2012-11-13 Exxon Valdez Almost

It's early evening, and a rather stormy one at that out on the Delaware Bay. The sky is holding on to that last bit of grey, and the rain has finally let up. The wind hasn't however, and the sea is whipped into a frenzy that is battering the already weakened side of an oil tanker, struggling to make it's way towards the port of Metropolis. It was gearing up to be the next Valdez disaster, the waves splitting the cracking hull further and further, an ugly slick already starting to appear across the surface behind the vessel. 
Superman overheard the distress call, and arrived moments earlier. In his usual fashion, he seems to have the situation well in hand. He's taken a large sheet of steel, and placed if over the crack in the hull, and with glowing red eyes is welding the metal together. It isn't a perfect fix, but it will serve long enough to get the ship safely into dock and keep it's cargo out of the ocean waters. It's slow going however, as the metal is thick, and the constant waves washing over the Man of Steel and the side of the ship are hindering progress and forcing Kal-El to go over some spots over and over. 
From an outside angle, it's difficult to see what Superman is doing exactly. Floating near the side of the ship, the bright red beams of his eyes boring into the metal as waves crash over the side, and that rainbow colored slick upon the water. The ship's crew are straining to peer over the side, while a pair ready themselves to drop over the edge on strong rope lines with a welding torch of their own. Their shouts to each other are nearly lost in the wind as they do their best to get ready to assist.
Standing atop a building in New York, Thor was motionless, listening to the pull of Midgard. He was weighing each little summons against the others, knowing that over reacting could be just as dangerous to all. When the very ocean cried to Thor as the ship's hull torn open and that oily rainbow slick began to spread. Thor launched himself from the building, Mjolnir held out in front of him, leading the way. He left a tornado streak in the clouds behind him as he sped toward the commotion. Hovering, scarlet cape fluttering behind him, Thor spots Superman and those glowing red eyes. With the Call from Midgard centered on that exact spot, Thor reacts.
Summoning lightning would endanger the mortal crewmen, who armed with tiny bits of flame, seem bent upon lowering themselves to do battle with the Super Man. Throwing Mjolnir would be costly, for should the Super Man deflect the artifact into the water, it would take time to summon it. There was only one option left to the Asgardian: Dive Bomb Superman. INCOMING!
Unfortunately, J'onn is not, in fact, that close to where this clash of titans is about to occur. He's dealing with a quite different, and much more minor incident south of Gotham...a train that has derailed and fallen onto its side. True, it doesn't require supers to help people out of the damaged cars, but he happens to be there and, thus, he's helping. Besides, it's good PR...proving to people that the big, green Martian is not, in fact, that scary.
Lightning flashes across the sky, because this is a comic world and the lightning always clashes when thematically appropriate, as Superman continues to weld slowly. ***This tanker is proving a little more stubborn than I antic....."*** Superman starts to send out over the JLA comm when WHAM! Thor! 
The impact of the dive bomb sends the Man of Steel crashing downward into the water like an artillery round fired from a battleship. A plume of water arcs high into the air and the ship itself rocks from the vibration, sending one of the two man team over the edge of the rail before he was fully ready. Thankfully his safety line is attached and his fall arrests a few scant feet alter, leaving the sailor dangling out over the water. The cremen frantically start to scramble to pull him up.
The steel patch Superman was in the middle of applying groans as the few welds holding it into place strain to support their weight, as the Man of Steel himself rises up out of the water several hundred feet away. ***I've got a problem.*** He comms, floating up into the air. "What do you think your doing!?!" Superman questions, eyes flaring red in the darkness, his voice echoing over the water like thunder.
Pulling himself from the ocean, eyes glowing electric blue, hair plastered to his head and shoulder pads of his armor, the scarlet cape now a near blood red, Thor frowns at Superman. Mjolnir is pointed at the Man of Steel as the welds groan. 
"Midgard did Call. I admit I am ill at ease and quite surprised to find Thee at the cause. It is of no matter, Super Man. Midgard Called. I have answered. Thou shalt not complete thy task," Thor booms out, quite literally, thunderously. Once more does lightning flash in the sky, but this time because Thor's weather control bids it to.
** What kind of problem? ** J'onn inquires even as he waves to the emergency workers and then angles skywards and north at full speed. ** I'm on my way. ** He'd appreciate a fill-in as he comes in, of course, red cape streaming behind him as he 'hits the gas' as it were. He's not as fast as Superman, but he'll still be there pretty quickly. If Superman's calling for backup, then the problem has to be a pretty major one. Hopefully it's not an alien invasion.
***Thor.*** comes the one word response from Superman, as that should explain everything. "Either help, or get out of the way!" the Man of Steel booms, trying to command the god aside as he zips forward quickly, his eyes already flaring brightly to resume the weilding. Kal-El glances up at the dangling sailor, and shakes his head. No...the oil would hurt many more, it needs to come first.
Thor frowns angrily as Superman's eyes flare red again and he starts to zip forward. Putting himself between kryptonian and midgardians, Mjolnir crackles with electricity.
"Nay, Super Man. I shall not yield this field to thee, nor shall I assist thy efforts-" Thor's words are cut off by that sick prickly feel of Midgard all but screaming at him. Superman drew closer to the oil tanker. Midgard cries for help. Superman must be the cause. Thor moves to Hammer Bash Superman away from the ship. FOOOORE!!
***THOR?*** Thor being a loose cannon, not a surprise per se, but at the same time he did trust the guy. J'onn increases to full speed, angling towards the budding fight between the two heroes. Why the heck is Thor attacking Superman? Mind control is, of course, his first thought, and as he starts to get within range he reaches out to try and scan for that or for any other external influence on the god. It's not, after all, impossible.
Superman pulls up short, quickly dropping to fly underneath the swinging hammer and swoop back up with an uppercut of his own. "Thor! Don't do this!" the Kryptonian yells, even as he's swinging. 
A wave comes crashing against the side of the ship, and sends the poor dangling sailor spinning in place. His friends above him on the deck are still scrambling to try and get him up, but it appears the twisting is jamming the winch.
Thor rocks his body backwards as Superman uppercuts, countering with a kick aimed for Superman's midsection. "It must be done, Super Man. Midgard demands it," retorts the Asgardian. 
The mortal dangling precariously flickers against Thor's senses, making his stormy colored eyes crackle with greater intensity. It registers clearly in the deity's mind, mingling with that out of body sense that there is a Clear and Present Danger right here in this moment, growing greater and greater with each passing heartbeat. Indeed, something is controlling the Norse God, but not in that his actions are not his own. Rather, it is very clear to the telepath, whom Thor seems not to realize is eavesdropping into his thoughts, that Thor is reacting to a near visceral instinct. Where Superman can hear distress calls for exactly what they are, Thor feels only a desperate pull to an area, an over whelming need to fly to that area and attack whatever appears to be the threat. Means that in cases like this, Thor gets it completely wrong.
And there's a green streak coming in. First thing J'onn does? Rescue the dangling sailor. Second thing is to send a thought to Superman. << He is so angry about the oil leak that he is not thinking straight. >> That's what he picks up on, plain and simple, withdrawing from Thor's mind once he has that key piece of information. Classic heroic misunderstanding, but straightening it out is not going to be easy with Thor in his current mood.
<<I need to finish plugging that leak, before it rips wide open!>> comes Superman's thought, before the mental focus needed to keep his mind clear and easily understood is shattered by a sharp intake of breath from a kick to the stomach. Superman grunts and spins, flying backwards and open the gap between himself and the ship, hoping to get Thor to follow. 
Superman fires his eye lasers at Thor, aiming downward to the blasts will hit the water if they miss. "Damn it Thor, I need to close it off!" the man says, pointing at the ship, and the weakening by the moment patch. "Don't make me hurt you!"
Thor uses that kick to push himself further up, where he can prevent Superman from getting closer to the odd sailing vessel. Is it /called/ a ship if it has no sails nor oars to speak of? Perhaps it's an over-sized canoe? Regardless, Thor fails to follow Superman away from the ship. The danger has not yet past; Thor must stay with this ship. Lightning flashes across his gaze, forks tongues of electricity flashes and dancing dangerously in the sky above, seeming to inch ever closer to the ship. Mjolnir's runes flicker and flash in unison.
"Thou shalt not approach this item," Thor bellows back, mind able to find the right words to say what the ship is. Obviously, he doesn't even know what it is he's supposed to be defending. This added to the confusion that the danger is only growing stronger, even with Superman pushed a bit away.
"Hurt me if thou must, Super Man. I shall not allow thee to further endanger Midgard in this ill-advised action!" What action was that? Thor's lost track. There's to much Danger in the area that it's getting hard to think straight. Someone needs to give this diety clear concise orders that make sense.
This has gone far enough. The sailor is placed in the nearest safe location before J'onn streaks back...but this time, he's focusing all of his attention on Thor. << Thor. Stop! >> he sends, with just a little bit of telepathic force. Not trying to control him, just to get his attention, to try and snap him out of the state he's in. It's not good for anyone to have issues like this, most especially not somebody who can, as this demonstrates, give Superman a run for his money.
The laser blast hisses harmlessly into the ocean, and as Thor fails to pursue, Superman stops and floats a second. The crew is glad to have their friend and coworker back on board, but as the captain frantically waves his arms, the second brave sailor grabs up his welding torch and pushes himself over the side, giving a thumbs up before leaping into the abyss. That patch needs to be finished, and not every hero wears a costume. 
Superman sighs a moment, not hearing J'onn's mental commands to Thor, before launching himself at the Asgardian, moving forward in a blur of motion. It's called, the Superman punch, and for good reason. Right fist cocked back, the Man of Steel throws his body forward and focus on landing his full body weight and a good deal of his strength into that one point. Professional fighters use it as an all or nothing method to end fights quickly, often to devastating results. "So be it." is Superman's quiet answer to 'hurt me if you must'.
Thunder booms through the sky with each flash of skyfire. Thor's eyes flickering in tempo to the streaks of electricity in the sky. He was tense, ready for Superman's attack when J'onn's mind brought him up short. His head is just about to turn, to look for the source of the command, to give the thought his full attention, when that Red and Blue Blur is upon him. The Superman Punch is not something Thor has the speed nor the might to counter. Withstand, perhaps. But little else. The Asgardian Thunder God is sent plummeting straight down from the force of Superman's attack. Reflexively do his hands open and Mjolnir drops from his hand as he drops into the icy waters of the Delaware Bay and collides with the ocean floor.
The relic of the Nine Realms, having been summoning lightning and storm to it sense Thor's first physical assault on the Man of Steel, falls to the water's surface. So innocently does it fall that for a heartbeat it seems as if nothing would happen. That the waters would merely part for the hammer, and pull it into its depth after its wielder. But no sooner does the mallet touch the water's surface than the stored electricity within it summons a sympathetic bolt from the sky, lancing down toward the very spot Thor once occupied.
Behind the waves, Thor is both stunned and impressed. Few can hit him hard enough to feel it, let alone crack a rib. Under water, slowing pushing himself up, Thor grins.
<< Enough. >> Now J'onn speaks to both of them. << Thor. Let Superman fix the ship, please, and help me come up with a way to contain what has already leaked. >> He senses that Thor is impressed by Superman's strength. All to the better...he might think before taking him on again. Of course, that could mean Thor attacks him, but he's pretty sure he can take it. Martians, pretty tough beings.
Superman turns his head to J'onn, relaxing and freezing in the space Thor once occupied just before the lightning bolt comes ripping down. Whatever the Man of Steel was about to say is swallowed in a scream of pain as the big boy in blue falls towards the water, his body smoking. He hits the waves and is swallowed by the ocean, his mind gone blank as he starts to sink like a stone. 
'No.' comes the sudden thought. 'Get up Clark. You're not finished yet.' follows just as quickly as Kal-El wakes himself back up and moves back towards the surface. 
<<We've got...to patch...the ship.>> Superman thinks loudly, as he floats up, his cape in tatters and heavy burn marks showing in the tears in his uniform. The Kryptonian floats up next to the brave sailor, who is already hard at work doing his best to stop this disaster. Once more Superman's eyes flare red, and he pushes against the side of the ship, and resumes welding.
Mjolnir sinks toward Thor's waiting hand. The thoughts flickering through to his mind. Oh! That's what the danger is. The moment J'onn supplies the hint of the trouble, the icky feeling of DANGER fades into ACT NOW. It leaves Thor clear headed and focused, and now he sees the issue as well as how Superman was helping. He flings himself up through the water, practiced at mental speech. 
<<Aye, Martian. I fly to thee. A cyclone, I think, to pull the vile liquid away. I will need a place to set it, however,>> Thor's mind is quick to reply. There is not remorse in his actions for the moment. There simply is now time now that the god knows what the danger is and how needs to be done.
<< Hrm. We can't put it back in the ship...the best thing to do would be to take it to their storage facility. Superman, are you alright? >> Not that J'onn is concerned. He is, of course, unaware of Superman's little issue with magic-based attacks.
Superman's reply to the question is the equivalent of a mental grunt. Odd for the kryptonian, but still telling. He continues to weld, his mind locked to the task, as he mentally repeats to himself, over and over. 'Finish the weld. Finish the weld. Finish the weld.' The brave sailor finishes the section he can reach, and shouts to be pulled up as Superman closes the last few inches on his side. 
The sailors send up a ragged cheer and start jumping around, and clapping their friend on the back as he's pulled back up on deck. They wave and cheer at the Martian as well, and the sailor whose life J'onn saved flashes the green man a grin and a thumbs up.
Superman himself slumps agianst the side of the ship tiredly. So much for a simple rescue.
<<Tell me where it should go,>> Thor's mind demands of J'onn as he emerges from the water and uses Mjolnir to summon a vertex that touches down in the middle of the spill and sucks up all the icky oily mess. As he works, a glance is sent toward Superman and the wordless feel of his slight attention adds weight to J'onn's inquiry of the Man of Steel. It carries with it the unthought hint of a question: was it the welding or the lightning? And there's the first flicker of ooops.
Martian Manhunter simply asks one of the sailors...mentally, which makes the poor man jump...where the refinery's storage facility is, and then relays the information to Thor. He seems a little distracted, now, rather concerned about Superman. He's never seen the man hurt or flagging before, and it worries him.
Superman glances up as Martian Manhunter and Thor seem to have things well in hand. Unwilling, or perhaps, unable, for the moment to fly up and show the sailors just how much damage he might have taken, the man stays near the patch, out of the line of sight of those on the deck. <<I'm fine, J'onn.>> comes the mental lie, laced with pain. He isn't fine. He will be, with a bit of sunlight and some rest, but magical lightning can really do a number.
Lies. They are his brother's ilk, and not something Thor can see from the Trickster, but from another? Thor pauses in his departure, leveling a glance and a thought at J'onn. 
<<Thou should alight they friend from this field of battle, and if thou doth have it, to a Healer's Tent.>> Because all of that makes complete sense if you're a Asgardian or a ren-fairey cosplayer. No more help or harm can Thor do here, and so he flies away with the swirling vortex of oily badness in tow, toward the holding facility he was given by the Martian.
<< Don't lie to me >> J'onn sends to Superman alone. << Let me help you back to the Hall. >> Superman injured? He's going to do his best to cover this one up. If necessary, he'll tell the press the Man of Steel had a very, very long week and even he gets tired *eventually*. If he has to say anything. He'd rather avoid the issue by getting Kal home quietly.
When it's just J'onn and himself in the mental link, Superman relaxes a bit. <<Forgive me, my friend. It wasn't you I was lieing too.>> Kal-El states, eyeing Thor's back as he flees into the distance. <<I could use a hand getting to the north pole>>.
<< The North Pole...you have personal medical facilities there? >> J'onn quietly weaves a mental illusion to ensure that nobody sees Superman needing to be assisted from the field. Rather, they will remember the two heroes departing together, northwards.
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