Summary:Cleaning up the Disaster Zone is not easy Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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The Disaster Zone. It's a mess and it has been for years. Bureaucratic red tape has stalled much of the work though some of the work has also been halted by other bad players in the area.
Either way, a group of citizens, and in some cases non-citizens, have banded together to help those that live there. The group is limited or cliche in anyway - assistance from anyone is appreciated. What doesn't happen is the publicity dog and pony show.
Well - it is, but only to publicise the work and encourage others to help.
Today is a landmark event though in the Zone. An area for a green belt and a community garden has been identified and the work crews have moved in to clear the rubble. They've been at it for several hours with trucks coming and going to take detritus away.
Even some of the inhabitants have come to lend a hand. There's the mother and her children over there, loading small things into barrows and moving them along. That big burly obvious mutant arrived about an hour ago - the work crew just looked at him, handed him a hard hat and shovel and pointed to an area to work in.
Mari McCabe is here, dressed in jeans, t-shirt, cap and hikers. She's been helping move the bits by the hand and keeping spirits up and doesn't seem worried that someone made an attempt on her person last week.
Through all of this, there's a group of children playing - entertaining themselves really - by the entrance to one of the subways.
Though they do not number a great many, there are some mutants who have come out of Mutant Town to help the residents and their allies in these efforts. Rather then the typical burgers, these are some of the least kept and most untidy amongst them, those that themselves look much like some who have struggled to survive and eek out a living here in the Zone. When asked by one of the mutants of the Zone, they have quietly explained that they are representatives of the Pride, here to lend their aid to their brethren and establish their support.
No word has been spoke of the leader of the Pride, the Hunter, who made her presence and protection known so clearly at another such work event. But any who know the Pride at all would know well they go nowhere without her protection. She must be somewhere, watching over them as she watched over others. She does seem to have a fondness for heights.
The Disaster Zone was one of the places that Alison crashed in when she was homeless. She could always count on an understanding helping hand from the other denizens there. She could always count on more exploitative hands too. If this clean up and keep the community spirit together and get rid of those less salubrious elements, then Alison will be here to help.
Though Dazzler could blast rocks into easier to carry gravel, or illuminate the darkness of dangerous areas without recourse to exposed wires or fragile generators, for the moment she is playing with the children near the subway. A little light show and some singing can do wonders for young souls. And it also allows her to keep an eye on the dark of the subway. They were dangerous places before the disaster. Now, who knows what lurks down there.
Having been VERY hampered at the kerfuffle during the last event, Avery has opted for a less subtle presence this time in the interest of being better able to deal with any complications that might rear their ugly heads. So, today it is not Avery who is onsite, it is Zeal. She is dressed in the iconic stylings of a member of the Bat Family, even if she's technically more of an adoptee. Still, she has armored costume, and sports a Bat logo though there's a stylized Z overlaying it in red. Another perk? She can use her powers! A fact that proves pretty useful when she teleports wheelbarrows full of debris, and concrete that outweighs her three or mor
As much of a boon as his spider-sense is, false positives are still a problem with which Spidey occasionally has to wrestle. At best, they're a distracton; at worst, they're a misdirection which could prove dangerous, or deadly, in the face of a more direct threat.
But in between double-takes in the general direction of Hunter's hiding place, Spidey does lend the burly guy some of the requested help with that big ol' girder, among other spots of assistance here and there.
And then the party gets crashed, and a blast from a sonic rifle of some kind sends the truck flying. "NO!!" yells Spider-Man, dropping his cup of water and hurling himself in pursuit, frantically trying to determine what he can best do to *stop* the vehicle-turned-projectile. Rather than leaping, he starts running, dirt and grass torn up in his wake as his 'wall-crawling' powers pull instead at the ground.
His first thought is webbing, but he'd need a full-on *web* to stop that truck - two or four strands, strong as his webbing is, won't exert enough force to stop or divert the truck's flight. He'd need to weave an actual barrier with his webbing, and is there even enough that he could anchor such a web to?
But in the next instant, he DOES launch weblines - and as soon as they connect, he yanks: not to pull the truck back (although if he counters even a little of its momentum, all the better), but to pull *himself* forward - not merely a slingshot maneuver but actively hauling himself along those lines, picking up an amount of speed that would be dangerous if he were fifty stories above street level. It's more like fifty *inches* here, and dropping - but at least it's not solid asphalt and traffic that'll stop his descent.
The laws of physics conspire, just barely, in Spider-Man's favor; his web-drawn dive skims underneath the truck, and as soon as he starts to emerge under the far (innocents-ward) side of the blasted truck, it's time to reverse momentum - his *AND* the truck's, and he knows how badly it's going to hurt even before he sets about it. Fans of webbing are launched to his left and right as he gets his shoulders up in front of the truck, and while the spray aimed right misses its initial target, the leftward webbing latches onto a nearby tree. The second spray from his right web-shooter catches some rubble - not exactly a solid and immobile anchor, but it'll help more than the air will.
His feet touch the ground, then dig in, and a yell of agony is wrenched from the arachnid hero's lungs as the price for his derring-do *comes* due - several tons of sonically-impelled vehicle and cargo, driving hard against almost his entire back and spearing through shoulders, hips, elbows, knees, wrists, and ankles alike as he tries to diffuse that inertia in other, less-dangerous-to-civilians directions.
Can he actually pull this off … ?
The weapon explodes - that was a crack shot by Hunter but she'll find herself in trouble in a minute. "There you are girly …" The voice is behind her, the owner a dark haired man dressed in fatigues who flashes shiny, razor sharp, teeth at the woman when he smiles. He's carrying a rifle but he's not aiming at it Hunter … yet. "… want to play?" She probably can't take her attention from this guy but she can hear the noise from down below.
The blast of light from Alison, blinds the gunmen momentarily but they drop 'goggles' to their eyes and laugh. "Oh. This is fun …" One turns their weapon in where they think Alison is (hint, they're pretty accurate) and pulls the trigger, aiming a blast of sonic energy in her direction. They probably are human but with really, really good tech.
Zeal saves the two workers but they vomit all over her shoes as she emerges from the 'space between'. They'll take cover in just a moment and they're not apologising for that mess … at
It's not just the kids that should keep running. There's a lot of innocents in the way as Alison explodes. Erupts? What is the right term for what she does? People go diving out of the way - many have seen 'Dazzler' in action and don't want any piece of that. Just in time too, the boom goes out and knocks two of the gunmen Apex over Base … sending them tumbling back into the tunnels where they came from.
Hunters shot takes down another, as Weathers lightning keeps three others dancing. The shot from Hunter aimed at the guy on the roof with her, is … avoided. How? That's a really good question. But one moment he's taunting her from the edge of the roof and then he's on her. She'll find out just how superstrong he is when he grabs her. He doesn't try to drive her to the ground though - his jaw … unhinges and opens wide, trying to fit the whole of her head in his mouth. Ick.
Avery's lightning quick and unexpected vector of attacks knocks one of the gunmen around quite nicely. He's too busy batting and swatting at the area around him to do anything much … though Zeal might need to see to him quickly.
As for Mari, she nods to Spider-Man. She knows he has to be hurting but she doesn't ask. She's panting, face filthy from the grime and dust the truck has thrown up but there's a feral smile on her face. "Let's. That one over there if you want to double team…"
"Mari! Mari McCabe." The voice is the last standing gunman and he's retreating to the subway. "You know what he wants. He'll do you a deal. Hand it over and he'll leave your little project alone."
Mari growls low in her throat before she laughs. "And I should trust him, why exactly? Why don't you take my reply to him?" With a look at Spider-Man, Mari jerks her head. That one needs a beat down.
Oh yeah. She's going to owe some people some explanations.
OK. So this cretin avoided the shot he couldn't even know was coming. That's fast. And yet Hunter does not stop. Another target is zeroed, and his head explodes. And then Hunter herself is seized, that jaw unhinging to seize her, likely to crush her skull … But to do it, he grabs her. And she unloads nine rounds of .50 caliber fury directly into his torso, seemingly caring not at all as he bears down to bite her head off. Doesn't matter how fast or limber you are when the barrel of the hand canon is pressed against your flesh.
And if he should be able to take those shots and still bite down? Well then, that will be the end of the Hunter. Or so he had better hope.
Dazzler catches her breath after bowling over some gunmen, cracking walls around her, and hopefully not hurting innocents. Again. With all the ruckus, she is not exhausted, but her human concern for others has her hesitant before opening that can of whoop-ass again. "Is everyone okay!" she calls out through the dust haze. Does she think it's over? Not with a gunman heading her way again as she stands at the entrance to the sewer.
"Mari?" It sounds like there is a conspiracy afoot - not unusual for New York. But since this guy seems to know all about it, he can't be allowed to escape. Dazzler shoots a laser beam from a fingertip that slashes across the man's lower legs as he nears. She is really trying to not sever his legs but certainly slice shins and end his sprinting days.
Holy cow, this is /madness/. So much going on, and yeah…this guy needs to get dealt with, seeing how Spidey and Vixen have dealt with the truck, seeing how Dazzler has set off a sonic burst, seeing Weather and Berm do their things - she feels kind of small, and that's when she notices the rooftop fray.
She doesn't pause, doesn't slow down, but she does put a baton away, her hand pressed only gently to the man's body armor, meeting his gaze though her eyes are concealed by her mask, Avery /smi
Hunter eyes the foe who has fallen atop her, and then glances up at Zeal, offering a short nod. Then her eyes snap back around to examine the battlefield below. Her eyes alight briefly on those of the Pride that are here, helping, protecting the innocent. And her eyes seek out every one of the remaining targets. Only one lives that was not thrown down into the tunnels. She will leave those to the Morlocks. But she kneels back down, picking up her rifle as she prepares should any reinforcements arrive.
If Spider-Man should like to try to lecture the Hunter about her resorting to lethal means, he is of course welcome to try. No promises though on how she will take that lecture.
"Just remind me to think twice next time I say somebody 'hits like a truck,'" Spider-Man replies lightly. "Other than that … a bottle of painkillers, somewhere quiet to sit while they take effect, and I'll see where to go from there." He lets out a soft chuckle, "And your honor's better worth defending than that of *some* ladies I've run into on the job, Ms. McCabe … or should I just start calling you 'Vixen' to your face?" he finishes, making the question as polite as he can.
That 'world of hurt' which was mentioned earlier? Yeah, the adrenaline which kept the worst of it out of his awareness is ebbing away again. How he's *not* toppled over, screaming in pain, is a question for the sages - but it does mean he's in no mood to rake Hunter over the coals about killing enemies out of hand. Not right now, at any rate.
Thankfully, Dazzler doesn't get to check how accurately she can damage legs as others take care of the man. He even flies over her head to disappear into the dark of the subway. That means there are at least three attackers down there to interrogate. She considers the wisdom of heading into the depths to retrieve one of them. There could be hundreds of bad guys waiting down there. The injured may have been whisked away. But she won't know unless she looks! Lighting up the dark with her body, she heads on down.
The thing about gravity - it *works*. Still, Avery manages to make a somewhat shaky landing on the roof, arms out-flung just *so* to stiffen her cape into glider wings. She's not nearly as able at this as her mentor, but it is a pretty specialized skill, and one that takes a lot of practice.
Baby steps.
She /does/ land, though, and safely. "Hunter." The girl almost chirps, unphased by all the blood, SHE can't kill, but…yeah, she's seen it before. She then sprints for the edge of the roof, leaping off to vanish mid-air before reappearing below and rolling to bleed off her momentum, using it to get to her feet. "These ne'erdowells are /most/ irritating." She declares. "Dazzler, Vixen, Spider-Man, I offer my aid to get you to medical care, if there be a need?"
——
"Vixen or Mari. Just don't call me late to dinner." Mari smirks at Spider-Man. "And I'll remind you the next time you say that."
"It should be clear to go about things. NYPD will be here to pick up the ones that didn't get away. And … I think we should adjourn elsewhere and I can explain."
And maybe have a couple of stiff drinks.
It's time for those tunnels to be cleared.