Reclaiming the Land (IC)

[Tiffany Korta]

Daphne didn’t like to resort to violence but she knew that sometime it was necessary. And these were bad people doing bad things. She flew closes until she was were all the action was, still unobserved by the people assaulting this plant.

In a blink of an eye Miss Grue went from a normal sized insubstantial teenage to a fifteen foot version of herself suddenly becoming visible to everyone. The sight of a massive red skin teenager must have been a sight to behold, and a rare sight even in Freedom City.

“You very bad people for doing this and I’m afraid I’m going to have to try to stop you.â€

 

To illustrate this point she reached up and clapped her massive hands together catching Crimson in between them.

[Thevshi]

Giang's head broke the surface of the water as she drew close to shore and looked over towards the manufacturing plant. The Asian teen’s eyes opened slightly at the sight of two glowing hovering figures and a towering young woman with red skin.

Is that a Grue? Giang asked herself, recalling her one encounter with a Grue back on the Day of Wrath ten months ago. Deciding not to jump to any conclusions just yet, the Asian teen felt she needed to get another vantage point.

Grabbing ahold of the water around her, Giang created a water spout that she could stand on that carried her up into the air and over towards the plant.  A shimmering sheen of water coated the Asian teen as the water spout carried her up into the air.  Soon, she had a view of what was going on down on the ground near the plant as well, seeing two additional figures, but she was still not entirely sure what was going on.

[Thevshi]

GM

Miss Grue's supersized hands clapped around the red glowing young woman just above her. But despite the power of the blow, the young woman who appeared to be of Asian descent, with noticeable freckles on her face, weathered the attack with seemingly little effect.

The green glowing girl that was still holding hands with the one Miss Grue attacked appeared to be her identical twin, save for having longer hair than the other, turned to look down at the massive red figure. "Keep your hands off my sister!" She cried out as she lifted her free hand and the glowing yellow energy shot fort as she tried to push the Grue's arms back down and envelop her upper torso in yellow glowing binding to trap her arms.

Crimson meanwhile maneuvered a bit away from the oversized hands, still keeping ahold of her sister’s hand as she glanced over towards the river a moment. "Looks like we have another one coming." She commented, before focusing back on Miss Grue. "But let's deal with this one first. I love your color, but am afraid I cannot let you stop us!" With that she raised her free hand and a blast of red energy shot forth to slam into Miss Grue just on her right shoulder.

Down on the ground, the other woman with short black hair and dusky skin looked over towards Ulysses as a frown came to her face. Now that he was closer, Ulysses found it difficult to judge her actual age. She certainly seemed young, but whether she was in her twenties or early-thirties, he could not discern.

"Vandalize?" She said in response to the steam powered hero’s comments. "PanStar is one of the worst in terms of scourging our plant of its natural resources and poisoning the environment in the process. This plant is a blight on the natural beauty of this region, sending its toxins into the very land around us!"

To emphasize her point, the woman gestured at the ground around her, as chunks of pavement and rock lifted up into the air. She then thrust her hands at Ulysses and the bits of debris shot forward at the hero. But her aim was off, and the barrage of debris flew past Ulysses to cave in the side of a truck behind him.

[Exaccus]

Ulysses huffs as debris rain down around him "And you think its a good idea to start hurling poison bits of earth around like small pox blankets?" his stance lowering to a more coiled one for a brief moment "I think you're just a psychopath who's latched on to a comfortable excuse to hurt people you've convinced yourself deserve it." able to smell the hypocrisy on his breath. had he not just talked himself into attacking someone who deserved it?

 

Launching forth in an explosion of speed makes his way around the large red lady, giving her a tip of his hat in acknowledgement even as the young lady on the waterspout rides into view and allowing himself to hope for further reinforcements before locking eyes with his most recent attackers, as he drew closer he found himself suddenly noticing how young she seemed and all that righteous fury boiling in his belly turned sour and still. his resolve to make contact having drained entirely from his arm as it reached the middle of its swing his eyes screwed themselves shut and allowed his fist to sail through the empty air over her head.with the soft pneumatic hiss.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Exaccus

[Tiffany Korta]

Looking down at the Ulysses the currently massive Daphne gave the man a little wave and a massive friendly smile, even for a normal person.

“There just bad people who want to do bad things.â€

Almost without giving it much thought or effort Daphne struck out with her other hand attempting to swat away the Crimson dressed woman hovering in front of her.  Her massive hand stuck the woman squarely and with quite some force.

 

“And these naughty people will be caught and punished for the bad things they’ve done.â€

[Thevshi]

GM

 

Miss Grue's huge fist once again connected squarely with one of the two glowing young women flying in the air.  This time the punch clearly hurt her, as she gave a small cry of pain and was sent flying backward, pulled from the grasp of her twin who's hand she had been holding, until she ended up some fifty feet away.

 

Somehow she managed to stay in the air, though was clearly out of sorts and disoriented. 

 

The yellow glowing energy handcuffs the young woman in green had tried to wrap around Miss Grue's wrists flickered and then disappeared altogether. 

[Thevshi]

Giang was able to hear most of the exchanges between the other super powered individuals present, giving her at least something of an idea of what might be going on.  At the moment it appeared the Grue was one of the two trying to stop those that had been damaging the plant.  But for the moment the Asian teen had other things to worry about, such as trying to douse the fires that had been started inside the plant before things got worse.

 

Bringing her water spout down closer to the ground, Giang leapt gracefully to the ground.  Once her feet were back on the ground, she directed the water over towards the hole in the side of the building.  The water flowed through the air, splashing into the visible fires inside the plant.  The hissing sound of evaporating water could be heard as more and more water splashed down onto the flames.  But in a few moments, most of the flames were out, clouds of smoke rinsing up in their place, and the few remaining were considerably diminished. 

 

"Regardless of how justified you feel you are, I cannot allow you to continue to threaten innocents in this manner."  The Asian teen stated towards the woman standing on the ground as well, currently engaged in melee with the man that appeared to be billowing steam.

[Thevshi]

GM[/g]

 

The flying woman with the green in her costume glanced back toward where her sister had been knocked back, checking to make sure she was not seriously hurt.  She then glanced back the currently gigantic form of Miss Grue.   "We will see about that!"  She shouted, before she flew back over towards her twin.

 

Once Clover reached her sister, she grabbed ahold of one of her arms.  As she did so, a yellow glowing sphere of energy formed around the pair, enclosing them both inside the protective bubble. 

 

Down on the ground in the yard beside the plant, the woman Ulysses had closed with to attack took a couple of steps backward.  "Of course, do not take my word for it."  She said as her hands extended out in front of her.  "See for yourselves!"

 

As the woman gestured upward with her hands, chunks of pavement, dirt, concrete and rock began tearing up from the space between her and the hole she and her companions had made in the side of the plant.  The tons of rubble floated up into the air, creating a twenty foot by twenty foot hole that went down through a basement.

 

Down some thirty feet was what appeared to be a natural cavern that had electrical lights strung up on the rough walls.  At the south end of the cavern, furthest away from the edge of the water, was what appeared to be a drop further down into the ground.  Lined up near the edge of the chasm were dozens of metal drums filled with steaming greenish liquid.  A number of men in hazmat suits, had appeared to be working on securing forklifts and other equipment, looked up in surprise as the ceiling above them was torn away...

[Exaccus]

"You think smashing this place...hurting these people will stop this? the men who gave these orders clearly don't care about anything, this place will spring back up Fully staffed!" he growls as he strolls forth, crushing a small piece of debris under a heavy almost purposeful step "Do you think there guilt absolves you of yours?" Ulysses asks, as he feels a sense of steely hardness in his chest set around the heavyness filling his heart even as his mind filled with heat an pressure  as his fists clench with audible popping of his knuckles "Anymore than your guilt will absolve me of mine?!" he bellows as he draws back and lashes out with a swift and heavy strike to the young woman's shoulder, that in  a flash became a hand of curled fingers grasping momentarily at her before she, to the slight surprise of Ulysses pries herself easily free of his grasp.

 

Taking a split second to wonder where all that anger had came from before the realization that he'd been over powered even if only for a moment gave him something of comfort, this wasn't some defenseless person he was striking, it was a dangerous and powerful super-being, one that could take all the punishment he could give and return in kind. "Old age it seems has made me an arrogant fool...Its time i stopped underestimating you."

 

taking a brief moment to look up at the large red lady and the wave riding teenager, before casting his gaze down the hole at the men in the Hazmat suits scurrying like unearthed insects around the drums of what he assumed was toxic waste as they seeped there bile onto the earth before fixing them back onto tundras 

 

We'd all be better off if we sought redemption for ourselves instead of retribution on each other.

Edited January 1, 2014 by Exaccus

[Tiffany Korta]

Glancing back Daphne took a moment to confirm what the girl were talking about, confirming what they were talking about changed everything. They weren’t bad people doing bad things for no good reasons, no they were trying to a good thing for the right reason just going the wrong way about it.

She cupped her hands around the floating globe containing the two sister gentle nudging it until they were at her own eyeliner.

 

“If you promise to stop what you're doing I promise to find out what they're doing and put an end to it. You’ve not done anything too serious or dangerous yet that we can’t work this all out without to much trouble.â€

[Thevshi]

GM

 

Even as the various heroes gathered began reacting differently to what Tundra had reveled, a group of ten red uniformed security guards rounded the corner from the front of the plant.  Each was carrying what looked like some sort of advanced energy weapon in their hands, and as they came to a halt and quickly took in what was going on, each raised their weapons.

 

Three of them opened fire on the towering form of Miss Grue, blasts of energy firing from the weapons at the large red teenager.  Two of the shoots hit, while the third missed completely.

 

Another two opened fire at the glowing yellow sphere of energy Miss Grue was holding in her hands, both shots hitting.  But the glowing sphere took both shots and appeared otherwise unaffected.

 

Three others fired at Tundra, narrowly missing Ulysses as they fired.  Two of the energy blasts hit, both glancing harmlessly off Tundra.

 

The last two fired at Tusnami, both hitting.  But the swirling sheen of water that flowed over the Aisan teen's costume and skin was able to absorb both energy blasts and shield Tsunami from harm.

[Thevshi]

Giang flinched ever so slightly as the two blasts from the security guards' energy weapons impacted on the watery forcefield that surrounded her.  "Some of us are here to try to help assist you."  She called out.

 

Even as she spoke, the Asian teen reached back towards the river, pulling a large amount of water up into the air and over towards the scene.  At the moment she was still unsure enough of what to believe about what was going on here.  But she might need to try to isolate those trigger happy security guards to keep them from injuring her or anyone else, or possibly being injured themselves.  And for that, she needed water.

[Thevshi]

GM

 

As Miss Grue was dazed by one of the energy blasts from the security guards, she released her hold on the energy sphere Clover had placed around herself and her sister.  That sphere suddenly disappeared, as the twins, hand-in-hand, flew up higher into the air and out of the currently gigantic teenager's reach.  "You don't seem to be doing so hot right now red."  Commented Crimson.

 

When the pair came to a halt, Clover sent a large rectangular energy construct flying down towards a group of the PanStar security guards, who proved unable to get out of the way of the large energy object.  It slammed down into the four, knocking them to the ground with tremendous force and knocking all four unconscious. 

 

Crimson sent a blast of red energy at another security guard, hitting the man and sending him flying backward a few feet as he slammed into the ground, also unconscious.

 

Down on the ground, Tundra took a couple of steps back form Ulysses after his punch, all but ignoring the two energy blasts that glanced harmlessly off her.  "So your solution would be to do nothing?"  She replied to the steam powered hero.  "Smashing this place might allow your inept government to discover PanStar's practices and put a stop to it.  And if they still fail to uncover that fact, or are so corrupt to be allowing it, then I will just smash this place again and continue doing so until PanStar decides it is no longer economically viable for them to skirt the rules!"

 

"And I won't allow you to stop me!"

At that, the woman reached out towards Ulysses and the ground and pavement near him rose up to try to entrap him.  But her aim was off, and the grasping rock and pavement closed together just behind him.

 

At the same time, all the tons of rock and pavement she had ripped up to revel the underground operation were released back to the effects of gravity.  A large amount of the debris rained down into the underground chamber, as the workmen in the protective suits scattered for safety.  A large chunk of pavement slammed down onto a forklift, smashing the vehicle and rupturing a propane tank affixed on the back of the lift.  The result was a small explosion, which sent flames and sparks onto liquid spilled from a number of the metal drums that had been smashed by other falling debris.  The liquid instantly ignited, and in moments, there was a small inferno down in the subterranean cavern.

[Exaccus]

Without so much as a second thought Ulysses bolts towards the hole, the intensity of the chemical fire palpable against his skin he stretches his spine to stand up as straight as he can and with a great heave of his barrel chest draws in as much air as his lungs will hold.and through pursed lips looses it on the blaze, forcing the flickering flames to receed and the chemicles to flow away from the direction the men in protective suits had headed.

 

His forehead now beaded with sweat from the heat and exertion, along with his chest now heaving as he catches up with his breath, he spares not so much as a moment before rushing back  to telegraph a clumsy swing at the woman. "You....callous child!" he growls through his dry throat.

[Thevshi]

GM

 

The powerful gust Ulysses was able to generate quickly doused the flames, and even knocked over a couple of the men in protective suits that were along one edge.  But the men quickly climbed back to their feet, with most starting for safety once more.  But one of them stopped and glanced down the tunnel away from where the inferno had just been, seeming to do a quick count of the fleeing figures.  He then turned back towards the still smoldering pile of half melted chemical drums, the wreckage of the forklift and large boulders as he yelled out, "Harry!"

 

Up on the surface, the five remaining security guards turned their attention to the two glowing young women hovering high in the air that had just taken out the other half of the security team.  All five opened fire with their energy weapons, the blast streaking into the sky.  But only one found its target, striking Crimson.  But the red aura of energy that surrounded the young woman deflected the blast harmlessly aside.

[Thevshi]

The revelation that this PanStar factory had indeed been engaged in the illegal dumping of chemicals was not exactly a surprise to Giang.  Months ago, the Asian teen had encountered another PanStar subsidiary in Africa that had been engaged in the kidnapping of workers and villagers believed to have been killed in flooding that the company had triggered for some unknown purpose.

 

The security personnel in Africa had been equally aggressive and trigger happy as the current group of guards now shooting at the two glowing metahumans hovering in the air.  Giang was not certain what level of culpability they might have, but they were certainly not making the situation better, having attacked her and the large Grue, who appeared to be trying to stop the attack on the factory.  There was also the chance that they could end up badly injured.

 

So, she decided it might be best to both protect them and others from them.  With a simple gesture, the Asian teen directed the water spout that had risen up from the nearby river over towards the group of security guards.  As the water began to fall down towards the men, it suddenly spread out as it started to form a dome over them.  One guard managed to dive underneath the forming walls of the dome, but the other four were unable to get clear as the water seemed to almost solidify, becoming completely smooth and almost opaque., trapping the four inside, but also providing them protection from attacks from outside the dome.

[Thevshi]

GM

 

Up in the sky, the flying twins saw the dome of water that formed up around the security guards that had been attacking them.  "Yeah, like that will stop us."  Commented Clover as she raised her free hand once more and sent another large rectangular energy construct flying down at the dome.  The yellow energy construct struck the dome, breaking apart against it as the dome of solid water appeared to show cracks along its surface, but otherwise held fast.

 

Crimson meanwhile sent a blast of red energy at the security guard who had managed to dive clear of the water dome.  But the man's luck continued to hold as he dodged aside of the blast, a small crater being blasted in the ground where he had just been.

 

Down on the ground, Tundra stepped back from Ulysses, a small smile on her face.  "You should learn that appearances can often be misleading.  I may not look it, but I likely have seen as many decades as you appear to have, or close to anyway."  She retorted.  "But regardless, callous you may call me, but these men knew what they were doing, and your interference is what has placed them in the most direct danger!"

 

She raised up one hand again, reaching towards Ulysses as the hand closed into a fist.  Once again the rock and earth rose up around him, but this time it came closing in rapidly towards him, too fast for him to try to dive aside as the steam powered hero found himself encased in a thick layer of rock and soil and unable to move.

[Exaccus]

Ulysses, suprised by the Swiftness of which such a mass of earth could move had barely managed to bend his knees in preparation to dash out of the way before tendrils of soil and stone clamped around them and his arms up to the shoulders tightly and compacted themselves into a solid cone of dirt and debris around him around his shoulders. "I was going by your behaviour!" he retorts sharply, temper flared, and teeth grit as he begins to writhe slowly with what minute leverage, now aware of the surrounding guards from the blast that went wide he feared the damage a more explosive escape could cause he set to work prising himself free.

[Tiffany Korta]

A momentary frown crossed Daphne’s face as she realised the two foes were out of reach, and for a few second several crazy plans crossed her mind to reach them. Then her more sensible side got the better of her and she instead turned her attention to her ally.

As best she could she put herself between the two women and the bound Ulysses, she couldn’t block them completely but she would try her best. Bending down toward Ulysses she gave him her best stern face.

“You know you could try to be a little more diplomatic.†she couldn't keep this up for long a gave him a friendly smile an unusual look on a Grue at any time, especially one twice normal size.

“I’m Miss...†she knew superhero needed a suitable heroic name but she hadn’t had chance to come up with anything suitable. “... I’ll get back to you on that. Anyway I’m here to help.â€

 

She grabbed hold of the rock with her hand and tried to free him from it’s embrace.

[Thevshi]

GM

 

The four PanStar security personnel "trapped" inside the solid water dome all turned their weapons at the dome and opened fire.  Most of the blasts were easily absorbed by the dome, but one managed to put some more cracks in its surface.  Despite the damage it had taken, the dome was still solidly in place over the four men.

 

The one remaining free security guard took a brief moment to regard the situation.  The two glowing women had proved resistant to his weapon, and the massive red teenager was currently trying to free to man trapped in the rock.  So the guard turned his weapon at the other teenager who had "attacked" him and his four companions with the water dome. 

 

The guard fired a blast from his energy weapon, which hit Tsunami squarely.  But the thin sheen of swirling water that surrounded the Asian teen absorbed the blast, Tsunami only taking a slight step backward from the force of the impact.

[Thevshi]

Tsunami recovered from being hit by the PanStar energy weapon, focusing her attention on the security guard outside her water dome.  "I am here to help you realize."  She called out flatly.  "I have been putting out the fires started by the three villains and put that water dome around your companions to try to protect you from them."

 

But the Asian teen did not really count on being able to reason with the security guard, instead preparing herself to dodge any attack that might come from him, or from any of the three supervillainess that were still very much active.

[Thevshi]

GM

 

With Miss Grue focused on trying to help Ulysses escape from his rocky prison, and the one free PanStar guard now shooting at Tsunami, the green and red glowing twins turned their attention back to causing more destruction around the facility.  Clover sent another glowing yellow energy sphere at a parked truck, smashing the vehicle underneath.  Crimson sent a blast of red energy at another truck, blasting apart the hood and causing a fire inside the engine compartment. 

 

Down on the ground, Tundra turned her attention to Tsunami, sending a blast of rock and dirt flying at the Asian teen.  But Tsunami was able to agile dodge the attack, flipping off to one side and landing in a low, defensive stance.

[Exaccus]

*"Ill try to keep it in mind for next time though Idealism and dreams are for young'ns like yourself; It falls to us old folk to be cantankerous and belligerent."  Ulysses huffs in slight amusement at the large but oddly friendly face before him; as the scarlet skinned giant's efforts win him a bit more room to maneuver. "Don't let me stop you from  trying though." he adds as writhes and twists with all his might, further widening the cracks but unable to shatter the earthen binds. "almost there....thanks for the help Miss, i think ill be out of here in a jiffy; so don't worry about me, I'm a bit tougher than i look."

[Tiffany Korta]

Daphne look at the tword flying villains with just a hint of frustration she’d been practising altering her body and she knew she could elongate her limbs, only a few centimetre right now, but she didn't have the control right now to use it helpfully. But hey that wasn't something to worry about right now she could practice some more later and hopefully get the hang of it.

 

Instead she strided over to the one baddie on the ground, Tundra, and reached out to grab them. She hadn't quite given up on trying to talk some sense into them.

 

“Look if you all gave up right now I’m sure we could sort out something. You've done the city a service, just in the wrong way.â€

[Thevshi]

GM

Miss Grue was easily able to reach out and grab ahold of the grounded Tundra, and though the supervillainess struggled against her, the young Grue managed to keep ahold.

Inside the watery dome, the four PanStar security guards all fired once more at the "prison." More cracks formed along the surface of the dome from some of the blasts, but it continued to hold, for the moment.

The guard still outside the dome kept his weapon trained on Tsunami for the moment, but held his fire, apparently somewhat conflicted about what to do. He glanced toward Tundra, but found the large form of Miss Grue grappling the woman, and then up at the flying villainesses that were causing destruction around the yard, but knew his weapon was ineffectual against them. So the guard just hesitated, uncertain what to do now.

Then, from down in the now exposed cavern below, there came a low, roar that echoed up to the battle above. From where he was trapped along the edge of the hole Tundra had created, Ulysses could see some large shape of what appeared to be earth and rock rising up out of the smoldering pile of half melted chemical drums and the wreckage of the forklift.