Players:
Summary: What turned out to be a nice day in the park turned into a struggle/fight against Taskmaster.
Date: 10/26/2009
Log Title Blowing Up Suitcases In The Park
Rating: PG-13
NYC - Central Park Lake
Bethesda fountain sits at the edge of the lake with a large terrace for people to hang out and relax. Benches sit under the trees creating a peaceful atmosphere. A dock stretches out into the lake for people to rent row boats to enjoy the entire lake. In the distance Bow Bridge can be scene crossing the man make lake.
With the sun out and shining, though setting in the evening; there aren't many people around the lake due to the hour and if maybe the slight chill in the air. People are walking hand in hand, or by their lonesome around the lake. Though sitting on a bench, facing the lake down from the dock would be Kaji. His sketchbook resting on his lap as his pencil flies over the pad of paper; his eyes flicking up now and again to look at the lake.
One of the people by their lonesome is Siegfried, on his way home to work. He's making a definate detour in the park as he doesn't live that close to Central Park, he lives in the Bronx actually, but sometimes the peace of the lake in Central Park is a welcome for the young German man. He walks past Kaji drawing on a bench and makes his way to sit crosslegged by the water. Siegfried closes his eyes and starts to mutter something in German, folding his hands in front of him.
Pallaton is around at this time, but it seems he's only arrived recently. The fuzzy mutant does stick out like a sore thumb, but these days, people just give him a look and a wide berth. But the fuzzy one seems absorbed in something. A newspaper, to be precise, scouring through a few pages of it. That said, it is surprising to see him in New York at all, since his sudden disappearance from the Xavier mansion for the summer and a little beyond. Has he returned? Or is he scouring for his own place now? Hard to tell…
Another person alone is one Owen Folger but it'd probably be hard to recognize him by sight. He's got a jacket on with the hood up over his head and his hands stuffed in his pockets. The teen's just walking along after a small shopping trip in the city. Purchace safely tucked in the jacket with him, he's not paying any particular attention to where he's going and is likely to walk into or trip over someone.
Laura is seen sitting up on a high branch of a nearby tree, overlooking the lake with a rather emotionless expression across her face. Her dark hair hangs down towards her shoulders, and she is seen wearing an odd designed brown corset-style top, a buckled mini skirt, and a set of clunky glossy boots. (As seen in Target X 2, Heh). Her nose crinkles a bit as she sniffs the air, and glances downward in the direction of the "Fuzzy one".
Kaji looks up as Seigfried as he sits down within his picture's view and he hms a bit. He twirls his pencil around in his hand; looking around. His brow quirks a bit at the sight of Pallaton and then he looks back over at the others in the area. Though Laura goes unseen up in the tree. "Needed to work on human drawings anyway," mutters the man before he goes back to drawing.
Once he's done saying what he feels necessary, quietly in German, Seigfried opens his eyes and notices…a giant wolf man? The blond acrobat jumps to his feet in one quick, graceful motion, and starts to hback away from Pallaton. He mutters "Wolfdmon." Under his breath and starts to look around to see if anyone else is freaked out by the Werewolf of London.
Pallaton doesn't seem to have looked up at all, still pouring though that newspaper in his clawed hands. Seems a distraction may be required to get him to notice the others around him. Or maybe he's just being polite? It's hard to tell when you can't read minds…
Looking up slowly when he notices someone jumping out of the corner of his eye, Owen thankfully manages to avoid a crash and tumble today. He's not noticed Laura or Kaji yet but the young mutant blinks at the sight of Pallaton and Seigfried. Shrugging, he walks over towards Seigfried. "Howdy, sir. Somethin' the matter?"
Laura continues to sniff the air for a second or two, she dangles her feet in the air slightly. A somewhat familiar "Snikt" sound occurs quietly, as a single claw extends from her right hand. She swipes a small "x" shaped cut over her left wrist, before returning it into her skin, keeping her eyes locked on the fuzzy man and other odd individuals.
Kaji flicks his eyes up at the point when Owen speaks. He looks around a bit more before he closes his sketchbook; keeping his pencil in his mouth for a second as he packs his stuff up. He looks up once more, and looks over at Pallaton a bit more; tilting his head a bit before he mutters, "Talk about not knowing what subtle means."
Siegfried jumps slighty as Owen speaks to him. He looks at the teen and than back to the wolf. "I fear zat he might be a volf damon." Siefried answers to Owen, since he's been attacked by demons before he's a big jumpy about obviously unnatural beings. "I just hope he is not sent here from him." He says and knowing it must sound werid that a young adult is afraid of a wolf man and takling about demons.
Pallaton's ears twitch a bit there, as if he heard the mumbling going on. He frowns a bit, folding up that newspaper and reaching into his pocket to pull out a small device. He presses a button on it a few times, but nothing seems to work. With another frown, it's stuffed back in his pocket as he turns his head to face Siegfried. "I'm not a demon. I didn't choose to be like this." he explains to him with mild annoyance in his voice.
Owen blinks slowly then chuckles a bit. "No need tah get so worked up, sir. That ain' no demon. Jus' a mutant," he says. "From who?" he asks after a moment. "Howdy, Pallaton. No need tah bite the poor guy's head off for a mistake," he says when the wolf-mutant turns to speak.
Today, Taskmaster is out and about in Central Park. He's got some business to attend to out here, but he doesn't really want to draw that much attention to himself, so he's got his holoprojector set to his Tony Masters alias, complete with black turtleneck, black sport coat and a briefcase in one hand. He walks with a hurried pace down the sidewalk, and pauses briefly to look at his watch to catch the time.
Laura almost smiles at the man's accent, assuring herself that she had heard it before, perhaps on one of her "missions". She dangles her feet back and forth in an almost child-like manner, as she idly watches the "x" shaped cut on her wrist close up.
Kaji's brow quirks once more at Owen speaking before he looks over at Pallaton; letting out a soft hum. He looks over at 'Tony' for a second before he looks back over at the trio nearby. They're providing a good bit of amusement at the moment. People watching, what a good hobby.
Looking at Owen, Siegfried nods slowly. "Sorry, I must seem to….vhat is the vord…easily jumpy?" His English still needs some improvements but it's not horrible even if his accent is fairly thick. "I apologize if I have offened you Volfman." Siegfried says sincerly. He looks around and notices that there seems to be a lot more people than he relized at first. "I must seem quite foolish."
Pallaton nods, but still seems a bit annoyed. But that quickly gives way as he sniffs the air a few times, something else having caught his attention. Eventually, his gaze falls upon the man passing by hurriedly. What is that smell… He stands up, stepping over to Owen and speaking in a hushed tone. "He smells of blood. And gunpowder." he whispers to him, as if looking for input on it.
Owen chuckles slightly and shakes his head. "Naw. Jus' a simple mistake," he says with a shrug. "Atleast ya didn' like…start yellin' for the cops or Avengers tah come save ya," he says. He starts to say something else but stops when Pallaton speaks to him. Blinking, the teen from down south looks to the indicated man. "COuld be a police officer," he ventures, not sure what to do.
Taskmaster seems to be oblivious to the attention that he's garnering from the two mutants. Once satisfied when he knows exactly what time it is, he walks over to one of the benches and sits down at it, placing his briefcase next to him. He does look, however. rather annoyed at something.
Laura crinkles her nose in the air a bit, the all too familar smell of gunpowder and blood in the air. She glances over towards the disgused Taskmaster, and keeps her eyes on him for a moment, only pausing to watch the "x" shaped scar on her wrist slowly fade away.
Kaji glances over at the man sitting down at the bench near his own and he hms a bit. The mutant stands up, stretching his arms over his head as he lets out a yawn. All that sitting was getting aching on his legs. It was then he spotted Laura up in the tree and he blinks a bit. Such oddities out today.
Siegfried looks confused as he hears the Wolf Man mention gun powder and blood. "Vot are you talking about?" He asks look around. He doesn't feel any danger about so doesn't think it's anything to worry about. "I do not think there be any danger in the area." He says cautiously not really sure what is going on. He looks at Owen and shakes his head. "I vouldn't call the police nor these Avengers."
Pallaton nods his head as Owen gives an explanation, but he still seems a little on-edge. "I guess so… Maybe I've been away too long…" He shakes his head, scratching at his neck and looking to Siegfried. "This a friend of yours, Owen?"
Owen just looks a bit lost, glancing at Tony and then Pallaton and Seigfriend. Shaking his head again, Owen pulls his hood back. "Well, Ah jus' met the guy, Pallaton," he answers before offering his hand to the german man. "Howdy. Ah'm Owen."
It isn't too long before a man wearing a business suit that screams 'money' walks down the pathway and sits right next to Taskmaster, and sets his briefcase down next to 'Tony's'. Taskmaster looks down at the two identical briefcases then up at the man and rolls his eyes. "You've gotta be kidding me," he says, mumbling under his breath. The man in the business suit shoots him a dark look.
Kaji picks up his backpack, fishing his sketchbook out of it real fast before he starts to head over towards the trio of people. He flips through the book; to the picture he was drawing, and he moves over towards Siegfried. "Excuse me sir. I hope you don't mind me asking after the fact; but do you mind that I used you as an impromptu model for my sketch?" It's a quite well done sketch, if a bit rough. And it's polite to ask.
"Nice to meet you Owen, I am Siegfried." He says with a friendly nod before turning to Pallaton. "Sorry about before, again." He says. He looks around a bit before Kaji approaches him and breaks into a grin when Kaji tells him that he sketched him. "I do not mind at all. Actually I am quite flattered. I have not had a drawing done since I vas in circus." And there's a part of Siegfried that will always love the spotlight so Kaji telling him that, makes his night.
Pallaton nods his head to Siegfried, offering his large, clawed hand to him. "I'm Pallaton." he says, but his ears are listening more to that man over there with the briefcase. Something smells funny… Other than the blood and gunpowder, that is.
Owen glances at Tony again before shrugging it off. If there's trouble, there's trouble. Not much he can do about that. Attention turns back to the conversation before him and Owen smiles a bit. "Oh, you used tah be in the circus?" he asks. "What did ya do?" he asks. There's a moment when Owen looks up at Kaji, getting the nagging feeling they've met before but since he can't place the older mutant he lets it pass.
Taskmaster meets the other gentleman's gaze with a rather incredulous one of his own, before he just shakes his head and mumbles, "Amateurs." With a heavy sigh, he grabs one of the briefcases and stands up, turning to continue on his walk.
Laura continunes to idly kick her legs in the air, still watching the disguised Taskmaster roam about. With a swift movement, she extends a single claw from her left hand, and creates another "x" shaped mark, but on her right wrist.
Kaji smiles, flipping the book closed as he says, "Thank you." He looks at the other two there, and lets out a soft laugh. "Sorry for butting in. I'm Kaji." Introducing himself to the three of them at once saves time, then he looks back over at Seigfried; to hear more.
Siegfried can't help but talk now that he has an audience and a smile forms on his face. "I vos an acrobat back in Germany. I did many different things but the trapzee vos my best. I teach trapzee at school on other side of city. I vos part of one of the most famous circus in Germany, Vundervol Vunders." He says as he loves being in the air like that. "Vot about you three? Vot is it that you do?"
Pallaton looks to Kaji, surprised. "Oh, I remember you, Kaji. We met once… briefly." He doesn't seem to want to dwell on that one. After all, he did run away when Kaji saw him as he is now. At least he seems to have gotten over it. He looks back to Siegfried, pausing for a moment. "Student… Well, ex-student. I graduated and… now I'm not so sure what to do…"
Owen nods. "Trapzee, eh? Must be excitin' tah fly an' flip like that," he says. The sometimes fuzzy teen takes a moment to think about what he'd look like doing such an act but shakes it off as it only ends with a fall to the (hopefully) net. "Me? Ah graduated too. Still studyin' though. Not sure where tah go after that."
Once Taskmaster's back is turned towards the other gentleman, the expensive suit guy grabs the other briefcase and hurries on down the sidewalk in the opposite direction, in, perhaps, a manner that's a bit too fast than normal. Taskmaster, on the other hand, is walking towards the trio at a nice, leisurely pace.
Kaji stretches an arm over his chest as he says, "I'm in college, studying art. Mainly traditional media, but there's some digital thrown in." He glances over at Pallaton and blinks a bit, before he snaps his fingers, "Oh yeah! That time in the park. Can't believe I could almost forget ya!"
"I never vent to school, I vas taught vot I know from my parents and the others that vere in the circus." Siegfried says as he's had a far from normal childhood. He's about to say more when he pales and looks over quickly in the direction Taskmaster is walking towards them in. He says a quick swear in German before looking a the three, "Look out. The Briefcase.." He warns as he takes a few steps back, preparing to move out of the way from whatever is coming.
Pallaton nods his head. "I was for a while, as well. Then I went t-" He stops there as Sieg gives his warning, glancing to the approaching man, keeping his eyes, ears and nose on him. First, the blood and gunpowder, now Sieg's sudden warning. Can something really be up with this guy? Or is he just too paranoid now that he fights the good fight?
Owen was just listening quietly, in a relatively good mood. Of course when Seigfried calls warnings about briefcases, Owen is just confused. He's a bit wary thought, pulling his hood forward to bit. "What?"
Taskmaster's eyes snap up to look at Siegfried, showing that he's a bit more aware of his surroundings than he usually lets on and looks down at the briefcase. He swears to himself and quickly chucks the briefcase out in the middle of the lake, and not a moment too soon. As soon as the case hits the water, it explodes with a tremendous amount of force, deafening those close by and showering them all with water thrown up from the force of the blast.
Laura takes the explosion as a cue, and leaps forward from the tree. With a loud, and obvious shout. "Grawwww!" Two claws extend from each hand with a "Snikt", as she flies through the air towards Taskmaster's disguised self. She doesn't wait for an explaination, or anything at all, the bomb is enough for her.
Kaji blinks a bit, before he looks over at Sieg. "… What?" Mimicking a question, but he also looks back in the direction of the suitcases. He tenses up a bit, the grip on his backpack tightening just a bit before he looks back at Sieg. "What abo—" He lets out a yell at the explosion, the force rolling him along the ground as he shifts into his hybrid form. He lets out a growl, unsteady on his feet before he stumbles after Taskmaster.
As the briefcase explodes, Siegfried dives down and tries to roll away form Taskmaster. He a bit shaken by the whole ordeal and looks around. "I…I…sorry." He says to the the three and hurries off. It's a bit to close of a call for his liking and he fears that it might be death chasing him in another close call.
Pallaton blinks, but as the approaching man tosses the briefcase out, Pallaton does the first thing that comes to his mind. He spins around and tries to cover the trio with his body, but in the end, he only ends up getting a wet back and a bit ticked off. He, too, decides to confront the man on what just happened, though calmer than the others. After all, why would someone carry a bomb with them then throw it away? Odds are he's a victim too.
Acting on reflex far more than he would have liked, Owen ends up swallowed by a DarkForce cloud when the suitcase goes off. Teleporting away, he's missing all the action. No telling where he ended up.
The shower of water causes Taskmaster's image inducer to flicker for a moment, showing those who are paying attention the mercenary uniform he's usually wearing behind the illusion. He, however, doesn't get a chance to explain himself to Pallaton, because a certain Wolverine clone and werewolf are jumping him. He turns and scowls at Laura's leap, saying, "Who the hell are /you/ supposed to be.." He doesn't wait for an answer, though, as he expertly redirect's the girl's momentum towards Kaji, careful not to let the claws get anywhere near him.
Laura has her momentium easily re-directed, though, as she is running towards Kaji, she does an acrobatic flip over him, landing a few feet behind him with a snarl.
Kaji stumbles once; unknowingly giving Laura more clearance to get over his head, before his equilibrium is reestablished. He gets back up onto his feet and takes off once more after Taskmaster; taking a leap at him with a fist cocked back for a strike.
Pallaton takes the moment to assist with that, having noticed the Taskmaster using a device just like he does. Shame his is out of batteries. He raises his arm and points it at the Taskmaster, letting out what sounds like a growl. But in reality, he's forming rock around the Taskmater's feet, trying to root him in place for Kaji to land a few hits on him. And if that doesn't work, there's always Plan B. Knock the stuffing out of him.
Since Taskmaster isn't familiar with Pallaton's powers, he's surprised to find that his feet are now firmly encased in earth. "What tha…" He says, blinking at his feet. He hasn't forgotten about Kaji, however. Letting the image inducer just drop the illusion since everybody's intent in getting a piece of him, he raises a wrist and there's a hum, and the sharp smell of ozone and a shield looking forcefield is summoned which he raises to block Kaji's attack.
Laura seems to ignore the strange smell and obvious forcefield, charging forward towards Taskmaster, and flinging her claws forward at his chest with a loud grunt.
Kaji lets out a loud grunt from both the smell and the impact of his hand onto the shield. Rolling his wrist, he hops backwards; shaking it a few seconds later with a pant. "Goddamn that hurt." He flexes that hand, wincing a bit at the pain before he balls up the other one and starts to move to try and get around to the other side.
Pallaton,however, continues to focus on keeping that rock there, clamping the Taskmaster's feet to the ground. "I think I can hold him here…" he comments, his other arm coming up to stabilize his right arm, clasping it around the wrist. "But I can't hold this forever."
Taskmaster somehow manages to use the fact that his feet are locked in tight to the earth to his advantage, by flinging himself backwards in a very Neo-dodging-bullets-esqe move, which lets him dodge Laura's attack. "Great," he says snidely. "I'm being attacked by emo-girl Wolverine." He doesn't attack Kaji, right now, instead sending the energy based shield toward's Pallaton's head with a practiced throw that's very reminiscent of Captain America.
Kaji twists his wrist once more, wincing at a pop from it before he shakes it out. "That's a bit better," grumbles the hybrid. He sets his backpack down and takes off at a sprint towards Taskmaster; aiming to send a jab right at the small of the guy's back.
Pallaton, however, isn't so lucky. As he sees the blast heading straight for him, he panics, releasing his focus on the rocky binds. They weaken enough that the Taskmaster can simply pull his legs free now and have the rock crumble. But as for Pallaton, he's just a moment too slow in hitting the dirt himself, the attack colliding with his neck hard. Luckily, there's no snapping, but he is put out of commission for the fight. Out cold, he's oblivious. And helpless.
Holding his head, the now-fuzzy Owen leans on a tree as he comes out from a shrub-covered area. Away from the little fight, he rubs his head where it hit a tree after his teleport and frowns. "Well, darn…" he trails off when he sees the fight. Looking around, Owen gets an idea when he finds a rock about the size of a basket ball. Hefting the chunk of stone up, the teen teleports. Appearing in the air above Taskmaster, he lets the rock drop towards the man and then teleports again, ending up landing on Pallaton when he emerges from the DarkForce cloud. Blinking a few times, the fuzzy mutant sighs and teleports again, bringing Pallaton with him to hide the wolfman somewhere safe
Once he feels the rocks loosening up on his feet, Taskmaster grunts in satisfaction and is able to twist his feet out of the earth in time to deftly deflect Kaji's attack. Owen suddenly appearing over him and dropping a rather large rock, however, is not something he's expecting. He notices it just in time to keep it from braining him, but it does impact his shoulder with a loud *thwuck* and the man cries out in pain. "Ah, you bastard!"
Kaji plants his feet down as he goes to grab the deflecting arm while he brings back the other one to swing another punch at Taskmaster's face. The grabbing hand, if it grabs, starts to apply pressure to use his claws to grip. "You're being the bastard!"
Owen comes back in another cloud of that darkness, hood back up and face hidden by the darkness. Only a pair of glowing green eyes is seen under that hood. "Quick an' foul-mouthed, eh?" he asks, hanging back a bit. "Mind tellin' me what in bloody hell ya were tossin' bombs around for?" he asks, cringing slightly when he sees Kaji swinging a punch.
"I was tryin' ta keep myself from gettin' blown up," Taskmaster snarls at Owen, never losing a beat as he switches into a more traditional kung-fu stance, now that his feet are completely free, and with a quick, and smooth circular motion, manages to both break his hand free of Kaji's grip and blocks the incoming punch. His other arm, however, is hanging limply to his side. "Word of advice, kid," he says to Kaji,. Don't go hand to hand with the Taskmaster. You ain't gonna win."
Kaji lets out a low growl. "And do you think I care?" He tenses up his hands once more, but he's also wary of that shield. He takes a few steps backwards, keeping an eye on the fighter. "Though I must say. You're rather good." Compliments where compliments are due.
"That so, eh?" Owen asks, a little surprised. A little voice in the back of his head does kick him and go 'you are not important enough to blow up' though. Smirking at Taskmaster's words to Kaji, the young mutant known as Lurker throws a hand forward and unleashes a blast of DarkForce with about two hundred pounds of force behind it. Less than he wanted but it's better than nothing. "No hand-tah-hand, alright."
"I'm the best," Taskmaster says, correcting Kaji, whilring around, the energy shield forming around his wrist to block Owen's attack. He grunts as the air gets knocked out of him since the impact is more than what he expected, but he somehow manages to stay on his feet.
Kaji watches this and he hops backwards once more; he looks over at Owen for a second to see if he's going to go for another shot. But, he gets too impatient and runs at Taskmaster; dropping into a crouch before he vaults himself up. Going for an uppercut. All options are open! And most of them are closing.
Looking at his hand, Owen frowns. "Well that didn' go as planned," he mutters. Seeing Kaji go for another shot, Owen takes a step back and vanishes into another cloud of DarkForce in preparation for another sneak attack.
Taskmaster backflips, mimicking Spider Man perfectly, avoiding the greatly telegraphed uppercut, the energy shield blinking out of existence. He lands in a very Spidey like crouch and thrusts his hand forward, middle two fingers folded in on his palm and the rest splayed outward, as an energy version of Spider Man's webs shoot out, trying to catch Kaji's feet.
Kaji lets out a yelp as his feet as stuck to the ground, and falls forward onto his knees; catching him with with his hands before he lets out a growl. "Oh that's just a low dirty trick," grumbles Kaji as he glares at Taskmaster. If looks could kill!
And that's Owen's cue. Comeing out of a DarkForce cloud about a foot from Taskmaster, Owen lunges to try tackling the masked man. If he's able to, he'll teleport them both to over the lake in hopes of taking them both into the water.
Teleporters are always tricky to deal with, especially ones that Taskmaster hasn't been able to observe yet so he can predict their moves, like Owen. The only reason why Owen is able to grab the villain is because he manages to grab the shoulder that he dropped the mini-boulder on, which causes Taskmaster to cry out in pain again.
Kaji is too busy to pull at the energy webs at his feet to notice Owen tackle Taskmaster, but as the webbing fades away; he looks up. He blinks a bit before he gets up and starts to run towards the water. His backpack still attached to his back as he pants softly.
Owen holds onto the injured arm, feeling a little bad about attacking an injured area. But hey, the guy threw a bomb so he's going with it. Holding his breath, he tries to throw a punch at Taskmaster's injured shoulder while they're under the water.
Going hand to hand with somebody who's a master of every martial art known to man (and then some) is generally a bad thing as Owen quickly finds out. Even though Taskmaster is down one arm, he's still a force to be reckoned with, twisting just right so the mutant's punch glances harmless off the kevlar armor that he wears under the suit. With a twist, he breaks away, kicking at Owen to both try to knock the air out of him, and propel him through the water away from these annoying brats.
Kaji paces back and forth on the shore before he lets out a huff of air; moving back to the bench that he was sitting on. Shifting back into his human form as he watches the surface of the water. The young adult rather tense as he watches or any disturbance.
Owen isn't the best when it comes to hand to hand combat. He's pretty much a brawler and wrestler. And fighting in water is definitely not his best element. So he's pretty much screwed here. Getting kicked brings about a lot of bubbles and sends Owen scrambling for the surface. Kid's not gonna be chasing the man in the mask, breathing the surface and trying to catch his breath.
Due to his intensive training with breath control, Taskmaster is able to swim quite a distance towards the opposite edge of the lake before surfacing again, hopefully losing the teens so he can go on with his life.
At the sight of the bubbles, Kaji ditches his backpack and his coat as he leaps into the lake; heading right for Owen to get a hold of him and back to the shore. "Hold on!"
Owen starts looking for Taskmaster only to blink when Kaji grabs him. The fuzzy teen blinks a few moments then just relaxes. Free trip back to shore. Fine with him.
Taskmaster manages to escape, once again.
