Players:
Summary: Dingo is interrupted in his attempts to get answers by The Human Torch & Phantom. He is scarred off by Jinx when he takes her hostage without realizing who she is.
Log Title: Bite of the Dingo
Rating: R (LV)
NYC - Upper East Side
The Upper East Side of New York City is New York's richest living area. The apartments here are off the most expensive in New York, and in the United States, and the businesses that make their home here are some of the wealthiest companies. Elegant rows of landmark townhouses line the side streets. There aren't as many shops here as there is housing and businesses.
Scene
The people of the city seem to be in a cheery mood today. Perhaps it is because it is a Saturday, or maybe it has something to do with the pleasant weather. There seem to be more people out than usual, most of them too focused on their phones or I-Pods to notice the people around them. There seems to be a commotion coming from the direction of central park. People in that direction have begun shouting and running into buildings, seeming to have noticed something that other people have not.
The reason for their panic is soon made apparent as a man in a yellow and black costume comes around the corner. He has a black body costume with yellow Aboriginal designs on it and a black trench coat with similar markings. The tribal dog-head design on his head would lead anyone wondering his identity to suspect that he is the man known to the news as "Dingo". Behind the man is a large wave of sand, moving almost like a crashing wave of water, but more controlled. Dingo seems to be slowly chasing after an injured looking man. The man appears panicked and stumbles along in an attempt to get away. "Please no! Leave me alone! I don't know anything!"
You know when you're in such a good mood that nothing can annoy you, Caleb is in one of those moods, he's had a pretty awesome day, and is just heading back to school to grab a change of clothing, he's dressed in black jeans, black air walk trainers, a pink and purple stripped t-shirt, his white hair is gelled in casual spikes and his violet eyes are glowing faintly as is the yellow stone on the silver wristband on his right wrist, he has his earphones in and is listening to "Take it off" by Ke$ha, his grin drops a little when he sees the wave of sand and Dingo, "Why does this shit only ever seem to happen when I'm around?"
( One of those people ran into the Stark Tower for cover, and apparently told the guards what was going on. One called the cops. The others went higher and called in the cavalry. A few minutes go by, and for those looking up… there seems to be a lone nut high up in the Stark Tower, having just hurled himself out a window ninety something floors up. He would have a very long fall, except the man bursts into flames in midairs, flames trailing behind him and he shoots down the remaining 80 floors like a rocket, a comet come to life. As it nears, you can begin to see the large silver 4 on his chest, identifying him as the Human Torch, a member of the Fantastic Four, now an Avenger it seems. "Hold it puppy, before you make me neuter you." He says, floating ten feet over everyone's heads, arms crossed and wreathed in an inferno. )
Dingo seems not to notice the approach of the Torch at first, but he does look up when a woman yells out and points above him. The man's eyebrows furrow above his goggles for a moment before turning back to his quarry. It seems the man he was chasing was trying to get away, but a sand tendril extends from the wall and halts his movement. Dingo sighs and glances back up toward Torch. "I ain't no Puppy. And I ain't not lettin' no one as flamey as you near me nethers." The man's accent is distinctly Australian. He waves a hand back toward the tower. "I've got this. You go home and take a cold shower." It seems that Dingo believes himself not to be doing anything wrong at the moment. Causing a panic is simply a side effect of his current task.
Caleb's grin widens again when he sees the fire guy, and flies up to float nearby (but not close enough to get burnt), "Watch out, this guy can turn into sand to escape, and he really needs catching", he speaks with an Irish accent, his hands begin to glow violet as he gets ready to help, "Why are you always causing trouble when I'm around?!, Can't you go somewhere else?"
Johnny grins as Caleb joins him, but his gaze is on Bruce. "I tell you what.. You're gonna leave the man alone.. go directly to jail and ask the cops to arrest you. Then you're going to be put in a big jar with a few crabs, and be an exhibit at the aquarium to work off your crimes. Cool? Cool." He tells Bruce and holds out a hand, a ball of flame sparking into existence and growing as he waits for the reply.
Dingo sighs at the arrival of Caleb. "Really? Do you stalk me or something? Do you like to make it difficult to protect my people? I really don't have time for you today." He looks slightly confused by the Torch's response. "What you chattin' about there Flashy? Yer not all brainwashed like poor Ghost kid here, are ya?" He nods his head toward Caleb. The man behind him lets out a cry as Dingo tightens his grip with the tendril. "This man has information about the Mutant Town Shootings. I'm not gonna let him wander off to hunt down more of the superior race. Ain't natural. And as for jail? The only reason I'm wanted is because the cops here are pissed that I keep saving the mutants from them."
Dingo frowns at the fireball as it is produced. He hasn't really researched the Human Torch much. He is aware that the man controls fire, though Dingo is unsure how hot the flames can get. Regardless, he is in no mood to fight two confused heroes at the moment. The sand tendril lifts up Dingo's prey and holds him up between himself and Torch, figuring the man will be unlikely to attack a man he perceives as innocent.
Dingo turns back to Caleb. "Got something just for you, Casper." He holds a hand up to his chest and extracts a glass jar of salt. "Been carrying this around inside me just fer you." The man smashes the jar and draws the salt up into the air, forming half of it into an arrow and sending it sailing toward the boy. The remainder of the salt pulls in closer to Dingo and wraps around his wrist like a bracelet.
As the arrow of salt shoots at him Caleb does the only thing he can think of, he releases the energy keeping him airborne and drops, he hits the ground and the air is knocked out of him, he really has to start thinking things though, when he hits the floor some of the energy from his hands is released in random directions, "fuck!"
Johnny frowns and dodges to the side, away from the arrow as it's loosed. But the fireballs in his hand turns white hot in an instant, then Johnny hurls the ball at the arrow, first glassing it, then blackening and incinerating it, all within a few moments of contact. "Ok enough horsing around. He tells Dingo, firing a pencil thin stream of flame at the base of the tendril, near to, but missing the victim entirely. Hopefully, it's hot enough to glass the sand, and make Dingo lose control of the tendril. "Let him go sandy, I'll take you back to the beach. Let you build that castle in peace."
One of Caleb's beams shoots straight up into the air harmlessly. The other strikes a balcony and causes a woman to be thrown off toward Dingo's sand wave. Dingo casually waves a hand in the direction of the woman and a tendril reaches out to catch her. Sitting her down gently on the ground where she promptly faints.
Dingo twitches an eyebrow as his arrow is destroyed. Seems his fire is hot enough to destroy salt. Once his tendril is glassed he notes that the man can also destroy his sand. Though the tendril is broken off it still appears to be in Dingo's control. "Well damn, buddy. Yer not even interested in the fact that this guy might be the key to saving Mutant Town from further genocide, are you?" He glares at Torch, "You know, they kept trying to tell me that there was no way the Avengers were behind those attacks, but the more I look at things the more likely that seems to me." He extends his hands and the wave of sand expands, swirling up into a sandstorm and obscuring himself and his hostage from view. The cloud extends toward Caleb on the ground.
Johnny frowns and drops from his lofty position, to land on the pavement, his footsteps darkening the pavement under his feet, but otherwise doesn't seem any worse for the wear. Seems Johnny can control his temperature as well. "You can run, but you can't hide.." He says punching into the swirling cloud of sand and boosting the temperature of his arm. The temperature leaps into the several thousand within a few inches of his skin and uniform, Sand with clump and likely fall under it's own weight. Hopefully, he can carve out a sizable chuck of the cloud before the pain of his arm getting sandblasted gets too much.
Caleb pushes himself up off the floor, "Fuck!", he's just provided Dingo with a hostage, he needs to think more, as the sand approaches him he does the smart thing and phases, keeping his now brighter glowing eyes on Bruce, looking for an opening.
The sands around Johnny's arm do turn to glass and fall out of the air. Shortly after he starts melting the cloud the storm pulls back, still swirling around the Torch but leaving a ten foot radius around the man. It seems that the storm is reacting to the man's heat. From within the storm, Dingo's voice can be heard. "I knew it. You don't even deny it. They kill us, they get to join the Avengers, that's it ain't it?" The voice seems to change its position in the storm, coming from another direction. "Less powerful mutants aren't worth that many points, but someone like me, someone who's stopped them a few times, I must be worth some points." The voice moves again. "How much am I worth? And how many points they gotta get before they can join this SHIELD thinger?"
Dingo phases into sand and moves throughout the storm. His hostage is still entangled in sand, but all of the other sand is still particulate. He senses that the void created by Caleb's body has vanished, indicating that the boy has probably gone intangible again. He materializes near where he sensed Caleb last and dissipates his salt bracelet into the air around him as a small shield.
Johnny shakes his head, dropping his flame. "Not my concern. What is my concern.. is that you're trying to kidnap a guy. You want to argue the reasons, and why you're being a good samaritan.. take it up with the cops. Explain it to them. Or better yet.. take it up with Uncle Sam, or with the Avengers. I can promise there are no shadowy conspiracy about you or anyone else. But.. I am taking your hostage.." He says, breaking into a run. He leaps into the air, just a few feet above the ground, then he ignites from the waist down, his legs pushing his solid upper half into a rocket propelled tackle aimed at the hostage, trying to rip him from Dingo's embrace.
Caleb watches the sand swirl around and thinks very carefully about his next move, the Torch is going after the hostage, so he'll stay away from there to avoid getting in the way, so that just leaves Dingo, who he can't find, "What to do, what to do?", this hero stuff is fecking hard, while phased he's more or less safe from the salt, it just stings slightly.
Dingo's sand is disrupted by the movement of the Torch. He senses that the man is moving toward his hostage and pulls the trapped man out of the path of the hero. He retracts himself and the storm toward where the man is tied up. The storm becomes thicker and more difficult to move through before collecting into a solid construct in front of the hostage. The storm is now completely cleared up, all of the sand having been formed into a large sand dingo standing over the captured man.
A normal girl is walking through the park. At least, the image inducer makes her seem normal. Not inclined in the past to do a lot of sightseeing, Jinx has indulged her curiosity and headed towards the city to see some of the famous things she has been hearing about on the weekend. It is such that she travels down the path, the wind whipping the ends of her purple bangs and causing her to look up from her map… just in time to see a giant sand dingo standing over a man. "Woah…." she exclaims softly, a soft breath sucked in through her teeth. She takes stock of the situation, picking up her pace until she is moving towards the activity.
Johnny comes flying out the other side of the dissipating sand cloud and fully ignites, turning in midair to face the giant dingo. "Back off!! I will glass you one limb at a time.. You don't wanna end up as a statue in a museum, then stand down.." He says. Big words for the little man facing the sand giant. Johnny floats up to roughly waist level, his gaze on the giant, and his job. Hoping Caleb will go for the hostage, if only to distract the sandy man.
Caleb really doesn't know what to do, he's finally realizing he's not ready for this kind of thing, what the hell is he doing, he's seventeen and he's out fighting bad guys, he looks over at Johnny and decides to go after the hostage and leave, he does a run up and flies towards the hostage.
Dingo drops out of the sand structure in human form, leaving the dog up to look menacing as he surveys his surroundings. He always finds it interesting how the people in this town always seems to gather around big battles like this as though they expect not to get hurt. He frowns. It's not Dingo's favorite tactic to take hostages, but he needs the information from the gunmen in order to save lives. Dingo is fairly certain that the Torch won't do anything to harm civilians, so he decides to take things up a notch.
It seems that Dingo is unaware of Caleb's actions, but he still moves the hostage again in time. The Dingo collapses on himself and the hostage before turning into a wave and sweeping around the intersection. The dingo reforms with six more hostages sticking out of it, one of them being Jinx. Dingo's voice comes out of the construct. "How about you just go home and all these people go home safe & sound. I'll even make a deal with ya. I generally don't let filth like this gunmen go back alive, but if you let me have him for a few hours I'll personally drop him off alive in front of the Avenger's mansion."
Jinx is suddenly caught in a sandstorm…. guy! She coughs, and for a moment panics along with the rest of the folks, her hair and skirt whipped by the swirling sands. It will take her forever to get the sand from her fur! She reaches up to touch a pendant that is swirled by the wind, her hands stuffing it into her shirt. "Hey! Let me go you sandtrap!" She shouts, pushing her hands out in front of her to see if she can "feel" the sand as a part of this mutant.
The sand dingo faces down against the two heroes and mimes a silent howl. It appears prepared to pounce when a large jet of water strikes it in the chest, causing parts of it to clump to the ground. It appears that a civilian has taken it upon himself to release the valve on a nearby fire hydrant. Another jet strikes the sand creature from the rear, and another from the side. As the construct is caught in the crossfire of the water jets it collapses to the ground and releases all of the hostages. Dingo is left standing in a large pile of wet sand. It looks like he can move it still, but it is severely slowed.
Caleb is still phased when the sand-dingo collapses so isn't caught up, however he does attempt to seize the oppatunity, he runs full pelt and stops in front of Dingo, "Look heres you last chance, stop and give yourself up or i will grab hold of you and phase your head into the pavement, take a guess what will happen", he's completely bluffing, but he hopes Dingo won't realise that.
Jinx spins down in the sand, scrambling to her feet. She sees a man in all the sand, and he looks like the one responsible. The girl stumbles through the sand, feet slipping beneath her as she runs over towards the man to half-fall. Caleb's bluff gives her the moment she needs and her her hands slap against his back. Instantly, terror floods through the connection. It is a blind, sickening intense emotion like all one's phobias condensed into a central moment. "You want to run away. We're gonna get you," she suggests to the man in his vulnerable state.
Dingo smirks at Caleb. "Grab me head? We both know I'm not that easy to get hold of, don't we?" He moves his hand in a punching motion toward the boy, his salt bracelet materializing into a dagger in the hand. The blade stops an inch away from the boy's face as Jinx makes contact with him. His expression turns from one of confidence to one of fear. The man drops the blade and turns back into sand, rising up into the air and slamming into a nearby grate in the ground. The grate bends slightly and he disappears below the ground.
Jinx watches the guy go up in sand and disappear down the grate. She breathes a short huff, shaking her hands. Looking behind her, she makes sure the people that the sandman had captured are all at least getting to their feet. She flips open her cell phone to dial 911 for the old lady who looks like she might have broken a hip…! She bends slightly as she waits for the operator to pick up, shaking the sand from her hair. What a day to visit New York!
~ Fin ~
