2013.05.13 - Death's Head Comes Calling

A sphere of gold, white and red swirling energy appeared in the middle of 47th street. It seemed to not move or harm anything just sitting there crackling as it was a special effect out of a Hollywood movie or something. The police have been called and have responded to it the best they can. By blocking of the road and and surrounding it.
Just when it seemed that nothing would come of it, that it would not move of disappear a VWORP, VWORP, VWORP noise occurred and the energy started to fade as a figure was left in it's place. This figure happened to be near seven foot tall being that was either a robot or a man in full powered armor. It's face shaped somewhat like a skull with devil horns, perfectly round red eyes and two tusks next to its slitted mouth. Whatever it was, was also armed to the teeth with various types of weapons on his back. The creature looked at it's surroundings for a moment before it spoke.
"Tricked, yes!? Tricked by a feeble time traveler and dumped here!" it yells in a synthesized but life-like tone, its arms thrown into the air in anger. "But as I always say in these situations. Don't get mad. Kill something, yes!?"
The police are taken by surprise by this sudden occurrence but those there pull there firearms and demand the being lower its weapons and put it hands behind its head. The robot looked at the police and said aloud, "Local constabulary, eh? Didn't mean to cause a disturbance, just tell me the year and planet and I will be on my way."
The police don't seem to pay attention to what it says, still shouting at him to drop his weapons and get on the ground. "No, no, not really going to kill anyone. Was just angry, yes? Name is Death's Head, freelance peacekeeping agent. Sort of kindred spirits, eh?"
The thing that calls itself Death's Head takes a step forward and the police open fire on him, their bullets doing no damage to the hull of his shell. Death's Head reacts with a calm demeanor as right hand drops of his wrist and to the ground. The police continue to fire on him as he pulls a rocket from the weapons on the back and attaches it to where his hand once was. He points his arm and the rocket fires, hitting a police car and blasting it to pieces, "I have to say, whatever planet this is... I do not like, you are all so violent, yes?"
"Seriously? Terminator?" asks Carol into her comm as she listens to someone describing what -they- were told. "Okay, so it's not a naked guy in a sphere of lightning, it's a golden sphere ... just a big giant ball that just appeared? Then don't call it Terminator!" she says back through her earbud.
"God, I hate it when folks flip out and try to put their own spin on someone else's description..." she mutters as she parks her bike a few blocks away since she was out and about on the thing, and then activates the lock and security system before launching herself into the air... clothes changing into her costume all in the blink of an eye.
Arcing towards the 47th Street, she comes down as the Robot starts moving forward, "Okay folks, just keep your heads and let's not start..." *blam blam blam...* "... shooting.." she mutters. "That's it! Hold your fire!" she cries, her voice crackling with the sort of command that a Colonel is used to using... even as she simply drops from the sky to land between the robot and that rocket blasted police car. "And you... stand down now!" she states plainly, her red helmet fading into nothingness...
Evening.. and Kurt is more than at home in the shadows between buildings. The blare of sirens of police cars as they converge on an area truly gets the blue elf's attention, and he takes block by block, *bamfing* -- that is, teleporting from building wall to building wall until he comes across the reason as to why so many cars were called.
"Oh.. mein Gott.." and Nightcrawler crosses himself before he sits and watches. Normally, he's not around for whatever the police have planned, but..
It's when the police open fire, however, that the fuzzy blue elf winces. This won't end well. Not in the least.. and the moment the rocket comes out?
*bamf*
"We are moving.." And he grabs a couple of officers that seem to be in harm's way, and in the next second, they're gone.. and out of the way. Two lives saved.. or potentially.
This seems to be Jenny's week for randomly running across robots-or-men-in-full-powered-armor situations on the streets of Metropolis. She's seen no less than three such people this week, in fact. Having been nearby and prone to indulging her curiosity when sirens start blaring and people start shooting, she rounds a corner just past the police barricades just in time to catch the police car being blasted apart by rocket fire. "Oh bloody hell," she mutters, taking the cigarette out from between her lips and reaching up with one hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Another one of these situations, is it?"
One that's not likely to diffuse itself at the rate that it's escalating, either. Generally things go downhill with the police once someone starts firing back, after all. She's already making her way toward the police line when other super-types start showing up, though she doesn't jump in on things once Carol starts shouting out orders.
Things have been a little bit confusing for Faiza in the very recent past, given that she's only just arrived in this world herself. On the other hand, she has a certain kind of reaction when gunfire breaks out and things start exploding -- while most people would tend to run away from that kind of thing, she runs toward them. People might be injured, people might need help, and she's not about to stand by while they're counting on someone to provide it. No matter how confused she is. When she rounds the corner and starts taking in what's going on she hurries toward the police line, the chainmail armor that she's wearing (that's kind of odd, isn't it?) clinking with her steps. "What's going on here?" she asks of one of the officers, though they're probably too busy with shooting to answer a stranger now. "Oh, wow," she says when she then spots Carol in the middle of it all. "Is that..."
One of Death's Head's read camera eyes squinted a bit at Carol and a robotic 'eyebrow' seemed to raise. His voice came out again, to a trained ear it was definately artifical in nature but had tonal inflections that suggested something more, "Me stand down? Your men attacked first. Defended myself! All I asked was what planet and what year it is. A question that still goes unanswered, yes?"
Internally his scan on Captain Marvel was completed and said, "Not Kree Homeworld though, eh? Sky is wrong color anyways. Also, Hybrid-species. Kree protectorate, maybe? Did job for Kree once, though that was about thirty feet ago."
"Good client, pay on time," Death's Head muses to himself. He cast a glance at his hand still on the ground, "May I retrieve my hand or will your slaves start shooting at me again with primitive gun-powder weapons?"
"You are not listening." says Carol as she simply starts stalking forward. "Local law states, when the police tell you to do something like... stop, or maybe even... drop your weapons... you do it. You... did not. In the presence of an obviously armed potential assailant..." she shrugs.
Then the comments about Kree come out and she signs internally, "Pama... okay look, stand down. If you comply, then we can -talk-... do I make myself understood?" she asks, stopping her approach maybe six feet from the robot, one hand lifted and a golden glow starting up about the hand and fingers. She takes a moment to call back, "Anyone injured in that car explosion?!" though, and her eyes are locked on the robot.
The police are too busy keeping their weapons trained on Death's Head to stop Jenny as she strides past them and into the cordoned-off area. "Seems to be you should probably listen to the lady," she says with her british accent, not looking as if she's too worried about all the guns aimed HER direction now too, since she put herself in the crossfire. "No sodding reason anybody needs to get hurt over a misunderstanding, but they aren't just going to just ignore the fact that you didn't comply. They hate it when people don't comply."
The moment Kurt teleported the police away was the moment he disappeared once again into the shadows, effectively disappearing, but he's not gone, no. Glowing yellow eyes watch, giving Carol his full attention, or rather, watching to make sure that Carol remains safe enough. (Someone's got to have her back!)
"Nein.." comes a call. Nightcrawler is going to assume that she'll recognize his voice..
Now, however, the blue elf calls from his darkness, "It is Earth, in the year of our Lord, Two thousand und thirteen." No one else answered the robot!
That question seems to spur Faiza back into motion and she hurries over to where the explosion happened. "It looks like only minor injuries, Ms. Marvel!" she calls out. "Nothing to worry about. I'll take care of any injured, I'm a doctor, you can focus on the visitor to our time and world." Which is what she sets to doing, in any cases of people being too hurt to continue holding their aim on Death's Head. If there even are any. Otherwise she tries not to get in the way, watches, waits to be sure that things don't take a turn for the worse.
Death's Head reaches down to grab his hand, he doesn't really care if the police actually fire again. All they've done to him so far is damage his cape. Which in itself annoys him since he just got this cape and doesn't know if there are any good tailors on this planet... or if he has any form of currency they would accept, "New to area, don't know local customs as yet. Not supposed to even be here, supposed to have a TARDIS instead, eh? On Styrakos someone tells you to drop your weapons they mean to disassemble you. On Kree Homeworld it means you are political enemy. On Cybertron people think you make joke, yes?"
He reattached his hand as he heard Nightcrawler's answer to his question, "Thank you, blue stranger. Nice to know someone on this Earth Place has manners." Unfortunately when you can see in infra-red and read heat signatures and have telescopic vision, shadows do not hide you. He looked at both Jenny and Carol for a moment and said, "Several of my weapons are integrated systems, I cannot 'drop' them any more than you can drop your arm... or your leg."
His internal systems give him data relating to the answer to his query, "This will not do, I am a hundred years behind my own time-line and Earth is a primitive planet regardless. Ah! But you have wireless already, yes? Excellent! Accessing Cloud."
He seemed to stand there for a moment, perfectly still. No real indicator of his current intentions.
Mentally, Carol is facepalming. She can't really do that here without making things a bit worse though. "Right." she mutters. The robot seems intent on basically having what we in the business call... selective hearing. Otherwise known as... Husband Hearing. She sighs and lowers her hand, "Look... whatever your name is. You're on Earth. Let me give you a crash course in local customs... listen to the police. I understand you have built in weapons. I also assume that you can disarm them, or retract at least some of them to make the locals feel like you're at least -trying- to comply."
She looks over her shoulder towards Jenny and a single brow raises before she simply nods in response to the answers to her queries about injuries. "Now, nobody's been hurt yet... just a few thousand dollars worth of damage to one police car... which is a crime by the way. So... why don't we find someplace to -chat-... without having everyone's dander up and all that jazz, understand?"
Nightcrawler looks briefly concerned in the fact that he was seen. Not even Logan, or Jean, can actually see him, as he blends into that dimension through which he teleports, effectively cloaking himself with unworldly (or unholy) darkness. His blue keeps him unseen to the police, which is more his intention if he were asked, so he's free enough to call out, "Bitte..
"Can you return?" It's not as if he hasn't had experience with dimension hopping. Time jumping, however.. and he pauses. Kurt has a 'moment' before, "When should you be?" TARDIS?
"Then just try not to bloody point them at anyone," Jenny says a bit crossly. "I imagine that you damn well know what we mean, and I haven't had a drink yet today so I don't have too much sense of humor." She puts her cigarette between her lips and takes a long drag from it, eyeing Death's Head for a moment before glancing around at the others. "Are we all ready to stop trying to hurt each other, then? Good. I've got a headache coming on, and the gunfire and explosions were starting to tick me off."
She turns back to Death's Head then and asks, "who are you, anyway? And where did you come from?" She arrived after he gave his name earlier. "Me, I'm Jenny Sparks, from some other bloody Earth that isn't quite so lousy with the super-powered and overly-mechanized. Seems like you're not the only one world and time hopping lately." She glances over Carol's way and shrugs. "Getting out of here and somewhere less public would probably help calm everything down."
"Everyone is going to be fine over here, Ms. Marvel!" Faiza calls, standing up and waving. "Nothing but some minor bumps and scrapes. I'll stay here to..." She trails off, looking at Jenny and then at Death's Head again, like something they've been saying seems to bear extra meaning for her, but whatever she's thinking she doesn't say.
Death's Head finished absorbing about 2/3rds of the internet into his library. He assumed that would be enough to understand what was going on, on this planet. They seemed to have a bit of an obsession with fornication... and violence. But they also mostly worked on a capitalist system, that is something he could exploit... assuming he did not have to surrender himself to authorities. Based on some conspiracy theory websites he had absorbed he expected them to try to dismantle him if he was in their custody.
"I was tricked by a time traveler, he was going to give me his ship and instead he transported me here. I am confused, annoyed and mildly angry, yes? And I do have an aversion to being shot at, even with primitive weapons. I am Death's Head, Freelance Peacekeeping agent, I would give you references but many of them are not on this planet and will not be alive for nearly a hundred years... at least. You have no FTL capabilities and time travel seems to be behind very severe firewalls that I would not try to breech without frying my own circuits, eh?"
Death's Head considered a bit more and said, "I will not surrender my weapons. I am in what I consider to be a hostile environment, I have a right to self-defence, yes?"
"I did not say -surrender- your weapons. I said... disarm as well as you can, and let's go someplace not in the middle of a busy street with the whole world watching, to sort this out, okay? I know where we can get you to a secured location... and then we can figure out how much of what you have to say is true, and go from there." says Carol. "PAma, am I talking to -myself- here?" she asks towards Jenny.
"Now, Deaht's Head, whatever.. we don't use freelance peacekeepers here... okay aside from Bounty Hunters... and... oh skip it. Are you going to cooperate? Or is this going to turn into something even uglier?"
That's not to mention that a good 50% of the internet is made up of.. cats. LOLcats, Grumpy Cat.. all sorts of cats. Jokes. And Porn. Then violence.
Kurt exhales softly, and he turns his attention away from Death's Head to the police, back to Carol. He murmurs, "We could use a peacekeeper," but it dosn't go any farther.
What does gain Nightcrawler's attention is this other person who is trying to take control of the situation as well.. and he stares, his gaze lingering.
Nope.. not recognizing her. Not that it matters, anyway. And Carol doesn't appear to be acknowledging her. Much, anyway.
"I can take him away, Carol," Nightcrawler chimes in. "Name the place und we'll meet you there."
"Probably," Jenny answers Carol with a wry smile. "People bloody *hate* listening." She turns back to Death's head again and says, "look, I don't even have a sodding weapon on me. Haven't picked one up since I got to this bloody world anyway. No need to worry about me shooting even primative ones at you, all right? So how about her get the hell out of here and go somewhere that isn't quite so filled with antsy cops who might end up getting twitchy trigger fingers and putting more holes in your fancy cape, causing you to have to waste a whole lot of ammo. I'm giving any orders, I'm just bloody asking like a civilized person."
"I agree that there's no need here for conflict," Faiza says in her decidedly British accent. "This all seems like it was a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding, and hopping between realities, timelines, or worlds can have that kind of effect, can't it? I know how disorienting it can be, for both the person it happens to and everyone who has unexpected guests." She holds her hands up as she comes around from behind the police, where she'd been making sure people aren't injured. "As it happens, I just had a similar experience myself."
Death's Head nodded at Carol and started to deactivate his weapons systems, even if no one would be actually able to tell. Then she said the words... those two words that he hated. One of the only things that would make him want to kill. His weapon systems reactivated of their own accord. "I...."
His right hand dropped off his wrist again. On the other hand a long blade retracted from behind the wrist, "am -not-... a Bounty Hunter!"
He reached to his back and pulled free his titanium shot pistol attachment and put it on his hand, "This world is rude, yes? I offer friendship and receive insults!"
Death's Head aimed the gun hand he now had at Captain Marvel, "-I- am a visitor from another world and time, you have those already, I saw it on your Interconnected Computer Network! Yet I am treated as a criminal, when I am only a businessman! You are crypto-facists, yes!?"
"And I did not -call- you a Bounty Hunter. Do you know how to listen?" she asks as she reaches a hand out now, stepping closer and placing her index finger into the gun's barrel. "Now... put it away, or I will. Understood?" she asks, her eyes narrowing as she summons a bit of her energy to her fingertip, prepping to fire a photonic blast down the barrel should the need arise.
"Oh bloody..." Jenny says when tensions go high again, and she flicks her cigarette butt away. "She said that bounty hunters are the only freelance peacekeepers they've been using, not that you're a..." Carol's already pointing this out, though, so she doesn't reiterate. "Some things never change," she mutters. "Apparently not even in the distant future."
The longer all this goes on in front of the police, the less good this will be. Truly.
Nightcrawler has to make the decision and quickly on how to diffuse the situation, and so far, he's drawing a blank. Exhaling in a sigh, he's not about to hop out into the light, and there isn't much that he can do about all this. So.. back to watching, and waiting.
"Hey!" Faiza says. "Just arriving in this world and being uncertain of the laws is an understandable error. Nobody was hurt. At this point the situation can still be resolved without difficulty, I'm sure. It won't stay that way if everyone starts shooting again, though, and I would really rather not have to spend the rest of the day patching up the injured. I would take it as quite a kindness if you wouldn't hurt anybody." She glances back at the police. "Also, if nobody would try to hurt him." Then, she seems to be armed with nothing but a sword, so if Death's Head was scoffing at the police's primitive weapons, she's not much better. Even if that sword is Excalibur.
You should listen to the dark-skinned woman, yes? She seems to be the only one of you actually using those organic brains of yours," Death's Head still looking down the barrel of his gun arm, his tactical senses told him that Captain Marvel could compromise his systems with her energy blasts, "I do not want to be taken to a secure location, I will forgive the slight of comparing Freelance Peacekeeping Agents with disgusting Bounty Hunters."
He pulled his gun-arm back and said, "You will let me leave under my own power and you will tell your superiors that Death's Head escaped due to no fault of your own, eh? Everyone wins."
He looked over to Faiza and said, "Thank you dark-skinned woman for being the voice of reason like my blue stranger over there. These two..." he looked at both Carol and Jenny, "These two seem obsessed with the idea that ignorance is a valid reason to dismantle a mechanoid for no reason."
Narrowing her eyes.. Carol shakes her head, "You know, I don't think you understand. You're not calling the shots here... Mister Head. I didn't insult you. You misunderstood everything said... which says alarming things about your judgement in the first place." She folds her arms over her upper abdomen as she says that and narrows her eyes... her sense of duty not really allowing her to just sit here and watch while the robot ... departs. "Nobody said anything about dismantling... another asumption on your part. When you make an assumption, you make an ass out of you and Umption y'know." she adds. Yep, military girl, not -lady-... "Now, let's go someplace and -talk- ... as I suggested three times already...." . . o o O O (You walking toaster!) she thinks... but very carefully does not say.
"When the hell did I suggest anything about dismantling?" Jenny asks, like Death's Head is daft. "Or even a bloody secure location, like I've got one of those to take you to anyway. I only suggested going somewhere else so we could bloody well figure out what's going on. I'd have suggested a nearby bar for a sodding drink, but I don't know if you actually *do* that and I didn't want to insult." She shrugs her shoulders. "I mostly just care that you don't start shooting at people again. If you're not doing that, then I'm perfectly content to let you be someone else's problem. I've got better bloody things to do with my time than deal with well armed hunks of metallic persecution complex."
"You're welcome. I think there's simply a great deal of misunderstanding here, Mister," Faiza says to Death's Head, the 'mister' sounding more like she means it out of respect than anything else. "Ms. Marvel is one of Earth's heroes, and I have no doubt that she won't harm you if you haven't done anything to require her to take that sort of action." Or at least she certainly hopes that she's right. About that and this. "In fact, I think that if someone were to try without a good reason, even in the midst of this conflict, she would try to stop them. Please, let's all stand down and talk this over calmly." The whole while that she's speaking she continues to walk forward, and she still has her hands raised as if to prove to Death's Head that she isn't reaching for a weapon or anything.
"OI!" yells a voice undoubtedly familiar to some. Actually at least three of the heroes at the scene of the violence. It's a guy in a suit, trailing cigarette smoke until he flicks the butt into the gutter, and he is most definitely on the approach. It's Peter Goddamn Wisdom, and when he wants to be loud, he's louder than a chaperone at a theme park full of twelve-year-olds. "Can you lot NOT do this in the middle of the fucking street? Damage Control are on their way! Christ..."
Death's Head was indeed only hearing what he wanted to hear. Captian Marvel, a Kree-hybrid soldier was telling him to disarm, the smoking girl was killing herself with tobacco... something to exploited in this culture and was echoing Carol's words. The brown-skinned woman was perfectly understanding him. Then Pete Wisdom spoke and he said in responce, "Damage Control... an insurance company in the late and early 20th and 21st century. They clean up for super-heros. I'm not a super-hero, nor do I want to be one.
He looked at Jenny and Carol, "I will not go peacefuly, your only option is to attack... or let me go."
"My, you do have a very limited logic ability for a walking, talking calculator." offers Carol, "You have perhaps.. considered that there are other options, and you are simply ignoring them maybe?" she asks as she lifts off the ground a foot or two, hovering there. "Where are you going to go that I can't follow? All I want is a private location to talk. I've said that four times now... and these others." she looks to Pete now with a smirk, "even the new arrivals..." as her eyes flit back to DH, "Have also said that. So, how about we go somewhere else, which is what you want... but you're not just... leaving without at least -me- going wherever you go for now. I can't just let an unknown, with pama knows what level of weaponry... go.. I'm sure you understand... because you're a peacekeeper, not that other insulting occupation. You're smart, right? You know exactly what I'm saying. The question is, are you going to continue to ignore it and -force- combat? Or are you going to choose the reasonable route?"
"I don't even care if you pick the bloody place," Jenny says with a sigh. "I'm not trying to haul you in, since I don't even have somewhere to bloody take you. Hell, let you go? I'm trying to *get* you to go. If you want to bug off somewhere other than the middle of the street, would you just stop babbling about it and do it already?" She gestures Carol's way with a motion of her head. "Besides, like her, I'm pretty sure I can just follow you wherever you go." She looks over and gives Pete a smile. "Nice of you to show up, Wisdom."
"Peter!" Faiza exclaims when she hears that familiar voice, and she turns that way. "Oh, good, you made it out of there too! I was afraid that I might have been the only one. Have you seen any of the others since we got split up?" Well, okay, this Pete might not have any idea what she's talking about, but she doesn't know that. Still, she keeps one eye on the situation with Death's Head, ready to try to do something if she thinks something can be done.
Roundabout the time Death's Head is identifying Damage Control, Wisdom's getting close enough not to yell, and he takes his sunglasses out and slides them on as he slows his stride. "Just go, mate, I know you're not a superhero." He grimaces, looking up at Carol as he finally stops walking. "I know who he is, Danvers-- at least in theory. You're lucky he's being so fucking reasonable, I don't care how many Doombots you can turn into metal pancakes. Just let him go." He punches Jenny's arm without looking at her, glances toward Faiza-- pauses-- then nods. "We'll talk about it later," he says to her, businesslike. Businesslike and without any particular identifying tone. "Uh. Do you know if this is the first or the second one?"
"It seems that you have others who are better veted that a Kree-hybrid and a Century-child." Death's Head said
His feet have different opinions than him, himself, "Perhaps you need to listen to those who are less important to you."
The jets in his boots would be enough as they went off, leaving his hand behind. A hand that would be at least two decades above human technology.
Narrowing her eyes, Carol says, "Pete.. if you know anything about this robot. I'd appreciate a full report." She taps the earbud in her ear as she says that. And as the guy starts taking off, she grins, "It's about frakkin' time." she mutters as she just starts following, pacing the robot fairly easily for the moment. "So where're we goin'?" she asks as she does so.
"Don't let the door hit your arse on the way out!" Jenny says to the rocketeering robot as she raises a hand to give a way that, somehow, despite being a gesture, is definitely sarcastic. Then she turns back to Pete and asks, "care to fill us in on who that was, Petey, since you seem to know?" Then she mutters, "at least the *last* tin can I met offered me a cohiba."
I don't recognize "DAnvers".
"I'm afraid I'm not really sure, Sir," Faiza says to answer Pete's question, shaking her head. "Nobody was hurt, though, fortunately. The situation seemed to be more or less disarmed, but tense, when I arrived. One squad car was destroyed, but thankfully none of the officers hiding behind it had any more than a few scrapes." She turns to Carol then and smiles. "It's an honour to meet you, Ms. Marvel. I do wish it had been under better circumstances."
There, he's leaving-- maybe nothing else will explode. "I'm not reporting jack to you, you're an idiot!" Wisdom yells up at the departing Carol, then slouches, patting down his pockets and pulling his cigarettes out again. He grimaces at Jenny, then cocks his head toward 'away'. "Pub. Pick one."
Then the world comes to a grinding halt, and Pete slowly, so slowly, lowers his shades to stare at Faiza over them, unlit cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth.
There are, in fact, considerably fewer lines on his face than there ought to be. "Hang on a tic. Did you just call me 'sir'?"
Category:Log