2014.07.26 - Of Gods and Men - New York

Andrea had begged Professor Xavier to come along to New York. She was from out of state and had, since coming to Westchester, not gotten to the bigger city. It was sure to be an educational experience. She was in a red sweater and a "poodle" skirt, and wearing flats because she expected to be doing a lot of walking and heels are hard on the feet.
Andrea was not really certain what the Professor was doing in town, but he said we needed to visit the Stark Tower. That is not quite as good as the Statue of Liberty or the 9-11 memorial, but is interesting because it is saut Iron Man works there. She remains in human form, but cranes her head to take in the sights.
Professor Charles felt that a good place to start with finding help concerning matters of utmost importance is with Tony Stark himself, a man of great intellect, and a wide range of resources. Definitely, someone who should be provide great help. So he has come near the end of the day, in the hopes of finding Stark at a relatively calm point in his day. After all one can always assume that Stark is an extremely busy man.
After Andrea begged him to join him in New York, he decided that it was a good opportunity to get to know his new student. So he let her join him.
As for the alien visitor who happens to resemble an further evolved example of a Terran Raccoon... he's been spending a great deal of time on Earth since the Guardians haven't been tasked with saving the Galaxy recently. And currently he's sitting in a little outdoor cafe, with an oversized cup of coffee. Due to his short stature he's actually sitting on one of his enormous guns, using it as a makeshift booster seat in the wrought iron chair. He's sitting with some strange looking alien or mutant woman, and just being a charming rascal. Completely unaware that the crap is about to hit the fan.
 
It was just too nice a day to last, around Stark Tower. Vendors hawking their wares, street performers performing, cars bustling- and Stark Tower, Tony's monument to himself, rising above it all. It's a glorious edifice, appealing both aesthetically and architecturally- truly a testament to the glory a man can aspire to. 
So when the explosion hits, it is a shock beyond measure. Tons of bricks and rubble go flying, dust flooding the area for three blocks in every direction. The force of the blast blows out windows for a thousand yards and knocks cars off their tires. The carnage is unbelievable- screaming, sobbing, horns, sirens, all lost in the muted aftertones that follow such a tremendous blast hammering the huge building. The dust slowly settles to reveal one of the major trusses that support Stark Tower is simply... gone. Girders groan and wires snap, and it's apparent that Stark's monument to himself might very well crumble to the ground in a matter of minutes.
When Andrea hears the explosion she instinctively transform to her ultra elastic form. She knows, both from experience and from instinct, that she is far better able to survive in that form.
Realizing that some of the debris is headed this way, Andrea forms a dome over the Professor (and anyone else close by) and inflates the space between layers while creating a rigid geodesic reinforcement. It should provide protection against a moderate impact to everyone inside.
A quiet rooftop in Chelsea, and the man crouched on it is...resting. Jack Hawksmoor does not sleep, but sometimes it's nice to relax and do nothing. Or, at the very least, not very much. Nothing of importance. He might, as it happens, be listening to somebody else's stereo that flows out of an open wind...
And New York screams. All thought and reason for a moment interrupted, the man turning unerringly towards Stark Tower for one fleeting moment...before his physical form simply *melts*, flowing into the rooftop, becoming part of it, melding with the city. There's no time for anything else. No time to even think about being low key as he usually is, just to get there NOW, the explosion, the dust, he's aware of all of it and barely aware of being a man, and flowing out of the ground right at the base of the tower. The second he's formed, a hand lifts upwards. "RISE!" And the street starts to flow upwards, pulled towards him, buckling as he drags the substance of the city towards the truss, starting to flow around it even as the building totters, threatens to fall. The man in the suit ignores everything and everyone else, the woman turning herself into a dome to protect those close to her might well register...later. For right now? The tension in his form is incredible, shoulders set as he lifts that hand a little higher, pulling building and street and debris and anything else that counts as City to fill the gap.
 
At the moment Jack surges from the ground, a red and purple blur flies from nowhere and slams into the side of Stark Tower like a missile. It is Magneto, the Master of Magnetism himself, and he throws his might into the battle as readily as Jack does. 
"I cannot hold it!" Magneto shouts down to Jack, arms extended and gripping the air in rippling contortion. "Reinforce the building, or it will fall!" the Imperator pleads, sweat dripping down his face from the exertion of at least stopping the building's imminent collapse. 
 
In the distance, a gold and red man soars through the skies. Tony Stark is here as well, it seems, doing what he can to save people from falling rubble, broken glass, and the general destruction of his tower.
Xavier groans as he realizes his plans to visit Stark, are now out the window. However, he's glad to that he brought Andrea with him as she protects him from the falling debris. After all, he is not one for quick movement. However, he does attempt to send out his mind in order to make contact with the young mutant, so that he might better communicate with her and instruct her as he sees fit.
And of course... the woman that Rocket was having coffee with immediately goes into terrified clinging mode. Grabbing for Rocket and begging him to protect her. His eyes bugging out a bit as he squeezes a bit tight for comfort. Which is quite a humorous sight in the middle of horror and chaos. At least they're far enough away from Stark Tower that it's only a dust cloud and broken windows they're dealing with.
"Flark!" Rocket growls a little bit. "Easy on the fur lady! I've got a job to do." Rocket slips a few strange looking bills to her and squirms away. " He manages to get away from her and picks up his enormous weapon from the chair and a low humming-thrum of energy pulses from the weapon as he climbs up on the back of the chair. His eyes darting around and looking for anything that could have been the cause for the explosion. Though he does note the pending collapse of Stark Tower. "And the one time I don't take Groot with me."
Andrea's powers, while interesting and fun, are only of moderate power. She is not one of those people like Plastic Man or Elastic Girl who can seemingly alter their mass at will, allowing them to become huge or tiny shapes. So she is grateful to feel contact with the Professor's mental contact. She knows she is only an average student, but he is one of the sharpest minds on the planet, he might be able to hell her better ways to use what she CAN do.
 
There's the sound of gunfire, then, and dozens of men spill from unmarked vans and alleys. Somehow concealed behind screens of intense mental discipline, they do not act like professional soldiers, but more like hired mercenaries- undisciplined but well trained. They start shooting recklessly into the chaos, adding furthur to the carnage. Police response is quick, but inadequate, as this turns into a full-blown terrorist attack.
"Working on it!" Jack snaps up at Magneto. His short tone is probably from the mental strain he's under, reshaping the building to reinforce it, to compensate for the damaged strut. It might not hold forever, but it might hold long enough for somebody to rescue the people within. Then the shooting starts. The next word Jack says isn't exactly printable. As long as they aren't using armor piercing rounds, his bulletproof body can take it (his jacket, on the other hand...) But if they do, he's going to have to dodge or find some way to shield himself, and he can't stop concentrating. Not yet. This is a huge task, and the city ripples...and to those sensitive to it, there's a lot of energy focused around the relatively small man and the area around the strut where the matter of the city is altering...at least some of it psionic energy. The god of the cities is in action...and somebody else will have to take care of those gunmen. He's busy.
Xavier, after making contact with his student, finally turns his attention to the rest of the scene. He sees Erik, and curses the man's helmet for restricting his contact. However, he also sees Jack, and attempt to communicate with him, before the gun men turn up.%Xavier communicates with Andrea I need you to protect me from those bullets, hopefully you're abilities will protect you from harm, but mine will not. He then turns his attention to the gun men, and sends his mind out to probe in theirs, in the hopes of gaining any information from them.
If Professor X had any hair on the top of his head... it might have gotten a bit singed. As a pint-sized raccoon with an absurdly large gun flys over the top of his head with a blast from his rocket boots. He's heading right for the sounds of gunfire... right into danger. Cause that's his middle name. Once the mercenaries start firing so does Rocket... though unlike the recent encounter with the Badoon he's not trying to kill them. But nobody said that large blaster wounds was against the rules. Or blowing up cars near the terrorists. If they get a lil scorched... oh well. At least they'll be alive to stand trial. Rocket drops out of his flight behind an arriving police car, looking up with a wide smile at the officer. "The song was right New York, New York... it's a helluva town." Rocket is showered with glass from the cop car being torn into with weapon fire, but he seems so happy. Even as he digs in a pouch for a large orb-like explosive.
While Andrea would normally go and mix it up with the gunmen...knowing that she is pretty much impervious to bullets...protecting the Professor is top priority. Much as she dislikes sitting around playing bulletproof Igloo, that is her best use for the moment. She does let her eyes move around on her surface to check out different directions. She winces as the Rocket powered Raccoon passes just over her, singing her surface slightly with the heat he is emitting. When she turns back to normal her sweater will be ruined!
 
Magneto briefly attempts to stop some bullets, but the effort is too much- keeping the tower aloft while Jack repairs it is requiring all his effort, and the Master of Magnetism can't lend his efforts to the fight on the ground. 
The gunmen continue to wreck havoc across the streets, converging on Stark Tower in what is clearly an attempt to take the building over even as it is on the verge of collapse. It seems they are the fallback plan, now that Magneto and Jack are preventing the tower's destruction.
Xavier will have no issues contacting Jack's unshielded mind, although he'll sense deep concentration...and even a bit of pain, although it's not dangerous pain. More...the strain of using powers to their limit. Healing is much harder than breaking, repairing harder than destroying. His concern, even as a bullet slams into his shoulder at fairly close range, doing some damage...jacket ruined, skin broken slightly to drip blood that is not red but mercurial silver, a little bit of the same substance visible in his nose...deep concentration and a link to another mind, one that is oddly human whilst at the same time utterly alien, Jack's link to the city fully open right now. He doesn't actually answer Xavier's 'knock' on his mind just yet. Again. He's busy.
Though there is chaos, screaming, and gunfire... a lone voice carries over it. It sounds big and scuffy, even if it's source is that of someone who's less than waist height when standing next to some people. But he does have a lovely singing voice. "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts...." And the orb-like explosive flys over the hood of the cop car and bounces towards the terrorists. "There they are, all standing in a row...." And there goes another one flying over and bouncing towards them. "Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head...." And there goes another one. "Give them a /TWIST/ a flick of the wrist..." And there goes another one. And then suddenly rocket leaps up on the hood of the cop car. "Thats what the showman said...." And he triggers a device on his wrist. And the terrorists are given the momentary choice of trying to shoot Rocket or avoid the various ooms. And hopefully the big badda boom of multiple explosive orbs won't shake Magneto or Jack from their patch job. Or piss off Jack's city even more.
Xavier manages breach into the mind of one of the gun men, he frantically searches through man's mind. Finesse is out of the window for this mind reading, as he feels a sense of urgency. Such heavy usage on an unsuspecting target usually causes high levels of pain to the said target. But for all his effort, all reads are the rambling thoughts of a zealot. However, he senses some external influence and tries to free the man's mind.
Andrea...Elastique she reminds herself...it trying to think of something to do, and finally does. She forms part of her mass into her hands and another part into a slingshot. She picks up a small piece of rubble and propels it at one of the gunmen who is trying to reach the door of the tower. It should not weaken the dome enough for anything to get through...
 
One zealot falls to his knees, sobbing at Xavier's interference. As his worldview literally crumbles around him, he can only sit and stare at the ground tearstruck at his actions, forced by Xavier to rethink everything he'd considered 'real'. 
Rocket's methods are, however, much more effective, eliminating dozens of the terrorists and forcing the others to rethink their attacks. Several throw down their weapons and flee, their nerve shattered, while a few lieutenants manage to keep some sense of order and keep the fight going, though their advance is bogged down by Rocket's one man army. 
Jack is repairing the tower effectively, the God of the City restoring hte shattered tension truss. In a few minutes, Stark Tower is standing- not easily, but on her own, freeing Magneto and Jack both from the effort of salvaging Tony's mark on the city.
And the first thing Jack does as he turns away is to shoot a look at the raccoon...his right eye glinting red then returning to normal...and quip. "How the heck does one person carry *that* many grenades? Do you have a pocket dimension for them or something?" He's breathing hard...it's going to be a moment before he can do anything else and yup, nosebleed. And yup, silver blood. Guy ain't as human as he looks, it seems.
Xavier decides to communicate with Andrea, <<How are you coping with all of this?>> Before moving to target the minds of the lieutenants if he can enter into their minds, then he can force them to issue a command of surrender to the rest of the terrorists. And end this fighting without shedding any more blood. He despises the methods chosen by the raccoon creature.
Andrea almost loses her concentration. Fortunately her rigid structure are more self maintaining, so the geodesic bracing keeps the dome in place and the handle of her slingshot stays put...but she momentarily loses her hands and the strap to the slingshot and drops the rubble to the ground. She is still kind of new at this complex shaping part of her powers and it shows when her concentration is interrupted. She laughs wryly, "I was just fine until you distracted me. I need to work on that next time I am in the danger room."
Resuming her concentration she takes aim at another of the attackers with her slingshot. It is a lot stronger than the average slingshot, if it hits it is going to hurt...
Jack Hawksmoor doesn't get an answer from the raccoon. Yet. Taking a deep breath to re-balance himself, he charges towards the nearest group of un-blown-up terrorists. No weapons for this guy, perhaps because he is one. Only his fists. He'll pay the price for this later; he's going to be absolutely exhausted, but that's the way of things. Unavoidable. Running away? That would be letting the people who kept them busy while he fixed Stark's toys for him down.
 
One by one, the terrorists start to throw down their weapons. Xavier's mind is too powerful, and even the potent brainwashing is undone by his least of mental efforts. In mere minutes, the men all surrender- and the ones who don't, Rocket and Andrea seem more than able to take care of. Magneto sweeps through the air, ripping weapons from hands and destroying them with a minor effort of will, until all the terrorists are corralled on their side. Tony Stark seems to be doing much the same on the far side of the block, and as NYPD shows up, it seems the heroes have routed the terrorists and saved Stark Tower from being utterly destroyed.
Andrea sees that the immediate danger is over and resumes a humanoid form. She suggests, "Professor, can you see if anyone is buried under the rubble so I can dig them out?"
Rocket does eventually answer Jack... even if it's after he expected. He just had to heft up his big gun again from beside the police car. And also is now sporting one of the cop's hats. Since the cop had the good sense to scramble away when Rocket was tossing grenades. It doesn't fit exactly well, askew and covering one of his ears. "No pocket universe. Just pockets. You should try 'em sometime." Rocket aims the big weapon at some of the remaining terrorists... and gives them his best psychotic grin. That's what you get for bringing a gun to a bigass blaster rifle fight. So any hesitancy of them dropping their weapons is ended swiftly. "Well... who's hungry?"
Jack Hawksmoor stops as the men...surrender to him. Well, that's good. "Not me." His lips quirk a little bit, but he's swaying on his feet a little, now whatever he uses for adrenalin is starting to fade away. He actually moves to lean against the outside of the damaged building, reaching up to mop the silvered blood from his face. "Ugh."
<<That's a good idea, Andrea. And I apologize for distracting you earlier. Telepathic communications can be very surprising to those who are not used to them. But I will make sure you'll get adequate teaching back at the Institute.>> Xavier, once again, sends out his mind scanning the area looking for people amongst the rubble.
 
Magneto stops long enough to exchange a civil nod with Xavier and Jack. "My thanks," he says to the two. "It seems this attack spreads further than just New York. Genosha is in danger as well. I must see to my home." With not so much as a 'by your leave', Magneto takes off in a hurricane of motion, flying back to Genosha, presumably.
Andrea assumes the form of a pneumatic shovel and starts digging up anyone the professor points out to her. She is strong enough to move a ton of stone in that form, possibly more, she can help...
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