Summary:Mysterious 911 calls from Central Park summon the Young Avengers Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
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Alison Blair is a star on the rise; always busy with performing, practicing, and recording. Dazzler is a member of the Young Avengers; busy training and learning. Her life has been weighted towards the former rather than the latter, so much so that it seems the membership of the team has dwindled around her. Unless they've been promoted to Old Avengers.
Alison is in her Dazzler outfit - white jumpsuit, blue face make-up - which is also her stage outfit so secret identities will soon be an issue. It is night so her bright white costume may not be the most discrete. In fact, she even has to sign an autograph for a drunk who recognised her before shooing him away. The Young Avengers are here for a reason. Crime is afoot!
Dani, meanwhile, is airborne on Brightwind. She smiles a bit as she covers Alison from above, keeping an eye out for problems as she says in the commlink, "Autographs? Seriously love?" She chuckles a bit, glancing back and forth as she looks for the source of the alert they received. "Seeing anything down on the ground? There's nothing up here yet…" Which bothers her, as she looks warily about.
"You want me tell him to get lost?" Dazzler replies. "At least he didn't ask for a selfie." She returns to surveying the dark park. "Is this some kind of training mission? I can't see much going on either." A pause. "I'm going for a walk into the trees. Cover me."
Dazzler heads off into the darkness. She is certainly aware of others in the park. Some homeless people trying to find a place to hide. Tourists who believe that it is safe to walk in the park at night now. Illicit lovers needing a place to tryst. "Do you know who called the alert?"
Dani chuckles, "Nah, just… well, people sometimes worry about the secret identity thing." Not that Dani does, since the flying horse is a bit hard to hide. She does keep shadowing Alison from above, though she goes out of view with the trees obscuring her.
A bit of a frown, though, as Alison asks about the alert, "Not sure, it was a generic code from the NYPD system, just that it was a 616 - standard metahuman alert." She hmms, "Careful hon, the trees are making it a bit hard to see you down there."
"I can fix that" Alison replies with a smirk before there is a glow of light around her. Not best for sneaking around but it means back-up will see her. Unfortunately, it also lights up a rather concerning tableaux. The police officers who must have called it in are lying prone on the ground; most likely dead. They lie on the edge of a recently dug hole. A hole that has been dug from underground. Even now can be heard the sound of machinery rising upwards. "I think we found it."
Brightwind lands nearby, a short distance from the hole, and then Dani dismounts, wearing her Asgardian armor. "Yeah, sounds like it… I go first?" She grins over at Alison, "I mean, I'm the one wearing the magic armor and such, at least." But first, she does check on the police officers, seeing if they're dead or just unconscious first.
There are life signs but they are very weak. Almost as if the police have been rendered comatose. There are no visible injuries but both of them look worryingly pale in Dazzler's light.
Alison peers down the hole - at least it doesn't look like a straight drop. More of a sloping tunnel downwards…and the machinery noise is coming their way. "You might not have to go first" she points out. "It might be coming back to meet us." A beat. "Have I ever told you how hot you look in that armor?"
Dazzler dismisses her light in an instance. The only glow coming from the tunnel now and getting brighter.
Dani grins, "First time you saw it… and every time since." She winks at Dazzler, and draws out her sword. "Well, if it's coming to meet us, I guess it would be rude not to give it a proper Young Avengers welcome." And with that, she waits patiently for… well, whatever mystery this is to come forth.
"A Young Avengers welcome?" Dazzler isn't exactly sure what that is but she steps back into the trees in readiness. "I hope it makes a lot of noise" she asides.
First comes a metal leg. Rising from the hole and plonking its tri-toed foot into the earth. Then another leg does the same. Both about twenty feet long. Then a nose like a drill, not turning since that work has been done, but still looking like it could be a nasy weapon. The metal body behind the drill is spherical in shape, about ten feet in diameter. Lights around the edge like a crown, along with two barrels that looks suspiciously like weapons. A third leg at the back of the sphere. Steam shoots off with every movement - the whole thing sounds like it is wheezing and coughing.
Dani frowns, "Well, yes, typically that involves Kori zapping it…" She blinks as the massive tripod thing emerges, then glances over at Dazzler, "Okay, steampunk tripods, that's not something I was expecting, to be perfectly honest." She keeps her sword up, as she looks at Dazzler, "I think we need to get ready to move…"
Though, she does raise her voice, looking up at the tripod without fear, "Hello there, are you friend or foe?" Because, well, she's not looking to start a fight. But she's perfectly willing to end one.
The tripod fully emerges, steadying itself on the earth around the hole before staring down at Dani. It looms over her. The barrels aiming at the Valkyrie with seeming intent. "You will surrender" booms a metallic voice suddenly from a collection of pipes on the underside of the sphere. "Put down your weapons."
Dazzler is as ready as she can be, itching to get stuck in but…giant metal tripod with guns. She has no idea where to begin.
Dani blinks, "Well, gee, let me think about it…" She then grins, and says, "No." With that, she suddenly sprints forward, shouting, "Dazz, neuter this thing would you?!?" Dani's logic is, well, if she's too close to the thing, it's going to be hard for it to hit her with the weapons… and her sword should have little problem cleaving through the metal of the beastie.
Dazzler glows brilliantly once more, certainly distracting the tripod from the attacking Valkyrie. Only for a moment but for long enough. It missed its shot. Dani's sword slices through a metal leg as if it were butter. Albeit, butter that sparks from the contact. The tripod takes a step back, training its weapons on Dazzler even as another weapon emerges from the sphere - what looks to be a chainsaw that is reaching down for Dani.
But before it can strike, the attacked leg gives way and the tripod staggers and reels. It's shots at Dazzler whizzing safely overhead of the lit up superheroine before she zaps back with lasers shooting from her fingertips. The heated light piercing the sphere as it topples.
Dani's blade slices through the approaching chainsaw, not even pausing as the hot knife meets the butter, at least metaphorically. Then she says, "Okay, since you seem to have incapacitated the police here, let me offer you a chance to surrender. Or else I'll carve you out of your little widget." With that, she advances towards the sphere proper, keeping her guard up as she knows Dazzler has her back.
The sphere hits the ground with a thud, rolling a little before stilling. As for the offer of surrender there is no vocal response. Instead, there is a clunking of metal before all of the legs eject from the body. The drill starts up, causing the sphere to start to point downwards. It looks like it is trying to escape!
Dani shouts, "Oh no you don't!" And with that, she moves to leap onto the sphere, stabbing her sword deep into the surface because… well, it doesn't cut living beings, so anyone inside isn't going to get more than a firm poke. But she definitely doesn't want it going anywhere as she starts carving into the sphere.
"Dani!" Dazzler yells out in alarm as the Valkyrie leaps onto the sphere and its whirring drill. She curses herself for giving away a secret identity. And then another curse when she realises she should actually be doing something. Emerging from the trees, she heads for the sphere, hands glowing with energy.
Dani starts cutting shapes out of the armored hull as it tries desperately to right itself to begin drilling back into the earth. Sparks fly. Machinery starts to make grating noises that are probably not a good sign. Suddenly, the drill stops and the lights flicker out.
Fortunately, Dani doesn't really have a secret identity, as she smiles as the power goes out on the sphere. Then she pauses in her carving, just knocking twice on the metal hull as she says, "So, you're out of power, and you're not going anywhere. Care to reconsider that surrender option?" She then smiles over at Dazzler, giving her a wink.
There is silence for a long moment. And then the sound of a metal handle being turned - like that on a ship. Slowly a three feet diameter circle opens up to reveal the pilot. It is not human. Not even living. It is a little mechanical man integrated with the pipes and tubes of the sphere interior. He glares at them with blue robotic eyes, irises going from large to small and back again. "Long live the king!" it squeaks before a countdown on a display in its belly starts. It looks like they have five seconds.
Dani blinks and leaps back from the sphere, her first instinct to try and get Alison and herself to cover, as she shouts, "Brightwind, GO!" Because she doesn't have time to get on the horse, but her steed could still get clear as she saw the Predator movies, so knows what's about to happen!!!
If in doubt, throw up a shield. Dazzler does just that. A barrier of photons between Dani and herself…and a sphere that suddenly explodes. Metal shrapnel hitting the shield and, for the most part, disintegrating from its intensity. A few shards make it through but Dani's armor is there to take care of that. A ball of flame shooting upwards that will be seen all around the park. That should bring more police and heroes. Of the sphere, barely anything remains. Even the legs have disintegrated from the explosion and, unfortunately, so have the two police.
Dani hugs Alison tight, then blinks, "Didn't realize you could do that… wow, cool." She smiles at Alison, looking relieved that it wasn't such an explosion, though she sighs a little at the wreckage, "Wish we could have figured out where that thing came from. Seems like there might be more of them."
Of course, she does keep holding Alison, mainly because she's glad they're both still alive with the explosion and everything else.