ic [Tov] The Ice Storm (IC)

[Blarghy]

Adept paused, finding his opinion of Ace rising again, and did as requested without comment.  Once he'd sent the photo to headquarters, along with confirmation of the numbers--photo quality probably wasn't ideal under such dark and stormy circumstances--he nodded firmly.  Ace's theory seemed as plausible as any; whether Levant was targeting someone specific on the upcoming flights, or just wanted to cause more destruction by ripping planes from the sky with her tornadoes, they had best get to stopping her as soon as possible.  But of course, her preexisting work wasn't finished yet.

 

"If we're done here, we should regroup with Cannonade.  He hasn't radioed in yet; he might need help."

[Brown Dynamite]

Argonaut kept quiet as the two shared their theories.  Not examining the map as she caught the gist from their conversation.  Focusing on trying to piece together the strange sight in front of her.  It was only after the conversation turned to diverting flights that she was struck with inspiration.  "Propulsion.  Or possible signs of some sort of propulsion system in infrared.  I suspect she left through the air.  Still warm, possibly recently."

 

It was simply a theory, but one that meant they would need not only eyes on the ground but in the air in those areas.  Something easier said than done with the rain bearing down.  Although she didn't have the GeoEngineering know how to create a perpetual power source like that which keeps her Armor running, she knew that some sort of chemical mixture had to explain the strange contrail in the air.

[Blarghy]

This information brought Adept's attention back around, albeit with a frown; if their target was still in the area, then they had been wasting precious time already. 

 

"Can you follow these trails?  The longer we wait, the colder they'll become; we should use this lead now while it lasts!"  Levant had already caused significant damage throughout the city; if the agents could find her before she initiated the next stage of her plan, then perhaps DC wouldn't be a pile of rain-soaked rubble by dawn.

[Brown Dynamite]

"Possibly."  Argonaut confirmed.  Her armored form's Jet Boots weren't ideal for high speed pursuit.  An Omegadrone invasion didn't often include cross country road trips.  But, without the threat of traffic in the sky, she could still theoretically make good time.  Assuming she wasn't following after some sort of invisible jet or high speed armor like AEGIS' own Victory prototype.

 

Stepping towards the edge she prepared herself to take off in full armored display.  Forgoing the earlier strategy of staying out of sight.  Assuming that the contrail actually followed the path the entire way.  Which was a very big assumption, but it wasn't as if it was their only lead.  With the map that Ace Danger and Adept were deciphering to rely on as well.

[angrydurf]

Ace nodded agreement with Adepts question almost absent mindedly as he continued to stare at the map trying to place what wasn't matching up in his mind, "Altitude."  he finally announced as if to an unasked question and looked up at the retreating form of Argonaut then back to Adept, "Flight numbers and altitudes."  he surmised, "which means she's tracking exactly where all the planes are over DC."  he noted this wasn't an attack on an isolated plane or two.  With proper planning and execution of her powers over the area she just might be able to bring all the air travel down.  "Have they shut down the airports yet?  Waved off incoming flights to their secondaries?"  

 

The aged adventurer shook his head as he tried to fit the final pieces of the puzzle, "What do you want from this?"  he pondered.  This was an idealistic if crazed villain, this attack therefore had a goal, that goal could of course be chaos but that was easily enough attained with such weather bending powers, there had to be something they were missing.  With a sigh he returned the map to Adepts care and checked his watch, "Back up Argonaut, I'll Pick up Cannonade and we'll meet up at the end of the trail."  he suggested as he glanced over the edge of the building as the Danger Mobile swung around the corner and idled to a stop below.

[trollthumper]

Cannonade, meanwhile, was busy staring down another two tornadoes. The bad news was, the two were bouncing off of one another, close enough that they threatened to combine. K Street was getting torn apart under the wind pressure. 

 

The good news was, it put them right where he wanted them. 

 

He took another deep breath, trying to cut right down the gap between the two. He unleashed it, turning an already unstable situation into a cataclysm. One tornado broke away, destabilizing entirely as the wind pressure failed to compensate for the new force. The other tornado, however, remained stable, managing to overcome the force and gravitate towards the center of the street. 

 

Cannonade couldn't let this go on any longer. Most of the people were safe indoors, in subbasements and other shelters... but if this thing stayed around, how long would it be until indoors wasn't an option? He took another breath, ready to meet it head on... but it wasn't enough. He must have strained his lungs with the last breath. The force blew out, but not nearly as focused. It bounced off of the tornado, merely adding to the chaos. 

 

"Oh, come on..." 

 

---

 

Argonaut, meanwhile, followed the contrails through the air. True to what she had believed, the contrails were somewhat faded, the remnants of a trail that was likely hours old. But they were growing thicker as she kept moving. She also noticed the figures on her altimeter as she followed the trail, trying to place them. Assuming the contrail didn't break, however, there was a good chance she'd be able to find Levant's path.

 

But where would she be going? 

[Blarghy]

At least for now, Adept flew after Argonaut.  He wasn't nearly as fast, but sending one agent ahead, entirely alone, seemed unwise; Ace could support Cannonade until they all regrouped, but until then, Agent Warne wanted to be somewhere in the general vicinity if his teammate ran into trouble. 

 

He predictably lit a whole series of cigarettes on the way, shielded from the rain and wind by his personal force field.  The flight would give him time to think.  At this point, Levant seemed to just be after mass destruction and panic; attacking airplanes was a tradition of such in the modern world, after all.  But what could her endgame be?  Simple revenge against the government?  She wouldn't be the first or the last. 

 

It hardly mattered, Adept decided.  Her name was on their list, whatever the reason, and AEGIS wouldn't come up empty-handed. 

[angrydurf]

The Danger Mobile Squealed to a stop in an artful glide just behind Cannonade as Ace Danger arrived on the scene.  Stepping out of the car he looked down the street with some consternation at the remaining tornado, "Don't tell me you're winded already, we're just getting started."  he teased in a friendly way and walked calmly to the trunk to pull out a large barreled tripod mounted weapon of some sort lit up with lights and dials all down the sides.  Resting the device on the trunk he glanced to his fellow hero and explained with a smile, "Vortex Cannon.  Had it on loan to the smithsonian."  it was sheer luck his family had him retrieve it to be displayed at the Hero Museum for the Jungle Patrol Gallery they were assembling.

 

Twistign a few knobs the contraption bussed to life with a whizz of high speed fans as it kicked over.  Carefully watching the gauges Ace tweaked the aiming carefully, "See you hit it in just the right spot and it should come right apart."  he offered with a smile adding under his breath but still audible over the fans, "If only I'd listened to the Doc about how exactly to calculate that point."  with s shrug he crossed his fingers, "Nothing ventured and all that right?"  he called out as he pulled the trigger and unleashed a torrent of swirling air down the street directly at the spinning mass of wind.

[trollthumper]

Fortunately, Ace had managed to calibrate the Vortex Cannon properly. The burst operated on the right frequency to destabilize the tornado. Swiftly, the winds died down, and the funnel cloud fell apart into nothing. There was little left but the rain and the much fainter winds. People slowly began to emerge from the buildings, once they were sure they weren't going to get decapitated by flying stop signs. 

 

"Thanks," Cannonade said. "And I'm not winded. Just... it's a lot harder trying to get a storm like that in your lungs." He looked to the clearing street. "We got any more word on Levant, or --" 

 

The contact band for AEGIS flared to life. "Good to see the tornadoes are gone," said the agent on the other end, "but it's only starting. We've got lightning flashing down on Dupont Circle and hailstones the size of soccer balls raining on the Department of Agriculture. Any sign of Levant?"

---

Adept and Argonaut, meanwhile, took to the sky, following the contrails. As the trail grew warmer - literally, to Argonaut's vision - the clouds grew thicker, lightning crackling between them. Adept looked down, keeping an eye on the buildings below. Soon, however, the ground gave way to water. They were following the river. 

 

The Anacostia River. Seemingly back towards AEGIS headquarters...

[Blarghy]

Adept looked wildly through the lightning-struck sky, searching for mental answers instead of physical sights.  For the first time tonight he felt a hint of panic, faced with the possibility of an assault on the command center when he and his team were too far away to assist.  She's going back?  Why?  Are we following her original trail from the first attack, while she escapes elsewhere?  Were the tornadoes a diversion to draw us away from headquarters, so she could hit it a second time with fewer defenses in place?  What the hell is going on?!

 

He pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket and hesitated between dialing Ace or HQ, then quickly decided on the latter; if danger was imminent, then he had to report in.  "Argonaut and I are following Levant's trail, and it's leading us back your way.  Unless it's a false lead, she may be returning for another attack.  We're en route, but obviously she's well ahead of us.  Be advised!"

[angrydurf]

Ace glanced down as the coms sparked to life and called in that Argonaut and Adept were following up and himself and Cannonade were en route to rendezvous.  He nodded to the passenger seat, "Hop in and buckle up it might get a little rocky up there."  he indicated with a nod to the turbulent skies.  Stowing the vortex cannon once more in the trunk Ace slid into the driver seat and punching in a code on the center console smiled as the vehicle roared to life.  Flicking the coms live he tried to reach the other team, "Tornadoes taken care of, ready for rendezvous."  He transmitted as he lifted off and sought a heading, "Any sign of Levant?"  Once Cannonade was seated the low slung sports car leapt forward as Ace navigate the waterlogged streets of DC.

[trollthumper]

"We're working on that," said Argonaut over her headset. The heat contrails were growing thicker, leaving brighter marks on the air; the marks also began to trail upwards, leading the two higher into the sky. Beneath them, the Anacostia River trailed on, the buildings growing smaller. And then, they began to look familiar...

 

Within a minute or so, AEGIS headquarters came into line of sight. There was a flurry of activity on the ground - likely agents mobilizing, fearing another possible front for Levant's mad crusade - but otherwise, the building and surrounding area appeared completely untouched. Argonaut looked to the sky. The heat contrails were much thicker here, as if the source had remained in the area for some time, superheating the air to produce thermals. The contrails then banked right, off into Maryland and suburbia. Running almost perpendicular to the river.

 

"She's headed towards Maryland. But she stopped here first. Didn't so much as touch the place. May have been doing surveillance..."

---

Ace's car was able to make short work of the waterlogged streets, but it was clear it was one of the few to do so. Traffic was even worse than usual in DC (which was saying something), and the cars that were on the road were slowly being abandoned in the face of flooding - and the impromptu roadblocks created by hydroplaning. Cannonade considered getting out to help clear some of the wrecks, but stopped himself. The bad weather and stopped traffic had effectively forced them north before they could go east. "This place is gonna need some cleanup once we take down Levant," he said. "What the hell is she looking for? Why just stalk AEGIS and not tear down? What could --"

 

He was interrupted as something set the SUV in front of them flying upwards, as if an elephant had sat on its hood. A second later, a similar impact took out a newsstand nearby. Hailstones the size of soccer balls were raining down. Cannonade took a look outside the window. They were at Dupont Circle... and the rainbow flag hanging from a nearby pole told him all he needed to know about why the weather was worse here.

 

"We gotta get out from under this," he said, "or we gotta make sure this stops being a thing, fast. How do you wanna handle it?" 

[Blarghy]

"For an angry crusader with plenty of brute force, she's doing a lot of spy work," Adept agreed suspiciously.  "Maybe she knows we're onto her, and she's leading us away so she can double back.  Are we at least gaining on her?"

 

He used the open channel to address their handlers at the headquarters below.  "Levant was here for some time, but I assume no one spotted her, not even on high alert.  The weather would explain it, but we should consider that she may have another way of cloaking herself.  Furthermore, can we get somebody out here to analyze these contrails?  Heat-based propulsion implies a mechanical device, to me, unless she's able to fly via natural or magical thrusters of some kind.  Figuring out how she's getting around so quickly might tell us how she's manipulating the weather, too, which could let us counter it--or at least tell us what to look out for when we find her."

 

Personally, he held out hope that Levant was a gadgeteer; taking away someone's toys wasn't too tough when you could grab them with your brain.  "Either way," he said to Argonaut, "I don't see any reason to stick around here, do you?  We might as well keep moving."

[angrydurf]

Ace slammed on the brakes the Danger!mobile planning to a stop before hitting the ruined SUV with a biting curse.  "That is not good."  he agreed as the hail began to tear up the surrounding vehicles.  "Where's lightning lad when you need him eh?"  The immortal asked with irreverence for the DeFacto head of the Freedom League that was a stretch for even Ace perhaps showing how rattled the intensity of the storm was getting him.  He scanned the streets looking for any stranded citizens as he began to punch a code into a console that slid into view at the press of a button.  "I hear the new models have voice recognition, which is great until your escorting a dignitary that sets off your caltrops in rush hour traffic because his home town sounds like your passphrase."

 

"I think we'll have to take an alternate route unless,"  he paused to check his watch, "No, it won't be overhead for at least and hour."  he mused under his breath, "Probably best.  Yuri is cranky about getting woken up."  With an unsettling lurch the car left the pavement and began to hover off the ground before the wheelwell turbojets kicked in fully and it shot skyward Ace swinging wide around circle for a final check for bystanders before swinging toward maryland dodging the hail if only by a hair's breadth sometimes.

[trollthumper]

Ace's car took to the sky, soaring over the traffic and under the gigantic hailstones. Cannonade braced himself as the car took off, but quickly got it together as the car balanced itself, dodging around the inclement weather to the best of her ability. "You know what I really hate about the full wrath of God types?" he asked over the rising winds. "They - hold on --"

 

A hailstone was plummeting towards them like a safe towards Wile E. Coyote. Cannonade managed to catch it in his hands and laid it down gently on the next rooftop they flew past. "They're always happy to call down hell on Sodom and Gomorrah, but they're never really willing to be there when it gets all apocalyptic. Always gotta watch the city burn from a safe distance." 

----

Argonaut and Adept, meanwhile, found the contrails growing warmer and thicker. Soon, to Argonaut's thermographic vision, there was more than just a thin red line. There was a vaguely humanoid blur, hanging suspended in midair. Judging by the coils around her, warm air was swirling, mixing with cooler currents. A tornado. 

 

To Adept's unaugmented vision, it looked like Levant - clad in mosh pit vegan chic - was caught in thick air, the wind rising around her and buffeting her. He recognized the weather from a series of posting in the Midwest. A tornado was coming. But why did she want to bring the wrath of God down upon a small baseball field in Maryland? 

 

Off in the distance, Argonaut got a glimpse of a tiny shape - but it seemed to be growing larger with every instant. She recognized it from her flying time. An airplane. It was heading right for Levant's tornado...

[Blarghy]

Agent Warne wasted no time; the situation was plainly dangerous to civilians and infrastructure alike, and while he continued to have nagging doubts about this scene in the back of his mind (was this a trap?  Had they been deliberately led out here?  Was Levant just a pawn as he'd suspected since the beginning, and the real threat was, right at this moment, doubling back to attack headquarters?), he felt confident that some answers were within his grasp.  Quite literally, when he reached out with his mind.

 

"HANNAAAAH LEVAAAAANT!" Adept screamed over the wind, trying (and probably failing) to make himself heard.  "YOU ARE UNDER AAAARRRRESST!  SURRENDER NNOOOOWWW OR BE TAKENNN BY FORRRCE!"

 

Perhaps she'd be able to hear him better after he latched onto her with unseen telekinetic power and tried to drag her through the air toward Argonaut and himself.  Most people were less inclined to give up if they could simply fly away.  Or, say, throw massive and dangerous weather patterns at their pursuers. 

Edited October 3, 2016 by Blarghy

[Blarghy]

When those screaming winds countered and overpowered his own force, which he had thought was quite potent, Adept scowled bitterly.  So be it.  At the same time, a small part of him--perhaps even not so small--rejoiced at the chance to bring a real fight to their enemy.  She made the mistake of challenging AEGIS, and now he could help demonstrate the consequences. 

 

"YOUR CALL, LEVANT!  AND IT WAS A BAD ONE!"

 

He flew to one side to put more distance between himself and his partner so that they'd be harder to hit with one swoop (although an entire tornado would have one hell of a reach, he thought glumly).  From this new position, the agent lashed out with his mind again.  This time he didn't bother with relatively gentle containment; the mental blast was intended to knock Levant right out of the sky. 

[trollthumper]

Levant took the blow head on, seeming to go slack in the air. The currents held her aloft as she stirred; there was little chance of her falling. Especially when she roused back to consciousness quickly. The blow hadn't done much for her face, which was quickly bruising, but she still seemed cogent. The air around her thundered. 

 

"THE WORLD NEEDS TO SEE! IT NEEDS TO SEE THE ROTTED TOWER FALL! WE CANNOT CLAIM TO BE SAINTS WHEN WE LIE ABOUT THE THINGS WE DO IN THE DARK! JACK POWERS KNOWS HE FACES THE WRATH OF THE DIVINE, BUT HE RUNS AND HIDES FROM JUDGMENT."

 

The airline grew larger behind Levant as she rambled. It seemed to be bearing down on her at incredible speed... only to slow, as if it hit a cushion of air. Soon, it came to a stop, its engines straining against incredible wind currents. The winds seemed to shift, pushing the airplane like a card across the table. The metal on the nose buckled slightly as the plane began to tilt downward. 

 

"I'M NOT HAPPY ABOUT WHAT I MUST DO. BUT IF IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO FLUSH POWERS OUT OF HIS HOLE AND HAVE HIM FACE HIS GOD... THEN SO BE IT."

[Brown Dynamite]

"Oh?  Face his God?  I've seen hells you cannot even begin to imagine.  Witnessed and caused pain beyond the depth of human comprehension.  I am no saint.  Let me cut straight to the point.  You can come quietly.  Or I can make you scream.  But, you'll sooner meet the end of my energy pike than Powers himself."

 

Argonaut had no immediate plans, or reservations, towards impaling Levant.  At the moment the threat was all bluster.  Bluster enough to have her hesitate for a moment.  And in that split second Argonaut raised her palm towards Levant and fired a concentrated bolt of entropic energy.  Frankly, Argonaut hoped that the crazed weather controller would just surrender.  Especially after being hit head on again.

 

But, if she didn't.  Well then the freed drone wouldn't feel too guilty about taking the opportunity to get further retribution for the dozens of downed agents left in Levant's wake.

[angrydurf]

"Sounds like we have contact."  Ace suggested with a smile that said he was enjoying this whole thing far more than was appropriate for any sane person,  "Hang on tight this is about to get a little bumpy."  the immortal warned before jerking the wheel into a tight barrel roll sending the Danger mobile screaming across the DC skyline at near mach speeds.  Now nothing about physics said that should work of course, which is why it was probably a good thing Ace had skipped those classes to take flying lessons with his namesake.

 

As the storm intensified around them and they sped toward the scene of the battle in progress Ace took the time to make small talk, "Like the helmet by the way reminds me of a guy I used to know."  he said with a wink, "So back between the wars tey used to do these air shows."  he related like it was a casual sunday drive, "Used to do these amazing wing walks insurance would never go for it today, they'd do the death drop jump right off and the pilot does a power drive to catch em."  he explains and glances to Cannonade with a grin, "I figure you got legs like the last guy to wear that and you'd be a natural."  Punctuating his statement with a high G turn releasing the door on the danger mobile and giving his passenger a clean shot directly at the unprepared Levant.

[trollthumper]

"I, uh..." Cannonade tried to gather the words as he crawled out onto the trunk. "Yeah, I saw the photos. I wanted to talk to you about that after the whole thing with Al-Darsah on the plane, but... well, guess fate kinda dragged us two different ways for a while." He gathered his footing, trying to find the right place for the running leap. "When we make sure she touches down hard, we should probably get some drinks. Talk about that." 

 

As they pulled up, Levant seemed to be reeling from the impact of Argonaut's pike. As she tried to gather her composure, the winds around her waned in some places, waxed in others... but they waned just enough for the plane she was trying to tilt to take off, resuming a normal trajectory and speeding off at hundreds of miles per hour. "NO!" she shouted. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS! JUDGMENT MUST BE RENDERED! THE SINS KEPT SECRET MUST BE PUNISHED! HE --"[/color] 

 

Cannonade slammed into her like a steam engine hitting a sack of flour. He didn't hit quite as hard as he'd intended, though; one of Levant's thickened air pockets had caught him right before impact, countering his blow with a good dose of air resistance. However, there was nothing keeping him from getting Levant in a headlock, keeping her suspended in thin air. He tried very hard not to look down as he got himself into the right position to hamper Levant's flight potential. 

 

"What the hell is it with the assholes who think they're entitled to destroy everything?" 

 

[Blarghy]

Ace came as a complete surprise to Warne, as did Cannonade, leaping out of nowhere like a human bullet.  Processing this turn of events distracted him from really realizing that the plane was no longer in danger, but once he did, Adept had a number of things to be pleased about.  Were it not for Levant's impressive--and largely unexplored--abilities, he might've just left the rest of this to Cannonade, who seemed to have everything well in hand.  Still, their enemy probably didn't need freedom of movement to call upon the weather, and she was surely determined.  The sooner they brought her down, the better.

 

"Oh, judgment will be rendered," he said to himself, words snatched away by the wind.  "You can count on that." 

 

And he tried to do his part by slamming her again with another potent blast of telekinesis. 

[trollthumper]

The telekinetic bolt struck Levant right between the eyes, sending her head reeling back into Cannonade's helmet, resulting in a second impact that definitely didn't help. She reeled, blood flowing from her nose, trying to regain her clarity. The air around her turned freezing cold in half a second, to the point that Cannonade could feel his helmet start to ice up.

 

"You can take me. But before I do... this land shall shatter."

 

Something went zooming past Cannonade at high speed. Another hail stone. Before he could shift his balance, another clocked him right in the skull. His grip loosened, but did not break, as he tried to maintain control over Levant. Similar stones fell amongst his comrades - some the size of baseballs, others the size of soccer balls. They all plunged to the earth below at high speed, not melting or letting up.

 

Goddamnit. It's gonna be one hell of a mess down there...