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Summary: There's a rather large crab beached upon a school cafeteria roof in a Long Island community that needs to be dealt with. Iron Man and the Texas Twister to the rescue!
Date: September 1, 2011
Log Title: Seafood Takeout
Rating: PG
NYC- Long Island
It's been a few days since the Hurricane tore through New York causing power outages, flooding, and general mayhem. Between crews of super powered individuals, mutants, and humans the city is starting to get back on its feet again. After pulling long hours during the storm and the initial clean up to help get power back to the people Tony's returned to Long Island to see what he can do to help those who've been hit hard by the storm. On a lesser note he also has to check on his home to see how it held up. Thus, on a bright sunny day he's lurking Long Island in the vicinity of his home talking with neighbors and offering assistance while dressed casually.
Suddenly as Tony and his neighbor talk about the ramifications of Hurricane Irene ripping through the area, they may suddenly feel a strong and sudden rise in the wind as at first it may appear another hurricane may be suddenly starting up, even though it is sunny and clear. It's not a hurricane, though. It is more of a tornado or in this case, a twister controlled by everyone's favorite Texan cowboy. Dressed in his old Texas Twister uniform complete with fringes and more cowboy accoutrements than his SHIELD uniform, Tex demonstrates such finesse with his powers that he is able to localize the winds not to affect anyone outside and move around anything other than its intended target. The twister sweeps through the street and is strong enough to pull into its path downed trees and debris that had been tossed about by Irene. Drew is using his powers to literally sweep up the area and send it upward into the sky and into a designated dump area.
At first those outside panic as a twister suddenly appears as they're fearing further destruction of their homes especially since Irene spawned a tornado during her pass through! When suddenly debris is sucked towards the twister everyone gawks in amazement at what's happening in front of their faces. Well, everyone gawks save Stark who is merely watching the goings on with a slight tinge of amusement. "Tex!" The man waves from the sidewalk near a poor confused elderly woman. "You mind helping with a rather large problem a bit from here? Turns out there's a rather large very dead crustacean on the roof of a school cafeteria."
Concentrating on controlling the twister, Drew does not yet notice Tony or the confused people. Once done clearing this street, Tex bends over and pauses a moment and grimaces. Removing his white cowboy hat and fanning himself as he sweat profusely. He then realizes he is not alone. The Texan is very tired. As the citizens of this Long Island hamlet gawk and stare. He perks up not wanting to show his fatigue. Spotting the billionaire, Tex half-smiles and approaches as he walks past the elderly woman bowing his head slightly and lowering his hat lower "Mam" before approaching Tony and blinking, "I think you said something, Mr. Stark. But I missed what it was. So how canna I help ya?"
"You were a bit busy at the time." Tony turns to introduce Mrs. Wilcox who seems pleased as punch to have such a gentleman breeze into their neighborhood to clean up the mess left by that terrible storm. Of course if you let Mrs. Wilcox talk your ears off you'll be there for some time though she might offer you a plate of cookies as well. "I'm sorry Mrs. Wilcox but I believe that Tex and I are going to have to depart your company to take care of Mr. Krabs over at the school. I'll make sure to see what I can do about your fencing problem." She smiles politely, "Why thank you, Tony and thank you as well Mr. erm Tex is it?" With that Tony extends a hand outward gesturing away before anyone else decides to want to strike up a conversation. "I had wondered if you might want to lend a hand with getting a rather large and very dead crab back out to sea. I wouldn't want the kids to start off the school year thinking lunch is going to be Deviled Crab for the entire year."
Nodding to Mrs. Wilcox when Tony makes the introduction, "Nice to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Wilcox." Sensing from Tony that perhaps it is not best to stay for a chat, he offers a smile and rushes off as Tony tells him about the dead crab atop the school and he blinks, "Um… Sure. Not a problem, pardner." He follows along and actually lets out a very loud yawn. Embarassed, he blushes "Shucks, Tony. Sorry. But I am as beat as a mosquito hopping along from person to person in the hot plains of Lubbock." His twang thicker than usual, he shakes his head, "Ok. A dead crab?"
They walk down the sidewalk as casually as can be though there's a bit of speed to Tony's gate. "Mrs. Wilcox is nice though she'll start in with the cookies that leads to stories of her youth and pretty soon she's offering you a casserole. As the Texan yawns he cuts a glance across his shoulder, "If you're about to blow away with the wind at any moment don't worry about the crab. I can spend some time figuring out how to manage it." Down the block, a turn here then there, a home that seems to have fared better than the others comes into view. "Everyone has been putting in the overtime this week so if you want to bow out of this that's fine."
When Tony offers to let Tex go home without helping with the crab, Te lifts his hand, "No…no…it's not a problem. I actually got more rest than expected. I was in DC when the hurricane hit and SHIELD pushed me to the brink using me to try to control as much of the hurricane in that area. Protected the city as much as I could, but when the storm was done, I was conked out. Battling Mother Nature for control of a hurricane was harder than riding a bronco at Liddy's Old Time Saloon outside Austin." He hops up and stretches a bit and hovers on a self-generated air drift and gesturing with his hand another one literally lifts the Avenger, " This'll be quicker. So where's this school?"
Tony walks down a stone walkway towards the house in front of them. "They shouldn't have asked you to battle a hurricane. If anything was to be done it should have been to see to the safety of those in danger then get out of harms way yourself. Best to keep the help from getting hit in the head by a ninety mile an hour garbage can." Finding himself suddenly lifted into the air upon a created updraft he quirks an eyebrow at the Texan then tips his head towards the house. "Might go better if I get my gear then we mosey over to the school."
"True, but hey. I do what I am told like a good little soldier." Drew offers. His tone being slightly humorous but slightly peeved simultaneously as he maneuvers the winds they ride towards the billionaire's Long Island home. When reaching the lavish home, Drew deposits himself and Tony right at the front door, "Damn it, Stark. Mighty fine home ya got here. Why this is fancier than the prettiest belle at a Biloxi ball." Looking around, Drew just shakes his head, "I ain't never thought I'd be in a place like this."
"I'm glad your tone came off the way it did. I would have to worry about you otherwise. Though that comment about the house leaves me thinking I ought to worry for you actually. "It's not Tara," Tony jokes as he opens up the house and invites Tex inside for a moment. "It's really not all that luxurious. This was my parents home for ages. I had it remodeled awhile back to withstand my lifestyle as best as a home could. Please, feel free to look around while I get my gear." It will take a moment for Tony to return though when he does he's striding down the hall wearing his armor with the helm held by a hand dangling at his side. "I'd give you the grand tour but that'll have to wait for another time."
"Well, Tara is overrated. Or at least Gone with the Wind is." Tex pauses a moment an lets out a loud guffaw. "Get it Gone with the /WIND/" Drew creates a little breeze to waft through the remodeled home. As Tony goes to get armored up, Drew looks about still laughing at his movie joke an when Tony appears. He gets serious adjusting his cowboy hat, "Well, Stark. I'll take you up on that tour soon enough." Once outside he hops up and once again creates and is carried by an airdraft ready to follow Tony to the school.
Tony covers his heart, "Gone with the Wind is classic, and hopefully your jokes get better the more tired you become!" Teasing the Texan he goes to get armored up then returns shaking his head at the still chuckling cowboy. "You might be better served taking a tour of the Towers rather than here. If it were not for the fact that you were quite literally in the neighborhood you wouldn't have known of this place. I'd rather not have people landing over here and tearing the place apart like they do everywhere else that I own. I'm sure you understand." Once outside Tony pushed his helm on then takes to the skies to show Tex over to the nearby elementary school where a massive crab it bellup dangled over the entire cafeteria. "Hrm…to throw it out to see for the creatures of the ocean to tear it apart or do we chance that breaking it apart and finding someone to take it would be a better option. I'm sure someone would want it for SCIENCE."
Nodding as Tony mentions wanting some privacy, "Well, then lucky me gets to know a Stark secret." Drew follows Tony as the lower half of his body seems to disappear within whirls of wind whirring him through the sky, "But I understand." When they reach the cafeteria, Tex does a double take at the size of the crab creature, "You reckon that's one of Namor's pets or an escapee from Lemuria or Monster Island?" He thinks over the options Tony has presented, "Well, maybe SHIELD might can take care of it. I say we take it from here to a more secluded area and I'll have the Science boys come on down and take her to a lab or somethin'"
Tony points a lone metal clad finger at Tex, "Be careful with that knowledge as I know where you live. If my house is set upon by Hydra or a pack of kids tp'ing homes on a holiday I'll know who ratted me out.
At the school the crab is massive. The claws alone must weigh in at several hundred pounds. "If it were edible imagine all the crab meat that could be given out. It's got to be better than the imitation crab meat people eat. Eugh." Still he chuckles as he circles the building getting a scan of how big the creature is, what it weighs, and any other useful information as to why this thing is enormous. "It's a him or was a him. You can tell by the shape of the abdomen. Yes, I watch far too much Animal Planet." Coming to a hover at one of the claws he shrugs a hand towards the crab. "If Namor misplaced something of this size he'd never admit to it. I think the poor thing might have been lurking too close to the surface then got sucked up and tossed about though that is only a guess. I don't see anything in the scan to suggest that it died from some disease or due to any pollution."
Chuckling at Tony's threat, Tex simply smirks and does a gesture with his arm outstretched, "Hail Hydra!" Hovering above the creature himself, he lets Tony do all his fancy tech assessments and whatmacallits and whosawhats. "Ah, poor fella, got knocked outta the water by the hurricane. Well, how do you suggest we handle this? I can muster up a strong enough wind to lift it up, but that would probably involved creating a mini hurricane myself. Since the critter is already dead, maybe yer suggestion of breaking it apart. You get half and I get the other half." Pointing out into the distance, "There's a private beach off in that direction, we can deposit it there and I already have SHIELD on the way.
Snerk. Stark even half asses a Hail Hydra back at Tex in amusement. "I never did take Biology…." Tony mutters to himself. "Right, we're about to dissect an enormous crab. I hope you don't have a problem with the smell as my tools are going to cook parts of this thing." He waves a hand up as he's going to use repulsor tech in a narrow beam to cut off various parts of the crab to make it easier to transport." Going to start with a pincer he hovers over to the other side then the palms of his gloves glow a golden light that builds before a narrow beam fires out striking the outer armor of the crab at the point where the pincer arm connects to the torso. Just as the beam cuts down along the crab causing a lovely aroma of burnt claw to lift into the air the appendage flails to life and suddenly there's a very pissed off crab flailing about attempting to strike at the two flying targets as it tries to right itself.
Laughing and shaking his head, Tex is surprised to see the Armored Avenger doing the salute. "Good to know you got a sense of humor, Iron Man." He hovers up a few feet more when as Tony starts to cook and cut the crab apart. When the seemingly dead creature comes to life Tex flies up even higher and a quick and powerful gusts of wind act as a barrier between the heroes and the creature "Crap…er…I mean Crab! Didn't your fancy schmancy armor tell ya that sucker's alive?"
"At the time it read deceased," Tony replies while dodging a claw. "Well, the good news is we won't have to carry it anywhere! The bad news is I've pissed it off and it could rampage Long Island!" Flying a few feet away in the opposite direction of where Tex is currently Iron Man rescans the crustacean to get information spitting back in the form of vital signs. "I'll try to draw it back out to sea. You're more than welcome to help though I'm not explaining a thing if you get snapped in half….incoming!" The crab has flipped over and is reaching out towards Tex with an angry snapping claw.
Thankfully, when in the air and riding on his winds, the Texas Twister is pretty fast so given the quick warning from Iron Man, Drew is able to evade the incoming and angry snapping claw, but barely. Pivoting to the left, the pincers miss him, but he is brushed aside and lands in the sand. "Dang nabbit!" Falling into the sand, his winds send up sand flying in the general direction of the giant crab and his armored friend, "Do ya know how long it takes me to get sand outta mah mustache!"
There's nothing quite like a house sized crab flailing about in anger and becoming angrier since part of it's body has been cut into. The eyes of the creature move about trying to keep track on those annoying flying things while the much smaller moving parts at the mouth look creepsome. "And this is why I prefer not to eat seafood." To drag it away from Tex, who is not armored and is far more squishy, Tony sends a brief zot the crabs way that won't harm the creature but get it's attention. The move partially works as is zero's in on him but the injured arm flails towards Tex with the moving claw right back at him again.
Rising to his feet and back into the air, Tex narrowly avoids the claw of the crab again. "This is gettin' a bit much!" As Tony unleashes a little zot at the creature, Tex is now up in the air and away from the creature and parallel to Iron Man. "Well, how about a little cover to keep the creature away from the city. Two swirls of air come to life around Drew's arms as he aims down beneath the creature's feet and sending him large gusts of sand blowing towards the creature hoping to send up some sand clouds and push the creature back simultaneously.
The crabs arm crashes down with a loud thwump spraying sand everywhere. As it makes a grab for Iron Man the sand being kicked up by Tex's winds push at the armored body of the crab doing quite a number on the legs that are moving the creature sideways. It looks like it can't keep traction and is comically trying to gain ground with rapidly moving legs. Tony zips around behind the crab resting his hands against the shell attempting to push it towards the water without too much force. The plan seems to be working until the crab abruptly turns smacking Tony away with the back of a claw then makes angry pincer motions at Tex whom the crab is now interested in.
"That's it. Remind me never to go to the Crab Shack again!" Once again dodging the pincers that are headed towards him, Tex dives out of the way and back onto the sand, "This is gonna tucker me out, but tryin' to get ya back into the water without hurtin' ya is gonna be hard." Tex exhales a bit and closes his eyes, "Crabby…You're going back in da water!" All wind and breeze, all the air in the area seems to become frighteningly still. "I'm tired and I'm crabby!" Tex mutters under his breath and grits his teeth as any and all air in the area focuses under the girth of the creature. "Tony, I suggest ya hold on to something!" Drew attempts to focus all air currents within range to lift the creature up into the air. If successful, the small area surrounding Tony, Tex, and the crab is askew and wild whipping it up and under the crab.
With no need to hold onto anything due to being able to use repulsor powered boots Iron Man will weather any windstorm brought upon the poor crab without too much of an issue. The wind does lift the crab in the air causing it to flail unhappily while launched into the air. The armored man, not the crab, flies up underneath it to carry it much like a waiter which becomes all the more amusing when the poor crab panics. Thinking that it needs to escape the humans that are only try to help it causes the crab to lose the damaged limb in a desperate attempt to flee. "Hey, take out…" Tony mutters from beneath the crab as the large several hundred pound claw with arm falls down to the sand impaling a spot on the beach. In the air the crab is slowly hovered further off into open water where Tony zips out from underneath it to allow it to fall into the water. Not a pleasant entry but not much to be done about that. The crab sinks into the water to disappear from view allowing Tony to return to shore to lean up against the massive claw casually. "Thanks for playing. Your fabulous prize? A year's supply of crab meat!" The Prize is Right music can be heard coming from Tony's helm.
Once Iron Man has the crabby crustacean in his grip, Tex decreases the wind. Not all at once, but slowly so as not to affect weather patterns and air currents too much. Once Tony deposits the crab into the water, Drew all but passes out as he lands to his side on the sand, tuckered out from all the work he has been up since the hurricane. Exhaling a moment and closing his eyes, the sound of the theme music from The Price is Right gets his attention as he sits up in the sand and spits out some sand that gotn in his mouth. "Sweet Sassafrass!"
Tony waves a hand outward, "Sand in the shorts? I wouldn't be surprised." Pushing away from the claw he comes over extending a hand outward offering to help Tex back up to his feet. "Thanks for the up-draft there with Mr. Krabs. It was enough to make carrying it manageable though I doubt it enjoyed it's trip there at the end or at all. At least it left a wonderful parting gift for the scientists to work with." Peering over towards the claw. "You want a ride home? I fly better than I drive."
Taking the offered hand, "Well, I am tired, so…" Drew manages to get a laugh as for his final trick of the day creates just enough wind to blow off any sand that is over his body and uniform. The sand din the shorts will have to be taken care of when he gets home. "Yeah, I'll take a ride. I'm gonna hit Barnes and then pass out."
"That was honestly worse than expected. Once can never tell how things are going to go with the bizarre." Tony mentions as Drew takes care of the issue with the sand. "Hopefully you'll be able to get in a bit of rest before the next situation comes up or you've got to plan out your schedule since schools in session in a few days. From crab wrangling to wrangling crabby teens. The latter is worse in my opinion. Anyways…step aboard." If Tex stands on Tony's foot he'll lift them into the air and zip off to Barnes at a decent speed.