2020-05-18 - Deus Ex Blitznip

Summary:

Hank's efforts to create an alternative food source for Domino's Hellkitty blows up in his face, literally, and the RESCUE campus gets flooded by a strange gas that acted like hypercatnip. Hilarity ensued. Also…pink fur.

Log Info:

Storyteller: None
Date: Mon May 18 23:24:19 2020
Location: RESCUE Campus

Related Logs

None

Theme Song

None

toni-hohisako-ichikihank-mccoymartin-almerpossedominoveronica-kelsey

.~{:-----------: +views :-:}~.


This is some seriously fringe science, even for Hank. Weeks ago he was given samples from a hell-world, literally Hell in many regards, peopled primarily by entities best described as demons. The samples included blood from a demonic animal, mud full of 'nutrients' and even some seeds from the demonic realm, and berries that both the Hellkitty, Domino and Thea could safely ingest.

That's something.

Weeks of analysis and Hank started to tie a few things together, he found some common threads and has been in his voluminous spare time (cough, cough) working on creating a synthetic super-nutrient for creatures from the biome. Granted, he had a small sample size, but that at least part of it /was/ food, is a big leg up.

The final simulations looked good, and so he decided to proceed in true mad scientist fashion! The chemicals were mixed, mental prayers said quietly, and then he added the catalyst to trigger the reaction — BOOM!

Hank was knocked unconscious, also, as a side-effect - his fur is currently, hopefully not permanently, bright neon pink. The beaker is full of some sort of sludge, some very fragrant sludge, but what is important is that a vast cloud of gas was blasted out of the lab and into the air circulation system. The stuff is weird, it actually isn't organic, so it bypasses the bio-filters almost completely, and expanded far beyond what would be considered normal.


Martin ambles to the lab that he knows Hank is in.. and then Boom. He blinks and then hurries over, knowing security will be there soon as well. The smoke of course hits and he coughs, pulling his shirt up to temporarily cover his mouth. Not that it helps, but he tries! "Hank!?" Shouted as he works at the door, trying his key card and fumbling some in his hurry. Opening the door makes the smoke worse, but he dives right in regardless. Soon coughing for smell and more. "Hank!?" More by powers than by sight, the red-head seeks out the mutant scientist, regardless of color. "Idiot.. I just ordered lunch!"


Earlier today:

"You ready, Cowboy?"

"Time to put your money where your mouth is, Miss."

Outside of the RESCUE campus two individuals line up along a straight open section of clear ground. Parked beside each of them is a Rambler, powered up and ready to go.

Domino narrows eyes at Karl. Karl narrows eyes at Domino.

"Send it."

Karl flips a coin into the air and the world around the two stops in anticipation. As soon as it strikes cement with a *ping!* the two leap into action, each taking a seat on the back of a Rambler then launching them forward in a makeshift drag race to much hooting and 'yee-haw'ing!

Given the circumstances of their business relationship these two have really come a long way.

Now:

With the Ramblers returned the two start heading inside amidst much laughter. Neena's about dabbing at her eyes saying "I've always wanted to do that" when her pace slows enough that Karl gets a few steps ahead of her before realizing she had fallen back. The albino momentarily looks completely spaced out, stock still as she sniffs at the air. Then her pupils start to dilate.

Before Karl can mutter an "Aw hell" he's driven back against a wall and —

Nuzzled?!

The creature formerly known as Neena Thurman starts sniffing at Karl as he carefully reaches for his comms. "Aah..we might have a situation here? Maybe? I'm honestly not sure what's — okay that's starting to hurt — ow!"

In the next moment Karl's roughly dumped to the floor as a wild-eyed albino's attention darts down the hallway. A heartbeat later she starts running further inside!

Back to comms, "This is Karl..the cat got loose."


An alert sounds, piped through the various security channels when Martin sounds the alarm by breaching what is left of the lab. In her own office reviewing surveillance materials on the AIM raid, Veronica glances at the alert as it pops up on her smart glasses, but she's by far not going to be the fastest on scene, and Martin is there to lend medical aid. She finishes what she is doing and starts saving data, sending out various follow-up commands as she prepares to go mobile. Once everything is saved and her systems are locked, she picks up her phone from her chair and then activates her comms through the headset built into her glasses.

Thus far she has no idea that the mysterious particulates from Hank's reckless plan have passed through the systems of the Wellspring and into the Spire.

"This is Dr. Kelsey. Someone get me a sit-rep. Do we have an infiltration event? Karl, what do you mean the cat got loose?" A moment's delay, and then Veronica groans. "Damnit. Start scan and lockdown procedures. Someone pull up a running trace on Thurman's badge. Alert Posse and switch crisis command to her by protocols. Martin, what is the status in the labs? Where's Henry?"


Elsewhere on campus Ava's enjoying the conclusion of a nice hour of personal time between morning and evening shifts - fringe benefits of setting her own schedule. Despite being dressed way, way down from her normal combat kit, the bionic woman still isn't completely unplugged from the base comms thanks to one of Roni's many innovations.

A string of profanities echo off the tile walls of the base's locker room as the sound of a running shower cuts off abruptly. Only a few seconds later, the chief of security is giving orders to the rest of REACT.

"<Follow plan CAT, no adjustments, I'll be top-side in 2.>" Perhaps unsurprisingly, Domino going rogue is in the paranoid sergeant's playbook.


A few minutes ago, anyone near the Sandbox would have seen a 10-meter-tall psychokinetic projection - Hisako's exo-armor - sitting down, taking a few meters off its height, and using a pair of telephone-pole-sized skewers (?) along with a large coil of woven metal cable (???) to knit … either the biggest scarf known to humankind, or … well, it's anyone's guess, but the mesh she was contentedly assembling out of iuterlaced loops of metal was easily going to be big enough to use as building material.

Then the alarms go off, and it's hard to tell whether the armor flickered before or after the startling noise caused the mutant to drop a stitch from her knitting. The needles and cable do *not* fall to the floor; Hisako regains control of her armor too quickly to drop them, but the dropped stitch is lost and the alarm catches her when her focus was already decaying. With a sigh, Armor puts down her knitting and shrinks her armor down to a more mobile two-meter height. "This is Ichiki," she comms to Dr. Kelsey and Posse. "Where do you need me? Currently at the Sandbox, was aiding construction."


Hank's condition is not great - the man was ground zero in essentially an explosion of steaming demon kibble! Apparently it must have reacted oddly with his cleaning products - hence - PINK fur. Mostly the problem is that his senses got /massively/ overwhelmed and he sneezed so hard he hit his head with enough force to crush a worktable and knock himself out. So, yeah, runny nose…crushed work table (Luckily not the one with the goo!) and headache. :) Yay! Big fun.

The mystery particles keep expanding…coating everything they contact, a faint smell of sulphur and strawberries, yum?


Martin is struggling with smells and smoke. His voice is strained as he replies, "Checking now. There's this smoke cloud that went right through the safety seals. Hank had everything shut down properly from what little I can tell, but that didn't stop it. It smells terrible!" As for the pink Hank? Finding him, the red-head drops to his knees and puts both hands on Hank's chest. It takes him a moment before he gives, "Hank's fine. The smells knocked him for a loop. The color change? That I'm not sure about, but it hasn't done him any harm." Thankfully the air system in here is rapidly clearing things away. Checking to see if he has pink palms now, Martin will wake the other up. He'll leave the headache for now. "Wakey wakey. There are easier ways to dye your hair you know." He claims sourly. Not that Hank can really hear him yet.


It all happens so fast. Like a cat outta hell the albino's rushing toward the next unsuspecting 'victim,' the hallway exploding in loose paperwork as the technician gets pounced to the floor where both he and Neena slide another dozen feet. They've barely had a chance to stop before she's up and running again, leaving the poor guy to look completely baffled while shakily adjusting his glasses. "Is..is she seeing anyone..?"

Anyone else in the area starts clearing out pretty damn quick!

As the halls start to seal the mostly shiny black and white figure does one heck of a slide beneath a door then expertly rolls back upright, attention darting from side to side before branching off down another hall..only to miss sliding under a second shutter.

A hollow *Whunk* sounds out as she plows into it then stumbles back, fangs bared as she shakes it off and launches herself against it again. What follows is a totally unnatural sounding -ROWRH!- and the scrabbling of what..might..be -claws.-

Not claws. Still fingernails. But really -tough- fingernails! Did she paint those suckers in diamond coat black?!


"Oh, for pity's sake." Veronica grumbles, slowing her roll - literally - as barriers start dropping to cut off wherever Neena has been detected. "OK. Assume we should not override barrier security. Posse, I recommend calling Nadia. She may be able to slip through to find and assess Neena while maintaining our existing barriers. Martin, I recommend a full musculo-skeletal scan to make sure Henry is in no immediate — " Her brain catches up with her medical instincts. It's Martin. "Nevermind. Get him up, and get some answers about whatever the Hell he was doing. I'm pinned down at ground level lobby in the Spire, currently."


"This'll be over before she gets here," Posse radios back. "Suit up if you want to join us. Security'll clear a path."

Posse's cybernetic suit appears on the campus tactical network and the cyborg takes a few seconds digesting a colorized campus map before adding to the radio chatter while taking off at a sprint. "Positioning a humblebee for surveillance. We've got her in an internal hallway. Immediate area secure, evacuating one-out… Put a drone in the room she came from and prepare to re-open the door. We'll pinball her between rooms to infil new elements. No report of weapons or injuries so far."


Some people would need to suit up. Hisako's gotten used to donning a practical jumpsuit - whether her X-Men uniform, discreet as it is, or a readily available RESCUE uniform - whenever she's working at the campus, so all she needs to do is project her exo-armor about herself, and she's basically ready for anything not involving lasers (or adamantium projectiles).

Hearing that Hank was in his lab at least gives her a direction to head in, though, and short of Posse specifically instructing her where to go, Hisako makes her way to the Wellspring - armored up, and at a relatively sedate jog boosted primarily by her armor's size.


"Pardo—" Hank catches sight of his fur. His /neon/ pink fur. "…oh my stars and garters, that's NOT cool." He sits up abruptly, and then his whole face scrunches up in horror, and he barely averts his gaze as he starts /sneezing/. It lasts for close a three full minutes before the man has himself under control. And then the itching starts. "Martin…what happened? I seem to have hit my head." Miserable, eyes blood shot, nose still running Hank grips Martin's shoulders. "What happened to the kibble-goo?!"

Yellow eyes are wild. "Wait…what happened at all? I'm so confused."


Martin looks up at the sound of shutters coming down. Whelp. "On it." He assures Veronica about getting Hank awake. "You're right though. He still needs scans. I can't suss out any of the non normal stuff." So that medical brain is spot on. That smoke is decidedly not normal.
As Hank finally wakes, Martin emits a sense of calm. It's okay. Before anything can be said, there's sneezing. Oy. Martin puts a hand over Hank's eyes and upper nose, trying to ease the reaction. It feels nice. "You blew something up, and it overloaded your sense of smell. Knocked yourself out cold. I have no idea what kibble-goo is, but Boss Kelsey really wants to know what you were trying to do." Frowning as he concentrates on the sinuses, he works at making sure Hank can breath and not knock himself silly again. (Of course the goo could be right over there, but Martin hasn't looked for it.)


As it goes, no plan survives first contact. The hallways are sealed. There's no access to any of the adjacent rooms. However, with as state of the art as the RESCUE facility is it still require proper ventilation…

Leave it to the luckiest cat on the planet to not only be trapped in the same section of hallway that happens to have a not properly secured vent panel but to have -found- it on her first try.

It still takes some effort but with the low surface friction of her thermal gear and no combat harness to slow her down Neena's suddenly VERY good at squeezing into narrow places. That she happens to have extensive training at infiltration and escape measures only further helps her efforts!

Someone reeeally does not enjoy being confined against her will.


"To suit up, I have to either get outside, or get down. Both of which are currently locked down." Veronica complains to Posse, but there's no real bite in it. She gets why this is necessary, even if it is very frustrating.

"Down the Hall from that lab, Martin, is a full scanning suite. Advanced MRI, the works. You should have access … assuming you're not bottled up in the lockdown." Veronica explains.

"What. What the Hell is 'kibble goo?"


"Try the doors, Roni, security's got your ID cleared. Martin too," Posse radios back while trusting her command center personnel to manage the crisis control for her. It's nice to have a well-trained team and everything according to a pla—

Somewhere on campus sealed inside a helmet, the cyborg huffs to no one but herself before keying her security channel again. Despite moving at beyond what could be called a spring, her messages are clear and coherent, if each said in a single breath. Ahead and behind, security doors are hissing open and closed two rooms at a time to keep up with the bionic speed she's moving. It's not long before the errant albino is only a short distance away. "Get me a map of the vent system and funnel 'er to me. Guide Hisako in for backup."


"Dr. Almer's with Hank?" Hisako may still be catching up on one or two details, but the fact that Medical Attention (funny how that abbreviates to M.A.) is there with Hank seems to put her audibly at ease. Now she can focus on helping to herd Domino.

"Which floor are you on, Posse? I'm entering the Wellspring now - if the doors open." She could probably try to make her way through if the doors DON'T open, but then they'd have to just repair them … probably out of the stipend for her internship … and Hisako's been around often enough to know that sometimes you actually DO have to lock down movement into, out of, and within one or more of the buildings here.


"Kibble-goo, an alternative food source for the Hellkitty parasite inside Neena. She wanted to see if I could come up with something so it wouldn't require souls, a means to feed it safely." Hank sighs at the relief that Martin grants, his senses are still in overdrive, and then — after blowing his nose a /lot/ into a hanky — he inserts some filters plugs. "Oh, that's much better. Thank you." Looking about the lab, trying very hard not to stare at his now *gloriously* pink fur, Hank is relieved to see the brownish sludge in his beaker is intact. "It shouldn't be dangerous, how bad was the explosion, the lab seems intact…" A frown, and then he looks at the stuff. "In /theory/, just have to run some tests, but /in theory/ this SHOULD feed the entity, just fine." He scrambles for his comms, jumping on RESCUE-net. «Doctor Kelsey, this is Beast. The Kibble-Goo is food for Domino's, err, passenger. What is the situation?»


Martin responds about the location of the scanners, and the security clearance, "Thanks." That'll make things much easier! While he knows there's something going on beyond this bit of drama in the labs, he doesn't try to learn more. Everyone has enough to deal with. So he attempts to get Hank to his feet after all the snot blowing. Ew. And since Martin can't even begin to carry the pink scientist.. Tug tug! "We need to get you scanned. There's equipment just down the hall. We can talk about boom results later…" The medic coaxes, trying to pull Hank out of the lab. "Come on.. Doctor Kelsey wants you scanned to make sure you haven't scrambled that brain of yours into an omelet."


Crawling around inside of air ducts isn't the sneaky stealthy approach like the movies would lead one to believe. They're flimsy, noisy, and good at carrying sound. Some of this could be accounted for if the person currently scrambling through them had their full composure but with Neena that was the first element to vacate the scene!

Veronica would probably hear the infiltrator coming before one of the vents comes crashing to the floor, permitting the oddly colored lady with the bright orange badge to unroll herself and drop down in the middle of the hall.

Again the air is sniffed, the albino's attention rapidly darting around this new space as if trying to map it out before she spins about…

…and sees Doctor Kelsey all by her lonesome.


"I don't see how I would be of much help trying to track down and contain Domino, Posse. But if you really need me, I suppose I can do that." Veronica explains, frowning at word that apparently Domino is in the air vents. Oh my, that's inconvenient.

"Our standard Humblebees are going to be too large for the air vents. I recommend we deploy some of the miniature prototypes, if they can be brought online to the main control sys —" Veronica explains, as she is entering commands, telling the Augmenta armor to prep itself and load its casket onto an elevation pad to bring it up ground level outside, as she starts rolling towards the front doors. Badge, badge, oh, there it is, that should just …

Right before the doors beep to acknowledge her command to open, Veronica turns around at the sound of something tumbling in the air vents. No. It couldn't be. Domino wouldn't be coming in her direction, would she? Roni rolls back a bit and turns towards the noise, convinced she's hearing something from a good distance away, but instincts warring with her logic.

And then the damned vents crash right through the ceiling! "Oh crap. Posse, she's in the Spire lobby. Posse!"

Veronica can see the wild look in Domino's eyes. She has been trying to ignore the stench; there are more important things going on, damnit! She has not yet caught up mentally to realize that the 'stink' is somehow tied to Hank's experiment, and that she is now covered somewhat liberally - though not nearly so liberally as, say, Hank himself! - with something intended to be tasty to the demonic entity 'riding' along inside of Domino.

"Cassandra, override lockdown bypass! Lock out identity badge for Dr. Veronica Kelsey, authorized on my order! Execute immediately!" Roni shouts out, just as those feral eyes sweep around and lock on … her.

Oh crap!


The door before Hisako hisses open of its own accord and someone else cuts in over the radio from REACT's command center. "Go straight then second door on your right, Hisako," a gentle voice guides dutifully. "Just follow the opening doors."

Dashing through campus almost as fast as the security system can keep up, Ava's blood runs cold as she reaches the stairwell and /leaps/ not up the stairs themselves but up the central shaft to vault over the railing one story above and fling through the ground floor doorway just as it pivots out of her way. Skidding along the smooth floor, the cyborg turns and races down the hall with only one door left to go.


"Thank you!" Hisako replies, heading through the second door on her right as instructed. At least, assuming it was the correct 'right' and not the 'other right' from whomever's on the cameras now. She may be moving closer to a brisk walk by now, but she keeps moving, headed to rendezvous with Posse - and from there to, presumably, wherever Domino is.

But if she heard Dr. Kelsey calling to lock out *her own* identity badge? The doors will barely have time to open for the PK-armored mutant.


"But…the goo…and the smoke…and hey, I'm /pink/, did you see that I'm pink? And man…I /STINK/ something fierce. You think YOU got it bad? You should smell with MY schnozz!" Yes, clearly Hank is in top form. "Don't let the goo get away, okay?" Hank shakes Martin. "Don't. Let. It. Get. AWAY!" This does necessitate he rise of course, which is a good thing. Once he's sure the fellow mutant will comply, Hank smiles brightly and staggers a little. "Think I'm gonna be sick…" He manages to get to a sink, and yeah, pukes his guts out. After a moment, his shoulders slump. "Oh…might…be…concussed." A moment to fight the nausea, and then he will move as Martin directs, albeit slowly. "There's a lockdown…right? Is anyone hurt? Did my goo-splody cause problems?" A blink. "Wait, weren't you getting lunch?"


Martin makes a note to work on the pink mutant some more soon. Didn't show bad signs of concussion, but who knows what the goo does to humans. "Hank!" Protested as he's shaken about the ooze. But more isn't said immediately due to vomit. Sigh. But after that's done, Martin is firm. "Hank.. focus! This way." Will pull and tug and berate Hank until he's out of that lab and heading down the hall. Ducks to get his badge to set off panels so that security know exactly which one he needs opened. "Yes, lockdown, but you are coming with me." Not wandering off. "And yes lunch, but now we are getting you scanned." His tone is so firm and he uses his empathy to try and nudge Hank into paying attention to him. This way! This way! Once the shutter is raised, he's pulling Hank more.
"What I wouldn't give for a twinkie right about now." He mutters, hoping to lure Hank to another room.


Words. Calls for security, for backup, for lockdowns. So many words spoken so quickly and none of them matter at all. Despite the well lit interior Neena's eyes gleam bright, her head ducking forward and shoulders hunching upright.

One slow step brings her toward the wheelchair-bound woman, sniffing once more at the air.

The second step triggers the sprint.

Ground is covered at an alarming rate, eyes wide and fangs visible as the hellcat-possessed mercenary -leaps- across a fairly incredible distance to expertly pounce Veronica, chair and all!

If the brakes aren't set they might well break a new land speed record for wheelchairs going in reverse!

As for poor Roni she's about to get nuzzled halfway to oblivion while the hellcat sniffs around in search of that peculiar 'not of this dimension' odor. The scent is definitely with Veronica but it still isn't the source!


Veronica is not helpless. Not really. As Augmenta she could do so much more, but Roni has a brain, and what a brain it is! A big part of that brain is recognizing realities; she knows that without her suit she's less physically capable than some, and she prepares for that. She works out a lot, not just despite her physical limitations but because of them. But she also prepares.

Domino has zeroed in on her. Roni has no idea what that means. This is a Hellkitty, whatever the frakk that is. Dom could very well try to kill her, for all Roni knows. "Ava, she's in here. Main lobby, Spire."

Those are the last words Veronica has to offer. Domino leaps, and Veronica's arm comes up … with something in her hand. Domino lands, clinging to her, momentum propelling against one hand - there's a burn forming already from the friction of the wheel against the hand trying to hold her in place - as the other comes up.

THUPP!

The dart from the pistol fires point-blank into Domino's side, affixes there, and the neuro-disruption pulse ripples through her body.

Amd meanwhile, Veronica is thrown from the chair and nuzzled within a millimeter of her life.


Posse's entry into the room is anything but subtle as the far door opens and an armored blur appears in the room. A toppled wheelchair and two prone bodies, one in distinctive skintight black, are both spotted on the floor and that's all the assessment the cyborg needs to trigger the *Thupp!* of another neuro-dart into the room. Diving in her sprint, there's a screech of scraping armor before metal wraps around the albino from behind, entangling her arms before wrenching her off the fallen doctor and dropping her face down against the floor beside her. If Neena ever wanted to wrestle the white-haired sergeant for keeps, the weight upon her back is an invitation to try.


"Are you all right, Dr. Kelsey?" are Hisako's first words as she comes in behind Posse; she's moving to make sure that first of all, the co-chief of RESCUE is physically unharmed, and second, to help right her wheelchair and get her back into it.

Part of her priorities stem from simply trusting Posse to help keep the hellkitty-possessed albino pinned for the time being, but getting Dr. Kelsey capable of mobility (and independent action) is a little more important than turning the wrestling match into a two-on-one furball.

And if Domino *does* wriggle free and go for the doctor again? Hisako is still inside a 'suit' of exo-armor comprised of psychokinetic force going 'keep things away', not to mention that if Domino *does* press the "attack," the Japanese mutant can meet her with superhuman strength.

So in short: Armor is ready in case things aren't as handled as she appears to be presuming.


"Thank you, Martin. Actually…I'm feeling a lot better after…that." He motions towards the sink. Eyes of yellow are bloodshot, and is a lot more steady already. Badgered, kept focused, Hank moves as instructed. "I definitely need a scan, that scans." A faint hint of laughter, and then he blinks. "Oh…a Twinkie…there's some in my lab, pity we're out in the hall heading…" A momentary pause, then he nods. "…heading…to get a scan done. Right?" Thanks to Martin's assistance, Hank is moving in the right direction and he seems a LOT more lucid and far less nauseated already. "You didn't answer, or wait…maybe I didn't ask, is anyone hurt? Did the goo cause a problem?"


Martin is firm about Hank getting to that lab, and sure enough it's just a few steps away. He ducks again to trigger the door, and hauls on Hank to get him moving inside. "You need a lot of scans, yeah." Is agreed as he steers the pink mutant. "Lay down. No, on the slab. That's it, come on.." Doesn't mention twinkies again for he's so not fetching any. "Everyone's fine." Martin lies, as he has absolutely no idea if they are or not. The shouting has stopped over comms at least. "It sure caused you problems." The goo he means. "Lay down, Hank." A firm order that. Poke poke goes the empathy. Now. If he can get Hank prone, Martin gets the machines going. Bless who ever designed them to be idiot proof, because then he could use them! ..Don't make him try to force you asleep, Hank!


All of the tech, the fancy security, the bleeding edge tech, yet all it takes to prove that Veronica is still the queen of her domain is a single dart fired from a pistol and a presented opportunity.

The dart reacts quickly as the two tumble to the floor, the -highly confused- Neena Thurman emitting an "AWWR!" more akin to a tranqued cougar than a shot person. Already she's twisting about trying to counter the dart's effects but the motions aren't full range and are rapidly shortening in their stride.

The second dart coming from Ava easily puts the remainder of the squirming to an end. She can be certain that the pale lady would -love- to wrestle..if only she COULD. No amount of luck nor hellbound possession is enough to stop the effects of two successive neuro-darts! Raincheck on the sparring session, albino is out of order.


"Ow." Veronica murmurs as she starts shifting around on the floor, finally free of a heavy hellbino weight on her half-inert body. "Thanks, Posse. Good timing." she grouses softly, not really angry but definitely in a bad mood. She starts twisting around, starting the crawl towards her chair when Hisako comes running over.

"Hi, Armor. I'm mostly OK. Just give me a " Oh. OK. Not going to be given a minute, it seems. Suddenly the doctor is being prodded and then scooped up -

And Veronica gives a very unladylike growl. "Armor!" she coughs sharply. "Put. Me. Down."

Yeah. Sorry. Veronica Kelsey is not someone who takes at all well to being demonstrated helpless. Carrying her around is a surefire way to earn her ire.

Once she is put down, Veronica drags herself to the chair, exerting forceful effort with shoulders and core to right the thing all on her own. She sets the brakes, crawls to the front, and then shows fierce determination and muscular effort as she quite literally pushes and drags herself up into the chair, twisting about to get herself situated and then pulling the velcro belt around and securing it around her waist.

"Is anyone else hurt?" Dr. Kelsey then barks into her comms. She even has the unmitigated call to not thank Hisako for her very thoughtful concern on her behalf. It's quite a new low for her.


Thanks to the Magic of Neuro-Darts (tm) it only takes a few seconds for Posse to, briefly, check Neena's arms for injuries then cuff the woman with zip-ties and roll her over to similarly check her front. Not finding anything amiss, her attention turns to Roni and Hisako, though a hand and careful positioning ensure even doubly-restrained, the albino is still arrested against further flight.

"All good, Roni?" she asks plainly and tersely before turning her green-eyed gaze back down to Neena. "Hey there. You still speak English?"


The abruptly scolding tone in Dr. Kelsey's voice prompts a noticeable wince from the Japanese girl, never mind that she wasn't going further than helping the doctor up to a sitting position - and neither did she intend to do more than that, unless specifically *asked* to render further assistance.

Partly Hisako is kicking herself anyway; she knows full well that when you're assisting someone who typically relies on a wheelchair, or on other assistive mechanisms, you do not treat them like they're actually *helpless*. It's belittling, it's condescending, and it's other forms of demeaning rudeness.

On the other hand? Sometimes, in the middle of a crisis situation (or a battlefield), dignity has to take a back seat. Hisako knows *that* too - but this is, at the moment, no longer a battlefield of any degree; Domino is indeed down for the count, Posse is there in case she *isn't*, and there's time enough for Dr. Kelsey to be an independent (and strong) woman.

"Of course, Dr. Kelsey," Hisako says - maybe softer than she needs to, probably more submissively than she ought to, but trying *very hard* not to be nettled at the abrupt chastisement. "My apologies." She leaves the doctor sitting upright, no further assisted than that (unless she *asks*), and focuses instead on making sure the wheelchair is in an upright position, ready to roll as soon as its normal occupant is once more ensconced within it. She's not sure where the wheel locks are, and doesn't want to de-armor just to engage them (whatever that "kibble-goo" is that got mentioned on the radio, she doesn't even know if it's solid, liquid, or gas, so the armor stays up as a hazmat precaution). So she just holds the wheelchair steady, and looks placidly at Dr. Kelsey.

Not. Saying. A word.

… she really *is* trying not to be nettled. Maybe her silence is so she doesn't say anything *else* anyone will have cause to regret. But that armor, for all that it's projected by the force of Hisako's mind, doesn't really protect her emotions.


"I think…is this what…is this how you feel when you're drunk?" Hank did start to lay down on the floor, good catch with that one, Martin. "My oh my, why would anyone /want/ to feel like this?" He gets up on the slab, flopping back with a thud and pressing the heels of his hands to his brow. "Oh good, I'm glad nobody got hurt or shot or anything." Hank does relax quite a bit when told that everyone's fine.

The readings are a fairly close corollary to drunkenness, in short - 402 lbs. of blue fuzzy with superhuman strength was and is very high. Like 'as a kite'.

A frown as he sees the readings, and then a nod to himself. "Healing factor should cope…but…maybe, can you purge my system of anything not me?"


Martin is so scrubbing himself down a dozen times after this. He frowns at the monitor, watching as the machine does it's work. "Dunno." Given honestly about purging Hank's system. "Depends on what the hell you were working on.. I can't remove nano technologies, or anything I frankly don't know about."
Once the scans are done and he's saved all the data, Martin will try to purge the effects. Sure hopes that the others are okay! "Don't you get up. Stay." Good boy.


"All good at ground level, Ma'am" Karl reports back while helping round up all of the loose papers from the other tackled individual. "Nothing worse than some disorganization. Sorry about the runaway."

Two darts and some time to clear her head later, Neena starts to groan from the floor. Again her nostrils momentarily flare but there's no primal transformation to follow. "This wasn't quite what I had in mind when suggesting playing with zip —" she groans before abruptly stopping and blinking a few times. "What the hell?"

With a wince she lifts her head up and takes a quick look around before the weight of her noggin drops back to the floor, complete with a dreadful sounding f-bomb in the back of her throat. "Whaaat'd I do this time… Ah..dammit did something -sting- me?" she grunts while trying to work her linked hands toward one of the dart wounds. Just that amount of motion has her wincing and sucking in a breath, everything tensing then gradually relaxing.

"I..have got..such..a headache…"


Re-situated in her chair, Veronica turns around to examine the area. And then she finally looks back up at Armor. She is no telepath, no empath, but she has had to learn how to read people. Even had to learn how to read hard to read people, like Posse. So Veronica can tell something is off with Armor. And though she cannot read the other woman perfectly, she can replay the last few minutes … enough to realize that she probably overreacted.

F*** indeed. Roni concurs, Neena.

With a shuddering sigh, Roni shakes out her shoulders a bit. "I am sorry, Hisako. I should not have yelled at you. You were doing exactly what you were trained to do: assess the injured and prepare to call for medical backup." Still tense, she is fighting against that tension. "As I am sure you can guess, I have a lot of … issues with my limitations. I overreacted. I apologize."

That said, though, Veronica releases the wheel locks and rolls over towards where Neena is lying down. "I have no idea how. I don't know what Henry is talking about that he was working on. Is it possible that is somehow responsible for the stench in the air recycling systems? Could that have affected her?"


"Maybe. Happened at the same time," Ava pants to Roni, though her attention now is mostly on the troublemaking albino under her. With no more clear threat in the room the cyborg isn't *all* business anymore, but it's going to take a long longer for her adrenaline dump to wind down. Neena is treated to a fittingly intense stare. "You took two darts after goin crazy. Why your /cuff/ didn't handle that I'll find out later. No injuries reported - be cool."

""Headache and cuffs aside, how you feelin?" the cyborg probes as she lifts Neena by her shoulders and drags her to a wall, to at least sit her up facing the room.


"I accept your apology, Doctor," Hisako replies, inclining her head. "And I'm relieved that you're all right."

It may take a little while for her to actually internalize the apology enough to *relax* with regards to Dr. Kelsey. For the moment, Armor might as well be on her first day here again: not sure how to treat people, only hoping she can make a good enough impression on the people around her.

And not entirely unlike that first day, she gives Domino (who's even back in cuffs, much like Hisako's first day) a curious look. "How much do you remember about what *did* happen? All I know is that you were racing around and pouncing on people … but from what I hear, the worst injuries were to people's dignity." She gives Dr. Kelsey a slightly sheepish look - just a hint of a rueful smile - and inclines her head in a suggestion of a bow. "I'm still breathing Sandbox air for the moment, so I don't know what's in the air *here* …"

On that note, she probably *does* need to either drop (and 'reset') her armor, or actually power down entirely for a bit. She had to do a fair bit of running, and she was armored up for a while *before* the alarm went off - the question is whether she'll run out of focus for her power first, or oxygen for her lungs.


Hank settles into the slab during the analysis. Eyes half lid as Martin does his purge, and Hank feels a /lot/ better in very short order, in fact it corresponds roughly to Neena waking up in her right mind. Eyes of yellow sharpen, the gaze gets serious, and then *Hank* is back, it is pretty obvious by the body language.

A moment to shake his head out, and then the big blu—-PINK mutant starts looking at the readouts, and /parsing them/. "Thank you, Martin. Very much. I apologize for any inconvenience." A wan smile. "I hope I didn't do anything too foolish. Or rude. Please tell me I was not rude."


Martin snorts about the pink mutant being rude. "Not sure you even could manage if you tried." He pats Hank and moves away. Now tired, and very hungry, he sighs and puts his hands on his hips. "You knocked yourself out sneezing, I found you, and we came here. There wasn't really time to be rude." But that done he asks over comms, « Doctor Kelsey? You guys need me anywhere? Hank's back to himself, and all the scans are saved in the system. He should be able to answer questions now. » He also finds his phone and calls the front gate. Was having food delivered. It still there? Makes arrangements for it to be brought inside. Phew!


Domino can hear the wheels rolling closer before she can see Roni looming from above. She offers some clues. Hank, 'working on,' stench in the air, -affected her.-

Now with a bit more caution Neena sniffs the air once more, this time immediately recoiling with another hiss of breath. "Agh —! Ow..ow..dammit..head..ow…"

Eyes more blue than hematite slit open as Posse starts running down what happened. They quickly grow wider at the 'goin crazy' remark but at the 'be cool' she lets them fall closed with a slight grimace.

The next question can wait until she's done being dragged over to the wall. It might look pitiful but it's easier to ride it out than for her to try and help scoot along. This also provides a chance to see everyone in the area. Even -Armor- is here! That must have been some disruption!

Hisako's question is rolled into Ava's, though it's Armor who gets Dom's focus at first. "Racing around would explain feeling a bit winded." Then to Posse, "Dry mouth. Spaced the hell out. Last time I felt this aloof was from a ..contact high when busting in on half a dozen kids baked out of their minds." Back to Hisako, "Kinda ..like I was chasing a dream" she mutters with slight look of irritation. "Pretty fuzzy."


Veronica just sighs. Naturally there are no answers forthcoming for her. That would clearly be too much to ask! "Martin, could you please put Henry on comms? I need to know what the Hell he was doing and how that could have affected Domino, before we can risk setting her free, or decide the safest thing is to get her to isolation or something."


There's a beep beep of an incoming call from Roni's console, as a text message comes with Toni's avatar by it. <Why am I getting reports of Dominio running around snuggling people? Were we working on a snuggle formula? I feel like I would have remembered a snuggle formula.>


"Pretty sure that's how it feels when that cat takes you over then," the cyborg notes to her albino captive as she gets her breathing somewhat under control and takes a knee at her side. "Ya made cat noises when we tranq'ed you, so 'fuzzy's right."

Not one to leave a thing underdone, both lockdown doors to the room open to admit elements of REACT's QRF, adding more barrels to either side of the room. Even if Ava hadn't been enough, she brought backup.


"Dry mouth, fuzzy head …" Hisako purses her lips a bit. "Sounds to me like whatever got into the air got *you* high on something. Tell me again what Hank was working on -"

She pauses, partly at remembering she could probably just ask *him* over the radio, partly at the guns coming in from both directions. Presumably none of them are pointed anywhere near Hisako, but she still backs up against the wall, keeping her hands visible as a matter of course.

And after mentally tallying up how many people in the room are wearing respirators or breathing filters, she de-armors as well. "Hank? What exactly were you *trying* to make when things went crazy?" she asks, trusting that Hank'll be on the comms by this point.


"Oh, I /can/ be rude, it just takes effort usually. Unless I'm REALLY angry. I am quite good at tweaking the noses of bad guys with banter during a fight though." Now /that/ is a useful skill! Not. Okay, it is a /sometimes/ useful skill, but one that Martin is probably just as glad to not have anything to do with all the same.

Hank blinks. "I KO'd myself /sneezing/? That takes some doing." A frown. "How much damage did I do? Oh, there should have been a beaker of fluid - it would have been deep brown in color if the formulation process worked, did you see anything like that?" (there was indeed such a beaker), right about ground zero.

When Martin reports in over the comms, Hank belatedly re-activates his. «Ah, Beast here. I was attempting to manufacture an alternative food source for the Hellkitty. Domino was kind enough to provide me some biomass for analysis from the Hell-dimension she and Agent Harman were in, based on that I came up with a synthetic solution that was very hopeful in sims. Apparently something reacted oddly.» Understatement much? «In any case…that's what I was working on. What has been happening, I have been…literally high, and sneezing, and KO'd myself doing it.» And he's pink! SO NOT PUTTING THAT ON COMMS!


Martin puts hands on hips after he's done with his phone call. "Well, none of this stopped your ability to ramble incessantly, so I'm going to judge you fine." As for the beaker? Frankly he has no idea. If there was a pile of glass and brown goo beneath the heavily dented, and over turned table, well.. he didn't notice. Was a little more worried for Hank. "You knocked yourself silly and bloodied your nose. Wasn't bad." Assuring the pink mutant.
Then he's getting asked about Hank, « Putting him on now. » And there he is! Hank can explain this nonsense. Martin puts in to have the scanning room sanitized meanwhile. The reek will linger for ever.


Neena can't help but wince as Roni talks about the idea of isolation. "Yeah..no, let's not do that whole 'isolation' thing. I'd be much happier being returned to the wild. I … Urh. Actually some fresh air might..be nice…" she adds in a mutter while slowly drawing knees upright.

Looking back to Ava, she suddenly asks "Did I really?" before rolling her eyes back with a light sigh, "Well -that's- embarrassing as hell." Then to everyone assembled, "I don't know what happened. Something completely new."

Arriving with the rest of the QRF is Karl, present but hanging back.

When Hisako mentions something in the air then reaches out to Hank on comms, Domino says "Yes, -kindly- drag McCoy into this." No sarcasm here, though clearly some irritation on her part. "Surprised he's not already up here trying to take blood saaah..saaHaah…" she considers before -sneezing- toward those raised knees.

"…Ow…"


"And that blew up?" Veronica sighs, looking around as an entire QRF fills the lobby. She can totally identify with Hisako's reaction to their appearance. And they WORK for HER. "One moment, please." She glances at the message on her smart glasses, and then resists the urge to roll her eyes as her phone comes out and she gets to typing. « Apparently Hank tried to make some kind of supplment for Domino's 'rider', and it infiltrated the air system and caused her to go berserk, and the rest of us to suffer stench. They were not exactly snuggles. » More like smergles. But she is not getting into those differences right now, thank you.

Then Veronica puts her phone aside to deal with the situation at hand. "Henry, I suspect some element of your mixture ended up in the air recycling system. Which means it somehow bypassed our filtration. That is not good. Would you be so kind, please, as to investigate your lab, find this stuff, and figure out how to scrub it out of the air? I am certain Domino would prefer not to be trussed up like a Christmas goose." That message delivered, Roni points at one of the QRF members. "Hand me your rebreather, please." Alcohol, water, a doubled filter. Then she rolls over towards Domino again. "I'm going to try putting this on you to see if it helps. I am sorry for the indignities. But there are comms built in."

Roni wants a damn shower so bad. Gah, the stench!!!


This time, the next text message comes to Roni's glasses, but also to Hank's phone. Same avatar. <I am having our quarantine team move to evacuate the building just in case. Apparently we'll need to im prove the filters from simple biofilters to full on chemical quarantine filters. May I suggest one of the sealed labs in the future?>


Ava sneaks Neena a reassuring and somewhat sympathetic look. No, she wasn't a snuggle victim herself. Roni took that bullet for her.

Sealed as she is within her suit, the cyborg doesn't even bother looking as her quick reaction force enters the room - or at least the point members of it. A watchful eye would notice more staying on the other side of the blast doors as they hiss shut once again. "The ducts need a redesign too. You squeeze smaller than ya look," the chief of security adds, perhaps for the benefit of the running microphone in her helmet more than anyone in the room.

Turning back to Veronica, Ava meets the doctor's eyes to add in a more official tone, "Threat neutralized and cat secure. I'll return command back to you without lifting lockdown. Your call how to play this hellnip gas if you want to drop it or transition to evac."


The stench of strawberry-sulphur hellnip is probably not *quite* the worst thing Hisako has ever smelled, but judging by the look on her face in the wake of dropping her armor? It's somewhere in the third- to fifth-worst range, easily. Still, it doesn't seem like it's actively *harmful*, just an affront to olfactory aesthetics indigenous to both sides of the Pacific.

"Glad to hear you're mostly okay, Hank," she tells her mentor over the comms. "Do you need another pair of hands down there, helping with clean-up or anything? If you managed to concuss yourself with a sneeze -"

Which is about the point at which Domino nearly duplicates Beast's feat, prompting the Japanese girl to wince.

"- please tell me that not *all* of us are going to sneeze like that," she interjects, not quite under her breath. Maybe she ought to armor back up … but the thought does not quite make the jump into doing it; there's a familiar twinge of proto-headache, and she abandons that effort. "Other than that, just tell me where you need me, Dr. Kelsey," she finishes, looking at the physically-present half of RESCUE's leadership.


Fortunately Hank has a LOT of practice with deodorizing agents, his senses sort of require it, and he spent years perfecting his scentless cleaning products. Just the thought of what Axe bodywash would do to him is painful. Bad enough to have to deal with other people wearing such, to be himself wearing it? No thanks.

"I'll head over to my lab again, thank you, Martin." A pause, and then he looks at his fur. "If I were to shave myself, could you possibly help me regrow my fur?" PLEASE please pleaaaaaaaaaaaase don't make this a genetic level change!

Heading for the door, he grips Martin's shoulder on the way to his lab. «En route to the lab now..» A pause to sneeze, and then he rubs at his brow, man…didn't Martin fix the sinuses? Sheesh, what the hell is this Hellgoop?

Once there he rights a crushed table, and is relieved to find the goo is intact, luckily he turned away as he sneezed - probably a knee-jerk reaction to avoid contaminating the experiment. «Doctor Kelsey, I believe the particulates are not primarily biological, and that is why they bypassed the bio-filters, Doctor Ho's text suggestion is sound. I will do the replacements myself and will work on sealing my lab better as well. There was nothing in the formula that should have reacted so violently though, unless…hrm…the only organic compound I added was Nepetalactone…» Nepetalactone being the active chemical in catnip. «…the intent to make the Hellgoo enticing for the Hellkitty.»


Martin shorts about growing back hair. "Sure, I'll protect your dignity." There's a grin about it, and since he has his phone he does get some photos of the pink. Sorry, Hank. Not sorry. He does follow to that lab. Sure he wants a wash, but better he's on hand just in case. "You had your lab locked up, Hank." Martin gives after Hank says all that over comms. "The smoke went through everything without any hesitation. That's why I opened the door to get to you."


Yep. Henry 'Hank' McCoy somehow triggered whatever the hell happened. "Now that you mention it I am feeling a bit singled out" Neena dryly kids to Veronica.

Another look is turned up toward Ava, a smile that's both impish and embarrassed. "Two steps forward, one step back." Wait… What's this about the ducts and squeezing — oh. That's a loose vent cover on the floor. Did she seriously go -through the vents?!-

Despite the madness of the situation Neena gently rests her head against the wall and starts chuckling, muttering "What the actual hell."

The idea of being fitted for a mask has the albino looking somewhat concerned. "Hey, uh..just so we're clear going in? I might need a rapid evac from any face coverings. My stomach seems to have taken up breakdancing without me."

Not that she's keen on fighting Roni's efforts. If it helps her headache any then it'd be worthwhile. Besides, they're surrounded by REACT! Be cool, honey bunny. Be cool.

"Hey. Seriously. Can't we just take this outside for a while? Maybe sit me in front of an open window? Really digging the whole 'fresh air' idea here."


And Veronica's eyes get wide. "Thank you, Posse. Communications, patch me into all of the campus address systems. Attention RESCUE staff, visitors and personnel. This is Doctor Kelsey. Isolation protools remain in effect across buildings. The Spire and Wellspring are off limits at this time. All staff inside those buildings should make their way outdoors. Hazmat scrubbers will be available soon, along with scrubs. We will post to the communications hub when the Spire and Wellspring are clear again. Medical staff, please use the bot-beds and evac the patients as well."

That done, Veronica glances down at Domino, and then her eyes unfocus a bit as she focuses instead on the voice of the man chattering away in her ear. "Henry, replace the filters on your lab soonest, please. I will get Toni working on scrubbers for the drones, so that we can send them throughout the buildings cleaning up the residue of this. Then we can work on upgrading the rest of the filtration."

That said, then Roni glances up at Hisako. "Thank you, Armor. For now, if you would not mind, please carry Domino outside so she can get some fresh air. I'm sure Ava can help. Once that is done, if you would not mind helping to deploy the hazmat scrub stations, I would appreciate it."

One final addition? "Henry? We are going to talk about informing others of your scientific inquiry points ahead of the disasters."


Toni's texts keep rolling in! <I've dispatched some drones with quarantine scrubbers to clean up what they can get, though it sounds like this already was airborne. Are there any side effects for anyone /but/ Neena at this point, or was she the only one affected?>


One single word is returned. "STENCH!"


Hisako nods to Dr. Kelsey, "Just give me a bit before you need actual heavy lifting. I *do* need to rest my powers some before I can armor back up …" She sounds somewhere between sheepish and apologetic; she's been pushing (carefully) against the limits of her powers over the course of several years, and while she's pushed them out some compared to when she was younger, the limits are still *there*.

But Domino isn't that big, and since she looks at least somewhat capable of self-directed movement, Hisako walks over to give the albino mutant a shoulder, or something, for support and stability. "So … um." Hisako hesitates briefly while helping get Domino into comfortable motion, and while Posse is (if pitching in) getting herself arranged to assist as well.

"If this is private, I apologize in advance and you can tell me to drop it, but - what *is* all of this 'hell' and 'cat' stuff you're in the middle of, Domino? It might not normally be my business, but under the circumstances, I might need to know too …"


"Thank you." Hank pretends not to notice the pics being taken, Martin's been helpful, and besides…not like there's not security footage! Man is that going to be 'fun' for Hank. Oh well. "Really, right through the filters? Interesting. It truly should not have reacted like that. I have no idea why it did." And that bugs the man, demonstrably one of the most gifted and skilled biochemists on the planet. "Do you feel anything odd, Martin?"

A sigh as his stomach starts to to act up a bit too, now.

«Copy that, Doctor Kelsey. Toni, what do you think of an ionizing field added to the filters? You're the resident expert on force fields, I have a few ideas that might be useful, I'll send them to your share.» Hank carefully seals up the brown goo for later analysis, it is the right color at least! And then he does get to work on removing and upgrading his lab filters. «Understood, Doctor Kelsey, will send you a list of all my ongoing research by end of day.»


The phone is tucked away as Martin follows Hank. "I heard a boom, and the hall immediately filled with smoke. The air system in the building cleared it near immediately, and that's what the trouble really was. Me? No. Beyond the horrible smell? I haven't sneezed or anything. You acted as though you were high however, so it really affected you. If there's something inside you, it doesn't register to my ability." All he could do is treat side effects. If there's anything he can do to help, Martin will. Cleaning up glass and helping with filters.


When it comes to getting up and moving around Neena doesn't seem to need any real assistance. It might seem strange to think that she's well practiced in walking around without the use of her arms, but given her typical line of work she's probably got some hours logged here.

"Can't really say it's private any more" she says in a wholly sour note.

"A few months back another gal and I found our way home from an actual 'hell dimension.' A few hours had passed for you but we were down there for years. Somewhere along the way I found an amulet which let me see in the dark, really quite useful during our visit. What I didn't know was that the damn thing was bonding with me. What let me see was this 'hellcat' thing."

Turning to peer at Hisako with a toothy smile, she offers "Go ahead. Take a good look. That weird sheen in my eyes and these pointy teeth aren't factory original. Turns out I'm likely possessed, but by one of the more friendly cuddly demonic entities."

Totally nothing at all to worry about.


« Thank you, Toni » Veronica sends, following her complaint about the stench. She's not looking forward to public hazmat showers out of doors, but that's just life, damnit. "Martin, would you mind staying with Henry? I don't want him to have a relapse with no one there to take care of him. I'll text you the combination to the food safe in the corner so you can get something to eat." Because sorry, that yummy lunch is going to be a while coming, since everything is staying in lockdown. Sad, right? Roni is such a meany-pants!

"Thank you, Hisako." Veronica manages to offer to the young woman, as she rolls outside herself. Leaders lead from the front in this organization; when everyone sees her taking that ice cold hazmat shower out in the open, they will have no rights to whining and complaining about doing so themselves.

Psychology rotation for the win.


'Factory original,' right. To Hisako's credit, she doesn't freak out or push Domino away upon seeing the gleam and the predator-sharp teeth; she may be a *little* more wary, but Domino's a teammate, dagnabbit, and if she were a threat at this point she's had a *lot* of opportunity not to keep hiding it this well.

"I guess we just hope it keeps *staying* friendly," is Hisako's verbal assessment. "At least things didn't get any crazier than they did this time …"


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