2013.07.29 - Iced Coffee

Early morning. On a weekday. It's calm and traffic is doing what traffic does in Manhattan. And people on the sidewalk do what people on the sidewalk do in Manhattan, when there's a villianously dressed God of Mischief, Lies, Trickery, and Evil walking against the flow of mortals toward a street Starbucks. He's muttering to himself as he moves to the end of hte cue. Loki is looking very much like himself... if you ignore the mystical relic of a hammer that is supposed to belong to his brother, the God of Thunder, that is hanging from his belt over his green surcoat. 
Yes. Loki is wearing the horned helm.
There are some advantages to being a superhero. One of those involves ignoring both the traffic and the people on the sidewalk as obsticles. Another involves not actually having a normal 9 - 5 schedule that plunks a person into a cubicle for entirely too many hours in a day. A young woman is flying low, scanning the signs and shops as she does, clearly looking for something. Jazmin glances right past Loki a moment, her gaze continuing past him towards the Starbucks, at least until her attention prods her thoughts on instant replay. She twists her head back, to consider the God of Mischief's fashion choices in Manhattan and there's a little roll of her eyes, as /only/ a teen girl might manage at the helm, any commentary kept quiet enough to be only a mutter to herself.
Justin Hammer has a lot on his mind. Running a large corporation, a SHIELD contract, preparing for the Stark Expo, having been approached by the Imperator of a new nation AND a Green Lantern with business proposals. Getting Project BullShark tested, the upcoming 'Safe At Home' Initiative...
And of course, working on the projects for the Asgardians.
It's probably Hammer's ADD-type tendencies that actually allow him to juggle all of these things in a relatively coherent manner. His brain can jump from one subject to another quickly, and so far he's managed to keep everything straight. However, that same ability can cause a mental train-wreck when he needs to concentrate on one thing, such as a stockholder's meeting on Wall Street. So to battle that disaster what does Justin do? He hunts down a Starbucks for coffee.
The CEO enters the coffee shop after the Asgardian, briefcase in his left hand. It takes a minute for his eyes to adjust from the bright morning light, but as soon as they do, he spots the man- god- in the armor. Wow, talk about timing. There's a couple people between Justin and Loki in line, but that doesn't stop the man from muscling his way ahead to greet the mischief maker. "Hey Loki, fancy running into you here. Didn't peg you for the Wall Street type."
"...dozen or two-?" Loki stops his monologue as Justin makes his way over. Green eyes are a little more amber than usual, and there are dark circles under them as he turns to blink twice at Hammer. 
"You're actually here," says the Trickster, sounding pleased to see Justin, shocked that he's here, and not at all surprised that he's here. 
"Standing here. I thought you had a ...ground conveyance...car? A car. Don't you have a car?"
Its questionable on who is more out of place, the God with the helm, or the teenaged black girl who has landed, wandered into the starbucks and joined the line a couple people away from the pair who clearly know each other already. Jazmin has dug out a starbucks card from the backpocket of her jeans, fiddling with it in her fings as she watches Justin and Loki.
"I do, several actually," Justin replies to the God of Mischief, ignoring the glares he's gotten from several people for the social infractions he's committed. "But what was the point in calling my limo driver out here just to walk a couple blocks for coffee? I mean, that would be environmentally unconscious." He grins, shifting his weight in a fidgety manner. He spots the teen as she enters the shop, but doesn't give her much more thought than that. She's just another person looking for a latte or cappuccino, like the rest of them. Addressing Loki again, "Though I have to admit that I'm a little shocked to see you here. Didn't expect to run into you again so soon. If I may, you Asgardians really love your coffee. Seems like I'm always running into your brother at a coffee shop."
Loki opens his mouth but as Justin clarifies he closes it again. He tries to smile, but seems distracted by something. 
"Yes.. coffee. I have to purchase coffee.... or muffins... or both..." Loki looks back to the counter, tilts his head, then looks back at Justin, "How much coffee do you think it would take to coat a windshield of a car so the driver can't see anymore?"
Jazmin quirks a brow at the notion of coating a windscreen with coffee, stepping closer, ever closer to the counter and her own caffinated goodness as she listens in. She absently shoves her hands in her pockets, rocking back and forth on her heels as she waits, tokenly patiently. Tokenly.
Well, now that sounds like something a trickster god would do. Justin arches a brow and gives a bit of a nervous chuckle. "I'd say a couple of venti's would do it," he comment offhandedly, hoping that a bit of input will keep him OFF the pranks list. Lord knows he has more than enough to worry about without having a deity trying to pull potentially deadly practical jokes on him. Something strikes him as off about Loki, though. Hammer has only ever met him one other time, and so far he's just not stacking up to the rumors and mental image that the CEO has. Or the files he's reviewed on the Asgardian. Justin falls quiet, glancing around again and putting his right hand into his pants pocket.
Loki isn't aware of Jazmin it seems. Just another face in the crowd. Justin's answer is processed and the Trickster smiles broadly. His lean face makes the otherwise bright and jovial expression a bit more maniac that it might otherwise be.
"Truly? Oh thank you! I was starting to worry that I would have to resort to using a cyclone. Though, I'm not sure which is more predictable. I mean.. I could at least make sure the cyclone knows wehre it's supposed to... No... I don't want to do anything to ruin his already shakey reputa-" Loki stops stalking, open still mouth, and his green eyes settle on the barrista who is now string at him in wide eyed WTF. Loki closes his mouth with a click. His eyes flick about, noting the otherwise uneasy faces of hte mortals around him. 
"What? "
"Really? For like a split second maybe, it's just /coffee/, it'll just run off, it's not like it sticks." Jazmin can't help but pipe up at Justin's speculation on the obstruction value of coffee. She shrugs then, shaking her head a little and quirking her brow anew at the mention of 'cyclone'. "That seems.. excessive."
...And now we're taking a step back... Justin grins nervously, glancing around again before returning to keeping a careful watch on Loki. This might not be the good fortune he thought it was. Sure, he's in tight with the Asgardians, even working with them, but Loki is kept at arms length even by them. Hammer should have known better. As the little warning siren in Justin's head blares something clicks- the comment about not ruining /his/ already shaky reputation matches up with a glaring detail that Justin had overlooked. Loki is carrying Thor's hammer. In plain sight. The files were pretty clear, that hammer can't be carried by anyone else, and Loki was not in possession of one like it. What the /hell/ is going on?
The teen girl gets a look as she speaks up. Hammer is still wearing that grin, but there's no real humor in it. "Gotta agree on that one. Tornadoes always make people's insurance rates go up." Was that an attempt at humor? At this point it's anyone's call.
Loiki turns toward Jazmin now, head tilting with clear interest. 
"I suppose a flash of lightning would do just the same thing, but really.. I don't want to cause anyone to go blind," says Loki, as if once more getting back to business. THe business of... causing a serious traffic incident, it seems. 
"Yes, I had thought the cyclone would be excessive too. They are temperamental things anyway, requiring so much focus. Maybe that's needed though..."
Loki pauses here to consider this, lips pursing as his left hand comes up to fold over his chest while the right perches upon it so his long graceful fingers can run over his lower lip in obvious thought... thoughts that have Loki flinching outwardly as his green eyes flash brightly.
"Okay.. now I /totally/ have to ask." Jazmin looks from Loki to Justin and back to Loki again. "And yes, I'm /totally/ butting in, and like oh my god rude, and yeah. Sorry." She shrugs that off as easily as she inserted herself into the conversation. "Why are you trying to not blind, just kinda blind some guy driving a car? Isn't that dangerous? Not that the cars around here /go/ anywhere quickly, they seem to mostly honk and swear and gesture at each other, but every now and then they actually seem to /move/."
Justin is getting the distinct gut feeling that he needs to talk to Sif. As in, immediately. He has a few updates for the Goddess of War anyway, but this incident makes him think that he should up the priority on that meeting. The CEO takes another step back, coming to a stop next to the teen who has one set of cojones on her. He looks toward Jazmin, lowering his tone. "Hey, honey," yes, he used that phrase which may or may not get him smacked, "You might wanna check yourself. That's Loki, he's a trickster god. I think we may want to just find ourselves somewhere else to get coffee." Run away? Yep, that sounds like an amazing plan at the moment.
"Why...?" Loki pulls from his reverie at the question he repeated. He seems to really consider the question, the thinking making him hiss softly and press the heel of his left hand to a temple. A half step back is taken, staggering under the weight of... something unseen. He seems to complete ignore everything until Justin suggests they run away. That's what makes Loki's eyes flare open, shining with this uncontrolled sort of electrical fury. 
"NO! You can not leave. I won't allow it!" Loki roars in his hissing tenor that causes his eyes to glow even more furiously.
The moniker of 'honey' only gets a little huff from Jazmin, not a smack as she turns to Justin at his entirely sane, reasonable and showing good judgement suggestions. "What? I only asked him why he wanted to. If he wants to answer 'cause I'm a trickster god', he's welcome to." She frowns a little as Loki appears to be almost attacked by considering the question and then gets all /weird/ at the notion of going somewhere else. "Uhh.. woah there dude. Relax. Are you okay? You look like you have a headache from the /abyss/ going on. We're.. uh.. not going anywhere just yet. Right? /Honey/." Jazmin glances sidelong at Justin, sharing the moniker freely.
The teen gets a hard look from Hammer and he starts to retort when Loki fires off his outburst. Now that was unexpected... Justin raises his hands, the briefcase still in his left, to just below shoulder height. "Whoa, whoa, easy there. Loki, my friend, let's be reasonable, shall we?" The Loki he read up on is maniacal, sure, but this is starting to border on some form of illness. Hammer looks toward Jazmin as she speaks up again, scowling lightly as she returns his own phrase. His eyes shift back toward the Asgardian. "Yeah, see, we're staying, we're staying. Though, if I may, I think maybe we should sit down at a table and talk about this?"
And just like that, it's passed. Whatever it was leaves Loki looking dazed and a bit like a lost child. His pale skin is even paler and thin beads of sweat dot his brow. He glances about, like he's trying to remember something. There's a glint in his eyes, the yellow sparking back to life. He turns back to Justin, smiling.
"Of course, Justin Hammer, Hero of Midgard... my friend," says Loki with a hint of princely formality that just... doesn't jive with the madman of a moment ago. Loki still has the shakes, even if he's trying desperately to hide them now. His right hand dips back and he runs his fignertips along the hammer's surface. Like... the item is reassuring to the Trickster God.
"Howsabout /you/ guys go sit down and /I'll/ get coffee. For all of us." Jazmin offers to Loki and Justin both, looking more than a touch skeptical at the sudden shift in phrasing and attitude. "Whaddya want?" She steps between Loki and the nice generally mundane normal people working behind the counter. Just in case.
"Yeah, good idea, good idea..." Slowly Justin lowers his hands and reaches for the wallet in his back pocket. He sets down the briefcase and takes out his own Starbucks card, a gold one, offering it to Jazmin. "Coffee's on me. Whatever you two want." He looks toward the barristas behind the counter, grinning wider though still obviously on edge. "Venti caramel latte," he offers to them before looking back toward Loki and Jazmin. He shares the teen's skepticism about the sudden mood swings.
"I'd like... I'd like... hot chocolate... with marshmellows and whipped cream and those little... tiny... they look like... not individually, but all together, as if one took a chunk of the Bifrost and crushed it into tiny pieces and scattered over the Nine Realms and ..." Loki is trying to explain sprinkles but seems to have gotten sidetracked. Like, unclipped Mjolnir from the clip on his belt, sidetracked. His eyes are glowing again.
Out side, the day is beautiful. Bright, sunny; the picturesque morning in Manhattan. The beautiful day is shattered like a pane of glass... Like THE pane of glass that is the Starbucks' front window... from which Mjolnir flies out, into traffic and slams into the front drive side tirewall, causing the car to jack knife dangerously. The taxi behind him slams into the car, and thus begins a nice New York City, one sided piled up. 
"...a chocolate muffin, please," Loki finishes, as if he didn't just fling a really powerful Asgardian artifact out a window.
Somewhere nearby the entrance to that Starbucks situated in Lower Metropolis, walking down the gray paved sidewalk is a small girl of roughly teen age. Dressed in a light blue tank top with a pink crop tee layered over the top, a pair of basic blue denim jeans, and gray sneakers she walks with her hands nestled inside her pockets. Her long, brunette, hair sways as she moves... barely subdued by the bright pink beanie she wears on her head. The empty, unblinking, cartoonish eyes of the head adornment stare ever forward. Well, they look less like actual eyes and more like cartoonish swirls really...
A soft jingling of bells comes shortly afterward as she passes the threshold of the doorway and enters the store.
From there, it doesn't take long for her to make her way toward the counter at the back and clutch at the glass with her smallish hands. Standing on her tip-toes, she peers over the glass counter... first at the occupied staff member then at... the person he's talking to. ... Molly pauses with this, she hasn't really seen this person before... but she could swear she's seen that hammer...
...That just got tossed out of the window, wreaking havoc on both the Starbucks window and a the civilian vehicles outside. Her jaw -drops- and then, after a moment or so, a sound escapes her... "...HEY?!"
"What the /hell/ is Bifro..." Jazmin starts as she squints at Loki and then instinctly shrinks back, holding Justin's gold starbucks card as there's a /casual/ toss of a massive hammer through a plateglass window, holding her arms up to shield her face from the shattering glass. "Well that pretty much /ensures/ we aren't getting coffee!"
Well, so far this day had been pretty terrible. Jocelyn heard that Shift had left the team. The boss at her part-time job was apparently looking for him. No, Jocelyn couldn't think of many ways that this day could actually get worse.
That's when she sees a huge pile up of cars. And Thor's hammer sitting right there, causing the problem.
"Damn it".
Jocelyn starts scanning the area, looking for any obvious injuries. Though it really didn't seem like Thor to just...toss his hammer out into the middle of the street, or leave it lying there, or however it had ended up there. Then Jocelyn spots Loki. Huh. She never got the full story as to why Loki had Thor's hammer. Or if this was Thor-Loki, much like there was once ThorKitty. Vorpal seemed to think Loki was a good guy though, from previous run-ins. They'd been a little busy. Jocelyn decides to start moving in that general direction.
"Oh, shit!" Justin yelps as the hammer is tossed through the window. He shields himself with his briefcase, turning his left side toward the broken pane instinctively. As the sound of screeching tires reach his ears Hammer drops his arm again and just stares at Loki. "Wh-What the hell, man?" he asks, though he quickly shuts his mouth before he makes himself a target of whatever's coming next. He has got to get a hold of Sif, somehow, as this is escalating quickly.
Loki turns back to the pile up, green eyes looking at the hammer with a frown. He spares Justin a glances, and a light grin. It's meant to be reassuring, but... Loki is 6'4" and wearing a horned helmet that makes him look over 7feet tall so.. there's that. And he's rather known across various realms as a Trickster so that grin could really mean anything.
"My apologies for the fright, Justin Hammer. Time is running short," Loki says, as if that explains everything. Given the odd flecks of amber in his eyes, maybe it does. It might not explain why he ignores anything else and floats off the ground to get a better view of Mjolnir.
"Trolldung." Pause. "I missed." Surprised pause. "I never miss." Loki tilts his head to look toward the large intersection thoughtfully. The expression darkens to a scowl.
"There are still too many. I'll have to use a cyclone then. Perhaps my brother can forgive me... No, wait. How would he handle this? Ugh, think, fool!" Loki sputters at himself, left hand once more coming to his temple, pressing down against his head as, almost directly above the hammer, the sky begins to darken.
For those who have seen the Bifrost vortex starting, that's what this is. Jocelyn, the energy signature is of a shard.
Molly's emerald green eyes pass over her shoulder once, distractedly, drawn by the reactions of the people within the shop. None of whom she immediately recognizes. ... But then, her eyes are on the much taller green-clothed Asgardian again. The look in her eyes says pretty much everything there is to know about her present mental state: she's horribly confused by this turn events, but she's ready to fight should it come to it.
"What's the big idea, destroyin' the coffee shop??" Her eyes flit again to the wreckage outside, concern in them for the occupants of those vehicles.
...But he ignores her, addressing one of the unknowns in the background before levitating off of the ground and heading outdoors. Molly follows, quietly, eyes taking on a glow of their own as she does so... walking directly through the partly destroyed wall casually and causing more of it to fall away to the ground.
Once outside, she tries again, "...I -asked- what you're doing mister!" ... And then... the sky begins to darken and her eyes track upwards.... rain?? ... No...
"What the /hell/ is going on?" Jazmin mutters as she pockets Justin's card, for the moment, into the back pocket of her jeans and starts up into the air, following Loki's path up, just to keep someone up on the same level with him. Basic average teenager, who can fly apparently. She extends out her hands in front of her, gathering up what appears to be nothing to most watching, but substantive enough to her touch. "Yeah.. anyone know if whatever that is incoming is friend or foe? I'm voting with the later, but Honey? Any clues here?"
Oh, bloody...another Bifrost vortex. Jocelyn looks up, and then looks around. This was so not good. Too many civilians to do much openly. But invisible kinetic blasts were, well, invisible. So Jocelyn is about to start launching blasts up to hold it back when she sees Jazim gather up...time energy? Wait, Jocelyn vaguely recognized her. From the mall, way back when. Jocelyn doesn't take off into the air, but instead runs under Jazmin and calls up at her. "Someone slow that vortex down! Seen this show before!"
Yep. Just another civilian who has seen way too many bad things happen in her city. Yep!
The glance Justin gets from Loki does nothing to reassure him. Quite the opposite, in fact, and he takes another step away from the trickster. He snags his briefcase as he takes the step, watching as Loki rises into the air. Remember that running away thing? Yeah, that sounds like an amazing option at the moment. The challenges that issue from the rather unassuming youngster get a glance, then Hammer looks toward Jazmin, who can apparently also fly. "I think it's a Bifrost- thing," Justin says to the flying teen. "No idea who's on the other side..." He trails off, hoping against all hope that his simply thinking about contacting Sif may have gotten her attention. Conceited? Perhaps. Hammer takes another step back as Jocelyn offers additional information.
Jazmin's time thing slows the swirling clouds, causing them to darken and the flickering rainbow lights to intensify. The vortex is ...well.. unhappy about it, but it's slowing. The vortex is freaky... moving in slow motion like it is. 
"My brother would have-" Loki starts, getting interrupted by Molly's insistant presence.
"You." Loki breathes, before his green eyes sweep around. Other heros! He smiles. Something worked right! But then why hasn't that horrible feeling... gone away...? It's almost paralyzing! 
"I am trying to-" And then there's Jazmin at his side. The logical thing to say would be to talk about what's coming from the portal. Sadly, Loki's a little past logical thought, what with these confounded visions flickering past his eyes. 
"I am not your Honey, mortal! I am married," hisses the Trickster as he reaches out his right hand to summon the hammer back to his hand. It pulls the car with it, dragging it out of the way of the vortex. Anyone know Norse myth and can figure out who Loki's wife IS in mythology?
The much smaller youngster wearing a cartoonish beanie eyes the Asgardian warily as he finally regards her. Her lips turn a bit with displeasure as he immediately refers to her as 'you'. But she says nothing immediately, her fists clench and unclench idly as her somewhat undereducated brain tries in vain to puzzle out what was going on. She certainly wasn't getting answers yet from -him-.
Sometime shortly after Jazmin emerges from inside the building - flying apparently - and Molly regards her wordlessly for a moment. Then she turns her eyes to that slowly churning vortex overhead like blackest ash being stirred inside a pot... "...That doesn't look good..."
...She doesn't have time to stare long, however, as Loki's threatening hiss reminds her of the situation at hand. Green eyes fall swiftly downward from the sky, just in time to see that green weirdo summon that familiar hammer to his hand. The way it casually drags the vehicles heft along sets some wheels in motion inside her head, "...Isn't that... Thor's hammer?" Her eyebrows lower a bit, and furrow... how was this green maniac related...?
"Yeah.. Honey is someone else, I wasn't actually talking to you. Besides.. you are /so/ not my type." Jazmin assures Loki as he gets terribly offended at her use of the endearment. "You're trying to ... distrupt traffic even more? Keep me from getting a coffee? Cause you did that last one REALLY WELL. How about.. woah.. watch it with that thing!" Jazmin has to fly and fly well to dodge hammer /and car/ that's come with it. She glances briefly up at the slowed vortex, keeping a bit of attention there as she reaches out to scoop a bit more time energy up and tossing it towards hammer and car, trying to slow the car's progress in her direction.
"Yeah. Bifrost vortex," Jocelyn confirms, looking over at Justin. She recognizes him briefly from Thor's wedding, but really had no idea who he was. She didn't keep up with the notables in weapons design. Unless you were Tony Stark, because everyone knew him. "More than likely whoever is on the other side, given past experience, is going to be fully intent on wrecking as much shit as possible". While Jocelyn is talking, she's focused on looking for life energy through the portal, or the inevitable shard that might be there.
Jocelyn does spare a glance to Molly when the girl speaks. "That's Loki. Thor's brother. And yes, that is Thor's hammer. I haven't figured that one out yet," she admits.
The angry trickster god and the heroes are all outside now under the darkening sky. So where's Justin? Inside the building, looking at the chaos out the shattered window. This seems like the safest place to be at the moment, especially since Loki seems intent on causing MORE of a traffic jam than there already was. The stockholder's meeting, his Starbucks card... It's all forgotten as he tries his best to stay back and not die. He's not a hero, hell, if anything he sits on the fence and maybe leans a little the other way, and there isn't anything he can do. Looking back at the other frightened civilians in the store, he does wave them back. "Everyone should probably get to the back of the store. If there's a back door to this place, we might wanna use it."
"Yes. Mjolnir. Hammer of legend," snips Loki as he summons the relic to him. When he sees the car coming with it, his green eyes widen in concern... for himself. He's found this shell is so much squishy than the one he's used to. The Trickster, out of desperation, pulls his right hand to himself... and the hammer falls... so does the car...
Fortunately for hte family trapped inside, the car is suddenly falling more slowly than it's supposed to. Mjolnir, stuck in the tirewell, falls just as slowly.
"Yes," Loki replies to Jazmin as he watches her do something and prevent the car from immediately going smash on the street. He watching, facinated at it briefly before working to pull his mind back to the fight. He flies slowly toward the car, as if unused to the mode of transportation, and reaches out to collect the hammer... and finds it stuck. It's humorous, watching him trying to pry the relic free. It's almost like he's just not strong enough to lift it.
 
Beyond the bifrost are three very big things... and they feel very cold. The vortex works its way toward the street.
Molly's glowing violet gaze finally regards Jocelyn, silently, the girl twisting her upper body about a little to see. Soft nods follow, indicating Molly heard and understood what was said. And then she looks askance at Loki once more, perhaps adding a bit more insult to what Jazmin had already contributed, "...That's his BROTHER?!" The volume escalates tremendously toward the end there, Molly showing her rudeness. Her soft features take on yet another look of displeasure, as if to say 'HOW could that weirdo be related to Thor?', "...H-He... doesn't... look like it." Thor was far more handsome... to put it nicely...
...Molly then regards 'His Greenness' again as his voice penetrates the mid-day's air and derail her train of thought suddenly. ... And she says nothing on reply, staring intently in an almost... amused fashion at his seemingly futile attempts to move the hammer. "...Oy... so... what is going on?! Who or what should I be punching! Because somebody's gotta pay for that wall...!?
"I really don't think you're supposed to be screwing around with the Hammer Of Legend, if you keep dropping it all over the place." Jazmin notes as she relaxes just a hint when the car doenst hit her, and lands back on the ground slowly enough not to be playing bumper cars with tons of steel and plastic. She glances up again, towards the vortex as it continues to move, trying to keep it, and anything that might come out of it, slowed at least.
"There are three rather large things coming through there," Jocelyn says, glancing over at Jazmin and Molly. She bites her tongue. Well, at least one was a hero, so hey. "I'll try and weaken them a bit before they hit the ground. Not going to be able to keep them from arriving". Then Jocelyn focuses, gathering up thermal energy, and unleashes repeated energy blasts. Blasts of hot thermal energy. Aimed directly at the vortex. The static time bubble will 'hold' her blasts as the blasts enter it, which should mean that they'll all strike the incoming cold-focused enemies hard as soon as they arrive and are falling, and with more force than any single one of them could normally do, because they'll all just sort of sit there 'banked' until the creatures arrive.
Pre-emptive strikes were your friend, and Jocelyn was getting really sick of Bad Asgardian Attackers showing up in her city.
Just like the good sheep they are, the bystanders in the Starbucks are all still just standing or sitting there, staring at the action taking place before them. Leave it to New Yorkers to want to just observe something like this, instead of running for their lives. The falling car, which miraculously doesn't slam into the ground but seems to settle at a reasonable pace, drives home that this is no ordinary incident. Major weirdness is fixing to descend, especially as the vortex drops closer. Justin looks outside, then back again. "C'mon, people MOVE!" he yells at them. One of the barristas starts waving her hands, motioning for people to step around the counter and start filing out the service door and into the alley beyond. Hammer even herds a couple of the more stubborn ones out himself, though he doesn't run. Yet.
"He's adopted," Loki snips back over his shoulder, almost as if the retort were reflexive. With the car safely back on the ground, Loki puts a booted foot on the body of the car and works to wrench the lodged weapon through the body of hte car with a grunt. He almost gets it all the way free, nerves fraying, when Jazmin's smart ass remark cuts in to his mind.
"I have every right to Mjolnir; She is mine," sneers the Trickster, losing his temper as one more person comments about him and his hammer. His eyes flicker brightly, lightning flickering in his irises. Lightning which streaks from the eitherwise cloudless sky, lances toward Jazmin and ZAP!! There's an instant flash of regret as Jazmin cries out, passes out, and starts to fall. Leaving Mjolnir in the car, Loki rushes toward the falling Jazmin, holds out his arms to heroically catch her, and promptly falls on his rump, Jazmin in his lap, on the street.
The vortex speeds up suddenly, touches down, deposits three fifteen to twenty foot tall frost giants. They are tall and blue, and create a ring of wintery chill around them as they appear. The ground at their feet freezes instantly. Their red eyes sweep the area.
Loki looks over at the sudden chill behind him, green eyes going wide.
"Jotun!" he calls out in warning, collecting Jazmin in his arms, and scrambles inelegantly toward the Starbucks and the Midgardian Hero of Justin Hammer within. 
"Justin Hammer! Thy friend is injured," Loki cries out into the store as he slides to his knees. His voice is clear, and laced with worry and concern. It's so very much like his brother; worried about the tiny mortals of Midgard.
The blasts heat the area, forcing one of the jotar to howl in pain as his chest is seared by the waiting blasts of heat. Angry red and black burns errupt over his chest.
Molly's violet eyes sweep the darkened sky above again, her features even more distorted with frustration than before. Her hands even now clench and unclench with barely restrained energy. She was, visibly, struggling to contain herself at the present time. Waiting for answers was not typically Molly's fashion, she more often than not preferred to punch first and ask questions later. But she didn't want to pass judgement on a potentially innocent person. This is why she affords Loki another glance, her internal conflicts written all over her face. The uneasy movements of the car does not seem to phase Molly much. She's abnormally flippant about it, as though if it struck her it wouldn't be a concern. "...He's adopted?" This commet unfurls her annoyed features almost immediately, replacing them with confusion. Did he just refer to himself in the seccond person...?
...She also affords Jocelyn another glance, though due to the nature of the girl's powers... Molly hasn't a clue what she's doing. She doesn't have thermal vision after all. She does note the comment about three beings come down from above though. And it is perhaps this comment that stops her fidgeting momentary.
Then her eyes circle around toward the voices from within the Starbucks, body twisting a bit again and feet turning to allow her to better see...
But then the clap of thunder that comes suddenly DESTROYS Molly's focus, causing her to whirl in place and see... Loki cradling a fallen Jazmin? ... Did he do that to her? Molly's face reads once more, 'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?'
...And a deathly chill takes the air, freezing the ground beneath Molly's feet, as the massive frost giants impact. Molly's eyes go wide as saucers, even as she instinctively claps her arms about herself for warmth. The word 'JOTUN' is heard from somewhere in the background, but she doesn't bother to look... exhaling mist silently in the presence of that deathly chill...
...And then, the thermal blasts impact and the piercing howl stirs Molly from her thoughts. She turns, looking about quickly, before picking out another car sitting nearby - this one empty. And it's a gorgeous siolver Lexus...
.../was/ a gorgeous siler Lexus. Molly is quick to run over and seize it... before hurling it a one of the giants like it were a discus! "...Finally! WOOHOO!"
"Yeah. Those? Please hit them," Jocelyn suggests, her eyes narrowing as she scans the area. There it was. Jocelyn focuses some kinetic energy in her hands. "I've marked mine. I hope these people have insurance," Jocelyn comments. She then starts running towards the pack of frost giants. She lets loose a burst of kinetic energy, a circular burst that she uses to attempt to launch the necklace the biggest (and the one she burned) wears up off over his head and into the air. At the same time Jocelyn leaps into the air, her flight powers aiding her ability. If the necklace goes flying, Jocelyn is grabbing it and stuffing it in her pocket, even as she launches another series of hot thermal energy bursts at the big one.
Yep. Shutting down that vortex was high on Jocelyn's list of Things To Do. Because they didn't need more nasties coming through.
With the store emptied, Hammer turns back toward the chaos outside. Just as he does, he sees Loki stumbling toward the window with the teen that had been in the coffee shop when this started. The man blinks as again the trickster god's attitude has done a 180. First he was looking to cause chaos, now he's worried about the girl? There's a moment of hesitation, then Justin steps over the short wall that held the pane of glass and onto the sidewalk. He's so focused on Loki and Jazmin that he doesn't notice the Jotun until one of them howls. And a car goes flying through the air like a toy. His eyes go wide behind his glasses and he stumbles back, almost tripping over the wall he just stepped over.
/Oh, God, that's what we're fighting? That's what they actually look like?/ This is Justin's first glimpse at one of the otherworldly beings he's been contracted to make weapons to fend off. It stuns him for a moment, until Jocelyn's attack snaps him out of it. Stooping down he attempts to scoop up the unconscious Jazmin so he can at least get her back into the building.
The necklace sails up and is caught. The vortex shatter a moment later and the sky goes back to normal a heart beat later.
The largest giant snarls at the blasts, and flings balls of ice toward Jocelyn as she sails over him.
The lexus smashes into the giant on the left and sends him stumbling backwards. He roars as he regains his balance. His eyes gleam and ice appears at his elbow, forming a gaunlet of bone numbing cold that ends as a spiked club some six feet passed his hand.
Seeign Justin come out and stare at the jotun, Loki reaches out and grabs Justin by the shoulder, giving him a shake to get his attention. His green eyes are strangely intense.
"If you have any of those weapons that was discusses, now is the time, otherwise, stay.... watch... and be safe. You're needed. Something... right now... prevents Ragnarok," says the Trickster before he's on his feet, turning toward the frost giants, and with all the feriocity his brother is known for, he leaps toward the third giant... 
...and is promptly backhanded into a building. Unlike Thor, Loki doesn't go through the brick. He cracks it to be sure, but stops there with a sick little sound of bones crunching. And then he drops to the sidewalk, catching himself on hands and knees, right hand pressing to his sterum. There's a sputter and a half cough, and blood sprays from his lips. Something's.. important... something he's not remembering right now... something about how cold that breast plate beneath his fingers feels... If only his vision would stop swimming with a too bright, too warm sensation for him to think about it. He looks down at his chilled blue fingers.
After hurling that Lexus, Molly is quick to try and capitalize on the moment victory. She quickly darts inward, intending to rush right into that thing's territory and give it a pounding. One of those anxious hands from earlier is raised, balled tightly into a tiny fist so hard her knuckles turn white... a look of determination and ferocity is in her features... the violet glow that masks her eyes obscures it only a little.
...But she's cut off by that green weirdo sailing through her vision again, Molly's expression changesa to one of mild concern as she stares at the downed and visibly injured Loki momentarily. Should she be worried about him...?
The answer is a yes, ultimately. Molly diverts her course and runs over instead to the Asgardian God, staring down at him as he kneels on the pavement... "...Are you alright?? You probably shouldn't be trying to fight those things..." If that impact were any indication, she eyes the cracked wall momentarily... and then back at him. "...Are you..." Then her eyes narrow subtly. Was he... turning blue??
Really, Jocelyn would like to stop and help out Loki. But right now, there were three frost giants trying to beat people down, and with Molly diverting course to check on Loki, that meant it was three frost giants and one Jocelyn at the moment.
Those were Domino-type odds. The shard secure and portal closed, that was the first problem dealt with.
Most of the ice balls are dodged as Jocelyn ducks and weaves about. One clips her in the shoulder and sends her staggering back. The teen repositions herself so she's a little bit off to the side and so that any retaliation from the frost giants won't hit the wounded. She needed a distraction while things there were dealt with. She supposed it was time to earn that name Thor gave her. Jocelyn channels more thermal and solar energy and just starts setting off bursts around herself, the teenager flaring brightly as a result of the energy use. She then starts launching a series of hot thermal bursts and blasts at the frost giants, trying to take them out as quickly as possible while still keeping them from attacking the others.
Of course, that meant Jocelyn was setting herself up as a huge target for all three of them, but sometimes that's just what you had to do. Healing could come later, as she could at least sense life signs and if they were getting to the point where they needed emergency healing that second. She hoped.
Hammer snaps his attention to Loki when the Asgardain shakes him. Things come back into a wider focus, and the mortal takes a deep breath. "W-weapons we discussed? What are you-" There's no answer, Loki is off and gone too quickly. And just as quickly he's hitting a wall. Justin winces visibly, then manages to pick the unconscious teen, one arm under her shoulders and the other under her knees. Slowly, shakily, he stands and steps back over the short wall and into the coffee shop. He's not the strongest person in the world, and it's certainly obvious he's not used to carrying injured people around.
The giant will not be so easily detered. They are here to wreak havoc on the defenses of Midgard, kill as many of her champions as possible, and force the Thunderer to grow irate enough to leave the Odinthrone defenseless. That the kinslayer was here as well was an added bonus. The one that batted Loki aside seems to roar this information to the others, and the Leader makes a growling reply. And now Molly and Loki have two frost giants turned to face them.
"No. But I will heal," Loki replies in a horse whisper, reaching his right hand out for Mjolnir... and having the hammer dragging the car again. The red fades from his eyes and the blue hides itself once more under his pale aesir flesh. Seeing the car being drug, Loki sneers at it and with a frustrated growl he lets the weapon be... again. Pushing past the pain, Loki opts to reaching out to put a hand on Molly's shoulder... and seeks to use her small frame to fully support his larger, armored, aesir one. Over five hundred pounds of God, leaning heavily upon a tiny mortal girl. He seems to know, somehow, that she could not only hold up her his weight, but that he trusted her enough to do so. Which is weird if they'd never met before. His red blood flecks against his pale lips.
As Jocelyn the Flarebright makes herself heat up, the Leader shouts again, stopping a moment to focus on summoning one hell of an iceball. Molly's giant turns to face Jocelyn, using his ice club to smack those blasts, deflecting as much of hte heat as he can and protecting the Leader. Burn marks are appearing on his arms and face. The other giant just keeps going for Molly and Loki, murder in his crimson eyes.
Molly's attention gets diverted again as theremal explosions begin to occur all around the area where Jocelyn is. For the space of a few moments, the intense cold is mitigated by the similarly intense heat Jocelyn conjures. Molly cannot see the thermal energy itself, but its effects are all too clearly visible.
...Then she feels a hand on her shoulder, and her eyes spin around again - her brunette hair dances subtly with inertia as her head comes to a stop and those glowing eyes focus intensely upon the Asgardian. It's clear she's confused by the action, but she does not resist it... her body not even moving really under the weight of his armored form. "...You should probably...", she starts but doesn't finish... her train of thought derailed again by the roar of the mighty Frost Giant in the background. And she narrows her eyes a touch. "...stay back, okay?"
...And after attempting to help him support himself against the wall, if he requires it, Molly returns to the fight to help Jocelyn even the odds. And she does it explosively, launching herself off the concrete with a kick hard enough to shatter the pavemen and sends her flying toward the giant who was now menacing toward her and Loki. And she attempts to strike him again this time with a deceptively tiny punch... "...Shut up and go away already!"
A quick tactical assessment tells Jocelyn that the giant iceball would hurt. A lot. But if she dodged it, it was going to cause some serious property damage and likely death to whatever was behind her. Jocelyn wouldn't let that happen. So she keeps firing heat blasts at the two giants she's fighting, ramping her energy use up to dangerous levels. With her enhanced abilities up, she eyes that iceball.
If that iceball is launched at her, Jocelyn would be preparing to try and slow it's kinetic energy down by draining it and taking it full-on, trying to catch it and stop it from striking all the buildings and vehicles in it's path. And from killing said people in the area.
This was going to suck a lot, Jocelyn realized.
What Hammer wouldn't give for some of his own experimental weaponry right now. As it is, all he has is his carry weapon, a rather useless seeming .40 caliber semi-auto pistol holstered under his suit coat. Stumbling through the coffee shop, he stops just behind the counter. It's a bit of extra cover that he hopes will keep Jazmin from getting further hurt while she's out. Less than gracefully he manages to kneel down and set her, mostly, gently onto the floor. With the teen as safe as she'll likely be given the circumstances, Hammer turns and heads back toward the action outside. Remember how running sounded like a great idea? Well, it still does, but this is also research that Justin can't recreate anywhere else. He has to see what works, and what doesn't, against these things. Taking a deep breath he approaches the broken window again, pulling his carry weapon out of it's holster as he stops at the wall. He's taken combat courses, but be damned if any of them covered this. Or if he can even remember any of what was said with his own heartbeat pounding in his ears. At this point, he's pretty much useless.
And so it is that Jazmin comes to wake up in the back of a coffee shop, alone, and with a screamingly pounding headache. No one is there to hear the creative swearing in an unfamiliar language as she sits up. Slowly, carefully, evaluating what.. if anything.. got short circuited or broken in the haze of painful blackness. She doesnt stay still for long, pushing herself up to her feet and giving her head a shake to try and clear it, regreting such a move nigh on immediately. She is a hero, and they (stupidly) tend to head towards the screams, even if she half stumbles over debris as she tries to get herself righted, emerging out to see the current state of affairs.
Loki does indeed need the wall's support for a moment longer at least. His right hand wraps about his ribcage. His breath comes in raspy gasps.
"I can not. Midgard needs-" Loki starts to say, but she's off again, cracking hte cement. Loki peers down at it in a mixture of awe and envy. Inside his mind, Thor foot stomps: .oO( I could do that! Not in this body. Yes, well. Annoyed, aren't you? Of course I am. That Loki could keep up when he was this delicate. What? You heard me. Shut up. No; isn't there something you need to do? Yes, save- No; kill. No. It prevents Ragnarok. )
Loki snarls and pushes himself off the wall. There's a cloud dark cloud forming over head, not as dark and heavy as Thor might summon, but very very similar. His green eyes are aflame with skyfire. His right hand comes up, and points toward Jocelyn. 
Molly's tiny size is a boon, for the approaching frost giant - used to fighting the much taller and bulkier aesir - swings and misses. Her tiny punch is far more effective than his swipe. The giant drops in an almost comical fashion, falling backwards to his rump away from Molly much the way the hill giant tumbled backwards from Micky Mouse. Molly's rewarded with sudden frost bite across her knuckles.
The giant iceball slows as it approaches Jocelyn.
Loki 'casts' lightning from his outstretched hand right at Jocelyn.
Luck might have played a part in how the lightning connects with the ice and causes it so fracture. When it hits Jocelyn, it shatters and falls into thousands of razor sharp shards of ice and snow that rain down on the sidewalk and street below. The heat of the lightning might have soften the hard ice.. a little.
Molly soars past the swing of the much more massive Jotun, brown hair aflutter as her fist makes contact solidly and the telekinetic force of that tiny punch throws the creature backwards helplessly. She then lands solidly on the ground again, sneakers making a soft, audible, thud as she retracts her now -burning- hand furiously and begins to rub it. Only to realize /that/ hurt too and giving it a shake. "...AGGGGH! It hurts! ... Okay ... touching these things is a bad idea." Apparently the giant's severely chill temperature is too much for her telekinetic field to deal with.
...And so, it's back to flinging bits of the environment at these things... the tiny little girl running toward a nearby light post and grabbing hold of a steel postage box there. She quickly rips it from the ground and hurls it at one of the other giants like a tiny ballistic missle! "Go away!"
This was going to hurt, even with it slowed. The giant iceball smashes into Jocelyn, who digs her feet in and catches it. The girl is pushed backwards, asphalt flying up and over her as it's peeled off the road. Jocelyn's shoes are ruined in the process, leaving the girl barefoot and bleeding from the feet. After about forty feet, the iceball is stopped, leaving a very chilled Jocelyn, even with all the thermal energy she'd been channeling. Still, the woman keeps moving, and flies up and over the iceball, going for the big one who she stoll the necklace from and initially burned.
Pulling in thermal energy, Jocelyn attempts some super-strength charged punches on the frost giant, letting out blasts of thermal energy with each strike. Fall down, you brute! Fall down!
Hammer continues to watch from the sidelines, just trying to stay out of the way of flying debris. Twice now he's had to duck back around the wall to avoid getting hit with some random chunk of something. Looking back out again, Justin clutches his pistol in both hands, ready to try and take a shot if he gets one. His hands are shaking slightly, and he's not sure he could hit what he aimed for if one of the big, blue bastards got close enough anyway. He hasn't noticed that Jazmin is awake yet, his full concentration being on the action outside.
And where there's action, there's the news media. The traffic jams have kept the ENG vans from getting too close, but that isn't keeping reporters and photographers away. It's channel 8 on the scene first, a brunette reporter with a microphone and a blond cameraman in tow heading up the street. She skids to a stop just on the other side of the intersection, motioning for the camera op to start taping. Another group, Channel 5, shows up just across the street. And let's not forget the still photographers, once of which is from the AP.
Fortunately for Jazmin's still spinning head, she isn't the one who has to aim anything. She comes up alongside Justin, not paying him much mind for the moment, as she absently gathers up energy and tosses it in the general direction of Molly's projectile rather than the giant. The post isn't usually known for being /quick/, but postage boxes get Really Fast when Jazmin's helping things along, speeding it up as it heads towards impact with a giant.
The thermal blasts are painful to the jotun, burn marks appearing clearing on their blue flesh. The leader is hornery and angry, too angry to really concern himself with the very nonsuperficial burns Jocelyn is leaving which each strike. But unlike the other two who really are brutes, this one is graceful with his frame, and counter attacks. He is more able to adjust to his targets' sizes than the others. As he attacks, he summons his ice armor to help cool his skin and give him added protection against those attacks.
The street post turned javelin rockets mid trajectory and impales the smaller of the three giants. It falls to its back, the post sticking out of its chest. Frost creeps up the metal as one would imagine would happen to a twig in the presence of some Disney Frost Fairies. Dark blue-black blood puddles on the ground beneath it, steaming slightly.
Loki drops forward to a knee after the lightning attack, stars spinning in his vision. He coughs a bit more blood, body still healing from JOTUN FIST to a wall. But he refuses to NOT keep an eye on the battle. Two frost giants remain, and with extreme effort, the Trickster regains his feet, steps foward onto the street and once more casts a bolt of lightning from his hands - both coming up to add more oompf, which is to say that the attacks are still lacking - to strike the smaller of hte two living giants.
...And whilst another burst of lighting flies toward one of the smaller Jotun, Molly flies through the air propelled by the force of yet another telekinetic kick. She's flying down the street as hard as she can go, her velocity seeming somewhat slower than the last time she did it, before landing again on the pavement with a crash and yet more shattered concrete. Concrete dust flies about her again briefly, the girl coughing audibly before eyeing the two frost giants still standing.
"...K'... two more to go..." Her eyes flit to the others who were fighting individually in turn, and then back toward the smaller of the pair. Attempting to seize on the lightning strike just moments prior, Molly turns and hefts another nearby car with a groaning of metal. She spins once, twice, in place just to build her momentum and then hurls it at the much more massive creature. "...Gettin' a little tired though."
 
Stupid armor. "Seriously, you're like three times my height," Jocelyn comments, doing one of the blows and striking back. "Massively stronger". Another dodge. "And armed. And you feel like you need armor against me?" Another dodge. "Frost giant? More like giant coward". Smack! Jocelyn gets a gut shot that sends her staggering before she moves forward again. She continues with a couple strikes, but then decides it was time to pull out Plan Z. Which was to shoot straight up behind the leader, such as it was, try to grab him, and fly straight up with him using her super-strength. If she manages to fly upwards with the giant in tow, Jocelyn will take him a safe distance into the sky and do something that is never fun.
She'll deliberately overload herself on thermal energy and see how well the frost giant reacts to a pure heat explosion.
Meanwhile, the camerapeople are likely frustrated by Jocelyn a bit, because she is putting out infared energy, which messes with their picture taking. None of this 6:00 news stuff for her, thanks. They'll just get a blurry looking figure where Jocelyn is.
Justin glances quickly over toward Jazmin as she draws up near him. "Glad to see you're awake," he comments offhandedly before looking back out again. Between the heroes moving around, and the distances, there's no shots Justin can even think of taking. Plus, he doesn't entirely trust himself to hit his mark, even if he had the shot.
The news crews, who have multiplied dramatically, are doing their best to get as close as possible while not becoming casualties themselves. One of the camera ops cusses verbally as he gets nothing but strange streaks in his viewfinder, Jocelyn's infrared messing up his equipment. Still, there will be some usable footage, just not award-winning stuff.
"Can you keep the news people out of the line of fire, Honey? Awake, technically. What the hell hit me?" Jazmin asks as she closes her eyes just a moment and then takes to the air again without waiting on an answer to have a better view. Her flying, not quite as effortless as before, it's hard to stumble in the air, per se, but it's not the most straight path. The one/two missle attack worked well before, and not changing tactics means one less thing for a still aching head to have to consider. She gathers up energy again, sending it off to help that suddenly flying car become a /flying at high speed/ car, towards a giant.
Flying at high speed car meets summoned lightning strike and combine into slightly flaming ultra hot slug metal of a flying at high speed car. It slams into the giant, and shatters like so much metallic napalm. The frost giant screams and stumbles away, trying to get away from the molten CAR burning into him.
The large giant is scooped up by Jocelyn, and the glacier armor frost biting into the mutant's flesh even as her thermal energy melts into his armor and burns his flesh. He doesn't flail, but rather focuses on creating a lance of ice with which he can impale the mortal. 
The lightning leaves Loki more fatigued than he likes, and he drops to his knees again, barely managing to bring an arm up to deflect bits of slang-shrapnel. And then his eyes spot Jocelyn flying up with a frost giant.
"Flarebright! You should not-" is called out by the Trickster before his mind catches up to him. If she flares, she'll fall. The task that's making his god senses spike and flare is still undone, but saving the heroes... Loki shoves himself to his feet and moves to the hammer wedged in the car, studies it a moment, then blasts the car with a summoned lightning bolt. Mjolnir drops free - FINALLY! - and Loki reaches for the hammer.
...And Molly just stands there, for a few moments, watching the combined attack on the smaller Giant by the three become a flaming slug of raging hot metal that savagely burns the thing. And she breathes, slowly, inhaling and exhaling. The one flaw Molly's powers have was catching up with her, she was expending a lot of enerqy just hurting these things. She knew, at this rate, she'd be falling unconscious pretty soon. It seemed like more and more lately things were coming out of the woodwork that challenged her ability to fight - pushing her to her limits over and over.
After a few moments, however, she stands upright. Clenching her fists tightly, she visibly steels herself for -something-. Then she walks over to a nearby steel light post, tearing it from the ground, which sparks violently before losing power. She then proceeds to dart toward that smaller giant again, with that light post tucked awkardly beneath her left arm, and leaps - throwing herself through air with another violent kick. She flings herself at that thing with one, final, desperation attack... attempting to drive that steel light post directly through the thing with all the force she can muster!
Well, Jocelyn was going to go for the explosion. But then she spots something even better. Something that no frost giant would ever want to see.
That something is a steel mill just at the edge of the city, near where they were (as the crow flies).
Jocelyn's thought process is interupted by an ice lance slamming into her. It isn't like she can dodge it, and while her enhanced toughness keeps it from tearing her to pieces, it certainly embeds itself in her stomach. She wasn't going to have long for this.
Grimacing, Jocelyn flies the frost giant leader over to the outdoor steel melting facility. Molten steel churns and smoke rises up from other aspects of the manufacturing. Despite carrying a frost giant and being nearly frozen to death, Jocelyn sweats from the change in temperature. Flying downwards, Jocelyn releases the frost giant into the vat of molten steel.
Burn, sucker. Burn.
Once assured the giant isn't coming back, Jocelyn will fly to a rooftop near where the others are, drop her enhanced abilities, and start to work healing herself. Because OW.
Justin again looks to Jazmin. "Not sure, think it was lightening. Saw a flash," he replies, not caring about the use of the term 'Honey' this time. That'll be discussed at another venue. When Jazmin heads out of the building so does he, though he turns and heads toward some of the gathering news crews. He's hesitant to put his weapon away just yet but he does so, then starts waving at the camera ops and reporters to back up. A couple of them do, but most just stand their ground. It's an effort in futility.
A quick grab of energy in each hand, and Jazmin attempts to toss things two ways, one to help Jocelyn move faster to send her off towards molten frost giant melty wiht less energy on her part, and another towards Molly to do much the same thing.. two people is a stretch, doing the sme to both is a touch easier. She wobbles in the air, the strain of pain and tired starting to clearly wear on /her/ as well.
Wobbles in the air, strain of pain and overexerting powers starting to wear on Jazmin, and double targetting is clearly just a tiny smidge above currently available power. It's bad enough when people faint while on solid ground, but it's downright disconcerting when they faint in mid air. Her pride is /so/ going to feel that later!
By now, news crews have arrived. Manhattan is a small Asgardian warzone. There's a massive traffic jam and most civilians have fled or been led to safety by a one Justin Hammer. The bad guy count stands thusly:
Giant #1: imapled on the street, bleeding out and freezing hte asphalt.
Giant #2: impaled by lamppot javelin from molly which then causes the last of the flaming fuel in the tank to explode; there are now frozen bits of frost giant sailing every which way.
Giant #3 (The Leader): falls into molten vat and poof I"M MELTING! ala The Wicked Witch and Second Terminator's sick twisted lovechild.
On street level, Loki, in his full green and gold and black armor and horned helmet, has grabbed up Mjolnir from where it had lodged itself in a car's engine block, and lifts it from the ground. The runes flare to life, white and angry, and Loki draws a steadying breath as his wounds heal quickly. His eyes dart about, looking for Jocelyn, but instead spots Jazmin wobbling. The Trickster, Mjolnir in hand, flings himself upwards toward the time-weaving mortal. His left hand reaching out to catch her before she can fall too far. Loki pulls his flight up short, his surcoat swishing about him, before he flies back with her toward the ruined Starbucks where this whole thing really began.
If it's not one thing, it's another. Goddamned bureaucrats having nothing better to do with their time than to waste his. And even after everything is said and done, what are the pencil pushers going to do?
"I hope they sprain their goddamned fingers."
Push more paper.
One of the few things as Director that Fury doesn't mind is being driven hither and yon. This time, he's in one of the motor pool's jeeps. Word's come over the radio as to traffic in an area, and secondary information over the -radio- that there's an issue in the area. So, with rounding more than a few detours, going down up streets, the hummvee arrives to the scene.
Standing up on the frame of the vehicle where the door would be, the Director of SHIELD looks out over the absolute MESS made. Street freezing, frost..
Movement catches Fury's eye, and he turns back around to see an all-too-familiar figure of-
"Awww, shit. What the hell is he--" before Fury pulls out his pistol and calls out as he takes a bead, "Get your ass back here, or we're gonna do it the hard way. We need to chat!"
Thanks to the helpful boost from Jazmin, Molly /plows/ her makeshift spear of steel trough the Jotun's body with angry amounts of force... ice shards flying through the air at her and forcing her to close her eyes. The sheer chill of the giant's aura is sufficient enough to cause her pain and begin to chill her skin to the point of frostbite. But, unfortunately for Molly, that's hardly the end of it...
As that giant begins to lean with the impact, howling in pain as its lifeblood begins to spray, the car EXPLODES violently turning the area that both it and Molly share into a ball of intense flame. And as the roar of the explosion comes, so too does a softer smashing of glass and concrete in the background. Molly herself had been blasted through the wall of a nearby apartment complex... smashing into an interior wall of someone's bedroom before sliding to the floor with a pained groan.
From somewhere inside the apartment, a woman's scream comes... Molly might be a while...
The arrival of the humvee doesn't get past Hammer, who pauses in his attempts to get the media types to back off. He watches the vehicle, turning away from the reporter who then slips past him to get closer to the action. It mostly looks like things have wrapped up until *BAM* the car's fuel tank explodes. Justin ducks, looking back toward the flaming debris. He elects to stay where he is, farther away from the chaos than he would have been. The cameras are all rolling on the scene, and a few talking heads are chattering away, giving a play by play.
Fury's voice? Loki lands down by the Starbucks and the glow in his eyes fades. He turns toward the sound of Fury's voice... and smiles. 
"Ah, Director," says the Trickster, actually sounding a bit relieved. Or something. He's a bit sweaty, and a breathless. Perhaps wielding a very convincing illusion of his brother's magic hammer does that to an alien sorcerer with plans on global domination? Maybe the God of Tricks is just playing to the crowd. He does, after all, have armful of unconscious woman.
It's a weird thing, this new reality. He's been here for all of an hour and... well, it's not the city he's used to seeing. Van is absolutely stunned here. Buildings in different places. Entirely new structures where he would expect others. The crimson and gold clad young man hits the roof of a bus stop shelter with barely a soft 'thud' to be heard. Two fingers lifted to his right temple. The influx of information from emergency lines is a tad overwhelming at a time like this. Blue eyes narrow behind gleaming gold lenses. The HUD throwing a mad mix of confusion at him from every direction. The explosion of a vehicles fuel tank gets a rise out of the young web slinger, he stands quickly and takes a step back. Head ducking to the left as a shard of burning plastic whizzes past his dome.
The barrel of the Director's gun doesn't stray from its bead on Loki; there is no way that the sorceror bent on world domination is going to get a free passage through. He's not so stupid as to leave his basic level of cover, either. As a result, he's more than happy to yell from the distance.
"Put the girl down.. gently, and step away."
Recovering from the shock of the explosion, Justin blinks and finally focuses on the man with the gun. He's easy to recognize even at a distance. He's done enough work with the SHIELD types to know who Fury is without a doubt. And, for perhaps the first time ever, he's actually /glad/ to see the director. He stays put, wisely, and watches from a distance. There's still nothing he can really do, and his complete confusion about and distrust of Loki isn't going to make him speak up on the Asgardian's behalf. As far as Hammer sees it, Loki started this entire mess...
Loki's head tilts slightly at Fury's yelled order, looking a bit confused before... A pane of glass across the street which managed to survive catches his eye and Loki peers at his reflection. 
"Oh..." Loki says, turning back to Fury. With slow motions, the Trickster kneels and very very gently lays Jazmin down on the ground. Mjolnir, or a fascimille thereof, still in hand, Loki stands slowly and takes a very respectful step away from Jazmin's body. 
"I think there has been a bit of a misunderstanding, Director," Loki begins.
This is alot to take in. He wanted to track down his brother. Wanted to get something to eat, nurse that buzzing headache a bit... but this? Vans shoulders lift and ultimately sag in acceptance. No eyes on him, he does what he does best. Disappears into the background. Springing backwards, a slick little flippy move and a web shot later, he's hitting the side of the building. Active camo blending him into the brick and mortar as he Spidey Crawls(tm) along the surface. Eyes on Loki, he glances toward the Humvee. The SHIELD logo. Director? Huh. Good to know some things stay the same.
Fury's not truly aware as to the personnages him, sorry Justin! He's a great deal more concerned with the meglomaniac before him. "That's it," he calls slowly. "Now step away.."
As he offers up the commands, Fury is moving slowly from his spot, still using the hummvee as cover, though he moves towards the front of the vehicle.
"Misunderstanding? Why don't we talk about it, you and I? I have the perfect spot for our conversation, too."
"Certainly, Director. Shall I meet you at the helicarrier?" Loki offers quite amiably, following orders and taking another step from Jazmin's prone form. 
"And will you be getting medical care for the woman? She has twice rendered herself unconscious with attempting to assist the battle.
"Misunderstanding my ass!" Justin hollers before he can stop himself. That's not the smartest move he could have made, but the stress of everything has finally gotten him to a breaking point and that switch that shuts off his mouth before he says stupid things has broken. He still doesn't move from where he's at, which is smarter.
That shimmer of weirdness against the wall at the third story. Ever see Predator? Van pretty much looks like that. Feet and palms planted flat, back against the wall, he watches the scene below him with a certain detatched sense of curiousity. It looks like things are winding down? No need to get batted around by an Asgardian God... -again-. Once is enough for a lifetime! Justin Hammer gets the young fly on the walls attention. A faint frown beneath the crimson and gold of his mask.
"Certainly, Director. Shall I meet you at the helicarrier?" Loki offers quite amiably, following orders and taking another step from Jazmin's prone form. 
"And will you be getting medical care for the woman? She has twice rendered herself unconscious with attempting to assist the battle," adds the Trickster just as Hammer yells out. Green eyes shift to the mortal CEO, and Loki frowns.
"I understand your want to be angry, Justin Hammer. But..." and Loki pauses, and closes his mouth tightly, to keep himself from saying anything further... in public. And then he glances at Fury, lifts his left hand to show it is empty, and moves to slowly reclip Mjolnir to his belt.
"I would very much like you to contact Ms. Potts, please," says Loki.
He'd been far on the other side of the city when Jazmin notified the Legion that she was entering combat, dealing with yet -another- electric whale-shark incident, and was hastening to come back and see whether she needed a hand. 
Following the tracking signal of her ring, swooping out of the sky, Garth Ranzz, Lightning Lad, arrives at the scene, coming to a stop. Blazing lightning flashes from his eyes as he catches the newly-elected Legion leader down for the count. "What happened?" he asks, voice remarkably calm for a person that some would've called a live wire, as he closes the ground quickly to check on Jazmin. 
Justin's shout gains Fury's attention, but he's good enough not to lose the bead on the Asgardian. "Are you okay, Mr. Hammer?"
He changes his focus back, however, towards Loki. "The helicarrier, yes," The Director keeps his tones level, but fields a 'what the hell?' from his driver which is waved off. "I'd rather you come with me, and I'll let my people know you're coming." Like a full detail security crew who know about the previous exploits of said-Loki.
"We'll be sure everyone is taken care of, and the place is cleaned up." In fact, Fury's heard there's actually a specific team from NYC's Public Works that does that stuff! "Now.. walk slowly towards my jeep.."
Hammer still doesn't move from where he is. It's a miracle, he's actually made several GOOD decisions today. That has to offset at least part of his record, right? "Yeah, fine," he answers back to Fury, but otherwise doesn't get involved. He starts to have a sinking feeling that this is going to end up in a long and boring debrief session. Right now Justin's actually missing that stockholder's meeting he was supposed to be in.
With remarkable fluidity born of practice, training and skillz, Van starts down the wall at a rather graceful, if unseen crawl. The bolt of energy in ginger form is -definitely- noted and avoided for the time being. As is Loki. It's not long before he touches down on the sidewalk hands first... That ripple in the background. A transparent shape taking cover here and there as it creeps closer and closer toward Hammer from the back. Damage control. Target priority being the one that isn't armed or made of mother natures sparky wrath.
"If it would make you feel better, Director," says Loki, Mjolnir now reclipped safely to his belt. Garth's arrival is not unnoticed and his question draws the Trickster's gaze. 
"She attempted to help... or rather, she may have helped. I'm not exactly clear on that, but she was a presence on the battle field, though I am afraid that she may have exhausted herself, Lightning Bringer," Loki explains, smirking a bit at the title he uses. As if he finds humor in it. The information given, and knowing Jazmin to be in safe hands, Loki moves away from Garth and toward Nick Fury. But, since this is Loki, the way he turns away could be read as cold indifference. Gotten love reputations.
"I am ready to go with you, Director, but I can not over stay. My Goddess has need of me later this evening," he says, green eyes on Fury, moving smoothly and calmly.
With Justin answering in the affirmative, the Director offers the other man a nod. Good. It may be bad, but have to keep the highpowers alive and well. They're the ones that make things happen.
"We'll see, Loki," Fury offers, never taking his eye off the Trickster. He nods to his driver, murmuring, "Call for pickup," before he raises his voice again. "It would make me feel better, yes. I'm sure your 'Goddess' will understand."
It's not that he's ignoring Van's appearance, or lack thereof. He simply doesn't see him..
"All right... I'm going to guess you got a villain here, from the way you sound, so I'll just help Kid Quantum here, and..." Garth blinks at being called Lightning Bringer. "Huh? The name's Lightning Lad. Not Lightning Bringer. Though..." Frowning, the Winathian tries to remember this. "There's only one guy who -called- himself Lightning Bringer. Except that -I-... huh." 
God help him, he couldn't remember the long list of names... "Except you're not him," Garth tilts his head. "And you're not the woman that was with him either." 
Some say it's better to be seen than heard. Those people were not indoctrinated by a mad scientist and the Taskmaster. However, the active camo only lasts for so long. It cuts out, leaving him painfully visible for the first time... perched on the bent trunk of a street light. It's pretty jacked up from combat around here, right? Right. Behind Justin Hammer, still as a statue and watching Loki saunter toward Fury with that 'I'm a sassy God of mischief and mayhem' walk of his. Envious? Shhhhh.
Like Fury, Justin hasn't acknowledged Van because he doesn't know he's there. Paranoid as he may be, the adrenaline spike from what just took place has him frazzled and not as observant as he normally would be. Hammer is still off on his own, though he's just close enough to catch the confusion from Lightning Lad, whom he doesn't recognize, but is apparently associated with Jazmin. That brings up some of his own questions, like why the hell Loki has the hammer of Thor...
Loki pauses briefly at Garth's statements, a sad sort of soft bittersweet smile on his lean face. 
"Thor Odinson and his wife, the Lady Sif. I am..." Loki pauses. There's a twitch on his features. "Thor's Brother," Loki finishes in a whisper of a hiss, and turning his face away. It's like the mere act of saying it stings... a LOT. And unlike Thor, Loki does not launch into a litany of titles.... Unlike himself, Thor refrains from... Freya's Bountiful Bossom, this is getting confusing! Loki's frown deepens as he makes his way toward Director Fury and the vehicle. 
"You will contact Ms. Potts for me, won't you? She can contact Sif when the time is right, if you think I need to stay with you past lunch," Loki is saying, talking amiably (chatty little God, ain't he?) and moving toward the back passenger side of Fury's car with careless grace. It's almost arrogant, isn't it? Sassy God of Mischief is Sassy!
Glancing around as the man who seems much more focused on Loki and has weapons drawn, Garth nods briefly. At least he'd done enough homework to recognize the SHIELD symbol, and so he moves to help Jazmin, tapping her ring, and taking advantage of the anti-gravity mode to get her up and flying. "All right. I'm going to take her to the infirmary." Better to make sure they can't get their hands on -her- ring, for safety's sake... 
What Fury already knew; Loki's identity. But now, there's got to be a reason as to why he's being so amenable.. and that single, good eye narrows, his gun not holstered until the Asgardian is in his custody, and in the jeep.
But, goddammit.. what in the hell is that? The appearance of Van on the light pole gains the Director's attention, and very nearly pulls it from his prisoner. "What the--"
Instead of waiting too long, however, Fury climbs into the jeep and taps the seat at his driver. "Let's get the hell out of here and up."
Category:Log