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Summary: A public execution is mounted, a resistance arrives too late, a new hero appears as old ones are lost.
Date: June 6, 2020.
Log Title The Death of America
Rating: R
The Future - NYC - Times Square
Once a central hub for humanity, little remains of Times Square but broken storefronts and disintegrating buildings. Stretching as far as the eye can see, the entire area is littered with crushed cars and skeletonized bodies; leaving little to be found without taking a chance inside one of the many crumbling facades. For the lucky, scraps of a bygone lifestyle can still be uncovered in the form of clothing, canned food, and supplies. Albeit amidst the occasional threats of wondering gangs and roving Sentinels. With literally innumerable hiding spots to choose from, there is little doubt that either could be laying in wait.
The announcement has been made and been blasted all over the televisions, radios and even loud speakers in New York City. All day there have been Sentinels patrolling in heavier numbers than usual as a stage was set up in the middle of Times Square. There are two Sentinels now standing tall as the bright lights shine down on the area. A surprising crowd of mutant haters has been brought into the island for front seat viewing of the execution of heroes. On the stage stands a few hunters, Danny Oda the superhero and Barnes teacher formally known as Sandstone stands there, the ever vigilant Hunter, DJ another hunter feared by mutants as having killed several mercilessly and one of the top hunters in their arsenal, one who has struck fear into mutants who just hear his name, Tooth. Even President Robert Kelly has joined in on this glorious victory and is there to execute Steve Rogers, Captain America, himself. Needless to say President Robert Kelly is well protected at the moment surrounded by a box of bullet proof glass as he makes his speech on the evils of mutants and how he 'saved' the United States from the plague of mutant kind with his next step being The World! "Tonight ladies and gentlemen, the rightful and god chosen beings of the human race, those who were not touched by the devil with this rot of an X-Gene, we have earned ourself a tremendous victory! Two of those X-Men, Kurt Wagner, who the devil has spit on himself and made him in his image, a mutant who is not born on American soil, a mutant who went by Nightcrawler!" There is a cheer from the crowd demanding his demise. "The other X-Men, another who was not born on American Soil, Ororo Monroe, the mutant known as Storm. A Weather Witch she can been called, another godless heathen. Then we have the mutant terrorist, one who has even tried to assassinate your loyal President in the past, Raven Darkholm also known as Mystique! She gave herself to the devil and made a dark pact to give birth to the demon Kurt Wagner!" Again another cry of disapproval demanding death of these mutants. "Last we have someone who once stood for America, someone who got his powers from the American Dream and in return he rejected what it means to be an American. The red white and blue recoils from his actions! He may have been a war hero many years ago but now he's a traitor to the Country! And Traitors such as Steve Rogers, such as Captain America, deserve to pay!" There's a loud roar from the crowd as they want to see blood and are eating up every word President Robert Kelly says.
There are things that people just don't know about Damien James Daniels. DJ. Vulcan. He's had too many things go on in his life. He was brainwashed and turned into a hunter. But recently… recently his mind has come back to himself. He knows who he is and what he's doing. Pride… has fallen away. But, he's stuck. He's locked in his position as a hunter. Once, a famed name on Broadway… he became the living embodiment of volcanoes. But, dutifully, he stands next to Raven Darkholme. His breathing is measured as he waits, listening to the calls. Occasionally, his body will shift between forms. A moment of fire. A moment of lava. A moment of rock. He holds his hands behind his back, looking down.
Standing tall, arms crossed, James has parked himself near to Danny. Eyes behind a pair of sunglasses, the hyena displays no sign of emotion, no movement of any kind as the President sends the crowd into fits. His hunters garb looks fresh and clean, a surprising change from the creature's usual habits. And one that was probably handed from above seeing as how the President was in attendance. With no more than a sigh and a grunt, he eventually turns his head to scan the crowd as he await for the show to begin.
Standing there solid as stone, the reddish hue of his armoured skin, is Danny Oda and he's standing behind Storm. He's been brainwashed and has mercilessly hunted down mutants over the last few years, he still wears his old Freedom Force costume, the blue and white costume which combined with his red armoured skin to represent America. There's an odd smile on his face, as this is just pleases him, as if he's won and knows it. He just watches and listens intently to President Kelly, believing his words, taking in his words, and is happy he wasn't born a mutant.
A mile away, up in a building's dessicated top floors, the remnants of a corporate meeting room is Volk, walking along casually with a Barrett MX500 in one hand, and a hot dog in the other. Chewing on the bare bit of meat with one hand, he clears off a spot on the table for a stable firing point, and then kicks out the bipod. Settling it in place, and then sliding up on the table, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his comm-unit, and taps the first button on the digital display. In three other spots in the plaza… three people receive a message. -Eagle Eye is go.- And with that Volk begins to sight in… his target… DJ… loading into the .50 caliber rifle an oddity… a non-lethal round meant to maximize kinetic impact at range without killing. Used for striking and knocking down targets in armor. Sighting in center mass, the sniper begins to adjust for the wind and the weather with the scope.
Arsenal's hood obscured his helmet, anyone directly looking under it would see the glossy faceplate/visor. Right now he was pushing forward through the gathered mob, cheering with them, a fist above his head pumping, just another of the mass, none of his mutant powers as meager as they were needed to be active for what he planned. Underneath the heavy kevlar coated jacket were his weapons, several dangled from his waist, his sensors were shut down beyond normal eyesight, nothing abnormal was in use on his person right now… stopping just out of estimated range of the Sentinel's ability to scan for mutants he halted.
Having made sure the entire time in getting close he was not stepping into any one of their active zones the weight of the jacket intentional as well, purpose of armor really not one he was concerned on so much as it's thickness in helping with concealment of his munitions, not only from the naked eye. Not close enough for his tastes but then again he only needed to be within kill range of his firearms to effectively kill something from a distance and with absolute confidence, like any good soldier. Right now, he would wait.
Tucked away in a hiding spot Chloe does a last minute weapon check. Throwing knives are sharpened, tubes of termite paste are made ready and her energy spear is folded away and strapped to her back. She even has a couple of smoke grenades at the ready, just incase. Finally she adds a little oil to the large set of bolt cutters and checks the motion. "Wouldn't want you snagging now would we?" she murmurs. "Dancing Unicorn is ready." And that's the last time anyone lets her pick her own callsign….
Kalindi stands on the stage, a little spaced from some of the other Hunters, watching the crowd carefully. She is wearing excessive gold jewellery for the occasion, but that's because of her abilities. Even under her clothes, she wears her usual thin gold armour just in case. Aside from that, she wears her standard Hunter's garb and wears a pair of thick soled boots made from solid gold (which makes her look much taller than she actually is). She doesn't much care what the president has to say, since she doesn't believe his words. This is just too good a job to pass up.
Erik has significantly fewer weapons then the others, it seems. A couple of handguns tucked in holsters, and then several bags of his various metal components. He hovers a good distance away from the extravaganza for now, out of sight and scanning range, and simply waits. Gone are the old suits; instead sleek black metallic body armor covers his torso, arms to the elbow, and legs, moving with a lightness that suggests itlike Magneto'sis custom made. Of course, his has pants; and his helmet doesn't block telepathy, sadly. Over this is a long, ragged black coat that whips about him as he waits.
High above Times Square, crouched upon the roof of a skyscraper against the setting sun, shadowed eyes watch from beneath the shroud of a voluminous, black hooded cloak. Wreathed in spells of secrecy and unimportance, Thought watches the assembly in silence, gloved hand flexing against the concrete. Soon, chaos will erupt in Times Square, and the terrible battle will be joined. Soon, chaos will descend upon the blood-hungry mob being whipped into a frenzy by the President, safe in his shroud of armored glass and willing slaves. And soon, all of New York will learn the Harbingers are no mere myth, whispered by desperate mutants in soul-crushing captivity; They are real, and they move.
The four heroes scheduled for execution are brought out each wearing a black robe with a black hood over their head and hands tied behind their back. A power nullifcation collar is clear on eachone's neck. President Kelly continues to speak as the hood is removed from each heroes head. "And I, your present, will be personally seeing over the execution of Captain 'Let's Turn Our Back On' America." As Captain America is kneeling before President Kelly, Storm on her knees before Danny, Kurt in front of James and Mystique in front of Danny, President Kelly pulls out a gun. "My god have mercy on your souls….of wait, you're soulless. Ororo Monroe! Kurt Wagner! Raven Darkholm! Steve Rogers! You will now pay for your sins" He says as he gives the signal for the execution, pulling out a a regular old pistol and through a hole in his protective booth, aims the gun and shoots Captain American in the back of the head with a spray of blood and other matter. It's gory and not a pretty site as the man who once stood for American Values falls over dead in front of the crowd.
At the shot, DJ knows it's time. His body shifts into an ash form. He looks solid enough, but he's all gray. He looks at Mystique. He starts to reach for her, arm extending longer than it should, becoming more particulate as he does so, but he pauses with his hand near her face. "I'm sorry…" He whispers. He places his hand on her mouth, and she starts to struggle, breathing in his ash. But… he pulls away again. "I…"
There is a reply to that bullet from the President… As the sound of the pistol and the cheer of the crowd roars up, there is the *WHIZZ* of a bullet as it streaks towards DJ's chest, the expanding round turning into a flat disc of kinetic force meant to knock the Hunter off his feet. Volk's look of rage cannot be seen by anyone from his high perch, but a second and more lethal round is fired, this time at the speakers above the President's bulletproofed cage, sending a shower of sparks into the air and all over, to sow the seeds of panic. By the time the second round hits, the roaring thunder of that heavy sniper rifle is heard over the crowd, short of Thor himself for the cacophany of answer to the crowd's shouts of Murder.
The second button on his comm is pressed, and the team simply receive a two-tap acknowledgement. Mission is go.
The shot is the signal: But Erik moves before the taps, and before Connor's signal, because they just shot Captain America. And so he is showing up when Connor gets around to letting them participate, air rippling around him and a quite literal sonic boom ripping through the stadium as he comes in super sonic. His shield is focused in to a cone, with the point right in front of him, as he plunges thirty tons of magnetic force and 800 miles per hour of inertia in to the skull of the first Sentinel.
James steps quickly towards Nightcrawler. With a head tilt he regards Kurt; his friend, mentor, team member, the priest who laid the Hyena's parents to rest. But times have changed. Tooth has changed. A callus smile forms on his face, "Ironic, isn't it Herr Wagner? You're one of the ones responsible for teaching me how to use my power. Live by the sword…" James' eyes begin to glow a bright blue as he reaches out to give Nightcrawler's cheek a brush, before taking a hard grasp on his throat, "Save a place for me in Hell."
And in quick explosion of electricity and ozone, James vanishes, taking Kurt with him. The clock ticks by, and at 15 seconds James reappears, leaving the man trapped 'Between' forever. He reappears and immediately starts a random line-of-sight teleport defense, looking for the one he thinks is responsible.
Arsenal's left arm was sweeping up and out in it was an obvious firearm, a .30 automatic machine pistol, SHIELD regulation issue tied around the handle was an easy pull cord that came to his waist strapped around that were several CS canisters these would spray forth smoke in all directions under his trench coat as the weapon was aimed at the Hunter known as James, once leveled he would fire a dangerously accurate burst of five rounds all center mass. During this entire action nerve gas would pour out centered on him, spraying around filling the area rapidly, it would start to itch at first, then vision blurs, mucus begins to pour from nose, eyes, mouth mingled with slobber, to the unprepared it can cause that natural fear of asphyixation - definite crowd control, not to mention shit of an experience for superhumans with enhanced senses of smell or taste. Already his other hand was moving too, dragging up the other sidearm.
Another boom fills the air, this time as Chloe advances from her hiding place and powers up onto the stage. Skidding to a halt she blows at kiss to the crowd and any cameras before hurling a handful of thermite paste at Danny, the fuse already lit thanks to the friction of her skid stop. "Catch," she offers, before springing to cut Storm lose from any restraints with the bolt cutters.
Kalindi narrows her eyes at all the commotion. Yeah, she figured something would happen here. It only takes a moment for her armour to shift itself around and cover her from head to toe, leaving only her eyes exposed, and she flies towards the president's glass case to defend him from any harm. She glances back and says, "Mr. President, it would be wise to keep you out of harm's way." She extends her hand towards President Kelly, so that he might be able to reach her finger through it, readying her teleportation magic so that when he contacts her, she can vanish.
At the signal Danny Oda moves forward towards Storm taking her head in his hands and taking a grip like he's gonna break her neck, but then a girl rushes forward and throws the thermite at him. Danny doesn't move his arms to catch and lets it land, exploding on the ground near him, Storm and Chloe. As the dust from the explosion fades, it's obvious the thermite did nothing to Danny, his rock skin is a strong enough armour to resist that kind of explosion.
A flicker of light is seen from the top of the skyscraper, and not long after a brightly glowing disc appears behind the stationed Hunters, revealing Thought to the chaotic assembly. You have murdered Freedom, an eerily modulated voice floats from beneath the cloak's hood. But Freedom will ever stand defiant! The Harbingers will see to this! A heavily gloved hand stretches outward, bearing a glowing sword seething with eldritch power, and from behind the Harbinger a small horde of demonic, jabbering creatures flood the podium, swarming around the Hunters and sowing chaos in their wake.
The crowd was moving, swaying and rocking, it was like a concert but all chaos and dancing to a beat Domino would simply not join in on. Not until it was time. But time was not on their side, her focal point of those gathered on their self proclaimed dias had her blue eyes widening and a small gasp pass her lips as not even a moment was taken before Captain America fell and became another victim of hate.
Arsenal was on one side and she was on the other, her steps now picked up to a faster pace, dodging the steps of others in an odd dance that was obviously against the rooting cries for the demise of the rest. From beneath her tattered cloaked form one pale hand pushed up and reached back, drawing the hood away in time to grip her HK 417 and pull it into aim for the President, it would not do her any good, her moment of rage the instant reaction, but when Kalindi stepped up it gave her a better target and then she pulled the trigger, letting the incediary bullets rip through the air towards her. Bullets may do no damage to her armor, but they exploded on impact.
While that occurs she is still pushing through the crowd, her hand already readied with the lead based explosives and heading for a Sentinel.
The bullets hit President Kelly's booth and do nothing as a small lift starts to carry him down underneath the stage to safety. Storm has been burned by the thermite but her collar has been damaged as well, she's barely conscious right now as Chloe unties her. Captain America's body lies there on the stage, the blood pouring from his head wound. Kurt is teleported out to the unknown leaving Mystique still standing there. Since DJ isn't doing anything one of the guards on the stage turns with his gun and shoots Mystique, her body joins Captain America's. It's hard to tell if the shot was fatal or not. There is mass chaos below from the smoke in the crowd as people are trying to run but are stuck coughing and panicking. As Erik goes to the Sentinel, the two flash to life. *Mutants Detected* and the sprial cone towards the Sentinels head is countered with an Optic Beam so that it doesn't even get through. *Adjusting Mutant Power - Magnetics* The second Sentinel raises a hand and sends a blast with unibeam straight at Erik. *Mutant Threat*
"I can't… I can't do this. This isn't who I am…" DJ says, to nobody, or anyone who happens to be near. As the guard shoots Mystique, he turns and glares, body turning to flame. "She was helpless! What did she do to you?" He asks, rushing the guard as a being of flame. "Pele, please! I'm confused. Why am I here in this position?"
Yanking the balaklava off and tossing it to the side in a gesture of needless and futile rage, tears marring his cheeks, Volk goes back to the site of his gun, watching the cacophony for Chloe to get those she can in the proposed order to the extraction point in a subway entrance several blocks away. Even with blurred eyes, he keeps his intentions clear. More of the lethal rounds come from the large weapon. Eight more rounds sound off as he shoots out lights, shoots out speakers, shoots cameras… when it clicks empty, the trigger is still pulled several more times in impotence. Leaving the rifle in place for the moment, the man vanishes, and he reappears on the stage, picking up the body of Steve Rogers. Head bowed, keeping his eyes closed and from the cameras… tears drop from his cheeks to the limp form… and then DJ gets a glare from him as he growls out in a raspy voice. "They… deserved… better." And remaining crouched, Volk vanishes with the most esteemed man in America, leaving nothing but the bloodstains of his passing, and the booted print of the young writer-turned-soldier…
Erik curses as the unibeam deflects him; but with his shield up that is all it does for the moment is deflect him. He lands on the ground with a whomph, pavement cracking from the force as he angles his shield, deflecting the unibeam at the head (not the skull, see?) of the one he first went after. "We aborting?" He calls in to his communicator, seeing the bodies dropping on to the stage. He starts moving forward back to flight speed quickly, dropping the full shield as he does so to reach out and bring thirty tons of crushing force on one of the torsos.
As the demons roil over the stage, seeking Hunter flesh to rend and tear, the cloaked Harbinger turns, leveling the Soulsword at DJ's nose. You are here to choose. Now. Stand as you are and die hated and hunted. Or fight, and die free. You stand at the crossroads. Where you step from here, will seal your fate. Another stepping-disc flares to life beneath Mystique's limp form, carrying her Elsewhere.
Kalindi curses her in own demonic gibberish when the gun is aimed at her and she reels back when the bullet explodes, consciously hardening her armour and quickly lowering her eyeshields to keep the explosion at bay. She is still keeping herself in front of the president until he disappears under the stage, but her plating is heated so much that she is forced to push its surface away from herself to keep from being burned further, the odour of sizzling flesh erupting from her armour when she opens her eye slits again, her eyes glowing an unnerving black as she peers back out. Her armour's shoulder pads extend out and split into six thin spider-like limbs ending with claws and she flies in the general direction of Domino, claws jabbing expertly at the demonic creatures before her, summoned by the Harbringer. "Ugh, public demonstrations… why not a secret location with cameras watching and broadcast? Nooo… not gooood enough to broadcast," mumbles Kalindi mockingly to herself as she engages the enemy.
James, who was randomly moving, was never present for the shots Arsenal fired. Settling on a building, he watches the scene erupt into Chaos, "I know this tune." He settles his eyes on Mystique Dead? Can't tell! But Volk? He's not. How about a closer look?! Volk will feel it coming well in advance. He'll know what and where. That's the thing about these two ex-friends. They know one another that well. But with his arms full… James appears behind the man and goes to rake his back with his claws, "Three, Volk. Three! Are you slipping?" But what about James, is he? All the hyenagets is a handful of clothing, leaving the man's skin intact.
Danny ignores Storm and goes to jump off the stage but a bunch of demons start to swarm him and he fights them. He fights with years of experience in Tae Kwon Do and he's kicking and throwing the demons off of him and the stage. With his strength and his body armour he can put up quite a fight. "You mutants always cheat! Hiding as you try to fight us, show me yourself!" To the one beind the demons.
"Have fun with your new friends," Chloe says to Danny, snatching Storm out from infront of him. "Now I'd love to stay and chat but…" With that there is another boom the speedster makes a break for it, bounding up onto the shoulders of the demon things in places. Using years of freerunning to carry her precious cargo to the safety of the underground.
Smoke blasting out of him in torrents that would soon begin to end, the 30. knocked down slapping some of them free so they would spiral off on the ground widening and expanding the nerve gas radius while canisters bounced outwards in all directions, the humans of course would scatter from this, rushing through it when ti first starts is no hard task the only way to be horribly stricken is staying in the effected radius. Arsenal's mouth moved under his helmet, systems turned on fully and through his link into the com he spoke, his message encrypting automatically as he transmits to the others. "Captain is down, Nightcrawler as well. Lost visual on Storm, … we just lost Mystique." His normal gravel sounding voice was amazingly more ragged while he inquired struck by the death of the greatest American soldier to ever live being gunned down by their own President, hatred broiled through him, surged like lava through his veins
Arsenal trudged forward, both weapons lit up, the plasma weapon was aimed directly for President Kelly before he vanishes recentering on Kalindi to open fire there, three rounds go off before his target changes back to the first. Apparently he was beneath notice where it concerned James but being over-looked could easily go to his advantage right now, the other weapon raises up and joins the first only so see the man re-appear behind Volk, cover fire was given as he opened up fire there, making sure Cap's corpse at least got out of here intact and Volk wasn't taken down as well, being over-looked could easily go to his advantage right now.
Domino heard more large explosions, someone alreasdy had the Sentinel's under control and a swift snap of her eyes to one falling confirmed that. But it was nothing too long to strip her focus from Kalindi and the President. The now randomly fleeing people and the joining masses of mini-demons were stepped over, the synapses triggered as every part of her body began to shift and move with her true intent. Domino was heading for the stage with a true purpose to her step. "Luck don't fail me now."
Her voice then echoes into the comm units of the Rebels left. "You all have one minute to get the bodies, survivors and stand back!" Volk was seen, blinking in and out, taking the body of Captain America with him in his emotional moment. She would have shared that if she had the damn time to, her emotions were reflecting in her hasty movements, but she had a plan, whether it worked or not was a different story but it was all she had. They may have fallen but they were going with a light show.
Domino's form ascended the stage just as the President's little bubble went beneath with Kalindi, her hand falling from the robe and dropping and scattering five rather non descript timed explosives, blinking their red lights to count down the moment amongst the feet of the remaining Hounds and Hunters, her HK still aimed and ready for any assault and when Kalindi surfaces she back steps away from the stage, sweeping for any remaining mutants on their side while more of those incediaries are fired at Kalindi, hopefully giving them the much needed distance before the stage would erupt into a burst of five successions. [one minute post wise before they do, but saying…]
"I… I don't understand. WHy am I supposed to be killing someone?" DJ asks, looking to Thought. "I… the last thing I remember is telling them No. I don't want to and then…" He pauses, years of memories flooding through. "I killed… Kenta. And… damn… I should… I don't need to be… I'm lost." He states simply, looking down, completely confused as his body turns to stone. Mobile stone, fortunately.
As Chloe starts to run with Storm, one of the sentinels spots her. *Calibrating……Super Speed…* and in anticipation of her moves, the Sentinel sends out a series of missiles to land in front of her to hopefully trip her up. The second Sentinel is viewing Erik as a threat as it brings up his hand and hits Erik with a barrage of smokebombs. He'd be able to sense though that these SEntinels aren't all metal, it's an odd mix of metal and…something else? As for Domino's explosives, they go off with a brilliant explosion as pieces of the stage go flying and become unstable. The president is still protected as he's in his bubble and he goes under the stage and keep on down, under the street. The wreckage from the stage causes some fatal injuries of those who came to watch the execution.
Volk reappears long enough in his original point to set down Rogers' corpse for a moment and pick up his balaklava, donning the mask and silencing his tears. Breaking down and shouldering the rifle, he clicks a button on his comm… two fold signal. One is to evac, and the second causes four small explosions to go off along the roof of the building. A twenty foot long and fourty-foot long cloth billows down… a banner that shows the American Flag… only this one is done as black and white, with grey where the blue would have been. And instead of stars, each one instead has a blood-red skull. Picking up Rogers' body once more… Volk vanishes again, and reappears in the extraction point… preparing a portal for everyone's exit. The fallen hero does not leave his hands for this.
The force that Erik sends at the chest of the Sentinel causes a creaking and bending noise as a few dents appear but Erik would be able to feel that the Sentinel can take a lot more pressure than that.
A hand flickers out, grabbing hold of DJ's head. The way can be made clear again. But you must trust me. If you would choose the battle over murder, there is yet hope! Shaking roughly at the hunk of stone in hand, the voice gains a noticeable snarl. CHOOSE, HUNTER! CHOOSE NOW OR CHOOSE NO MORE! The explosions force Thought to haul on Danny's head, pulling them toward the edge of the stage and safety. WHERE WILL YOU STAND!
"Augh!" cries Kalindi, this time reacting faster to the incendiaries, her armour pushing away from her body as it cools, the hot pieces of her armour switching out with the cooler arms. Now she has glowing hot gold bladed tip spider arms to use as weapons against the demons, but eventually just flies out of the creatures' way to try and jab her strange weapons towards Domino. "Stop! Shooting! Me!" she prounounces commandingly though her tone likely has much less influence on Domino than it does on most Hunters. The black, unearthly glow from her eyes gets more pronounced and flares out of her eyepiece.
Erik shakes his head a little bit. He holds out a hand and quickly tosses the smokebombs safely away, and then holds out a hand to one of the Sentinels. He takes the Adamantium shell, and uses it to squeeze in and crush whatever is inside. After several seconds of doing that, with his shield angled at the other Sentinel, he will take off at full speed toward the escape portal.
Although most won't understand what she's saying Chloe begins a litany of superspeed curses which would make a thousand of the most foul mouthed sailors in history blush. Largely directed at whoever invented missiles… She skids to a very abrupt halt and does what few projectiles are able to manage, turn ninety degrees and sprint off in another direction. Now that's she's safely out of the chaotic melee she starts making unpredictable turns, leaping up over cars and even running along walls for brief moments. Her limit supply of smoke bombs also get dropped, in the hope it'll provide some cover against futher attacks.
Danny turns to charge Domino running forward and bringing a kick right at her to sweep her feet out from under her. "You know what you call 50 dead mutants in a ditch? A good start." He says and if he successfully sweeps her feet out from under her, he'll bring down a punch aiming to hit her in the stomach. "I'm sorry my dear but bringing guns to a sentinel fight…..not a good idea.
Domino didn't know whether the President lived or was wounded or even unscathed in the set off of her explosions. She was hoping for dead with all that effort and later would be let down, but for now she kept a hold of that glimmer of hope that she had stuck down the Captains killer. Sometimes, hope is all you had.
Her explosives seemed echoed by more, but they did not draw her eyes from Kalindi who was her last living goal in eyesight. The voice and the command only causes a second of hesitation, one long enough to have one of those legs drive into her shoulder while her free hand reached up to grip it and attempt to rip it free, but not let go, just pull Kalindi into the barrel of the HK [if possible] while her own body was trying to dodge the rest of those stabbing appendages, and squeeze the trigger with no intent to stop until it was empty. "No."
Yes she heard Connor, but retreat was not on her list of 'to do's' not until she was done or someone forced it on her.
Danny's approach was heard right as he kicked at her, one leg rising while she still held Kalindi [if she had her to begin with] and the other caught in the sweep, bringing her down to one knee, the HK swinging at Danny from Kalindi, but not in attempt to aim and open fire, to hit him with the heavy weapon, aiming for his face. Why was everyone intent on reminding her guns don't do shit to Sentinel's. They worked fine on bodies.
With his peace of the puzzle in hand, and fully exposed on stage, James finds himself in the line of fire. With a .30 cal spay leveled at the Hyena, he's hit; his arm and chest punctured by hot lead. Knocked off his feet, James goes to roll out of the way. Little more than a long exhale of pain, a yell in the back of his throat, "HRRRRRR!" He slams his hand down into the blood left behind some fallen hero as his healing factor begins to work, but not soon enough to stop the pain of a collapsed lung. Grabbing his chest, as if he could pull them out himself, he gives the area one final look and then vanishes.
It's not easy for Erik as the Sentinels are made of tough stuff and designed with mutants like Magneto in mind. Things spark and sizzle before the voice chimes in
*Swit…zzzzzz…ng..z….z..mergan..zz..y…ba..zz..kup." It's eyes power down and a second later flicker to life as it's secondary power supply kicks in, sparks shooting out of the first Sentinel. The second one is learning from the fight with Erik and sends a few missels to land in front of him, exploding anything in his path before firing a net at him to take him down. Chloe gets the attention of the restarted Sentinel as a unibeam opens on his chest and fires down at the speedster aiming a few feet in front of her as he fires.
"I… DAnny, stop!" DJ calls out. He had met Danny before all of this and knew he was a good person. But this… it's crazy. "I can't do this. It's not right. I don't know what it all is." He says point blank to Thought. "I wouldn't kill if I had the choice…"
Follow up on his shots not possible as James vanished, Volks announcement of extraction was heard, he was turning to see the attack on his comrade, " DOM! Retreat!Go!" Came his yell, running her direction as the plasma weapon shoved into its holster firing to life in that arm was a long beam of energy, a blade erected into violent life one he was swiping out at Danny in a vicious attack trying to seperate the attacker from his fellow Rebel mutant. His other hand still holding it's firearm would fire at Kalindi, round after round pounded down the barrel, this was distractive. Danny was going to get heated plasma blade and Kalindi was going to be given a fair dose of bullets. "Let's move!" The 30 cal machinepistol clicking as it was emptied of it's last rounds.
Standing at the extraction point, Volk uses his HUD to get the image for his portal-point for everyone to go through. It appears with it's usual flare and outwards vortex that ends with a splash-effect of energy. With the six foot gate opened, a three minute timer begins to count down on the screen. The body of Rogers is surrounded in a nimbus of his energy as he holds him in place in the air, and reaches back to a coolness he feels in the center of his back. A touch there… and then coming back up clean. But his eyes wince shut… 'Three! You're Slipping!' suddenly racing through his mind. Looking back at the entrance, the young merc clenches his teeth, but he remains where he intended. But that angry set to his jaw, and the blaze of his one visible eye are enough for anyone to know that even another whisper might throw him back into the fight with the unthinking sanguine insanity encroaching on his vision.
Then close your eyes, Hunter, and trust in me. As the Rebels make their hasty retreat, a glowing disc spreads beneath the feet of Thought and DJ, pulling them into the Otherwhere… with a brief stopover in a realm of hellfire and screaming, of course.
Kalindi takes one of the bullets, using her powers to force her armour to contorts her body so that the first shot goes through her shoulder as the manipulator consciously opens her armor to let it puncture straight through, while a couple of Arsenal's puncture her armour into her abdomen, stopping partway in her body. Kalindi does feel the pain, and is greatly bothered by it, but makes sure not to let it show on her face. But between Domino's second and third shot she reacts, armour extending out many long sharp spines of gold and then the young woman whispers her teleportation spell, gritting her teeth through the pain. She doesn't look up to see what damage she causes with her spines, only focusing on now survival. Now is not the time to die. She has not paved the way. "Umbalificos, save me." Her and all her gold vanish only a moment after the spines extend as she teleports away.
The gun slams against Danny and shatters as hitting his rock form doesn't even dent him. He doesn't even flinch and that plasma knife, it' hits Danny's skin and does nothing. Physical and energy attacks just don't affect him like most people since his body armour is just that durable. "DJ, Snap out of it, you're a Hunter. Remember that time, in Topeka, where we found that old grandmother hiding her mutant grand-children. How the old bitty begged before you suffocated her?" He says this to DJ as he's leaving while he does let up on Domino and jumps off the stage approaching Arsenal. "Let's rumble."
Luckily for Chloe she'd stopped running in nice straight lines, although that doesn't stop the beam from blasting a huge section of the road. Sending out a scything hail of shrapnel, which she twists to take in her back rather than risk letting Storm get hit. "Ow ow ow," she yelps into the comms. "A little frickin' support would be nice! Erik can you put some wrecked cars between them and me?" Without waiting for a reply she veers towards the nearest building.
Multitasking is something Erik has gotten much better at since the past. Missiles are easy for the mutant, as they have yet to create a missile made of plastic or stone. With a wave of his hand the missiles that fire are grabbed, although he misses the first one and is forced to quickly dodge to one side, coming through on the other side singed and bleeding from where a chunk. The others are launched at high speed back towards the net, to detonate and take care of the other problem. Erik puts his shield up, and moves from running to flight, speeding up quickly in to the race car realm as he moves towards the portal. But not before he takes the opportunity to launch two cars at each of the Sentinels, trying to distract them. "Come on! We're leaving!" He says, launching three more cars from the parking lot, pausing at the edge of the portal to continue his destruction derby. "Get to the portal!" He shouts. With his body right there so he can just shove himself through with a thought, he will a
"You saw what they did! Fuck them Arsenal.." Her yell was blatant, loud and on a deeper voice showing contolled emotions contorted to what she needed right now. But he had logic, live to fight another day, and with a flick of her eyes over Kalindi and Danny they were marked for death, her eyes bearing cross hairs in their depths even as Kalindi vanishes, the one appendage ripping free of her shoulder that nearly doubled her in the pain as the wound was burnt closed while being ripped open. Pushing to a stand when Danny heads for Arsenal her hands reaching into her cloak and the tactical belt beneath to withdraw another explosive.
"Stay away from him.." It was a low bellowing growl at Danny's back when he turned from her, her lip split and the blood spraying with each venomous word while the plastic strip that protected the tacky base of the explosive was ripped free, her eyes flashing to Arsenal. "Let's go!"
The run set her pace, jumping from the stage to give a not-so-loving path to Danny between the shoulder blades if he did not dodge, and leave the explosive attached to him while gripping Jakob in her dash towards Volk's portal, Erik's words a dull hum in her head right now.
"Next time, we'll dance you and me." Arsenal promised Danny. Turning quickly he leaps as far as his strength and legs will propel him before picking up full sprint. Rushing between Erik's magnetically thrown cars and stomping Sentinels to plunge in after the others through the portal Volk had conjured into existance.
Back upon the top of the skyscraper, far distant from the remains of the execution gone utterly sour, a stepping-disc flares to life, Thought pulling DJ through to the solid ground of the rooftop. You choose wisely, Hunter. Tell me your name, before we are to continue.
"D… DJ. DJ Daniels. Vulcan. I was a broadway star. And, they're… they're being stupid. Nothing physical can hurt Danny." DJ says, going with Thought, shaking his head. "He's almost impossible to physically damage. Gotta think outside the box with him. But… don't kill him. I knew him before. He's… he's not like that really."
The missiles tear through the net and hit the stage, some buildings and things are just a mess as more of the panicked crowed are injured and killed as the missiles go off. The Sentinels move forward and look down at the fight between Danny, Domino and Arsenal and it strafes the area with it's optic laser. The other Sentinel's learning program quickly filters on what Erik is doing before sending a sonic attack in his direction, wave after wave of sound rushing over him.
Volk remains on station, watching the clock count down from his extraction point in the nearby cleared subway entrance, the balaklava soaking up his sweat as he keeps Captain America's body afloat. Pulling one of the MP7s from his side he readies in case something chases the others. Not a word spoken once more from him, his visible eye's eerie pale glow muted by the giant swirling disc of power behind him, almost tapping his foot from impatience, from not being able to be up there, to take those shots if one were to look in his eye and see the naked and fulite hate and shame there. Failure marking his grim visage.
Domino did not look back, she kept running and dove through the portal. Amongst all that her endorphines had rushed, her eyes staring straight ahead nearly unseeing in the blind fury, but her body knew where things were, where people and rubble where laying and things were falling. Ducking through it all and leaving a bloodied path in her wake having not even had the time to notice more than just the shoulder wound that Kalindi had left as a parting gift, right now she was taking Sid the Sloth's saying. 'No thanks, I choose life." and running with it.
Whether he is 'really like that' is irrelevant, DJ. And they are not being stupid. They are desperate. They are angry. The goal was to disrupt this execution. The *murder* of Kurt Wagner and Captain Steven Rogers, DJ, which you and your *friends* and the masters they serve are directly responsible for. There is no fence, DJ. You either stand with the government, or you stand with the Rebels. The glowing sword rises, held between them. If you choose to side with your Danny, you will be returned to explain your failures. If you choose to fight him… I will free you, as I may.
Now that the Sentinels aren't paying her much attention Chloe puts on a burst of speed, getting into an abandoned building and using it as cover to approach the evac point from the long way round. She doesn't pause to make idle conversation, simply powering through the portal and on towards the nearest person with medical training. Hopefully not to far from the portals other end.
The explosive lands on Danny's back, and being the trained fighter he is, he reaches out to grab Arsenal before he runs off. "No, no, if I explode, you explode." He says with a chuckle as the explosive attached to his back goes off and there are a few pebbles coming off of him but otherwise it doesn't look like it did that much damage. He doesn't know what the explosive will do to Arsenal. As the sentinel fires upon them, Danny tries to keep Arsenal there to get injured too but it isn't easy as the eyebeams of the Sentinel are strong enough to break his armour.
The sonic waves are, in fact, quite effective against Erik, as he lets out a cry of pain. A car he was about to fling instead goes off wild, crashing in to a nearby building as the waves smash in to him. He manages to keep his wits just long enough to see Chloe is through before he too stumbles back through the open portal, likely to collapse with the world's worst migraine on the other side.
"I'm just saying, don't use physics. Use something else. Let them know. And -I- wasn't a part of any of it. I just… My mind just cleared. Pele freed me." DJ tried to explain. "My mother… She got my mind back to myself."
Having spun, Arsenal's intended route was disrupted it's pre-plotted course coming to a quick end as Danny snares his arm. Gripping it, teeth clench down and Arsenal spins around full on, thrusting his left forearm in towards Danny's face, the plasma blade crackling back into life as he tries to ram it through the mutant's head maybe he'll luck out and hit an eye or his mouth. This weapon was his strongest, the one he could actually hurt Sentinel's with, if Danny was anywhere near their durability it should still hold effective power, if not well… he imagines he's quited fucked in this situation. The explosion rocketing around them, he'd take a nice portion of that as his helmet busts off, skin frying, hair melting, clothes shredding, all of this was just beginning stages of that damage.
Domino's grip on Jakob slipped free, that she felt and it caused heels to plant, skidding her to a stop just before the portal, spinning and staring out in time to see Danny holding Arsenal into that explosion and what occured. The cringe was visible, not even a glance went to Volk and she was heading back for them at a fast paced speed, jumping what she had already cleared to make her escape and heading head-long back into it using her weight and a shift in her body to try and take Arsenal down and at least give some cover whether Danny held or not. Her body weight would be distributed, trying to get them to roll away from the incoming beams of the Sentinel, she was not here to save Danny, but whether he came or not was upo to his hold.
Silence, from beneath the shadows of the hood. Then give Pele my thanks. But I must be certain of your freedom, DJ. And Thought lowers the sword… and thrusts it upward, the point passing into - and through - the man's chest, in what would be a lethal wound for any who are not truly innocent.
The striking beams from the Sentinel and plasma blade cutting into his rock form cause Danny to let go of Arsenal, pieces of stone seem to fly off of him and small chunks from the Sentinel eyebeams and he falls over in a smoking rock pile, injured and barely moving.
Only seeing Domino's boots for a moment, Volk silently continues to watch the clock, flicking his SMG to full-auto and continues to pan the entrance for anything that might not be the other mercs. He taps his comm three times, looking for confirmation from the others, the hard set to his jawline once more, teeth grinding by how it shifts back and forth, the form of the corpse by his side now floating slowly through the portal to be caught on the other side.
Fortunately for DJ and for others… DJ is truly innocent. The things he did were under the control of another, And… He is clear. The sword does not harm him. He, however, was wincing and quite ready to deal with it. Prepared to shift forms if need be… even though he was in stone form.
Arsenal's body would slam to the side as Danny's went the opposite, Sentinel eyebeams lashed across Danny in their line and struck the arm he had been holding cutting it off just below bicep, wires were free sparking and flickering at the air like snakes obvious mechanical limb ripped clean, fluid as well spurting from that. The explosion had Arsenal covered in melted clothes and gear, not as durable as Danny but damned surprisingly so as he was still moving, but not standing up. Shrapnel was sticking from one shoulder, down his torso and as said earlier, all of if not most of his hair had been scortched away.
The Sentinels look around for mutants but with so many of them vanishing, they target Volk and his portal. *Terminate Escape. TErminate Mutant* They say simulanously as Volk and his portal are aimed at and both Sentinels aim to fire. Hands chest and eyes are all glowing. *Begin sequence count down 10….9….8…"
The sword slides free, leaving DJ without wound or scratch. As I had hoped, comes the speculative murmur. Heed me well, DJ. Two days time. The burned supermarket, three blocks west of Hell's Kitchen. Go there, in that time, and you will meet a Rebel. If you desire, the Rebel will take you to where you may fight on the side of the right once more. The Harbinger's head turns, gazing at the remnants of the battle. I must leave. What you do here, you do of your own choosing. Choose wisely. Stepping back, another stepping disc flares alight beneath Thought's feet, carrying the Harbinger back to where Mystique had been hidden.
Domino was rising, caked in blood, debris, and bits of stone that crumbled off with her swift push to rise. One hand grabbed for the severed appendage, working it free of Danny's limp body and turning to grab Arsenal, pulling him up with a wince as severed muscles from Kalindi's attack still struggled to work Arsenal's weight up, supporting him and moving as fast as possible towards the portal.
The countdown from the Sentinel's had her eyes widening and her exerting more into her push for escape. As she reached the mouth she lunged through with a glance to Volk. "Close it!"
"Of… of course." DJ says as he turns to sulfur gas and dissipates into the air, undetectable aside from the slight shimmer and odor.
Being the last through, Volk has his own countdown, the Sentinel's Countdown and the slightly spinning gate behind him. But it's a mere side and backstep as the last member of the team… a man who half a year ago committed an atrocity against the government and blew up a food distribution center meant to give food to the homeless and lawless people of New York. But that face then vanishes, and behind it… as the 1 count comes, and the Sentinels fire… the portal discorporates, leaving only the chaos of the attack and the marred and scorched bloodstains of a dead dream on the broken dais. In the background, the mocking dead flag of America billows in the ill wind, making the crimson skulls shimmer slightly with the same freshness as the drops on the unfortunate victims of hatred.
Arsenal through the portal with the help of Domino, one arm slung over her shoulders he didn't bother a glance back. Knowing they would encounter these people again and revenge could be served, one way or another. They would pay for the disgraceful way they'd ended Steve Rogers life and the X-Men. Icons, idols, heroes, shamed and disgraced…. surely the rest of the real Americans not brainwashed with hatred and ignorance were a raging storm right now.
Right as the portal closes the Sentinels finish their countdown *2…..1* BOOM!!!! And lucky for our Heroes they are all safe distance away. The ground shakes and buildings are torn asunder. There's a crater where the blast used to be. Sensing no more mutants around, the Sentinels rest and within the hour the US Government is there to escort those not dead, out of the area. There are several victims, including Captain America, that died here tonight.
The Future - Salem Center - Hunter's Den
The surrounding area that serves as the Hunters Den is as expansive as it is diverse. Looking much like an extended bivouac, tents and improvised shelters stretch for blocks in all directions. For those with the means, makeshift bars and eateries offer a change of pace from enlisted foodstuffs, while other structures offer questionable forms of entertainment and more. Beyond the archway, in stunning contrast to the outside shantytown, the Mall has been renovated into a well defended headquarters of sorts offering the Hunters elite a temporary respite from the war and a place to rest, shower, eat, and rearm.
3 hours after the attack in Central Park, 2 hours after James had healed from his wounds, and 1 hour after cleaning all the blood from his fur, James finds himself standing before his section’s commander. With a long, inhale, quite exasperated inhale, Captain Spaulding continues his 15-minute barrage of yelling, “And then you left. Leaving the President’s would-be assassins Alive?! You’ll be lucky if you’re not on that stage next. We had you there as back-up protection. An you turned tail and ran?” He tosses his arms up, “What is wrong with you?”
James has never once looked up to meet the yelling Officer’s face. Instead, his eyes have been on his paws and the clothing in them. In his right: A fragment of someone’s uniform. The left: his battle-damaged hunter’s shirt that has been stained with a handprint formed in blood. Captain America’s blood, James’ handprint. A souvenir he picked up while being shot on stage in Central Park. He frowns, finally removing his eyes from his fists, “I had to get back to the base sir. This was more important.” He offers the torn fragment from Volk’s clothing that carries the scent of others. “With this, we take the battle to their front door. I can now track them by scent.” The hyena’s lips pull back, exposing rows and rows of teeth, “All I need is a squad, sir.” He looks at the handprint as the smile widens, “A squad. And a flag.”
