| Loaded Weapon |
| Summary: | An anomaly in the space-time continuum brings a pack of tech-enhanced demons into Salem Center, New York. While Magik and Domino are close at hand to fight them off, they are joined by Nathan Dayspring — the man they call Cable. |
| Date: | IC Date (2016-06-13) |
| Related: | None |
| NPCs: | None |
| Scene Runner: | Cable |
| Social/Plot: | Social |
| Players: |
 .. .. .. |
Fade in…
Morning in Salem Center, New York.
The work-day has already begun for most people in this little corner of the world, where so much seems to happen. Experts on space-time might call it a nexus of reality, or the point upon which reality seems to pivot and thus reshape or redirect the colour and direction of all things seen and unseen.
All that… and it's just another Tuesday.
The air is chilly, largely due to it be such an early hour, and very few pedestrians and motorists are in the mood for conversation — most head for their places of work, heads down, jaws set, eyes with bags under them, and takeaway coffee-cups in hand.
Out of nowhere, a gale as hot as something coming off the Sahara Desert rips through the air at an intersection already car-jammed. Reality shifts in the sky several feet above the ground, as smoke and the smell of sulphur *bleeds* through into the physical realm.
Pedestrians turn in time to see the first armoured abominations — demons meshed with tech, a modest sized 'posse' of them — tumble through the cracks in the sky. Shooting. Through the cracks one can see another world, yet the same:
Salem Center, New York… on fire.
The day is just beginning? For some, perhaps, but not for Illyana.
She has yet to sleep, thanks to a night at the club going far longer then anticipated. Sometimes the hours feel more like minutes which causes the demoness to lose track of just how long she's been dancing. Either way, Illyana finds herself arriving within Salem Center the pedestrian way. Via cab. Once out of the cab, she'll turn towards the nearest line at one of the coffee carts. It's when she's mid-way to getting something to drink that current of hot air is felt. It's enough to raise her hackles and with a frown, the blonde and blue-eyed woman turns her gaze to the area at large.
At first nothing is seen, not until the sky is rent open and those armored beings begin to fall downward towards the ground. Upon seeing them, Illyana will say, "That's unexpected." She's already stepping out of the line, even as she shoves the nearest person away from her. "Run. Get to safety."
Sure, it's cold and early, but Domino's already interested in some fresh air. Being in the middle of New York City 'fresh' is kind of open for debate, though the quest for something to settle her mind has taken her on a more lengthy tour of the city than she had anticipated. So far it's also led to a lot of really weird looks from other city-goers, though she's pretty good at ignoring it.
What -can't- be ignored is having all of reality getting split wide open. She can hear the sounds and feel the blast of hot air well before seeing the anomalies, nearly getting ploughed over as people run past her.
And someone's wallet lands right at her feet. The universe provides!
Nonchalantly taking the wallet and tucking it into a pocket she peers around the corner and instantly goes from 'puzzled' to 'weirded right the hell out.' "I didn't sign up for this shit…"
Everyone else is running away. It seems like a good idea to her. When in Rome! No..wait, running's just a good way to get killed out in the open. What she needs..is a vehicle.
The first shots fired by the cyber-demons (for lack of a better term) split the air with bolts of energy. A nearby vehicle explodes just as its driver emerges from a cafe. The concussive force is enough to shatter the windows of the cafe, and send the driver flying backward into a table.
The coffee, of course, is spilled.
It takes a few moments for civilians to realise the danger in which they stand. Magik's efforts to push them away and get them MOVING are rewarded… but not without cost: two pedestrians die, having taken shots to their backs, while others are injured.
Then the cyber-demons turn upon Magik herself, opening fire. Another two leap toward her, hands raised like claws — claws made of tech. Meanwhile, as Domino makes her way to the nearest vehicle, three of the demon creatures leap on top of it, snarling and hissing. More cracks appear in the sky, allowing a few more of the creatures into this plane…
While others mysteriously vanish, mid-pursuit. Whatever is going on here, it is creating 'afterimages', as it were, of the creatures: 'there' but 'not-there'.
Another creature pokes its head out from UNDER a vehicle, clawing at Domino's foot. And finally, civilians start to flee, properly flee.
Illyana doesn't bother to make certain the people she urges to run follow her commands. Instead she keeps moving towards the activity and between one step and her next, her clothing changes.
Instead of the short skirt and short shirt she was wearing, Illyana is now clad in heavy black leather with a large softly glowing sword hanging from her back. Even as the car explodes and the unlucky civilians fall, Illyana is already pulling her sword free from its scabbard.
Her brows furrow as she reaches out with her otherwordly senses and with a deepening of her frown, the blonde says, "You guys aren't normal. Just sayin'." Normal in the respects of 'natural demons', not that she gets to say that part, as the demon-borgs now turn towards her. As soon as that first demon turns and fires upon Magik, Illyana will raise her sword upward in front of her, in a definite defensive hold. Those energy bolts will find themselves suddenly slamming into an invisible force field that's now around Illyana. The demoness grunts quietly to herself, as the bolts cause those mystical shields of hers to tremble. The energy and force behind them were far stronger than she had expected.
Not that she can contemplate that much, thanks to the two demons now leaping towards her. The shields she erected are taken down quite quickly, as the blonde now leaps towards the oncoming attackers. Her teeth will be flashed in a faint grin, as she now grips her sword with both hands. The large blade will be swung towards the first demon, to cut him in half, if she's successful. The second demon is seen and while she can't necessarily attack him with her sword, just yet, a portal will open up in the second demon's path to try and swallow him whole.
"Gah—!"
Okay, not THAT car. In fact, cars are seeming like a really bad idea right now. Dom stops short as her getaway vehicle is suddenly pounced upon by several somethings she can't even identify.
When in Rome…
The albino bares her teeth and snarls right back at the trio. By the time the fourth comes darting out from underneath to rush at the woman's ankle she's got a 9mm sidearm in her hands and a free point-blank shot with her name written all over it.
*BAM!*
"I haven't been here -One Week" *BAM!* "and all Hell breaks loose" *Bam-Bam-Bam!* "In the freakin' -middle of New York!-"
One of the creatures comes leaping right for her. By the time she's turned and thrown herself aside an out of control cargo truck whips past and pancakes the creature across the front of its grill before careening into a parked car, leaving debris and a streak of DemonThing in its wake.
..And fuel.
Neena's not sure which is more critical, an impending fiery explosion (that she could be the catalyst to) or the Heavy Metal Chick with the giant glowing sword cleaving critters in half. "What the hell kind of reality did I wind up in…"
The street empties.
People stuck in cars at traffic jams fling their doors wide open and make a break for it. Those on motorcycles and bikes turn tail and burn rubber in their escape. Doors of cafes, stores and other businesses all shut — at least, those who still have doors.
Strangely, though, the cyber-demons appear to be searching for something. The last of them pour through the bleeding cracks in the sky as if knowing where their quarry is… only to react with surprise at not finding it.
Or him.
So instead they attack those nearest to them. Domino's targets die with bullets in their skulls, their cyber-implants shorting out in a showing of sparks. The sparks ignite the fuel spilling onto the road, quickly engulfing one vehicle… then two… in flames. As two more of the creatures leap atop a different automobile close by, it too combusts.
The air fills with the scent of burning oil, burning rubber, burning flesh… and sulphur.
One more creature vanishes inside a portal disc of Magik's, leaving it stuck in Limbo. Simultaneously, more of them fade from existence even as another slips through a crack right on top of Illyana…
Someone calls the police. Another summons the fire-brigade, the paramedics… yet another calls the press. A family screams for help in a nearby van, a cyber-demon smashing its windows and sticking a bony arm inside… When it rips its arm back, it holds…
A pair of fluffy dice.
The first demon-borg falls to the ground, two pieces now, instead of one. With a fierce smile the blonde demoness will turn her attention back towards the second, who's neatly falling into her portal. "Morons." She murmurs to herself, even as her gaze swings back nearest her.
While she sees the majority of the people running, which is good, she does notice the Domino taking shots at the demons nearest herself. Her attention shifts yet again, as she spies the demon trying to break into the van filled with a family. "I don't think so!" Hisses Illyana and while she had all intentions of getting over there, to help that trapped family, her attention is caught by movement above.
Automatically her gaze will flick upward again as the sky rips open once more and from the rent another demon-borg falls. "Blast!" Snarls Illyana and while she could try to hop out of the way, she doesn't. Instead, a portal will open beneath the blonde's feet with a loud crack of sound similar to lightning and with a little jaunty finger wave, Illyana drops downward, within. The portal will stay open long enough to swallow that new demon that's trying to attack her.
"Come along, said the Spider." Echoes her voice upward from the depths of that glowing circular portal of Magik's.
(Way to go, Dom. Fifth day here and you've started a multi-car inferno in Westchester.)
The albino's no hero. However, she does recognize an attack of opportunity when one presents itself. The creature reaching into the car for the family has left itself wide open, something which quickly has the albino woman setting into motion. She's operating on very limited resources right now, and have you ever tried to purchase ammo in bulk in New York City?
It can't be done!
A leap and roll over one demonborg busy falling through a portal doubles as evasion to a shot from a second demonborg which immediately blasts a -third- demonborg before she's leaping onto the back of a FOURTH demonborg. The one at the car. Her gun is replaced by a knife, going straight for the soft bits normally found in a neck. The family in that car are about to get introduced to some of Gallagher's darker work. Contents under pressure!
"Mind if I cut in?"
(That was terrible.)
What she's after is the high-powered cybergun these creatures are equipped with. If she can find a way to hijack it then blast that burning cargo truck to pieces, well..she'll at least feel accomplished.
The demonborg turns.
Its eyes burn red with a rage it barely understands — less 'emotion' and more… 'fuel', as if someone had dialled its anger up to the point of insanity, broken its mind and funnelled its energy into the technology grafted onto its body. It opens its oversized mandibular jaw, breathing hot air all over Domino, and hastily swings its high-powered rifle toward her…
At the same time, Magik's attacker falls. It falls straight into her portal despite the efforts of another creature poking its arms through the same crack in the sky. That demon also tumbles out, arms and legs splayed, gun shooting wildly… even back into the other reality.
In the car, Domino's demonborg tries to shoot her, however, the rifle's nozzle catches on the jagged edge of a smashed windscreen. In its eagerness for the kill, the demonborg accidentally pulls the trigger, firing an intense beam of superheated plasma —
— diagonally up into the air, past a traffic light, past an escaping bird… and into a bleeding tear in the sky, from which emanates a shrill scream of pain and death. The creature's grip on the weapon loosens…
Over by an alley, right behind a foolish spectator who has decided to film the event (at great risk to himself), a number of glowing blue rings about three feet wide appear in the air. They each pulse with light before separating up and down, until a figure appears in their midst. The man is huge — 6'8" — built like a tank, and boasts a wicked-looking techno-organic left arm.
In his right hand he holds a whopping great rifle.
The onlooker lets out a yelp of surprise as the big man clamps a hand down on his shoulder and grunts: "Hold still, runt." The big warrior rests the barrel of his rifle on the other man's shoulder, aims… and fires a blast straight over Domino's head and into another of the bleeding portals. The man then blinks.
"Dom…?" he calls out.
He has not seen Magik yet.
"Please… please don't kill me," murmurs the little man, eyes closed, a metal hand on one shoulder, a mean energy rifle on the other.
"Fools!" Illyana says as not one, but two, demon-borgs now enter her realm. Neatly and quite easily, Illyana will tear all three (she didn't forget about that first one) in half with her magics. Once the trio is demolished, the demoness will turn away from their gruesome pulped forms, ignoring the scavenger demons that now run up to the bodies.
Within Limbo (and upon Earth) a loud SHRAACK of sound can be heard, as a second portal will open near Illyana. Stepping through, the demoness will reappear once more upon the Earthen plane. With sword in hands, Illyana's gaze will flick around the chaotic scene to see what's changed since she disappeared.
Flaming cars, check, woman with the gun check, demon-borgs, yes, still there. So not too much has changed. For now, Illyana has not seen that figure that appeared within the alleyway, as she's too focused upon the demon-borgs at hand. Not to mention the flaming cars.
Portals begin to open, perhaps in a seeming random pattern to others, but not to Illyana. She's moving to try to make the scene less hazardous, as a portal begins to expand beneath one of those flaming cars.
Swing and a miss! The shot from the creature's plasma cannon nearly melts Domino's face off just from how close she is to it, though the shot itself is well clear of her. Now she's also got direct access to what she's after, and the right tool for the job in her fist. A cut here, a deep puncture there, a twist and break -there,- and—
"Yoink!"The monochromed woman falls flat on her backside, stolen weapon in hand and gore all over both. She doesn't bother standing, lying and arching back while sighting down the barrel toward the awaiting pile of potential energy parked nearby. "Fire in the hole!"
Moths are attracted to flames. Would these critters do similarly?
The ground shakes with the resulting concussion, nearby windows shattering out of their sills as a nasty chain reaction demolishes several vehicles (minus one from Magik!) in one nasty fiery blast.
Did it do anything useful? She doesn't know.
Was it wicked awesome? -Hell yeah it was!-
Dom gets rolls back to her feet, wiping traces of bright hued gore off of her snow white skin, when for an instant of time she catches Cable looking her way. And the bore of the cannon also facing her way. The Timelord gets a rare glimpse of her wide-eyed and mouthing a choice four-letter word then jumping like a rabbit as she flings herself low and to the side, taking cover behind the family's car.
"Could we PLEASE start wearing team colors around here?!"
Through each portal, flame, smoke, debris — even entire vehicles — all pass. The fact that some of the kinetic energy is able to travel into another dimension lessens the concussive force of any explosions, enough to spare more vehicles and property from being damaged.
Combined with Domino's handiwork, most of the demonborgs are cut down, incinerated or perforated… leaving very little for the newcomer, the giant man with the cyborg arm, to do. Rudely shoving the onlooker 'playing journalist' to the side, the soldier treads on the man's cellphone, shattering it.
All around the street intersection tears and rips in space waver and fade. Some return, albeit only briefly, and then fade again. In a portal right in front of Magik a bunch of spindly little arms — with vicious claws — bursts out, clawing and grasping at nothing.
Cable strides out into the street, his metallic hand lifted to his temple, while he hefts his rifle in his other arm. "Cut that link, Belle!" he orders someone, somewhere. "I don't care what it does ta me — cut. The. Link. I got Sinister's demon-corgis chasin' cars 'n civilians here…"
With his back facing just about everything, the big man paces back and forth as if talking on a cellphone — without the phone. Hearing a demonborg scamper away, Cable lowers his rifle and shoots the creature squarely in its hind-portions… without looking at it.
// Link… severed, // says a feminine voice, and suddenly all the tears in the fabric of space begin to close. Timeslide…impossible. Cable lets out a breath and leans his rifle against his shoulder, its barrel smoking. "Great, juuust great," he mutters. Blinking again, he grunts and stares at the two warrior-women close by.
"Magik?! Domino… Huh. Ehh… surprise."
Fire in the hole? Sure, Illyana understands what's about to happen, but that big explosion is just a touch more powerful than she expected and as such, the demoness can't help but shout, "What the crud!"
She'll even go so far as to drop into a more protective crouch as her sword raises upward and over her head. With that movement a pentagram flares briefly to life beneath her feet; when silver-fire symbol appears, a rather visible shield will envelope the young woman for a few seconds for protection against any fallout.
When the area quiets, the pentagram and shield will dissipate seemingly on its own and once the barrier is down, the demoness will straighten to her full height. "A little close there, wasn't it?" She quips, as her blue-eyed gaze searches for Domino's form and when she finds it, Illy will follow that first quip up with a second more sarcastic, "Not sure if I'd say that qualifies you for team colors."
It's only when Cable makes his appearance known, well to Illyana, that the blonde will turn attention away from Domino and to the very large man. As soon as she lays eyes upon him, her countenance shifts to a frown again. "You're … different."
The resulting multi-dimensional explosion is enough to make most anyone feel a sense of vertigo, as if the laws of physics simply cease to exist or someone went way too crazy with the gun from Portal. For all of the training and simulations and live-fire exercises there's nothing which can fully prepare Domino for the real experience. The choking smells in the air, the sirens, the screaming, the utter carnage of it all…
The big guy's walking out into the street. Metal Chick has decided to hang around this side of the portal, too. In the next instant Dom's standing up between the two, aiming the big scary energy blaster at thin tiny Magik and the pathetically small 9mm pistol at the massive hulking Cable.
..Something about this suddenly doesn't seem very right.
But, what -else- she sees is a demonic looking woman..and a cybernetically-enhanced man… "Tell me these kids don't belong to you two."
Shortly after the comment is raised a flaming truck axle cartwheels back down to Earth, smashing the hood and windshield of a car so hard that the alarm immediately sounds out once then dies in an unscripted series of mournful, defeated warbles.
Cable's lips form a thin line, pinched at the left corner of his mouth, while he glances from Domino to Magik, and back to Domino. His white, cybernetic left eye suddenly blossoms into golden light and he casually slings his plasmic rifle over his shoulder.
The big man spreads his hands, keeping his elbows bent and close to his sides and looking quite, quite relaxed as he grunts: "Okay, I give up. Ya got me."
// Timeline stabilising, // says that feminine voice again, audible to all three of them. // Continuity errors repairing… Processing… data incomplete. Restart application and reassess — //
"Behind you," Cable interrupts his built in A.I. to talk to Domino. He looks straight past her, and then also past Magik — at two surviving demonborgs about to jump at the pair of women.
"When yer ready," Cable adds dryly.
When Domino pulls a gun upon her and Cable, Illyana can't help but raise a blonde eyebrow upward, saying as she does. "Oh-kay. You're apparently different too." She says, even as she keeps her hands upon the hilt of her sword and her gaze split between the odd-acting Domino and the odd-looking Cable.
"And no." She adds, when Domino asks that incredulous sounding question of the two, "Those things are not our /children/. I wouldn't even say they were naturally occurring demons, to be honest. There was something not right about their birth." And she should really know, shouldn't she. Still, a look will be shot towards Cable then, before her gaze moves back to Domino. The crunch of the flaming axel will be ignored, as well as the blaring of the alarm, as Illyana says. "So, how about we start it like this … " And while she could have definitely said more, Cable's rather laconic warning is heard.
Turning upon her heel, Illyana will see those demon-borgs jumping for the two of them. Growling, she'll raise her hand upward and shout two words that definitely do not sound like English and as soon as the last syllable leaves her lips a fork of black lightning will drop down from the clouds, arcing towards the duo of demons.
Riiight, because this situation wasn't weird enough already. 'Timeline stabilizing?' This really gives Neena something to be confused about, and boy does it show. So, it probably shouldn't come as much surprise that the 'behind you' only manages to confuse her further.
"What—"
Better a delayed reaction than no reaction. She twists about and drops low, the snap of her pistol almost completely engulfed by the plasma blast from the bigger gun. One shot each, one shot -for- each. The timing is almost spot on with them both getting flash-fried by black lightning. She's not even going to ask where THAT came from.
There's one more glance between the two, Dom feeling a bit out of place through all of this. The plasma cannon is outright discarded, it's too big for her to hide while on foot. Right now she's more concerned with making herself disappear. Cut and run. With emphasis on the 'run.'
"I don't know about starting but I'm more than ready to be done with it," she tells Magik while keeping the pistol held at her side. "This is too damn much, I'm out."
(What part of 'low profile' don't you understand, girl?!)
Strangely enough, as whatever disruption brought the demonborgs here in the first place starts to repair itself, so does at least some of the collateral damage. A car here, a trashcan there, a window over here… random pieces return to normal as if nothing had happened to them —
While in other cases, the damage is very real.
"There's been a mistake," Cable mutters — mainly to himself, but loud enough to hear. "Intel was off. Damn-it. Damn it ta hell." Police, paramedics and firefighters arrive on-scene at the about the same time as Cable speaks. The big man lifts his metallic hand to rub at his be-stubbled jaw, and then he points at both his 'comrades'.
"Abort, the pair o' ya. There's too much heat here now… Jesus, /when/ the hell am I? Go'n, scatter. Debrief in 24hrs." With that, the time-traveller lifts his left arm to his temple again and barks:
"Bodyslide by one."
And the man is gone.
TO BE CONTINUUM'D…