ic Monsters in the Streets! - Greenbank (IC)

[Geez3r]

Every now and then people wake up with that feeling in their stomach that the day is going to suck. They’ve got no reason for that belief. As far as they know, this is just another ordinary day, and most of the time it really is just a normal day. Other times however... you wish you had stayed in bed.

 

Today will fall into the latter category. The early morning passes just like any other day. People get up, say good bye to their families and head off to work or to school or run some errands. But then, right before 11 o’clock things turned real sour, real fast. Monsters were lose in the streets, seemingly appearing out of no where. Heedless of the danger, the heroes sprang into action as the first explosion broke the early morning silence.

 

The scene before you was one of wanton destruction. It was a rampage, nothing but the after effects of brutal savagery. And judging from the roars and shockwaves, there was still something out there hell bent on destroying everything it came across. Smoke was already billowing high into the sky, and you could taste the ash in the air.

[Geez3r]

The disturbance is coming from the Union Rail Yards. Some distance away it becomes apparent what the cause of the disturbance is. There appears to be 20ft tall moss covered monster tearing up the tracks and hurling (thankfully) unoccupied train cars at the surrounding buildings.

However, it would appear this creature was not alone. On the train yard, you can see another creature that looks like armored bug running at full tilt towards a train heading into the station roughly 2 miles ahead of it. The train is full of people and doesn’t look like it will be stopping in time and the creature looks intent on running smack into it.

But its not over yet. There is yet another monster that seems intent on picking up one of the cranes the site uses to load heavy materials onto the trains. Lord knows what he wants with that crane, but if his friends are any judge, its not anything good. Strangely, this one seems to look like a fish man. What’s it doing so far away from the water?

Over the sounds of shrieking metal you can hear the sounds of alarms blaring everywhere, and the screams of the terrified citizens as they wisely put some distance between them and the rampaging monsters.

[Gizmo]

Jack of all Blades was lounging in the underground, leaning back in a chair by the central monitors and tossing a deck of card one by one into a nearby waste basket. The swashbuckler sighed and looked over at the screens. "Vince, buddy, tell me there's something."

The computer generated talk show host shrugged in his immaculate suit, his feet up on his desk. "Nada, chum. S'all quiet on the-" He was cut off as a red indicator blinked on one of the panels. "Huh, now there's luck for you," Vince grinned, suddenly in front of a weatherman's chart, pointing out the location of the disturbance. Even as he opened his mouth with another quip, a second light blinked on, then a third. "Boy, it never rains but i-" The map was rapidly covered with hot zones, a klaxon alarm wailing through the base. Vince's face fell as his simulated background disappeared and he turned to the swordsman. "It's... Erik, it's everywhere."

Jack was already on his feet and sprinting to the vehicle bay. "Call in everybody. Every number, every favour, everything, and give me directions to the closest attack in the MAVERIC," he instructed as he ran, Vince's image appearing on the screens in the hallway. He paused at the doorway to the garage to slap the intercom. "Colt, Grim, get down here now!"

[quotemyname]

Colt heard the radio blare. He nearly spit out the coffee he was drinking in surprise. He quickly set the cup down, and tossed the book he had been reading on his bed. "Billy the Kid" hit he bed and some of the pages crumpled. Colt didn't have time to fix them, though. He was already out of his chair and wrapping his coat around him. Selecting both Jericho and Marlin from their racks near his coat, he slammed them into their holsters. He approached the wall of his room. Hitting a hidden button, he called over the radio, "Reckon I'll be right down." Colt slapped another button, and a hole in the wall opened up. Colt grabbed the swing bar and threw himself down the quick access tube to the Interceptor's Underground.

Colt came barreling out of the tube, tucked, rolled, and came up sprinting towards the MAVERIC. He pulled the remote control for his motorcycle out of his pocket and commanded the cycle to follow the MAVERIC by air. Vaulting into the driver's seat of the MAVERIC, Colt once again accessed the radio. "Colt ready! Interceptors, go!"

[Taar]

It was strange. Sarah had awoken that morning with the oddest feeling, enough of one she had begged off work for the day. Then, feeling inexplicably restless, she had found herself wandering the city for the past couple of hours.

Sitting on the roof of a warehouse near the river when she heard the screams and crashes, Sarah felt strangely pleased to finally have something to distract her from the worry gnawing at her gut. Shifting into her black suit and shades, Sarah vanished from the roof, sliding through space towards the disturbance.

[Dariusprime]

Dark Star was right. At her core, Fulcrum knew that the cosmic wanderer spoke the truth. She enjoyed the violence. Which made her a very different character from the ill-at-ease warrior Centurion. Still she had a sense of honor which even Dark Star didn't seem to fully understand, although not for lacking of trying. Incapacitating the enemy as quickly as possible, be it by negotiation or fist, and with minimal collateral damage, was an omni-present goal. That didn't stop her from sensing the coming storm.

Mona was, quite frankly, in a foul mood that sunny day in the West End. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something nasty was on its way. Long ago that knot in her stomach came to symbolize something more tangible to her costumed identity than her civilian. After dropping off a few groceries at her Mom's place, Fulcrum strolled toward the monorail line when the first rumbles reached her ears. Turning just in time crane wobble, she realized the source of her unease.

Patting her large shoulder bag, she disappeared behind a tree for a split second, only to emerge in full costume. Off she zoomed, the accompanying sonic boom muffled as if she somehow negated or absorbed it. From the looks of things, today was going to be a good day.

"What...the...hell?"

[Heritage]

"Colt ready! Interceptors, go!"

"Grimalkin ready! Interceptors, go!"

What the..? Grim materialized in the back seat, a huge grin on her face. "Don't look at me like that, it's a trade secret!" Her hair was damp and she had a nice flowery clean smell, a possible clue as to her whereabouts but moments ago.

"C'mon, Jack, let's hit it!" :twisted:

[Gizmo]

"Dios, now they're both saying it," Jack groused from the passenger seat. "Let's get gone, cowboy."

As Colt brought the MAVERIC screaming out through the Underground's access tunnels, the swordsman turned to the on board screen and Vince's representation. "Who have you got?"

"Not much,", the AI replied with frustration. "Fulcrum's already on en route, and I'm not getting any response from Atlas." Vince paused, his brow furrowed, adding in a troubled tone, "Actually, I can't even find Atlas. Everyone else is in play somewhere else. Try to deal with this one double time so you can more on. Good luck, kids!"

The team's transport quickly cleared the distance to arrive in the path of the rampage. "Huh," Jack commented, as the massive creatures came into view, "that is something you don't see everyday."

[Heritage]

"Huh," Jack commented, as the massive creatures came into view, "that is something you don't see everyday."

"Unless you're us; wait, no, I take that back. This is still messed up." Grim opened the door and stepped into the street, her eyes never leaving the towering monstrosities. "Wow, these suckers are big." She flicked out her wicked claws and pondered them, then shrugged. "I mean, I guess I can just go for the traditional 'rip them apart' scenario." She turned to her teammates and beamed. "Well, wish me luck!"

And with that, she shrunk down to her wee sprite form and zipped through the air, heading straight for the Hideous Fish Giant, aiming to tear a nice long bloody gash across its chest with her razor-sharp talons.

[Geez3r]

The fish creature howled in pain, dropping the van it had been in the process of picking up. Roaring to face its assailant, the fish creature found.... nothing. At first anyways. After getting a rather amusing confused expression on its mishappen face, it finally caught sight of Grim hanging in mid air. Then he got really confused.

[Gizmo]

As Grim sped off to deal with the amphibious horror, Jack turned to Colt in the MAVERIC. "We gotta get that one away from the train," he decided as the transport rocketed through the train yard. Gripping the roof, the acrobat swung himself outside so that he was sitting on the car door's window frame, his calves hooked inside. Jack flicked his lighter open to summon a fiery sword and began swinging it back and forth to get the armored monster's attention. "Hey, big, dumb and ugly! Your father's a dilapidated armadillo and your mother's a panzer tank! By which I mean she's ugly and likes having an entire crew of German's inside her!" Jack threw Colt a bemused shrug. Admittedly it wasn't his finest work, but considering that he wasn't really sure is the beast could even understand him, it would have to do. He resumed shouting and waving his sword.

[quotemyname]

After Jack worked his magic on the beast, Colt returned the shrug. Unfortunately, while Jack was able to hang out the window, Colt still had to drive. He punched the button for cruise control to keep the MAVERIC at a constant speed, even with the creature. Colt hopped up onto the large bucket driver's seat, and and stood up, poking his head out of the vehicle's sunroof. Using his left arm to both steady himself against the frame of the MAVERIC, and hold his hat in place, Colt lifted his right leg and placed it on the steering wheel to keep it steady. "Steady, now." He said, mostly to himself, as he drew Jericho from its holster on the same leg he was using to steer. Pulling his right arm out of the sunroof as well, Colt used the top of the MAVERIC's cab as a level for him to line up his shot.

"Sucker'll never know what hit'em." Quick as a flash, Colt released his grip on his hat, used his left hand to hammer his revolver firing all 8 bullets in the chamber in mere seconds, and then snatched his hat out of mid air after it flew off his head. "Now I reckon that's how it's done." Colt pulled a new set of bullets out of his coat pocket, released Jericho's catch, and watched the spent rounds flutter in the wind trailing the car, like breadcrumbs. Putting his attention back on where he was driving, he slammed the new set of rounds into the gun and cocked it.

[Geez3r]

The shots hit their mark and the beast let out dull roar as it's stride broke and it fell forward. It crumpled into a heap and rolled a bit from the momentum. ...And then it got back up. It looked pretty darn disoriented, and from the blue liquid leaking from it, you could tell it was injured, but it still had a whole lot of fight left in it. And to make matters worse, it was still on the tracks.

[Taar]

Sarah stared bug-eyed at the sight of flipping kaiju stopping around the rail yard. Shaken out of her surprise by the sight of the flying vehicle arriving with Jack of all Blades and two others inside, she quickly activated her defenses as the Interceptors attacked.

Disappearing from her vantage point, Sarah came out above the wounded creatures back and slammed her blade into its back as she landed. As red lightning erupted around the wound, she managed to send a grin and salute Jack's way, before having to grab back onto her sword.

[Dariusprime]

No sooner had the monsters come into view than heroes jumped out of the woodwork. How she managed to miss the MAVERIC speeding into battle was beyond her. After all the thing looked like a fashionable tank. In any event though they were all over the fish man and bug monster like a pack of dogs on a three-legged cat. Which left the 20 foot moss-covered swamp thing for her. Popping her knuckles, she prepared to swoop down when she noticed the train.

Hesitation crossed her face for a split second. The moss man was destroying property yes, and threatening lives, yes. On the other hand, the armored bug, however injured, was still laying on the tracks in front of a speeding train packed with citizens. Decisions like these were always the toughest because, frankly, either choice could be a losing situation. For her money though she wondered if the MAVERIC or one of the other heroes could actually lift the thing off the tracks.

That idea in mind, she spiraled down, picked up speed inches off the ground and plowed into the monster as she pulled up. For good measure, she concentrated all of her power into her hand, cocking back on approach. The feeling was always strange, like loading lead ballast into her arm and effortlessly firing it. With any luck the massive right would launch the monster off the track and arc it into the river. At the very least she wanted it down!

[Geez3r]

While Fulcrum's punch was mighty, it caught an angle on the creature's shell and deflected away before it could impart all of its force. The beast took the time to retaliate against the over extended paragon and clawed at her viciously. Their scuffle would be interrupted however by a very large and looming shadow. While the heroes were otherwise occupied, the giant creature had the time to pull up one of the buildings and hurl it bodily in their general direction. It's aim was terrible, but the fact of the matter was that it had just thrown a building at them.

[Heritage]

Damn it, we need to drop these guys now.

Zipping down towards the fish monster's waist, Grim hovered for a second right behind the thing's right knee.

"This is gonna get nasty."

Suddenly she switches from her tiny pixie to her full-sized human form, but instead uses her glamour to obscure her form. Now crouched down behind her foe, the changeling viciously rips her claws into the meat of the beast's calf, tearing a ghastly wound into its clammy flesh.

[Gizmo]

"Dios!" Jack exclaimed as Colt felt maneuvered around the rubble raining from the sky, bracing himself from his seat in the passenger side window. The swashbuckler winced as the largest chunk of the building drove Fulcrum into the ground. "Hope you got a plan for that train," he drawled to his gun totting companion before abruptly shoving off of the MAVERIC and tumbling out of the moving vehicle to rolls along the ground. He came out of the somersault in a sprint that quickly brought him to the spot where the paragon had fallen.

Focusing his strength into his flaring energy sword, Jack examined the significant amount of architecture collapsed atop Fulcrum. The fencer knew that her speed and strength were likely their best bet to keep the civilians in the area safe while they dealt with the massive creatures; besides, he was going to feel pretty awful if something happened to her before he got a chance to apologize for his harsh words after the charity boxing matches. "Whelp, time for a little urban renewal," Jack muttered to himself as he began to slice through the wreckage to get to the heroine trapped underneath.

His blade made quick work of the already damaged remains, and he scrambled over what was left to give the stunned paragon and hand getting up, although given Fulcrum's size it was a more a supportive gesture than anything else. "Hey, Mo," he grinned, face and costume caked with dirt and grime from the rubble. "Y'know it hurts less when you get out of the way, right?"

[quotemyname]

"Shucks, Jack. I ain't much fer plans. Y'all know that." Colt replied, while still driving the MAVERIC with his foot. He turned his gaze to the train that surely, he had no way of stopping. His eyes widened. "Oh I reckon ya gotta be kiddin' me! There ain't no way that... Screw it!"

Colt kicked a button on the dashboard of the MAVERIC. The vehicle began rapidly decelerating. He then spun the steering wheel to the left, casuing the vehicle's back end to whip around and slide sideways through the rail yard. Still poking his head out through the sun roof, he holstered Jericho and drew Marlin. However, instead of aiming at the monster on the track, he turned his gun towards the train. Using his thumb, he flicked up an adjustable iron sight to help him gauge the distance.

"Eight ball, corner pocket." He drawled, and fired his rifle. The singular bullet traveled at sonic speeds. It flew straight for the front of the train! But at the last minute, everyone saw that it wasn't aimed at the train at all, but at the small track switching device standing before where the train's front end was currently passing. There was a nearly deafening ping as metal clashed with metal. Both Jack and Fulcrum next heard a sound like a buzzing bee. The mutilated bullet had ricocheted off the track switch, and complete changed direction, striking the large creature beside them right between the eyes.

The track switching device spun. The train traveled not more than twenty feet further, and suddenly veered off to the left. Colt was largely unconcerned with where it was currently headed, but he was relatively sure it would be some place with plenty of space to stop, and no large monsters hogging the track.

"How's that fer'a plan, Jack?"

[Geez3r]

While the shot was pretty darn sweet, all the fancy manuevering must have killed the bullet's momentum because it doesn't seem to do all that much against the foe's armored hide. The fact that that the creature still had a nice chunk of building on top of it also probably helped deaden the impact.

At the other end of the rail yard, the strange fishman is enraged at the highly nimble women who keep putting sharp things in him. He takes what appears to be a giant breath, before expelling a concussive wave of water at the two girls.

[Taar]

Sarah caught the water blast full on for a second before she managed to warp away.

Reappearing behind the thing, coughing and spluttering, Sarah swiped weakly at the creature's back. Distracted by the water in her eyes and coughing up what she had swallowed, she was unable to put any force behind the blow causing her sword to merely scrape along the fishman's scales.

[Dariusprime]

Fulcrum took Jack's hand, wobbled on shaky legs and looked around drunkenly. All considering the hits weren't too bad. Maybe a few spots on Jack escaped untarnished, but Fulcrum was coated head-to-toe with grime and fine construction dust. Looking at the three spinning swordsmen, she smiled wide and slapped him on the back a little too hard, "Thanks, Jack! I'm just practicing for my part in Wicked."

Her senses slowly returned. Dusting herself off, she shook her head and started cleaning Jack's mask, "Some things never ch...," she chided, only to look off into the distance, "Hey, you!"

Next thing Jack knew, he was flying through the air so fast the world was a blur! Of course this time he was safely in the arms of his surrogate big sister. Over the rush of wind, and the fact that she was rapidly gaining altitude and circling, Fulcrum asked, "Want to go up close and personal with the one that buried me? I'll circle back."

After a few moments of circling, Fulcrum spiraled down and past over the Frankenstein-looking fellow, letting Jack drop at or near the beast at his leisure.

[Geez3r]

The freaky frankenstien monster looked quizzically over his shoulder as he stopped trying to heft up a rather large crane/ building looking thing and stood up to his full height to better gawk at his visitors. After a moment it finally appeared that a few brain cells rubbed together and the creature gave a great roar at the intruders. It tried to swat Fulcrum out of midair, but did little other than ruffle her hair as its deformed hand went sailing past her.

[Heritage]

At the other end of the rail yard, the strange fishman is enraged at the highly nimble women who keep putting sharp things in him. He takes what appears to be a giant breath, before expelling a concussive wave of water at the two girls.

Seeing the aquatic blast coming her way, Grim leaped high in the air, performing a graceful backflip that took her clear over the rushing water. She landed before the slimy menace and smiled.

"Boy howdy, I'd hate to see you in the dentist's office! I think we need to knock you out before he start to drill."

And with that, she took a vicious swipe at the creature's face.

[Geez3r]

It was a clean hit too. Well actually not too clean, Grim was in fact filleting a fish in the face. I mean that's just nasty. Creature thought so too. One hand went up to his face to protect the wound, and possibly hold his face on (ew), while the other took blind swipes at Grim as it lashed out in anger. None where even remotely close to hitting Grim, it was just attacking out of pain.