht she was able to relay the information -before- the adaptoid started blaring noise across the radio frequencies. With a wince, she turns down her own radio before she goes deaf. To the lackey, she says, "Thnak you for your cooperation, Bob. We'll take it into consideration during the legal proceedings. Now be a good minion and stay put." She takes to wing again and considers trying to attack the main target with the stingers, just to distract it... but her weapons are attuned specifically to disrupt neural activity. If it started using the same thing against them, it could get a distint advantage in the fight. Instead she just hovers close to Rampart and his drones, shouting instructions on just where exactly the kidney should be.
Mustang doesn't have the ability to turn off his hearing so he's stuck clamping hands over his ears and looking annoyed and in pain.
It can't really see or hear clearly but the cyborg does take notice of Kilroy and Giant Man. The whole time, Rampart's getting the sound in his ear...hopefully he enjoys the ringing that will be following him for the rest of the day. But at least the cyborg is distracted away from what he's doing. It's too busy swatting stones and growing larger as it tries to grab at Hank. A few oversized sting-blasts get launched at the massive scientist but that seems mostly to be by accident. An arrow pierces the robot's more metal-looking eye and brings a roar but that roar is cut short.
The device is thankfully not connected to anything inside the man other than to anchor it but when its finally crushed, there's a loud SCREEEEE over the radio and the sound suddenly stops. The liquid metal ripples around the cyborg and then bursts off like a bubble. Enjoy the goop. At least its shrinking. And speaking of shrinking, so is the now entirely human looking cyborg. The green is fading from his skin and he's coughing the whole time. occasionally he vomits out a mix of metal goop and all manner of horrible looking and smelling things. When all is said and done, he passes right out. What had been a terrifying cyborg before? Just a bald scientist in his thirties in a pair of metal boxer shorts. He's cut up and and bruised all over and will definitely need an ambulance but he's not rampaging anymore at least.
Rampart grunts thankfully his armor keeping the smell away, although he's either going to scrap the armor, or have to boil it when he's done here.. "vitals are solid, I'm keeping anything in the device from leaking out into his blood stream, but that's about the best I can do without risking tearing anything.." he says his armor 'melting' itself as the four drones just sort of fall off from his body and reform one of them holding the forcefield around the man's 'kidney'
Kilroy proceeds to delete ALL traces of money everywhere. He can't do anything about Cameras or eye witnesses, but he'll be @#$@#$ if he's leaving evidence. Except the goats. He'll heal any that are damaged, but now that the thing is taken care of, he makes an encrypted Tor'd 9/11 call in case the Giant Robot somehow hadn't already alerted them, but he includes a detailed account of how many AIM goons need pick up, how many goats need transport to farms, how many repair crews are needed, and how many police officers are needed to cordon off the area. And with that...he flies off.
Clint Barton steps out from behind the car and lets out a whooping cheer in victory he then looks over ot Hank and speaks Loudly, " think it is time to call in the clean up team."
Hank Pym was already getting dizzy from pushing his size limit, so when the adaptoid clips him with a wild sting bolt and then grabs him, it's probably for the best; it's about the only thing that allows him to catch his balance and keep from falling over himself, but he's not sure he can manage any more---and then he's unceremoniously splattered with various techno-organic matter. Well, that means there'll be plenty of it to study later! Hank staggers as the adaptoid lets go and shrinks, following suit himself if only to avoid passing out. He ends up normal sized, sitting in the street and holding his head. He laughs though when he registers Hawkeye's comment, shaking off his hands of the slime a bit. "Y-yeah..that..that sounds good. Everyone okay..?"
Janet van Dyne wasn't able to avoid all the mess when all the goop sloughed off, and is making loud protests. "If this stuff starts eating me and making more grey goo out of my skin, I'm going to be very upset! Rampart, we need an EMP, stat! ...Oh ick it's in my -hair-..."
"Clean up team and how about one that brings a massage? Or a hot tub?" Mustang whoops in victory as well, following after his fellow archer. He doesn't seem to mind the goo and it seems pretty inert. Just wet and slimy and thankfully not sticky. There's sounds of sirens coming already...lots of them. But it looks like the heroes have won the day even if they made a huge mess.

Friday, February 13, 2015

[Heromux] Special Delivery At the Temple of Doom

Summary: Stormwatch investigates Intergang operations involving MGH, so does X-23. Tired of their interference Desaad decides to deal with them in person (except, not quite, he is a coward)
Location: New York
Date: late in January 2015
Emitter: Nate Grey
Players: Laura Kinney, Croyd Crenson, Lunair Weir and Nate Grey
NPCs: Desaad, Void
Groups: Stormwatch
Tone: Heroic
Rating: Public

It is a rather bad night in New York. Snowing, freezing, just nasty. Normal folks, people with common sense, stayed at home. Nate Grey, of course, didn’t, but even he is having second thoughts. Maybe he is getting soft.
But the MGH is back to the streets. It has been for a few weeks. It usually comes from Mutant Town, but not this time. This time it comes from some people Nate had been watching for. Intergang again, he is almost sure. Now he has a headache from going over so many minds during the afternoon, trying to find the point of origin, or the lab, where they are manufacturing the drug. It brought him to... a church near the East River? Looks like it is Intergang.

The fact that MGH has been hitting the streets again under normal circumstances isn't something that she'd investigate. Let alone by herself.
And yet... Here Laura is. On the roof of a nearby. Looking down towards the church in question. Scowling. Her hands curled into fists, but her claws aren't out. Not yet anyways. In fact, for the time being, it's as if she's watching, and only watching.

Drug traffic is not something Nate would bother with most of the time either. But Intergang? Every time he finds something about Intergang it gets weirder, and creepier. There is something very wrong with Intergang, and them having an alien weapon trafficker selling them dangerous weapons has become almost anecdotic.
It is late at night and church is closed. But there is no doubt the MGH sellers got their stuff here. From burly men with cheap suits and weird accent at the back of the building. So that is where Nate goes. He can sense not one inside the church so he breaks the lock of the back door and steps inside.
Laura can see a gargoyle-like creature on the top of the church; he/it has definitely seen Nate and stalks him, halting only when he goes inside. Nate didn’t seem to notice this creature.

As she stands there, mostly hidden by the shadows, Laura frowns. Especially as she notices that... Thing move.
Sure she saw Nate, but for the most part she paid him no mind. After all, Nate is rarely a threat, and not one that Laura would consider. But that unknown thing? Yeah. That's a potential threat. Thus as it goes after Nate, the clawed clone moves, and jumps off the side of her building, landing in a croutch, before she moves, sticking to the shadows, to try and enter the catherdral as well, but keeping that gargoyle or whatever hopefully in her line of sight.

Whatever that thing is, it stand still now, almost blending with the church’s stone. When the wind changes and it brings Laura scents from up there, she can smell nothing strange, as if the creature had no scent. But at least the cautious approach has kept her out of its line of sight. Until now, that is. Because to go inside using the same door Nate used, she would expose herself.

Perhaps exposing herself is part of the game?
Maybe?
Or maybe not.
Either way though, Laura tries to remain stealthy. For the most part. Because yes, as she reaches the entrance that Nate used, she does end up exposed. At least for a little while. But once she's inside, the clawed clone tries to slink back into the shadows.

The door to the church is closed. Perhaps Nate used telekinesis to go inside? Regardless, it is closed now and it is looks like a good security door, the kind that would deter most petty criminals trying to steal the alms box of a humble church. This is not a good neighborhood, too close to the Suicide Slum.
It would take Laura a minute to pick the lock, a few seconds to claw through it. She is not allowed even two seconds. The creature on the roof jumps down, unfurling batwings as it dives, and tries to grab and carry away the brunette girl. No scent, almost not a noise. Surprisingly stealthy for what looks to be 300 pounds of flying reptiloid monster. It looks like the gargoyles decorating other temples Laura might have seen in New York, but this one is not just for decoration!
Meanwhile, inside the church, Nate explores the aisle, frowning in confusion. Everything seems completely normal. Typical Christian church, not rundown, but certainly not great either. They have some lights on, so he can see pretty well. The problem is this has nothing to do with the memories of the gangers had about the church. A much darker place. Alright... he is going to try to find the priest office.
Half a mile from the church, Croyd receives Nate’s telepathic message. Nothing to report, really. The church looks so normal maybe they got the wrong place.

Lunair kind of resembles a militarized penguin. Long, winter clothes over body armor. She's following along behind Croyd, then. Quiet, and alert - almost like a faithful watch dog.

Maybe its how silent it moves. Or maybe it's the lack of scent. But whatever the reason is, Laura Kinney is grabbed before she even has a chance to either pick, or claw her way through that lock!
And yet, even as she's hauled up into the sky, X-23 remains silent. Oh sure, she looks slightly pissed. But odds are that's mainly her calling herself stupid for being caught like this. But instead of letting her anger control her, or struggling with her arms to get free, there's a *SNIKT!* as her foot claws pop out. That is before she tries to lean as far forward as she can, quickly snaps and tries to shift her weight back with a sudden movement, and then kick up. In theory if this works, she hopefully will throw the gargoyle like creature carrying her off balance just enough to drive those claws into it. Hopefully in a place like its shoulder or even its head or face.
Of course she hasn't noticed the newcomers just yet...

Inside the church, Nate turns to glance to the door. He felt something outside, a familiar mind most likely. Before he can investigate, though, there is a shuffling sound behind the altar, and a robed man appears. “You. Again,” says the robed man, his voice hoarse.
<< Got something guys, >> sends Nate to Croyd and Lunair. << A robed goon, but I can’t feel his mind. Gotta be one of the Intergang priests. >>
“Yeah? Have we met before?” Asks Nate, walking towards the robed man.
Outside, the gargoyle has grabbed Laura with a steely grip, holding the young woman by the waist, a powerful claw digging razor sharp talons on her shoulder, rendering flesh a muscle and threatening to snap the bone like a twig. But Laura turns suddenly, breaking the grip on the shoulder (losing a good deal of skin along the way) and managing to put his side against the monster, her claws scratching its face and rendering the stony shoulder. Sparks follow the deep cut on the creature’s body, revealing metal and plastic instead of flesh and blood. It is some kind of robot.

Croyd has actually been in the van about a third of the time, using his Clairaudience to listen in on the church as well as the van, while using his temporary powers to his material gain, the world's only teleportational delivery service, payable only in bitcoin, any pizza you want, from anywhere in the world, as fast as you can say the right words to order it. Limited time only.
So he was in McMurdo station when he heard Revrend Ugly challenge Nate again, and dropped off the Pizza from Italy in Guam before blipping back to New York to drop off the Coconuts he'd picked up in Tahiti and hardened into near diamonds as he dropped from the roof right on top of Reverend Ugly, before teleporting back to the van and asked, "Can I have a Bazooka?" Note: He only dropped the rotten hardened fermented Pinapples. He cannot guarantee impact. That's a different power set.

Pain is something that Laura is use to. It is something she grew up with. Thus the talons ripping into her do not slow her down.
Nor do the sparks that appear after her claws impact with the gargoyle. Instead, She tries to throw her weight again, trying to cause the robot to hopefully fly into the building. Or maybe even a highly placed window.
At the same time she tries to kick upwards again with her foot claws, again towards the face, while at the same time, there's another *SNIKT!* as her hand claws pop out. Once out, X-23 tries to twist her wrist to stab the robo-goyle in the side.

Lunair is near Croyd. She's watching out for anything that might try to bother them and their van. She pauses. And then a nod. Lunair will give Croyd a bazooka, as per request. She smiles up at him, more than a little amused. Even though this is completely serious, his glib mannerisms kind of make her giggle, pineapples and all. Still, she's quietly concerned. "Anything else?" She asks. "I don't see anything out here," She peers out windows as she can.

The robed man with the hoarse voice chuckles at Nate’s words. "I have watched you from afar. You and your pathetic friends have interfered too many times some promising Intergang operations in this city. This ends now."
The inside of the church begins changing as the man finishes talking. The lights dim, the decor becomes more baroque, and sinister. Depictions of saints and statues become evil-looking men and gargoyles. The polished wood floor becomes cold stone tiles, and there are bloody spots all around the altar, where now there is an inverted cross. A greenish mist rolls over the floor, no higher than ankle level. “Nice trick,” comments Nate, apparently unimpressed. << Crap. There was some kind of illusion. Don’t think it was psionic, I felt nothing. You got this, Croyd? >>
Croyd appears, disappears. Nate rolls his eyes at his stunt. << Next time do that with hand grenades... no, wait. I want this guy alive. >>
Just then Laura and her gargoyle, the robot with the face badly slashed, crash through one of the stained windows, high on nave. The damaged robot beats the wings clumsily, hits a column and then crashes against the floor. Nate spots Laura just in time to try to grab her with telekinesis before she hits the stone. "What are you doing here?!"

Croyd says, "<< Er....well....I am bringing in Lunair, but I'm like...not telepathic this time around....I can teleport, listen in, and do things with matter...but I'm coming right ba...HOLY COW! THAT BASTARD PUT UP A TELEPORTATION BLOCK! How am I supposed to deliver pizzas while we're fighting? This guy could cost me hundreds..." >> he takes out his smart phone and tweets, "BRB, on break" on #Teleportingpizzaguy's twitter. Then he takes out some shaving cream and sprays his face and hands while carefully leaving two holes to breath in his nose and eyes to see....then he hardens the shaving cream.
"Stuff just got real in there Lunair..hey, that rhymed...can I do it again? Say the word just when....hmm....different power set....anyhoo, let's go pilgrim!"
Then he runs out of the van in fully hardened hawaiin shirt and shaving cream kevlar armor, bazooka in hand!"

"Saving you."
Maybe that isn't what Laura was originally here to do, but after crashing through the window, flinging off her gargoyle-bot attacker as it crashes through those columns, and then being caught by Nate's TK, just what else can the clawed clone in black say? That is besides, "Drop me." After all, once she hits the floor, she can get a good sniff of that the green gas that's down on the ground. Thus, in turn, she lets out another two words.
"Poison gas."
That is as she lowers herself into a more battle ready stance for the moment as she eyes the changed decor, trying to figure out which way an attack may come from next. Of course if she noticed that brief teleport (which she may not of due to her struggle with the gargoyle at the time) she doesn't comment on it. Not that she wouldn't mind the backup mind you. Especially backup that's on good terms with Nate.

Lunair looks amused, and a bit worried. "What's going on?" Unless they b-mail her, she's definitely out of the loop. And then Croyd puts shaving cream on his face and - stare. She opens her mouth, closes it. "Well, okay. And totally," She looks even MORE amused, a wry smile. "Okay. Do they want them alive or dead?" Because that's going to determine the firepower she brings. If alive, then she'll bring the staff and some annoyance weapons. If dead, well. Only her railgun~ And maybe some grenades.

The robed man snorts in annoyance at the multiple interruptions of the planed villainish monologue. "You brought friends, how drool. I will take great pleasure in vivisect them. Or... was that the Sleeper? Good. Very good."
Laura’s statement brings a glare from the shadows under the robe. "Indeed. I poisoned you the moment you stepped in the church. You will be unconscious in seconds. Meanwhile, my pets will keep you busy." The gargoyle statues, four of them, jump down, surrounding Laura and Nate.
<< Wear gas masks when you come here. Looks like this was a trap >> projects Nate. Then he blasts the closest gargoyle with a telekinetic blast. Which is hardly as strong as usual. Maybe because he starting to see double. "Mouse, get out here."

Croyd puts some more shaving cream on the mask he's already wearing it but softens it to make it even more gas mask like. He kicks open the door and looks for the first bad guy he can see and shoots him with the Bazooka!
He teleports his voice through the shaving cream to Lunair and says,"I think we want the priest dude alive...and Nate is generally not THAT blood thirsty but I for one hate these guys, they're Intergang....That's why I'm going in disguise! They'll NEVER recognize me!" Not, per se, that they'd recognize him anyway since his appearance changes every time......

Oh bother. It's never as easy as it seems, is it? At least Lunair's armor filters the air. If there's a spare gas mask around, she'll bring it along. "I see. They are pretty unpleasant," She agrees quietly. Lunair's going to railgun some of the goons and underlings unless stopped. "I guess tranq darts might work," She considers. Or the ole pixy dust. But she's backing Croyd up with fire power.

And Laura's one words answer to Nate?
"No."
Of course then the door is kicked open, and well... As the Bazooka is fired in one direction, the clawed clone charges towards a gargoyle that's coming from another direction! All though as she attacks, she does smile, ever so slightly at the sight of Nate's backup. Even as she makes a sweeping motion with the claws of her right hand towards the neck of what she's attacking.

The robed priests laughs when Croyd bursts in. "Come, Sleeper, come! Intergang wants your blood!" The bazooka shot nails one of the gargoyles, along a good number of the church pews, but although the robot is knocked down, it stands up almost immediately, looking only somewhat scratched.
Laura’s adamantium claws are much more effective. Whatever super-strong, bazooka-proof alloys they are made off, they are still no match for adamantium. A few slashes and the gargoyle joins its first partner on the floor, in pieces.
But that still leaves three, one is charging Croyd, another jumps for Laura, and the last one is trying to punch the hell out of Nate. The psion keeps it at bay with telekinetic shields, but they are getting weaker as the poison take effect. Another blow, and he goes flying, barely able to move.

Croyd has a lot more effective powers now than he did the last time. Funny thing about Churches....
Churches, especially like this one...especially in New York...have basements....
Croyd's eyes light up and the floor is dramatically softened in front of the charging Gargoly. But, Croyd, you say...don't Gargoyl's have wings?
Why yes Timmy, yes they do...but you know that awkward moment where they have to take off to avoid falling through the floor?
That's the perfect time to shoot at them again with the bazooka...only this time the shell is hardened to the hardness of a sapphire....

"Well, that's annoying." They're bazooka proof. Which likely means EMP-proof, too. Lunair is a bit miffed, but maybe - ol' Tesla has a trick she can borrow. That's right, it's time to get ELECTRICAL. She's going to zap the nearest gargoyle and try to move towards Nate. "Hang on-" She's hopefully got a spare gas mask if one was left in the van. It's less dramatic, but she's definitely got more of a light show. Zzzzzzzt/

The robed man cackles in glee but loses his good mood when Laura destroys one of the robots in seconds. Also, why is the poison doing nothing? He seems to fidget with something invisible and snorts. "Oh, you are that clone woman," he spats. "I’ll deal with you myself," he advances on Laura, suddenly feeling far more menacing to the young woman. Waves of fear and loathing emanate from the robed figure. "Surrender to Desaad, little girl. I can be a good master for lost souls. And you were born to obey."
With Nate down, the robots try to reach Croyd and Lunair. Croyd weird tricks with the floor and then the super-hard projectile (too hard to explode, but it knocks down one of the gargoyles for a few seconds) slow them down. Lunair electrical discharge definitely causes some damage to their systems, they jerk and stumble clumsily, but recover when she stops firing.

This isn't right. Lunair shakes her head. "This isn't going to work. I'll use the railgun and follow your fire. We're not going to take out anything this way." Disable, annoy, slow, yes. But end this fight, no. With Nate down, this is going to be way more difficult. She looks annoyed at the priest man. "That is SO sexist," She points out to the robed man. And that is just so wrong and creepy! Poor snikty lady!
Nevertheless, Lunair is going to fight more tactically. If Croyd softens one, she follows it with the railgun.

Croyd says, "Oooooooooooooh...yeah that's totally a good idea..." wait...was he getting sleepy? Good lord he'd need to start doign something about that...and soon. But first to finish here. He uses his laser eyes on Gargy #1 and Gargy 2 in a wide beam, trying to hit both and soften em ala Mrs Butterworth. Apocalyptican steel can instead become tinfoil."

"No."
Once again, it's a one word answer. Of course as he shifts his attention towards her, Laura shouts, "I was created to kill. To be a weapon." as she lunges towards Dessad, clawing like a mad woman. Or that's at least how it might look. After all, there's a swipe towards the hooded guys face with one claw, while the one lashes out to a spot thats.... Lower. Like inbetween the legs lower.
And yet, as she does that, she still tries to keep track of the other fighters. Especially her apparently Allies. And Nate's fallen form...

Thanks to Croyd’s powers the railgun begins to poke holes in the super-hard armor of the gargoyle-bots. And just in time, as the machines were almost on top of the pair.
Laura resistance makes the robed man growl. But her claws... find nothing. This ‘Desaad’ is just a ghost. No, the lack of scent and Laura’s super-human senses reveal the truth. He is a sophisticated hologram. As good or better anything the Danger Room could create. And that means someone, perhaps the real Desaad, is projecting those rather strong empathic signals from a remote location.
"My gargoyles. You... insects! You fools! You will pay for this insult!" He shudders with rage. But as the last robot stops moving, he fades into nothing. The church goes silent for a second. Then all lights go red, and the whole building burst in flames.

Croyd blips out of existance for a moment and then returns in a flash holding a fire extinguisher in one hand that he uses to put out some of the fire between himself and the door. He bends down and picks up Nate, still retaining his super strength and begins to move to the door. "Let's bolt!" As he reaches the hole he made inthe floor for the Gargoyl, he hurls Nate like a football, teleports onto other side of it and catches Nate that he passed himself.

"I-" Okay, he just threw Nate like a football. Lunair's expression is one of abject horror and surprise. He'd better catch! Nevertheless, she's going to sprint for it, keeping her head down. Wait. Snikty lady. "Miss? Please, hurry! Are you okay?" She asks, skidding around a pew, and making her way outside. It's not easy - there's that hole, and trying to follow Croyd's extinguished path otherwise.

Sure Desaad may be a hologram. But the fact that he knows about her... And wants her to join him, puts a nice, big crosshair on him in regards to Laura. The fact that he poisoned Nate apparently is extra icing on the cake for her to want to take him down, if she ever gets the chance that is.
For now though, as flames start to erupt, and Croyd shouts to get out of here...
X-23 lands. And starts to stand up. And she turns to leave. But she doesn't rush. Nope. Instead, she takes what at first glance may be casual steps, but in actuality they're measured. To make sure that the ground is stable as she walks. After all, between that hole, and the battle, and most importantly, the fire weakening the church, one wrong step and she could fall through the floor. Of course that means by the time she reaches the door, she gets to do a nice and slow badass walk out that door too!

Outside people has started to come. The church is covered in flames, even the stone walls seem to be burning. It is impossible and creepy. It is not even the same building most of the neighbors remember seeing every day, it looks like a burning twisted mockery of a Christian church.
The firefighters are quick and still arrive too late. It crumbles into a pile of scorched rubble supernaturally quickly, leaving absolutely nothing. No advanced tech, no MGH remains. Just ashes.
Nate begins to recover once taken out of the church. He will still need several hours of rest and some medical treatment at Halo. Whatever poisoned him left no traces, but shocked his body pretty badly.

Croyd says, "You gals alright?" He calls a Taxi to take Nate home. He takes out his smart phone and tweets, "Pizza service to resume shortly....stand by...." and looks at Nate with some concern."
Croyd pops a pill since he's being dumb. He takes out his nifty Stormwatch (yes, he insisted they give his com in the form of a Dick Tracy Style watch) "Croyd to Void, Croyd to Void Over. Roger dodger we have a down town emergency. Repeat, The Big Cheese is on the floor. Request Halo Hello. Over."

Lunair was going to Croyd, looking more than a little worried about where he's going. She was taking a little longer to get out. "Hey, wh-- you got it." Beam. Good job, Croyd.

Laura Kinney just eyes Nate. That is before she pulls out her own X-communicator. She even starts to say, "This is X-23. Nate Grey down. Send Blackbird. Location..."
But then she catches what Croyd is doing and well...
"Cancel."
And the communicator is put away. Of course as she puts it away she eyes Croyd and Lunair, before saying one word. More of a question actually. As if to confirm something. "Stormwatch?" is said as she motions at the other woman and the pizza delivery guy.

"Croyd, you really need to learn how to use the Halophones and... the whole communications stuff," croaks Nate, trying to stand. "Nevermind, Void is here."
Indeed she is. The silver-clad woman looks at the group for a few seconds and then teleports them to Halo in a flash of light. Nate to the medbay, the others, with her, to the War Room. "Report, Lunair. What happened?" She speaks coolly, with a very faint Russian accent.

Wait. Lunair? The socially impaired bioweapon? Okay, never mind. She's going to try. She looks a bit alarmed by all of this, then promptly gets teleported into the War Room. No fighting in the War Room!
"Euhm. Well. They were investigating a church. I stayed with Croyd in the van, listening in as Nate investigated..." And she will give details as best as she can.

Croyd notes how Void does NOT ask him to report. He should totally be offended and....is that an order. "Back in a sec." He goes to Australia, picks up a pizza and delivers it to Greenland. Poof, he's back. "I used it...I just...forgot about it. This is the part of the cycle where I" he yawns, "Get a little slow." He takes a 'vitamin'.

Laura Kinney is taken along as well!
And she doesn't even blink as she's teleported. Instead, she just sort of stands there, in the war room. Sure she retracts her claws. For now anyways. But she still remains on guard. Even if to the casual observer she might look like some sort of living statue.

Void listens impassibly to Lunair’s explanation. Then she nods. "Intergang keeps surprising us with the scope of its technologies and operations. Very unfortunate, we need to be more cautious." Something she has tried to tell Nate and the others a few hundred times already. "I can’t find traces of poison in Nathaniel’s body, but he is exhausted. I will keep him in observation for twenty four hours." She turns to Laura. "Miss Kinney, a pleasure to know you. I have granted you visitor access to the building. Feel free to remain for the night - I am sure Nathaniel will want to talk with you in the morning." Looking at Croyd and Lunair again, "please, show her our installations. I need to depart." Void nods, and then flashes out.

Lunair does her best. She nods. Poor Nate. She looks to Laura, too. "Um, sure thing. See you!" She waves to Void. She's well mannered, but this whole thing has left her a little dazed and singed. "I guess we can check on him in the morning or something." Pause. Right. Tour guide duty. "Sure, we can um, show you around. I guess the important stuff first would be good." She considers. Like where she can eat, sleep or punch things at.

[Heromux] True Colors

Summary: Magneto is insulted and vivisects the insulter on live national television. He then declares war on humanity.
Location: The United Nations
Date: 2015.02.14
Emitter: Erik Lehnsherr
Players: Kilroy Capital Conneticut Charles Xavier Erik Lehnsherr Josephine Clancy Remy LeBeau Logan Bobby Drake Ororo Munroe
NPCs: Chester Feankson, Chilean Ambassador, Mexican Ambassador
Groups: X-Men, The Mutant Brotherhood, Genosha
Tone: Gritty, Angsty
Rating: Restricted

Erik Lensherr's presence in New York always makes the news - as both an infamous terrorist and a controversial world leader, he makes people nervous, the mores o the closer they find themselves to him. Magneto had spent some time trying to smooth those rough edges, to try and put up a more diplomatic front. He had begun, however, to tire of playing nice.
Not that anyone else would've defined him as nice before. Magneto was only being nice by his own standards.
Today, he's been in negotiations with several members of the G8, quietly trying to secure the ability to begin a nuclear energy program and import Uranium for the purposes of keeping cheap energy available in Genosha. He knows how it will be read to the outside world - that he's attempting to make nuclear weapons. The United States has shown itself, in the past, to be untrustworthy of such ambitions, to say the least. With Magneto as head of state, that scrutiny will be double. The more he can lubricate the rails in advance - be it through charm, intimidation or outright bribery - the better.
Walking along the street with several low-level attaches, however, he finds himself assaulted. Mocked. He barely hears the scream of the man who pelted him with the bottle - some screed of anti-mutant bigotry, some hateful squeal from an evolutionary throwback about to be left in the dust. Another death throe of a doomed species. He should brush it off, let it go. Use it as an example.
He's tired of letting it go.
"Enough." he says simply. His helmet appears as if from nowhere, slipping into place and hiding his white hair as his elegant Armani suit is torn apart, metal slipping into place, changing and fusing into the tight-knit armor of his costume, dark blood-rust and royal purple. The attaches flee as the offender is snatched up into the air, the iron in his blood, the metal on his belt buckle, the iron particulates in the very polluted air he breathes, all making him nothing but an ant to be squashed by the Master of Magnetism.
"For a worm like you to assault me directly, I have clearly been lax. I have let you forget, human, what I am. Who I am. They call me Erik Lensherr, but my name, sir, is MAGNETO." he says and there's a scream as metal and glass from a nearby taxicab are shredded from the rooftop, affixing to the man's back and piercing his skin in agony.
"You must seek death, to assault me. Would you have me make a martyr of you, right here?"
Among the crowd who'd come to see Magneto is a man of dark skin and curious eyes. John Jones stands, his height putting him over the heads of many in his 'section' of crowd. His eyebrows knit together as he watches the bigot suddenly tortured in front of the crowd. With a tip of his hat, he begins to walk quickly towards a side street as the crowd reacts.
Charles Xavier had been keeping tabs on the diplomatic talks.. this may just be a preliminary diplomatic visit for Magneto, but it is still an official meeting between America and the man currently ruling the mutant state of Genosha, not to mention the early talks of uranium going there. Charles is interested on many levels, and was keeping tabs via Cerebro. He wishes he could say he was surprised when the man taunts Erik, though he is taken by surprise by the overly violent response.. he had really hoped Magneto would be doing less of that now that he actually had his nation, his recognition as it's leader. A passer by who was about to take a camera phone picture abruptly looks confused, and says in a tone not entirely their own, "Erik, stop this. What that man did was wrong, but you've more than made your point."
Xavier also tries to put the trapped bottle thrower to sleep so that he won't be in pain and can't dig himself in any deeper.
Kilroy is on the 73'rd floor of the UN building talking to someone on behalf of his native country, a tiny island no one has never heard about or cares about and then hears the announcement over the internal loudspeaker putting the whole place on alert. He looks at the member of the UN development board and says, "Excuse me....I'll be right back..." and rushes to the window....
Oh no. Not now. Not here.
A Rai stone smashes the window open and suddenly covered in coins in a blur of armored chain mail (not having time to make the stone variety) he begins to fly downward.
Note, he is known and knows with whom he is dealing with, though the flying is new. He has his hands open in non threatening fashion. He sets foot on the ground (unless magnetized somewhere) and will wait to approach for a few moments to see if anyone is stupid enough to just open fire or the like.

Hanging out at an apartment Logan was winding down the time. He was sitting near an open window with a ginger flavored. Blowing smoke out the window he was just waiting to turn himself into the cops. Guilty until proven innocent was how he figured it would have gone.
A cheap television played into the background for noise. Reports of Magneto had come in. Looking back at the screen his eyes narrowed. A gym bag rested in the room it had an assortment of clothes and one other thing. Pulling out the yellow and blue uniform he knew it would have outed him instantly. Sighing Logan slipped on the costume. Leaving the apartment he began to make the trek out to fight magneto. Breathing out Logan began to move quickly. Pressing the "X" icon on his chest he chimed in, "Anyone watchin' the news?" The question went out there to get people's attention if they anyone was on the X-Channel.
"Too busy being on the news to watch it," Iceman's voice comes over the X-channel almost immediately. Anyone checking online will find some reports of 'The Amazing Iceman' rescuing people from an apartment fire in NYC about 20 minutes ago. "Why? What's wrong, Wolverine?" Iceman actually manages to sound a bit serious as he asks this much.

Many of the residents (and guests) of the Xavier Institute seem to come and go with an alarming rate of frequency. However, the mysterious thief who is known only as 'Gambit' to his 'friends' at the Institute seems to be gone far more often than he is present.
And such is the case now. Neither is he anywhere near the mansion's compound, nor is he monitoring his comms. Instead, the sketchy mutant is all the way in The City. But rather than drinking the day away in one of the dive bars that he enjoys so much, or gambling in an underground poker tournament, he is simply drinking coffee in an upscale cafe.
He's ditched the trench coat (and the armor) for a plain black suit. The loose tie, the unfastened top button, the stubble and the unkempt hair make him look more 'heroin chic' than 'businessman.'
"Oui, mon amor. La piscine est dans la bibliotheque..." He croons rather than speaks as he chats up a gullible-looking blonde sitting across from him. She doesn't seem to notice or mind that his sentence is both gramatically incorrect and nonsensical at once. He manages to fake it well enough to sound semi-French.
But why break from old habits and lurk at a table outside of a cafe? It might seem an odd choice, if it weren't for the cafe's location: He's less than a hundred feet from Magneto's procession. And the reason he isn't paying attention enough attention to the blonde to cobble together a coherent sentence?
He's too busy keeping overwatch of the developing 'situation.'
"Merde, il est tres mal. Mon chapeau est avec mon soeur."
For Josie, this was supposed to be an afternoon of shopping with some friends after classes, having come into the city to visit the few old friends she had from before she moved out to the Xavier Academy. Whether by coincidence or by fate, Josie and those friends were walking through across the street from where the trouble started up. So, now, she's in the crowd too, eyes wide, her friends running but staying behind. She was just reaching for her own hidden comm when Logan and Bobby's voices come through, and she whispers into her comm, "I'm there... I don't have a clue what to do by myself, but I'm there."
Magneto narrows his eyes as he realizes the target of his wrath is slipping into unconsciousness, a numbed and blissed state prodded from afar by a powerful telepathic mind. He might have been suspicious regardless, but the tone of voice he hears from the sudden passerby leaves little doubt in his mind. Magneto wraps a sphere of force around himself, for where Charles' mind goes, the X-Men generally follow. Tiresome. Would they never grow tired of playing lapdog to a master who does nothing but kick them again and again?
He turns his head to address Xavier's puppet, "You've been a professor for too long, Charles. It's made you pedantic. I am no need of lecturing, from you or anyone else. I have never been a follower of the 'turn the other cheek' philosophy - and I have no interest in following in the footsteps of its proponent. Aren't you tired, Charles? Tired of the scorn of these petty men and their narrow minds? What will it take, I wonder?"
"Perhaps if I keep stripping away their masks of civility, someday I will get you to see."
He hasn't yet taken much note of the incoming array of heroes and meddlers, focused, as he too often is, on his old rival and colleague, although he does have his forcefield up in expectancy of their arrival.
With all eyes on Magneto, John Jones finds it easy to flow into his 'Martian Manhunter' form. He flies up and over, soon hovering over the crowd not far from Magneto. "I urge you not to abandon your humanity!" he speaks in a deep voice that carries easily over the crowd. "You stand before the world, their eyes are on you." Hearing Magneto's conversation with what most people might think of as nothing. However, such a powerful mind was unlikely not to notice a second powerful psychic. He replies to those words, outl oud as he hovers near by. "Nothing worth having has ever been easy." say J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter.
Charles jumps to another passer by, half to not impose on any one person too long, and half so other onlookers won't wonder too much. "Your actions tell me there's still plenty for us to talk about." he says gently. "And you must know that responding to small minded behavior with force only sinks you to their level. Your point is made, now let it be, before any more harm is done to the cause we both champion, in one way or another." His own communicator is on next to him where his physical body sits, and he pauses to say to the X-men listening, "He's stopped his attack for now-- don't engage unless he makes us.." their first priority of course is to protect people, but if fate is kind and Magneto stands down.. though apparently not only the X-men have taken note. He notices J'onn as swiftly as he himself is noticed, and wonders politely in his mind, |"Are you here to help?"|
Kilroy remembers a few nights in Bastion by the fire when Eric would talk about his vision for Genosha...it was inspiring, and one of the reasons he stayed as long as he did. But there were many many many many anecdotes about Charles. One might think the man obsessed....but Kilroy doesn't know about that...hasn't heard the professor speaking through the other fellow.
But he does remember his last few weeks in Genosha, and knows his place in the scope of things. That is to say not very high. But he has his own way of dealing with the situation...it's fairly simple really....he waves his hand...and suddenly there is a flip board made of quarters...Quarters? Really? To stop the great Magneto?
But they aren't assaulting the forcefield...no instead it shows the gross total sum of the Sovereign Wealth fund he set up for the nation before he left, an aggregate index of corporations owned by the island....a rather precise number down to the decimal, complete with the N for the base "Neato" currency even though the official name was something different...and then he simply magically tied it to the lowering stocks of said wealth fund as the market adjust to this extremely unfortunate live event. He showed, in lovely numbers, exactly how much his 'wrath' was costing him where it hurts him most. He's not draining it. He's just holding up a mirror, and its a lot, as the number just counts down...and keeps falling.
Moving closer to the battlefield Logan responded, "Mags is out in New York. Turn on the television," his voice was firm. Eventually he made it out into the field. Anyone that was in danger he moved them to safety. As much as the man known as 'Wolverine' wanted to stab Magneto going against a man that controlled metal was bad. An opening needed to present itself before Logan was going to get stabby. Hopefully Xavier would have opened up a mental link so people could have strategized an attack.
"Not somewhere I can see a TV, Wolvy," Iceman replies, a lot more serious at that news. "Just tell me where and I'll be on my way," he says. Of course over the com, the sounds of one of his ice slides could be heard as he kicks into gear and starts sliding faster. Thankfully he wasn't too far from the trouble, he just needed to be pointed at it.
On the table between Gambit and the random stranger, three half-folded cards lay facedown, a bit haphazardly. The Three Card Monte is such an obvious scam that it takes a certain amount of panache to even attempt to do it in public. So, of course, Gambit considers it a personal specialty.
But as the situation begins to escalate, it becomes clear that not only was Gambit correct in assuming that his unique skillset might be required, but that he'll probably be called upon to make good on his deal with Magneto soon. He does not, however, look happy about the predicament that this puts him in. But, like the obedient soldier he wishes he wasn't, he puts up his mental static and gets to work.
With a sigh, he flips one of the cards over. It is, of course, the Queen of Hearts. "Desole', p'tite, but I'm gonna hafta finish this conversation some other time...."
As he walks away from the cafe and blends into the crowd, Gambit pockets a Queen of Hearts upon which a phone number has hastily been scrawled.
But then he quickly takes it back out of his pocket. "What's this? @ameliagocraycray? This isn't a phone number, it's some kind of internet foolishness!" He charges the card up with his trademark pink energy and deposits in a nearby garbage bin, continuing on his way. A couple seconds later, a muffled 'Boom!' can be heard from inside the can.
Josie nods as Xavier gives his instruction not to do anything yet, turning to try to help usher people off. Not that too many people are likely paying attention to the teenager. With her uniform hidden under her clothes, she really doesn't have the look of a professional. She pauses to hit her comm again and says to Bobby, "Right near the UN building. If you're close you can't miss it."
Magneto laughs. He actually laughs, a hearty laugh, as he lowers his head and closes his eyes. Charles remains ever the same - the optimist, the 'stop poking the rabid dog, it's your fault if it bites you' mentality. Appeaser. He remembers the type, but never likes to put Charles in that camp. He has too much lingering affection for the man and, he must admit, it has been a failing. Magneto can be critical of himself - even self-effacing. Yes. His kindness had cost him. The Martian he pays no mind - anyone who uses 'humanity' as a measure of good behavior doesn't understand humans in the least.
And then there's Kilroy. Magneto recognizes the Economy's work the moment the quarters begin to gather and, as the stock plummets, so does his stomach. Ah. Odd, really, that a man who could control finances so completely could both overestimate and underestimate the effect. "Do your worst, Kilroy. I have lost ambitions before. I and mine will be well - you only punish the humans of Hammer Bay, the villages who depend on factory work, those who scrub for their daily bread. If you would starve them, do so at your leisure. But, to use a phrase that has been used against me on occasion - I do not negotiate with terrorists."
He reaches out and flexes a hand, grasping the quarters and compressing them into a tight-hard ball then driving them to smash into the display of the stock market.
Wolverine's approach he can feel, adamantium having its own particular resonance, the hyperdensity of the metal like a song in his head and he'd long since learned Logan's melody. Here came the X-Men, just like clockwork. If he didn't pull back now, he knew it would change things. He'd been so careful, building up his credibility, making Genosha into a respectable country. He'd gotten a foothold in the UN, even negotiated with the Justice League. He'd helped to save the Earth and fought alongside its heroes.
And what had he gained? A bottle in the head. A cheap epithet. The never-ending, bottomless chasm of the human heart showing its dark center once again. They would not learn. Perhaps they could not. They were backwards things, after all, throwbacks. They felt the creeping hand of extinction on their necks.
Perhaps it was time to start choking. Magneto flexes his fingers and a lash of metal wraps around his attackers through and begins to squeeze...
J'onn replies, |"I am here to help, yes."| Thankfully in the affirmative. He gazes at the injured man with glowing eyes, Martian Vision shifting into the X-Ray Spectrum to give the poor, now unconscious human a quick look. "There have been times before in this country's recent history where the man who is different has had to stand up in the face of bigotry with an answer of nobility. You are making a choice!" J " J'onn shouts, getting ready for the worse.

Charles would interfere, would try to stop it himself, but he's not there in person, won't risk the owners of the voices he's borrowing, even as alarmed as he is by Magneto's actions. "Stop! Will you kill a man for one mistake? You have built so much with Genosha.. we've had our differences about it, but it has the potential for so much good.. don't throw all that away, don't throw away what you've accomplished with all the people who have grown to respect you, and work with you over one man's mistake. If you repeat his same mistake now, it's your country, it's our people, that will lose the most for it! You have to stop!" he cries out desperately-- if Erik doesn't stop, and in moments, Charles is all too aware of all the minds nearby, familiar to him or new, that are ready to act with force in defense of the bigoted man's life. That life, and with it the fragile peace that had finally been growing between Genosha and the world, are in the balance.
Kilroy is about to laugh, but he remembers who he is dealing with. He might be extremely cynical about his efforts but he simply shakes his head and says...wait, did he just use his first name on National Television in front of billions? Well....
That would be interesting....
He continues, "Now Imperator, you know as well as I that I've never lied to you. I didn't do anything. That was merely a live demonstration of the current value of the soveriegn wealth fund and your impact on it. You speak to me of villages? Right now, your actions have cost Genosha 4256 of those interactive virtual education centers we discussed...or it could have bought 19 of those ultra tech 3-D printer fabricators....vaccinated everyone on the island five times over....and...well you get the idea. No no imperator, if I was going to curse Genosha it would have been much more than that, but why would I undo a solid year of my life because I was trying to stop you? YOU are doing that...and while I won't bother with another live display, I can assure you that number is going up exponentially. YOU are hurting Genosha m'lord.

Logan pressed on closer, focusing a little he popped a claw then tried to cut loose a few of the restraints that were choking people. He didn't want people to die. His claws were trying to be delicate like he was doing surgery. Nothing was said to Magneto, but Logan blurted out the location.
Then his attention went back to the people as he was trying to cut loose more restaints. The people mattered more than making Magneto bleed. This earned the mutant dictator another stab though.
From the sky comes a vision in white - Storm the X-Man, wearing a white outfit, flowing white hair - and something strange strapped to a belt around her waist - two carved wooden statutes, a foot tall, that look like totems. She floats near Magneto. "Come now, Imperator..." she murmurs. "Is this really necessary? You're acting very... petty." She sighs softly. "Why don't you stop strangling the bigot and talk like civilized people, not spoiled toddlers?" she asks as she touches the totems at her waist. "You and the professor are like brothers - it always pains me to see you two fight..."
"On my way. Thanks, squirt. Try to get somewhere safe," Iceman replies over the coms to Josie. He alters his course and takes off. It's not long before he's coming up on the whole kerfuffle, in his ice form and coming over the river. He notices Storm in he air and smiles, liking their odds with her around. "I'm surprised more doesn't pain Magneto. He must go through so much Bengay," Iceman announces himself with a joke, a jab at Magneto's age. "Espcially when he's gotta hold all that ego up."

Right on schedule, the Decency Squad have shown up to poke the bear and mix their metaphors. Gambit looks pretty much crestfallen as any hope he had of this situation defusing itself goes right out the window. Mix the X-Men and Magneto together, and there's sure to be an altercation.
So far, he has managed to avoid being noticed by anyone, and it looks as if he intends to keep it that way. However, he's running out of people to blend in with, as the crowd is clearing out pretty quickly now that costumed mutants are slinging their powers around and choking people to death.
Reaching into the pocket of his blazer, he pulls out a simple black phone and rapidly taps away at the screen before holding it up to his face. "Prep the HQ for a potential package. We'll need evac plans in place."
"Huh? It's Gambit. Who else has this number?"
Josie's eyes widen again as Magneto starts to choke the man, starting to step forward but then stopping as Wolverine, Storm, and Iceman arrive. As Bobby says to get somewhere safe, she replies, "I'll be safe." Then suddenly she's a humanoid blob of water, her outer clothes dropping to the ground around her as she starts to 'flow' around behind the X-men. Out of their line of fire, as safe as she can get while still close enough to be able to help if it turns out she's able to. Magneto feels something he hasn't really felt in a long time. Something that he'd put aside when he became Imperator of Genosha. It was a luxury, a selfish thing, something he could no longer afford. He had responsibilities, after all. He was a leader, an example, a role model. He had people who depended on him. Children he wanted to make proud. A legacy, for he had faced the Reaper and looked it in the eye. He had thought Genosha was his chance.
But he can see now, that things will never change unless he changes. That all he has built has left the world to fester and rot and grow only sicker in his absence. He can see that the part of himself that he set aside is essential, for it is the part of him that had transformed the young man Erik Lensherr, Charles Xavier's friend, the idealist who wanted simply to make a future for his people, into Magneto.
Much as he placed on his helm, Magneto reaches down into his soul and dusts off his hate. He slips back into it and feels it warm him. When his eyes open again, they shine, almost with tears, but some might call it madness. He no longer cares what they would call it.
"SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!" he cries and his mastery of electromagnetism makes his voice echo, a roar that vibrates in tune with the metal of New York itself, shattering windows, setting off alarms. Wolverine can probably feel a few teeth shake loose as his skeleton quivers at the explosion of force.
The voice that continues is more measured, only audible to those actually present, but there can be no denying the rage within it. It has been years since anyone's seen Magneto like this - Charles might recognize it best, for this is the man who once seized an island in the Carribean and nearly killed every soul with a nuclear meltdown. This isn't Magneto the messiah or Magneto the Imperator or even Magneto the Man. This is Magneto the Monster.
"I am tired of your chiding and cajoling. I am tired of your threats and your scolding. I am tired of your petty appeals to a conscience that tells me that every day I sit in peace is another day mutantkind bleeds for human comfort."
He looks up at J'onn, "You say I must make a choice? When those who have pursued peace still must beg not to be shot in the street like dogs? When their murderers are left to walk free? You would have me lead mutantkind down that path? Well, damn me if you will, but I say no."
"You can call me names if you like, Storm. Starve the humans if you wish, Kilroy - Genosha will remain mine, for you cannot wrest it from my hands and if I have to build a moat of human bones around the base of Bastion, then so be it."
"The truth in what you say is that this man is nothing. A fool, a madman even. Just another piece of straw. But I assure you it's the last one. And it is not my back that will be broken."
And then he promptly warps the taxi around the man and snaps his spine like a twig, crushing him like he might crush an overripe berry in his palm. And, just the same, the juice the runs is bright and red and can never be put back again...
J'onn flinches as the tortured man's life is ended. "A shame." he says, almost emotionless as he stares now Magneto. He rushes towards the violent, and now murderer Magneto. A true bum rush as J'onn's form moves at extreme speed.
Charles can only wonder what on earth happened, sickened and shocked as he feels the man abruptly die. that one angry man, not even a threat... could really be all it takes to blind Magneto to all the good he'd actually done in recent years? Does he really think that if he kills everyone who lashes out at him that it will somehow stop confused and hurting people from doing foolish things? Can he claim he has never done just such things himself? Could any of them..? What sort of world is it he would build, if any impassioned mistake or dissent is answered with death? "And this..this is truly the legacy you would choose..?" he says quietly, and the pain in his voice is plain. "You would let this one angry man, frightened of the progress you were making... you would let him undo it all, with nothing more than a bottle.."
Charles, despite not admitting it to Erik, -is- tired.. he's tired most of all of wasting their energy fighting their own kind in the protection of life when they could better spend their energy fighting that hate from outside sources. But it's clear in the minds of all the gathered X-ers that it's their turn.
J'onn flinches as the tortured man's life is ended. "A shame." he says, almost emotionless as he stares now Magneto. "I had hoped you would choose more wisely." J'onn flits away from Magneto. "You have disappointed me greatly." J'onn says with a frown. The other Mutants- the X-Men have arrived, or so it seems some have. The Martian Manhunter's body going indistinct. He disappears into the ground below, nowhere to be seen or found moments later.
Kilroy says, "His name was Chester. His net worth was $25.00 in the bank. He owed $45,000 in credit card bills, and, I grant you, didn't appear to be much of a human being. Erik," notably dropping the Imperator's title,"Lenshire, previous net worth $450 Billion including his share of the Sovereign Wealth Fund. Current going price on Intrade right now of Overt UN sanctions? 50:1 voting for likely expulsion. Criminal Siezure of Assets of all external Genoshan funds? 90 percent likely, 3/4ths of which are outside of Genosha. Likely impact on GNP per capita? 30 reduction in 30 days. Note, that's without me lifting a finger. I won't harm Genosha. Now, because you see human beings as dirt Erik, then I can at least ensure that your PERSONAL wealth everywhere that isn't Genosha is seized, destroyed, divested or hidden from you. And yes, I even know about the Gold on Asteroid M."
Kilroy isn't Magneto. He doesn't have a century of a reputation of putting the ice in people's hearts to intimidate them. But he does have his own dark side. He WANTS to summon salt in Magneto's lungs and drown him in his own blood, but somehow he thinks even that wouldn't stop Erik. So instead he hurts him where he can most. "And I will tell them Erik. Every government. Everywhere. Every cent. I won't even need to use my powers. Not Genosha's money. But your money? Oh, you can kiss that goodbye. You don't care about Mutants Erik. You think you do, but you really just care about yourself. As for seizing Genosha?" He laughs, this time he really does, mocking. He doesn't even care if it costs him his life, though as a God he's harder to kill then frail Glass Canon Kilroy of before, "You know Erik...I was in your inner circle for Months. You remember the Genosha Memorandum and what I could think up for your enemies? Imagine...just imagine Erik...what could I do INSIDE your inner circle? Have I bribed key officials? Have I set up a hidden fifth column that your angels can't detect? You thought you read my mind but really....I was loyal but I planned for other contingencies...what if...what if Erik I've corrupted your lieutenants? Why, everyone I've spoken to would be suspect. And you know you can't ignore it can you old man? You can't afford to let the lingering hatred and paranoia go unchecked, because, really? You have to be sure. What if I did find a way to let people avoid detection from your telepaths? Can you be sure they're loyal? Follow the money Erik. Why, I might have left a wonderful rabbit trail to drive you mad. Check the file cabinet in my old office. You'll find some lovely surprises.""
Getting out of the way from being crushed Logan tried moving around the carnage. His hope was for someone to swoop in at Magneto. If the master of magnetism was distracted then Logan could have gone for the ribs. The Canadian wasn't afraid to stab magneto. It was just a matter of getting undetected somehow. His eyes stayed on the mutant intently as he went for some cover. Right now he would have wished to have a few goodies from SHIELD. They had some anti-magneto effects before. One of them would have been a godsend at the moment even though it could have harmed Ororo too. Ororo Munroe just flinches, a tear streaking out of her eye, as she watches the man die. "And I thought you were at least some what civilized..." she whispers softly. She raises a hand, one of the totems at her waist glowing and rising up from her belt to float by her. She starts murmuring softly in Swahili, simultaneously manipulating the environment and using magic to create a funnel cloud around Magneto - faster than normally possible as she is trying to spin Magneto and disorient him, the skies darkening. The funnel is nowhere near landfall, as Magneto is in the worst part of it. She is simply trying to stop him from being able to focus on anything else - or to compel retreat - and the funnel would move with him. If anyone thought it was cold before, they'll be wishing for that temp as Bobby watches that man die. A wave of icy chill comes off him and he looks away a moment. He grits his teeth and fights back that dark little part of him that wants to lash out with more than just cold. "There's nothing civilized about that bucket headed ass. This act that he gives a rats ass about the people on Genosha or that there are humans there at all is getting old too," he adds. He's about to launch an attack when he notices Storm's magic act and curses under his breath. As much as he wants to go after Magneto, he knows staying back and defending Storm is probably a better idea. He he stays in the air on his slide, ready to play defense for his teammate.

Now would probably be the time for Gambit to leap to Magneto's aid if he were planning to do so. But this is not what Gambit does.
Instead, our favorite Cajun has apparently decided to play it safe and stay out of the conflict. No need to put himself in the middle of a fight needlessly, especially when the outcome of the fight isn't likely to change regardless of his involvement. So Gambit puts the glowing pink card back inside his jacket, 'switching off' the charge he had placed on it.
Staying out of sight, he heads down the street, following along with the fleeing crowd. But when he's reached a distance that he feels is safe, he bashes out the window of a parallel-parked Honda Prelude. Reaching inside, he unlocks the door and sits in the drivers seat. With his special skillset, hot wiring the car is literally a matter of seconds.
As he continues walking down the street, a glowing Honda Prelude races down the street with no driver in place, heading directly toward the assembled X-Men.
"Man... this deal gets worse and worse all the time..."
Undine (aka Josie) has no voice in her current form, nor face to show reaction to Magneto killing the man. Rippling vibrations along her watery form, however, show it somewhat. After a year of training, though, she knows enough not to disobey Iceman's orders and get involved. So she focuses on watching for any civilians who may be getting too close. Or, in the end, apparently a speeding, glowing car. She changes back to human form, now wearing her Young X-men uniform, to call out, "Incoming!" Then she's water again, her uniform changing with her, and she dives out of the way.

Magneto begins to rise into the air, projecting his power out and pinning the world to the walls, freezing and absorbing them all. This was a moment, captured in amber, for his memory. A crucible point, a crux. He would remember this day. His ears seemed to be filled with white noise. He felt somehow spent. He felt relieved. He felt...
He felt good. For the first time in ages, he felt good. From what little he can make of Kilroy's prattle - he's always tuned the man out to some degree, his power with money being oustripped only by his love of his own voice - he's being called selfish and having threats made about loyalty and bribery and all of that.
Kilroy never did understand him, of course. As if any amount of money could make someone who truly knew him, who had earned his trust, betrayed him. As if he had ever allowed Kilroy as close as he actually thought he had come. The Genoshan experiment of peaceful coexistence was at an end. He no longer had any interest in the moral high ground. His people, his species, needed someone to be the villain. Someone willing to be hated in order to do what needed to be done.
Magneto could be that man.
Still, he had not come to New York today to wage war with the X-Men. Arrogant he might be, but he understood all too well how formidable Charles' pets could be. Dealing with them would require preparation. But he had no more interest in attempting to sway them. No more equivocation.
They think he's being selfish, but he'd been selfish before. He'd allowed himself the luxury of honor. He'd tamed himself for respect and for position and for his own damned pride. He'd let himself bask in luxury. No more.
'Take it. Take it all. I have had nothing before and I rose. You arrogant little man - because you have power over money, you think money makes the world go around. But worry not - on the day I watch your eyes die out, I will remind you of what true power is."
He feels the battering of Ororo's assault and hears the ferocity of the Wolverine - metal skeleton or not, Magneto is not so foolish as to underestimate the man called Logan. So sharp are his claws, they even test the limits of his shields. Just as Storm's power over electricity would force him to contend with her to absorb the lightning that surrounded her.
"My legacy, Charles? I don't care anymore. Call me monster. Call me killer. Call me whatever you please. My good reputation won't see our people into the next generation. My respected name won't prevent genocide when another country decides to set up camps and send us off to slaughter. My wealth, Kilroy, provides no shield for the mutants who suffer from experiments, who they will try to strip of their powers. I myself already know the government works on weapons to deal with our kind - haven't they already devised weapons to assault me personally, even when I was seeking to make peace with them?"
"So, Charles, X-men, Kilroy, all of you beware - whatever kindness you have received from me in the past - you can consider your Genoshan passports revoked."
He unleashes another massive surge of power, bending the frames of the surrounding buildings, sending glass spattering down onto the screaming people below, and he rises up into the sky, taking himself out of the equation before they can attempt to pin him. But, just to make sure they stay good and distracted...
He flicks his hand back once and wrenches the foundation of a nearby twenty story building, and there's a groaning crumble as the building start to slowly lean sideways, threatening to collapse. Nothing distracted would-be saviors like saving lives. He will return to his fortress in Genosha, to plan...and wait. It was time to put aside the olive branch and pick up the sword. And, if he was going to go to war, he was going to need soldiers.
It was time to reform the Brotherhood.
It's certainly distracting-- Xavier quickly takes stock of the people inside, prepared to make the X-men aware of whoever might be falling or trapped as needed, only hoping Bobby's ice and Storm's winds will be enough to keep it up long enough to evacuate.
Kilroy says, "You claim I never knew you? Oh I know you Erik. You think all I care about is Money? Think back. It was never my powers that interested you, or even my talent at managing your economy. It was the little folder. It is my creativity you valued. Why else would you have me sit in a room with Quicksilver, your son whom I went on several missions with," and thus making him suspect..."...and you lost the one thing you can never recover Erik...my respect. I knew you didn't care when I wandered Genosha's streets lost for weeks...but you still had my respect...now it isn't my power over money that you need to fear....it's my mind."
And with that, gone like a flash he flies up to rescue as many people as possible, starting at the top floor and using Rai stones to ferry people to the ground."

Logan was running as quick as possible. "Water Girl, with me," he yelled over the com. He pointed to another building that was in danger. Undine would have had one building to work with, Logan the other. People were already rushing out of each and he yelled move before rushing into danger. Luckily Logan had picked an apartment buiding. A lot of people on the lower floors were rushing out so he pushed himself upward. A good three of four stories up saw him kicking in doors, "MOVE IT!" he yelled. Children were tossed to parents as they were rushed out. He was making sure anyone that needed to be carried out were. Time ticked by and he kept moving. Kilroy may have had the top floors, but the middle needed someone. Even as the building was falling more under threat he kept moving. No one else needed to die today. Unfortunately going room to room was a time-consuming task. Ororo Munroe glares at Magneto. "I once sworn that I would never kill again..." she whsipers softly, another tear coming out of her eyes as she continues, "But I will make an exception for Magneto if I must." She sighs as she goes into the middle floors. "come with me," she states, using, again, a combination of wind magic and her own flight to help support her. "Come with me... I'll get you to safety," she states as she opens her arms wide, taking a family and floating them down to the ground, then goes back up.
With everyone springing into action, Bobby's eyes were drawn to the glowing pink SUV. Because how often do you see glowing pink SUVs? He knows that glow though and what it means. The look on his face is priceless for a moment before he's into action too. Sliding down, Bobby thrusts his arms out and a lets loose a beam of frigid energy. Quickly, a ramp and track forms for the SUV to go along, launching it into the river rather than any innocent bystanders or heroes. He doesn't get time to celebrate though, the groaning of that massive building starting to collapse reaching his ears. "Oh hell..." he gasps, eyes wide. "Guys, its about to get colder!" he calls out, concentrating and drawing on the moisture in the air and his own power. People often underestimate Bobby but he's a powerhouse. Jaw set, Bobby unleashes his power in the form of icy supports to hold that destabilized building up.
Undine changes back into human as she sees what's happening, running faster on solid feet towards the falling buildings even before Logan calls on her. She nods to Logan, and runs into the building he points to. Going door to door as fast she can she starts calling for people to get out, hitting any fire alarms she sees on the way. "Out, out, get out of here now!"
The combined efforts of the heroes work wonders. Between Storm, Kilroy, Undine and Wolverine, people are moved quickly to safety,time allowed because the base of the building was only bent and not shattered. After all, he needed them distracted. Merely crushing and murdering them all would've been too swift and Magneto wanted to be out of US airspace relatively quickly.
In the end, only Wolverine truly pays a price, the building collapsing atop him as he uses his body to shield, not a person, but a dog, a golden retriever puppy whose barks eventually guide Undine to being able to use her water abilities to push way the debris and free him. It's that picture that eventually makes it into the paper, the rubble-drenched Wolverine, costume torn, with a puppy cradled under his arm.
That and the dead body of the man Magneto murdered. Anti-Mutant hate crimes begin to spark around the country, especially in small towns. Far from being upset, Magneto is pleased. Yes, mutant lives will be lost and it is regrettable. He would save them all if he could. But he can't. And those who die will be the martyrs upon which empire is built. And humankind will become the ruins left behind...
The world changed today. A King in grey became a devil in red. And the whole world, for a moment, trembled just a bit, because something horrible had once again been loosed into the world...
In the darkness Logan instinctual curled around the dog. After the noise had stopped he whispered, "I got'ya. I got'ya," he petted the dog then pushed up with his back. Growling Logan pushed harder against the rock. It took a little bit and more screaming, but he eventually emerged from the rubble looking a little worse for wear. Holding the dog he didn't expect anyone to take his picture nor did he care. His eyes went to the animal looking for a tag before he held it close to him. "If ya ain't got an owner I think the school's gonna have a new dog..." he muttered as building parts and dust slid off his body.
Kilroy is not the kind to be in the limelight. It's POSSIBLE, however unlikely, that the cameras didn't catch Erik's casual disclosure of his name. He makes sure everyone is lose from the rubble and then flies away. After all, he has some information to anonymously disclose to the authorities.
And then he has that UN official to talk to....though realistically, he's probably gone home for the day. Kilroy returns to the scene as himself and helps by randomly adding a few extra dollars to the folks who lost everything. What the insurance won't cover....he does.
Magneto wins nothing here today.
Undine, of course, was there helping Logan to get out, water pressure pushing here and there and helping wash the dust away and make it easier for the stronger, larger mutant to clear a path. Once Logan's out, she flows back out of the debris and takes human form again.
Ororo Munroe was too busy supervising the rest of the evacuees from the building - then turns her attention to Logan once he comes out. She swoops down, lands, and gives him a big hug and kiss. "I'm glad you're alright..." she whispers. "on this most dreadful of days..."
By the time Bobby's done, that building is being supported by some huge icy structures. It's not going to fall unless something else starts hitting it. Down on the ground, Iceman slumps against a stop sign. Using that much power so quickly really takes it out of him. "Woo...okay...next time? I'm just gonna freeze his magnetic butt into an iceberg or something," he mutters. He watches Storm swoop down and chuckles before reaching up to tap his com. "As much as I hate to interrupt your kissy time, could I get a hand outta here? I'm a little wiped."


Logan kissed Ororo back with the same passion then looked at Undine, "Good job kid." Then she was handed the puppy, "Wear the uniform with pride. You honor it n' while yer at it find the owners to this thing. If ya can't we'll put out flyers," a nod was given to the young woman then to Ororo another kiss. "Help Bobby," he whispered to the weather Goddess then started to head off in a different direction from everyone tearing off parts of his uniform that hung there.
Undine smiles at the praise and says, "Thank you." She takes the puppy, holding it gently as she looks up to Logan and nods again, still smiling. She turns and starts to walk over towards the crowds evacuated from the buildings, to search for the owners.
Xavier is still keeping track of the people in the area, doing what he can in his own way-- perhaps
Ororo Munroe moves over to Bobby. "Here - a trick I've learned - it might help," she whispers as now two totems float around Ororo as she holds her hands together - one hand glows white, then she puts her hands together as she gestures towards Bobby, chanting in Swahili, as frigid air begins to swirl around Bobby, like his own personal snowstorm. "Ice magic... it's not much,b ut it can help a little..."
Xavier is still keeping track of the people in the area, doing what he can in his own way-- perhaps he can even help Undine find the owners of the dog.. or confirm if there are none in the area. |"You all did very well."| he congratulates them.. and he means it. Without them, and other like minded heros in the area, that building would have fallen. Even if what just happened was a heavy blow to them all, it doesn't change how proud he is of them all.
Bobby let out a little whistle at the sudden snowy cloak. "Ahhh, icy fresh," he chuckles. "I just need a hand back to the mansion is all. Twenty stories worth of ice," he nods to his construct. "Gonna need a nap. Maybe a drink," the bandana wearing calendar model mutant replies. "...and some snacks. Definitely snacks."
Now Logan was slinking off toward the seedy room he just rented a few moments before the chaos happened. Going back up the storm ladder and stairway he went back into an open window. His ginger flavored cigar, half gone, was waiting. He relit it and took a few puffs again. "One last one," he muttered.
Ororo Munroe nods as she just smiles as she just picks up Bobby in a fireman's carry and starts flying him away from the blast zone. "I'll fly you home, then I'll have to rest," she whispers. Kilroy has disconnected. And cue Bobby looking rather surprised and embarrassed at how Ororo picks him up. "Oh man..." he scrubs a hand down his face. "Okay, X-men pile on the couch sounds good," he says, making one last joke.
Ororo Munroe grins. "Nah - I'd hate for Logan to stab you repeatedly," she states as she heads towards Westchester.