Summary:Young Avengers, Part 2 Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Four hundred strangers congregate on a twilight-dark beach. Most are nearly naked, as if ripped from their beds. Cold, scared, injured, frightened. It's hard to tell where they are. America? Pacific or Atlantic? City lights are in the distance but too far out to see. It's late evening, twilight really, and it'd be dark save for the popping of white lights as the last evacuees flee the clutches of the extradimeinsional entity and the Klenmach controlling it.
"Is that everyone?" Kori asks, sounding a little reedy but growing stronger by the moment.
Then there's a HUGE burst of white light and a decompression shockwave of something massive displacing a huge amount of air. A mass the size of a battleship appears a few hundred yards off the coast and falls sixty feet into the water with a roar of the ocean protesting. The waves hit hand enough to knock almost everyone off their feet.
When they recover, there's a creature that surely could only be described as a 'star whale'. It looks like it's fissuring apart, likely due to the physics of this reality versus wherever it's accustomed to residing. It screams in rage and pain, though a hollow laugh of victory echoes in the minds of those with psychic attunement.
The creature thrashes twice, then goes limp.
There's a sound of roaring and the whale's mouth opens, allowing a steady stream of comparatively ant-sized individuals to fly out of it. More Klenmach. And other strange entities that defy normal biology. Most of them wearing some sort of suit designed to let them survive outside the whale's innards, most likely.
"…I believe *now* that is everyone," Kori observes to the people getting back to their feet.
Kori floats twenty feet into the air. Viridian light coalesces around her in a curtain of energy, and when she looks back at the crowd her green eyes are lambent pools of jade.
"RUN!" she shouts, pointing away from the beach. "Run to safety! Inform SHIELD what has happened here! Those who are able, protect the others!"
She lowers her hand and turns to face the army of incoming Klenmach. The fire around her burns brighter, the light a painfully intense beacon for most. "I will stop them from pursuing us," she declares. It's said with a quiet bravado that acknowledges the possible futility of such a decision, even as she drifts towards the intersection of water and sand.
Kori doesn't ask anyone else to volunteer. She flexes her fingers with a look of grim resignation on her fine features, almost sorrowful despite the battle adrenaline ringing still through her veins. The redhead isn't one to shy from a fight, though, and readies her internal energies to let loose the moment the horde of Klenmach troops close to within range.
Resting the huge energy weapon she'd taken from a corpse of the Klenmach, those strange creatuers that looked a nightmarish and cartoonish union between a pig and gorilla on her shoulder as she stands after the wave-crash. She grunts. "Damn. Was hoping they'd all die." She expels a breath, looking to those who'd fought their way free and clear. "Yeah. Like you can hold them off all on your own, Red."
Rose looks back to the crowd, and her face twists, intimidating, and - well, angry. "You heard her. Get the fuck out of here. Before I shoot your asses." She points the gun at them, meaningfully. It's only when movement is seen that Rose turns her attention back to the fight-to-be. She begins firing a few potshots at the incoming hoarde. Thin the herd. "Those suits." Her mind brings the data forward. "They can't survive in our atmosphere. We don't have to get killshots. Just tear through those suits."
Rahne Sinclair, clad in just a tee-shirt and sleep shorts, wraps arms around herself against the chill — but she's not scared. Annoyed, bordering on angry, but not scared. "Seems a reasonable guess," she observes to Kori as she watches the creatures evacuating the dying whale thing, but at the commands of 'RUN!' and 'Protect!', she's on it. In an instant she's in a decidedly warmer form, reddish fur sprouting from her body and tail unleashing from just above the waistband of her shorts. "Lass, if ye think yer doin' this alone, yer a crazy alien. I've yer back."
Tommy Shepherd is somehow the only thing on this beach bone dry. Sure, leave it to the loud mouth to run out of danger by a half mile and back just to avoid things(tm) happening to his hair. Then Kori yells 'Run' This? This the Jersey Boy is happy to do. He looks at those gathered and says, "Look I don't wanna get like, arrested or some shit for moving people around again soooo like either don't sue me or wait until we can find a consent form."
Tommy looks to the people, then the whale spitting up people, then the people, and then squints at the people, "Dude when are we getting a space whale to travel by? How come they get a space whale?" He sighs shaking his head. In a serious, perhaps very 'official' disappointed tone he informs, "When we get home I'm putting a word into management about our lack of upgrades to 'bitchin space whale'"
That said there's 400 some people on this beach. As much of a flippant cuss that he is he turns his priority to moving the civies and less on the folks coming in.
There was no need to ask for volunteers so far as Kate was concerned. She was one of the few that had managed to be captured while dressed, and with her weapon, due to falling asleep during a stakeout. Not her most shining moment but it made her far more prepared to help in this situation than a good many of the others that were also taken. That meant it was her duty to do what she could.
As Kori rises into the air like some alien beacon of strength, Kate notches another arrow as she jumps atop a rocky outcropping on the beach for a better view. Feet planted firmly with one knee slightly bent she takes aim waiting for the Klenmach and others to get close enough to assure a solid shot.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Kate agrees at Rose's assessment. "If anyone gets another of those guns hook me up. I can only do this so many times." After she says it she releases her arrow with a snap of bowstring aiming for the helmet of one of those suited ones. Aimed just so to try and get the most use out of it, in the hopes it would ricochet off to also get the alien to it's right
The flash of light makes Noh-Varr turn toward the ocean in time to see the creature fall into the water. His wrist bands glow and he flies up into the air to avoid the resulting wave. "SHIELD knows." he says. "And is ready to kick some alien ass." Which sounds more bad ass than he looks wearing nothing but black boxer briefs. Sexy but not particularly bad ass. Then again, the energy blasts from his Nega-Bands are pretty bad ass and conical in shape to target more than one at a time.
Nate Grey is among the four hundred strangers that were taken in the middle of the night and managed to escape thanks to the help of others. He wears no shirt, just some black pajama pants. Though…his left eye glows with powerful Psionic energy as he sees the enemy approaching. The Klenmach.
Nate flies into the sky, floating next to Starfire as he prepares to unleash against the enemy as a combatant as well. "Here they come, lets hope we can take them down or at least keep the others safe."
By this point America is rousing herself. She's still a bit punch drunk from being blasted across the beach by an energy surge during the initial break out. She comes to her feet slowly and staggers a little, groaning slightly as she brushes herself off. The dusky skinned, serious Latina is studying the others surrounding her as she runs her fingers through her thick, wavy brunette hair. She adjusts the headband she's wearing and throws Kate a thumbs up as she moves in that direction.
"Tear through the suits, mmm?" America briefly purses her lips and then gives a faint nod. "Or toss them into outer space." America leaves the ground then, loating upward after Kori. "A lot of us probably can't really… Run. We'd better make this a good one. At least we won't be bored?" She hasn't displayed any tendency toward energy blasts. When America cracks her knuckles it seems likely she plans to divebomb them. All of them.
She's had worse plans in the last hour or so.
The Klenmach aren't rushing recklessly. Blue barriers of energy crackle to life ahead of them. It forms a bowplow in their wake that disrupts the air streaming around them. Each hex-shaped shield joins another, then another. They seem to reinforce one another as they gain proximity. The shieldwall's becoming a rolling tortoiseshell that not only suggests significant protection against energy weapons, but allows them to start attacking the stragglers on the beach from the relative impunity of their defensive formation.
Lances of energy blast towards the beach crowd. Most of them are centered on the bright beacons of energy around the fliers, visible even in the low light thanks to the power coalescing around them. But stray or inaccurate blasts pepper the crowd of civilians and threatens to turn their retreat into a deadly full route if not checked.
Kori bites the inside of her cheek, mind racing. "We must flank them! Attack their shield generators!" Kori tells Nate and Noh-Varr. She flies upwards in a high arc and twin streams of raw viridian energy blast downwards. It forces the shield generators to turn to face her, and opens gaps in the line of defense that others can exploit.
More dangerously though, it triggers the Klenmach's secondary offense. Dozens of them drop out of formation on fast skimmers and launch themselves to the beach to land on solid ground, where their size and aggression gives them an advantage. Roaring outrage behind their strange masks, they start rampaging directly at the retreating civilians with murderous intent readily visible even on their alien visages!
Seeing the grid of energy shields coming up, Rose makes an irritated sound, even as she chucks the unwieldy energy weapon in Kate's direction at her request. The weapon is large, but not impossible to single-hand shoot if one is proficient with such weapons. "Let Red and the Flyboys work on destroying the generators," she tells those, like her, remaining landed.
"I'm going to get me one of those flyers," she boldly announces. She starts running, barefoot in the sand, towards the nearest rider. She jumps at the precise moment their paths would cross, skewering the rider with her katana and driving the blade deep. Now? Now it's a struggle to kick the corpse off, and get control if she can. Her plan is obvious. Turn their weapons, their technology against them. Use it to her - their - advantage.
Rahne's speed is in wolf form. She may not be able to communicate with the others in this shape, but she can cause some havoc, at the very least. She races on four paws toward the Klenmachs landing on the beach. Fierce and aggressive they may be, but wolves are no slackers in these departments. She launches herself at the first one she comes near, and in midair reshapes into were-form, slashing with claws, biting if she comes close enough for it to do any good, taking advantage of her agility and the nature of her mutation that allows her to shift from one form to the next.
Kate Bishop reaches back for her quiver searching for another arrow. One of the trick ones might do. She didn't tend to carry anywhere near as much as her predecessor but it was always good to have a few. Feeling the difference in weight it's slid free and notched with an exhaled breath to steady her shot. The generators were being left to the flyers. The group that broke away to chase after the civvies becomes her target.
"They're splitting up!" Aiming to be far enough away from the wolf figure that runs out to attack, she fires the shot taking out one of their skimmer vehicle things in the center of a grouping. It hits true, and explodes messily on contact sending debris flying toward the rest near that group.
Kate is just about to reach for another arrow when Rose tosses the gun her way causing her to pause. Would it work against the shields? Eh who knew, but there were other targets. Surely Starfire, Noh-Varr and that guy who looked a lot like… "Nate!?" Yeah they could handle it. The bow is slung back over her shoulder as she trades off for the gun.
10 to 1 wherever Tommy is moving persons off that beach they're likely positioned like they're having a barbecue somewhere. Feet skid to a halt giving him a microsecond of pause. The person in less than polite attire gets covered up with some leaves off nearby plants. "Don't say I never did nothin for ya." Those white eyebrow wiggle and he zooms on back. He returns in time to shove some persons out of the blast radius of the incoming fire and takes time out of his precious day to make several rude gestures at them. "I'm walkin here! Pedestrians have the right of way, buttmunch!" He looks to them and then to Kate and asks with a wry grin, "Katie Kate, how bad you want one a' them guns they got?" Oh that grin is absolutely up to no good here.
Ohhh. That looks dangerous. But Nate doesn't look too overwhelmed just by the sight of it. He's faced much worse in the future he's from, but he also knows that he's MUCH weaker here, and likely wouldn't do as much damage. But..there's only one way to find out." With America, Starfire, Himself, and Noh-Varr in the sky, Nate immediately zooms to the left flank of that giant blue shield-wall, all the while using his Telekinesis to literally smash a few of the soldiers with the unseen force of his mind. He then notices a cute brunette who looks a lot like…
"Kate?! The hell are you doing here?" He calls down to her, only to use more of his telekinesis to test the shield wall, throwing a massive rock at it.
Without his blaster, the effort to fire energy blasts is a bit taxing even focused by the Nega-Bands. Not to mention not very accurate except in close range. So when the shield wall develops holes, Noh-Varr immediately takes advantage of it to fly through them. As he dodges through a gap, he reaches out to the side to tap each of the enemies there. 'Tap' being relative for the finger strikes. A hard right, and he reaches for a third pigorilla and throws him at a fourth. Behind him, the first two explode from the fingernails he left in their armor.
"Energy generators?" There's a pause as America continues to bob in the air overhead. She's scanning over the shield bubbles, and the alien beings carrying them. Watching as explosions and burst s of light fill the air. She lifts her hands and uses her thumb and forefinger to frame a picture of the ground. "…Perfect." Then America lifts her leg like she's going to stomp and plunges toward the ground at truly ludicrous speed.
The energy barrier America targets is already perforated and she slams into the damaged shield like a freight train hitting glass. …Extremely resilient glass. It buckles underneath the sheer impact but then rebounds. America is flung upward again as a result, thrown back against the sandy beach in an impact that launches silica in all directions like she'd just landed on a buried mine. Immediately, she's surrounded by enemy troopers as their shield buckles under the boulders, energy blasts, and sheer kinetic force of the assault.
Then America launches herself up from the dust to throw the nearest of the mishappen things into a group of his buddies like she's bowling for alien monsters while swearing violently in rapid fire Spanish.
It's a pincer movement that borders between 'brilliant' and 'suicidal'. Were the Klenmach expecting the counterattack it might have ended in disaster. But their pigheaded aggression works against them and they're so focused on simply blasting in all directions that the crossfire of the aerial contingent smashes through their defensive lines. Starfire streaks overhead to draw their fire, weaving through plasma bursts and laying down those heavy columns of power. Noh-Varr and Nate both attack head on to exploit the gaps in the line to devastating effect, and America crashes headlong into a beach contingent like a one-woman wrecking machine. The counterattack stuns the Klenmach into a defensive curl as they try to reassemble their wrecked lines, only for the human allies on the ground to explot a chance to savagely trounce the ground assault troops.
"They are breaking!" Kori shouts, voice a clarion over the sound of exploding plasma bursts. In fact, the physical assaults seem more devastating than any energy blasts or detonations. The strange extradimensional invaders simply don't have the mental preparation to deal with a violent physical counterassault. It's obvious that their mentality is to rely on their equipment up until they can press an attack with overwhelming dominance and against zero resistance.
Humanity, for the moment, is resisting spectacularly.
"I'm kicking ass, obviously!" Kate responds to Nate even as she lifts the gun to take aim and fire. When Tommy pipes up about the gun she responds back sweetly, "Taken care of already. Really I'd like more of my arrows back. It's just more… Me." Plus they were doing great against these guys, really. Rather than remain a sitting target she moves along the beach firing when necessary and trying to help where she can. Any time a good opening presents itself that another doesn't take advantage of she does.
The corpse on Rose's skimmer falls over, and she sits her mostly naked butt into the seat. The skimmer banks for the few moments that nobody is in the driver's seat, but Rose's singular eye hadn't been idle. She'd been watching how they flew them. And in that same moment, she'd taken the basic data in. That doesn't mean it's easy. Like the guns, the controls weren't meant for humans to utilize and the gears take a bit of strength. The skimmer bobs, weaves, and banks before Rose gets it under control. Then she's turning it back towards the Klenmarch masses, her katana is fumbled for, and she finds a strap to secure it.
Fleeing isn't good enough for Rose, though. She manuevers the skimmer at a distance away to one side of the extra-dimensional slavers and then pulls hard one one of the controls, leans out, and grabs her katana with one hand. This action turns her blade, coupled with speed, into a literal harvester, slicing apart and rending a mass of Klenmarch like they were wheat. She rights herself and moves to reclaim a new position once the curve is done and there are no more Klenmarch to cleave, giving her time to survey the battlefield.
The feral female, Rahne, seems to be taking to the discovery Rose made, not necessarily try to spend the time with each individual Klenmarch, but rather to flow between her forms and rip, tear, and shred at their protective uniforms that shield them from the atmosphere and foreign dimension, exposing them to the elments and ultimately causing their death. Probably not so peacfully either. She works, tirelessly, bouncing from foe to foe with an aceelerated speed and precision that suggests she's had a measure of training in combat before. Her efforts will certainly help keep the Klenmarch at bay, and allow the masses to continue to leave the area of imminent danger. None near her presence manage to escape her claws or fangs.
It's no that Tommy doesn't pay attention, he'd just naturally not great at it. When he does, however, oh the ideas come en masse. Someone floating said something about they can't live outside of their suits. One needs a way to go into the suits, sooooo they have an opening. Right! A grin, preemptively too proud of himself, stretches ear to ear like the smug sunnova bitch he is and with Kate's request? The plan is in motion!
Tommy runs over, grabs the arrows that are fires one by one, circles back, decides, eeeeh he'll nap later. He turns, leaving a spray of mist behind him as he cuts across the surface of the water using the arrows to hand-stab holes in all of the suits he can pass one by one to give the beachhead something other than civilians to worry about.
Damn from teh kick spray he skids to a halt of dust and sand on the beach holding out two fists with arrows clumped in them. "As requested. Don't say we never get ya anything. Now…where'd I put those civilians at?"
Nate and Noh-varr's mutual attack right dead center is apparently extremely effective! Nate shouts back at Kate. "Well so am I!" oh, they are probably gonna have a chat about how they got there and bunch of other stuff. Regardless, it seems as though they are breaking. Nate though, flies down to ground level, putting a telekinetic shield in front of him as he barrels through a group of the aliens like they were bowling pins before his feet finally touch teh ground.
Tommy gets a look. "Did you forget where you put them?" Nate raises a brow at the speedster, but seems amused at the thought. But he looks around now, finally moving until he's near Kate. "So, how'd you end up in this neck of the woods?"
The group— not yet a team, but certainly incredibly effective— cuts through the Klenmach. They're not entirely a bloodthirsty group but the damage they're doing is sometimes more insidious than brute force. With Noh-varr and Tommy in particular working to slash apart the exosuits, the extradimensioanl invaders suffer terribly from injuries that might otherwise have been merely severe wounds.
Cleanup, then, is largely a matter of watching the invaders expire from the physics of reality asserting itself on them. And with their suits destroyed the invaders simply… melt away, destabilizing back into whatever ichorous matter their dimension of origin is derived from.
The last Klenmach is cut down and Starfire lands on the beach. Contusions and burns mar her umber skin but she looks as if she's not seriously injured. One palm poresses to her bare tricep, massaging a minor bleeding wound.
"Is anyone hurt badly?" she asks, voice a little frantic with concern. "Secure the attackers, but then we must tend to the wounded!"
Rose fights for control a few moments, then her eyes survey the battlefield as the Klenmarch are felled by more than competant attack on land, sea, and air by the assembled group of heroes, their united effort a thing to behold. It takes her a few more moments to figure out how to stop the thing, involving a brief speed boost, and a rising and then dropping of position in the air before she gets it under control.
Then, she move it over to where Starfire rests, and depowers it. "Think I'll keep this," she states, matter of factly. "Could come in useful." Priorities, first. A felled Klenmarch is near, and she captures herself a brand new energy weapon, placing it next to her katana on the seat of 'her' 'new' skimmer.
"Looks like that is the end of the fight. Now just to figure out where the hell we are. And get home."
Once the last Klenmarch is gone, Noh-Varr flies into the water and shortly comes back up holding one of the energy weapons and a shield generator. "SHIELD will want to study these." Landing back on the beach, he tosses them down to the ground and looks around. "Well, this is one beach I haven't been to. Kind of nice but missing a bar serving margaritas with little umbrellas in them. No telepath? Teleporter? Matter transmuter so we can have margaritas with umbrellas?" More seriously, he adds "I can fly up and get a look. Go suborbital if we're on the wrong part of the planet. Get SHIELD here sooner or later."
Kate Bishop lowers the stolen weapon she had been using to her side when Tommy comes to a halt in front of her offering her arrows like a bouquet. He's flashed a smirk as she reaches out to accept them with a chuckling remark of, "Aw, thanks, they're my favorite!" The handful is tucked back into the quiver slung over her shoulder even as she sweeps her gaze around taking in the complete chaos on the beach. They'd won, obviously, but it was still a lot to take in.
Trudging across the sand she sinks down to sit near the others gathering, depositing the gun beside her in the process. "Thanks for the help back there," she offers to Rose with a tired smile flashed. "We all did a pretty great job I think." Even if they didn't have any idea where they were. Her head tips back to squint up at the sky a few moments as if it might offer some explanation to where they were. It doesn't. Her head shakes a moment, and she looks around for other familiar faces. Noh-Varr's suggestion earns a grin. "I could totally use a drink about now," she agrees even if she might not be legal. Wouldn't be the first time. For now she looks around again. "Where'd Nate go?"
Tommy flashes a too-proud of himself not that Kate's pleased (and subsequently not shooting at him…or making the face.) "I am told I have really good taste." No he's not. It's about then he answers Kori with a serious expression and a nod. He points to the ichorous muck the baddies have become and snickers, "Those guys." He does take the opportunity to cup his hands around his mouth and yell, "You are NOT coming on this BEACH until you get us our own space whale!" He pauses and looks to the ground in quiet consultation, "And a keg of Sam Addams!" He nods. Yeah. Better! That grin doesn't falter looking to Nate, Noh-Varr and America head on back. Flying with style. I approve. Yous get a gold stamp." He looks around still in sneakers, shorts, and a NJ Devils T-shirt. "Up. My guess is Nate went up."
Speak his name and he shall appear!
Nate taps Kate on the shoulder and he gives her a smile. "There's my favorite archer. You alright?" out of concern he analyzes her for any injuries, before he sighs, his X-brand was visible on his chest like some kind of genetic tattoo, and he looks at Kate. "Well..uh…this is me." he shrugs, gesturing around him. He's all about this life. And he's a mutant.
"Not what I imagined for our second date, but…hope you liked it?" he looks at Tommy. "Hey Speedy Conzalez. You got a name? Name's Nate Grey." he offers Tommy a hand for a handshake. Though he also turns his head to Noh-Varr. "Nate Grey." they were all either in Pajamas or were mostly naked. Secret Identites are kinda…invalid, at the moment. Especially to people who wear masks (maybe).
Rose looks over to Noh-Var as Rahne transforms back into a more humanoid version of the wolfgirl that she is and wanders over to join the rest of the party. "Yeah. Do it," she tells him briskly. "Need to know where the hell we are." Beyond that? The platinum haired girl with the eyepatch seems to have little enough, though she is looking with a calculated 'resting bitch face' at each of the gathered members, silently assessing them and what she saw of their abilities and skills.
Koriand'r nods gratefully at Noh-Varr, and speaks to him in Kree. "<My knowledge of geography of Earth is not complete. I would not want to confuse the authorities by informing them incorrectly.>"
She looks out over the ocean for a few minutes to compose herself, holding unnervingly still in mid-air while the others congregate and chat. It takes her a few seconds to cool the last flickering green fires around her. When she turns back and floats to the ground with the others, her eyes are their usual shade of emerald.
"I am grateful to make the meeting of you, friends," she tells everyone with a cheerily polite deference. "I know not your names but you are warriors of great courage and skill! I am Kori Anderson," she says, touching fingers to her sternum and bowing slightly. It's a weirdly formal gesture for a girl in a crop top and brief sleeping shorts. "We must have the fortune indeed for the invaders to have foolishly detained so many exceptional warriors at once."
Noh-Varr doesn't even bother to nod. He just flies upward and then once he's high enough, there's a sonic book as he crosses the sound barrier.
Kate Bishop glances back at the tap to her shoulder. Reaching up she grasps Nate's hand in her own giving it a squeeze along with a breathy laugh. "Yeah, and this is me," she informs him in turn with a little nudge of her head toward the bow on her back. "So I guess we're even." Her attention shifts away toward Kori when she introduces herself, smiling at the alien woman. She was already seated on the sand so doesn't bother to get up. Instead she dips her head toward her in as polite a near-bow as she can return. "I'm Kate Bishop," she introduces of herself. "Thank you for all the help. We really came together nicely because of you."
Tommy snerks at Nate's entrance. "Second date? Shit you might be faster than I am. I don't remember our first one." Wiseass. Still he shakes the hand and wobbles his head. "Speedy? Eeeeh Speed works I guess. That or Tommy. Or… the guy that'll be back with an answer." Really, he might be the only one dressed properly. He's rarely been so grateful to just come home and pass out on the damn couch as is. Apparently being garishly irresponsible at times has its perks! He takes off and comes back…seriously already!?!? He's eating a burger. For fuck's sake, Speed. Between bites he mumbles happily, "In n' Out burger. We're on the west coast…" He looks at the water and back to the group, "Near the shore…or…a shore." See Noh-Varr for specifics. Tommy's distracted by food. He could not have had the time to pay for that. Hell he might have taken it from someone in a nearby car. These are the questions no one wants answers to.
Noh-Varr returns after a bit, having needed to get high enough to see enough of the coastline to figure out where they are. "West coast." he says. "Not sure exactly where but definitely in the US. We shouldn't be more than a few hundred miles from a phone at most."
Nate's hand is held! He casually keeps holding Kate's hand, squeezing it in return. He smiles a bit. "Well, better to be even than to have you getting back at me. Those arrows look sharp." then he looks at Tommy, shaking his hand briefly, but firmly. "Nice to meet you Tommy." then Tommy now has food…where did he get it?! Though Starfire speaks, and he gives their fearless leader a smile. "Nice to meet you Kori. Nate Grey. I notice that we all worked pretty well together. If we manage to get home, pizza on me." Then..Noh-Varr is back!
Rose's singular eye rolls as Starfire begins her impassioned plea. She folds her arms over her chest, keeps the 'RIB' on, until at least Noh-Varr arrives back, and tells them where they are. It at least gives her a point of origin. She waves a hand at Starfire, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. We're done here." A crane of her neck over to Tommy. "Hey, Speedo. Go grab a phone for those losers." She makes a vauge gesture over towards the pedestrians who got caught up in the affair. Then, she moves to climb onto the skimmer without another word. Apparently she thinks they're done. She can at least, from here, figure out a way back to NYC. And she has a fancy new and very unregistered vehicle to help her do that.
Kori nods gratefully at Noh-Varr. "That is very helpful, thank you. I am glad we are *on* Earth. It would complicate things immensely for many of you if we were trapped off-planet," she informs the Kree warrior.
Her head tilts as she hears something, and then she turns to look south at the city. The distant lights separate and become a set of low-flying marking lights blinking red and green in midair. The vehicle sweeps around them at a wary distance, and then heavy spotlights come on to illuminate the remains of the burning invasion force and the half-naked, terrified mob of people near the beach and emerging from the relative safety of the nearby woodline.
"KEEP YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM AND DO NOT MOVE. THIS IS A SHIELD INTERDICTION TASK FORCE. ALL PRESENT ARE TO BE DETAINED. FORCE WILL BE MET WITH FORCE."
Kori looks around, then faces the Quinjet and sticks both hands straight up overhead.
"Do you think they can see my hands?" she mutters to the others in an aside, as other rapid response vehicles start to approach the area from different directions. It's quite a hornet's nest they've kicked up.
Tommy holds his hands up and then gives a flat look to Rose. "Apparently I'm chopped liver." He keeps chewing his ill-gotten burger, finger pointing as a tidbit of truth comes out, "Frommer's fun fact: I am not your personal gopher. You can ask tho." He takes another bite, pale eyes looking skyward. "Wooooow." Looking back to Noh-Varr he comments, "Well ya did say they knew, buuuuut I have no interest in going wherever the hell it is they wanna put us."
Kate Bishop lets out a groan when SHIELD arrives, rolling her eyes upward. "Sure. NOW they show up." A long sigh is given and she reluctantly withdraws her hand from Nate's to hold her hands above her head. See? Empty handed. "We're a bunch of kids in our underwear, mostly, and you want US to not move!? Lame." Muttering she adds, "This was way cooler when I was a kid."
Nate groans lightly as SHIELD arrives, his eyes looking over at Noh-Varr. Narrowed. He looks around at SHIELD as they surround the area. "Great." He stays next to Kate, but he's ready to retaliate. "I think I can take 'em." he mutters lightly, but he looks around at the other members of the group to see how they react. Either way, looks like he's going to accept his fate, albeit reluctantly.
Rose Wilson continues to lean against -her- skimmer. She got it, fair and square. To the victor go the spoils. However, she is more than happy to show SHIELD both of her hands. It just so happens that both of her hands, when shown, also seem to be showing SHIELD each of their respective middle fingers. "You're welcome," she snarks darkly at the SHIELD agents, already suspecting said spoils will be yanked from her clutches. "We already did all your work for you. And saved the day, or whatever. So, have a look around and then let everyone get out of here. We're in a our damn underwear, for fuck's sake." But, at least she remains where she is. She's rebellious, dangerous, and snarky. But she's not stupid.
"SWORD already has this under control." Noh-Varr says loudly, not quite shouting. They probably have listening equipment trained on them. "But thank you for the backup. Radio headquarters and tell them Noh-Varr needs transportation for several hundred people, enough clothing in various sizes for the same number, and medical attention as they've all just escaped after being kidnapped." Pause. "And margarita mix and tequila."
Tommy finishes his burger squinting a look at the fliers and the search lights and shit. "Hella lame, Katie Kate. Nate-o, I can tell you this as someone an authority on the matter buuuuut just like the future? Fucking up the feds ain't no joy ride and brings a fuck ton of unneeded hassle." He ticks his finger back and forth in a no-no gesture. "Doooo not shake the SHIELD snowglobe." As Rose is flipping off the feds a wry grin stretches across his face. He pauses though looking to Noh-Varr. "Shiiiiit, bro, I was gonna jam but you had me at margarita mix." He yells up at the sky, "AND SEVEN LARGE MEAT LOVERS PIZZAS!" he blinks and shrugs. "Look, it can't hurt, ok?"
Noh-Varr's assertive presence goes a long way towards calming the SHIELD reaction. His announcement of his identity certainly checks the aggression of the response as SHIELD agents on the ground start trying to herd the kidnapped citizens away from the battlefield. Once they confirm Noh-Varr is in fact who he claims to be, the senior reaction force leader promptly hands command of the entire operation over to Noh-Varr. The leader, a heavyset athletic woman in her late thirties, salutes him crisply and even manages to keep her eyes front. "SWORD's got this in hand, then," she tells Noh-Varr. "Just tell us what we can do to help until your people get here to sweep and clear."
Kori blinks twice at Noh-Varr, still standin there with her hands extended vertically over her head. "You're an agent with the government?" she inquires, looking surprised. "This is a welcome surprise! It seems fortune was with us today."
"May I put my hands down now?" she inquires, her tone polite and utterly concerned.
"Everyone here was kidnapped by aliens of some species I'm unfamiliar with." Noh-Varr tells the SHIELD agents. "Extra-dimensional as opposed to space. You'll find some of their tech around." He gestures to the energy shield and energy rifle he collected from the water then points out into the water. "Circle around there and take what readings you can. Their vessel - a large life form of some sort - went down there and kind of disintegrated. There might be some DNA left. Also, lots of now empty environmental suits as well as weapons and defensive equipment are now under water. Coordinate with others as they arrive to collect what they can." Turning to look over at Starfire, he gives her a grin. "Agent of SWORD." The space division of SHIELD. "Though this might be more WAND's territory. Give them a call too." he adds to the SHIELD agent.
Even Rose seems somewhat appeased when SHIELD stands down after confirming Noh-Varr's status, huffing briefly and squinting at him with her eye. There's a brief nod of respect, however fleeting, from the once-and-unlikely-but-possibly-future mercenary for hire. "Easier than expected. Nice connections," she admits, for once perhaps showing a mild appreciation, or at least not snarking about something. At least for the span of a couple of seconds, until Kori speaks. "Fortune? Red. You're crazy. Unless we all rolled snake-eyes, and you call that luck."
Then, after Noh-Varr seems done giving some direction to the operatives, she mentions, "At least someone knows what they're doing around here. We done?" Meaning - can she leave? Used to working alone, Rose's usual mental faculties which allow her to analyze and assimilate data on the fly seems to have developed a large blind spot caused by her past experiences and her expectations. Her hand moves to the skimmer, ready to mount and take off.
The burger's gone which means Tommy's idle curiosity is now left unoccupied. Be warned, world. Casually he offers, "Eeeeh bad luck is still luck just like a shitty car is still a car." He looks to everyone and then to the sky and winces squinting one eye shut, "Shotgun." Rose didn't even invite him. He doesn't care, she voluntold him to go be a gopher. Nya! "Like seriously, I'm good for a pizza for a ride caaaaaause my mom catches wind that SHIELD found me involved in a thing and my ass is grass, and I don't mean it's the yay this is how we welcome in 4/20." Looking around and back to Kori and Noh-Varr he asks, "So we all want to GTFO ooooor you really excited about the judicial processing part of…whatever the fuck they do?"
Nate looks at Tommy and he sighs. "I know. Where I'm from, its much worse than this." Sentinels would just fry you, not even say 'WE'RE HERE'. It was just the sound of a laser going off and you were suddenly a pile of ash. "No lie, I'd much rather get the hell out of dodge than wait for these clowns to decide what to do with us." Nate lowers his hands then and crosses his arms, keeping his eyes looking around. He looks between Starfire and Noh-Varr.
"No. Everyone needs to remain here so you can give statements and be checked for off-world influences," the SHIELD agent says, diverting her attention from Noh-Varr to Rose Wilson.
Looking around, it looks like the agents have their hands very full with four-hundred mostly naked people and a bunch of aliens literally dissolving into nothingness on the beach. In the distance the space whale crumbles into something ethereal and biological, glistening with sparkles before it vanishes under the waves.
It's not likely that anyone's going to get meaningfully delayed if they decide to just… go. Particularly not someone with access to flying, teleportation, superspeed, or the ability to just walk briskly into the dense woods of the Pacific Northwest.
"Ooh! Ooh! I will make a statement!" Kori says, and leaps forward. Arms still overhead, she almsot bowls the other woman over with wide green eyes.
"I like mustard tortes!" she declares.
Sensing the opportunity to withdraw strategically, a few people start to slip into the shadows, leaving the law-and-order types to handle the cleanup. For anyone not capable of hoofing it home themselves, it'll be a day or two to extract themselves from the iron manacles of government bureaucracy…