Things are getting Melty on the Champs Elysees

May 21, 2016:

On a tip, Steve, Widow, and Moon head to Paris to try and get intel on Zemo and his men. Kwabena comes as a diversion and Witchdoctor saves a great deal of people through happenstance.

Champs Elysees, Paris, France

Characters

NPCs: Justin Dastern, the Melter

Mentions: Baron Zemo

Plot:

Mood Music: [*\# None.]


Fade In…

CHAMPS ELYSEES
PARIS
FRANCE

4:53 PM

Captain America wishes he were somewhere else. It's not because of the scenery. Here on one of the best known streets in the world, everything is so peaceful. There isn't a cloud in the sky and the temperature is pretty much perfect. Humidity is low. Down the way is the mighty Arc de Triomphe, a testament to the victory of previous wars. Steve can't help but wonder how this one might play out after he had just lost the last one.

It wasn't in Paris, but in Orleans where the President was murdered right in front of Steve Rogers. He hasn't been back to this country since for several reasons, all of which you can probably guess. It's probably why he wears his blonde hair messy and down over his forehead and why he sports the giant aviator glasses.

Sitting at the outdoor cafe, Steve takes a sip iced tea and nods towards Cindy. "Alright everyone, look alive. Tell me what you see." Natasha is here too, but where she is Steve can't be sure. She sort of does her own thing.

For months Baron Zemo has been running circles around the Avengers and after a encrypted file was intercepted by SHIELD this morning, there is pretty solid intel that there's going to be a briefcase switch here in Paris and in about 10 minutes. There is reason to believe that the person on the receiving end is going to be someone close to Zemo. Who? Can't be sure at this point.

*

Cindy Moon blinks and tilts her head a bit to the right, glancing over her shoulder and scanning some before she turns back to smile at Steve. This was new, it was the first time she had been out of the country, let alone to Paris. The flight had been easy, and the girl couldn't help but be more than a little excited between the prospect of getting down to real work and actually seeing the scenes. Naturally, it was business first, but she can't help but be a tiny bit giddy as she clicks her tongue. "Haven't felt anything yet…" She trails off some, her spide- /silk/ senses not picking up anything out of the usual yet. "Pretty hefty police presence, though that's normal right?"

Cindy was dressed in perfectly functional civilian clothes, a green parka, light black and white Tee, khaki pants and stylish sunglasses. Sadly, she's lacking the 'totally undercover guys' baseball cap and her hair is hanging loose to about the middle of her back. Also, this coffee doesn't taste like burnt dirt, and the New Yorker in her finds that entirely unacceptable.

*

Natasha in the meantime has worked her way to a sniper's nest, thanks to the genoristy of a top floor apartment's owner being away on vacation. Gathering Intel in advance sure has it's perks, she has eyes from above, and as she surveys the area for anything remotely akin to a transfer of briefcases, she notes on comm, "if I see something, I'll let you know, I can get a tranquilizer dart shot from my position. We should be good to apprehend."

*

It had been a couple months now since Witchdoctor arrived in this world. Aside from being drawn into more then a few life and death battles in between, she'd spent a great deal of that time 'experiencing' and exploring much of this new 'time and place'. Of course, it was a big old world for someone to travel, but having the added bonus of more then a little magic in one's corner does make it easier to go sight seeing. Paris! The city in her 'time' had been decayed and overcome much like many of the others by the dystopian progress of the megacorporations and constant struggle. This one? It was like something out of a dream or a story to experience.

Chance or fate, the blonde Witch was currently dressed in one of her prefered 'street' outfits so as not to draw attention. A small pastry on the plate before her and her hands currently clasping a cup of some overpriced parisian coffee. Not that the cost really bothers someone paying with the credit card equivlent of 'fairy gold'.

It had been a good, relaxing evening…but some senses don't ever quite dull completely. In her 'past life' she'd worked plenty of jobs, many of them violent and all of them on the 'wrong' side of a tyrannical law. She hadn't 'made' the team just yet, but her eyes look up now and try to narrow in on whatever has triggered her 'something is up' instinct.

*

"Ever since Orleans," Steve says as he nods toward Cindy in answer to her question about the police. HYDRA, at least that branch of it, had been defeated when Red Skull went down to the forces of evil, but that's the thing about HYDRA. They never really seem dead, and if they are, it's not for very long.

"Roger that, Natasha," responds the Captain as they get word through their ear pieces that the femme fatale is in position.

To Steve, at least, Witchdoctor goes unnoticed.

< This is Phillips. Cap, is your team ready?> Houston Phillips is a middle level SHIELD guy, intelligence and operations, and so far has seemed to meet Steve's high standard of integrity in an organization that sometimes struggles with such a thing.

"We're in position."

<We think we see a guy.>

"Well seeing is believing," Steve says under his breath.

<Block and a half towards the Arc. Jumpsuit. Sort of puffy.>

Natasha has the best view. The man they've been briefed on, one Bruno Horgan, has not really hit the radar for SHIELD or the Avengers and represents an unknown to both. The man in question, walks along the far side of the wide street from the team, sauntering towards a street corner where he stops abruptly despite there being a group of civilians crossing the road with the walk sign.

*

Natasha keeps her sight on the target through the scope of her sniper rifle, loaded with a tranq dart, and she announces the sighting to the team, "one Bruno Horgan, up the street, north from your position…just stopped at the corner on a walk sign, so far he's on his own…I think someone might want to stroll up the street, just in case."

*

Cindy Moon puts her cup down, her smile dimming a small bit as she's brought back to the gravity of things. Right, she /had/ googled the hell out of Captain Hunk ever since joining the adventures, and that was something that ended up standing out. The connections were pretty easy to draw. "… Jumpsuit?" She asks, her nose screwing up as she clicks her tongue and tilts her head somewhat. "What's with HYDRA and silly outfits?" She mumbles, a familiar little itch working along her spine as she coughs and does her absolute best to glance around without drawing attention to herself. There was something else going on here, but she wasn't about to bring it up, just an odd little twitch was all, but something was plucking at the web she had drawn out about herself.

"I'm on it." Cindy announces over the coms, sliding out of her seat and tossing her hair over her shoulder, she'll make a cutesy little move at Steve, almost curtsy like before she turns about and heads for the location. "So, this one /won't/ have a bomb on him right?" She asks over coms, yeah, she still seems a little salty about Boston.

*

The journey from Khandaq has been a long one, but not nearly as long as the journey to the African nation. Granted passage to its borders by the King himself, Kwabena has finally managed his way back to Paris; a staging ground of sorts for his personal errand. In a small apartment on the bad end of town, he'd found his belongings in good order, minus the strange, gunmetal gray uniform he'd left in the care of one Dinah Lance.

Out on a rickety balcony, Kwabena is enjoying a smoke while sending Dinah a snarky message about galavanting around in his uniform. He's dressed entirely unlike himself; a white collared shirt, jeans, and honest to god flip flops. The long journey has brought unkempt stubble to his face, and curly starts upon his typically bald head. The straight razor waiting for him inside is something of debate. Shaving to his normal sheen would be nice, but he's of mins to remain incognito until he's made his way back to the states.

A few moments after the SMS is delivered, his new phone completed its sync to the master computer far away in his New York home. This sudden connectivity brings up a slew of alerts, to which the mercenary rolls his eyes and takes a particularly long drag from his smoke. "One minute of peace," he grumbles, before taking the phone in hand to find out who is bothering him.

*

Eventually, for all his disguise, Witchdoctor's eyes would fall on Steve. Hats and hairstyles are all well and good, but he's still a big guy speaking English who -looks- like a soldier. Their attention however doesn't seem to be on her, which leaves the witch curious as to what -does-. She still hadn't quite kicked the habbit of looking over her shoulder. Probably never would.
The 'Witchdoctor' places down her own coffee mug as her eyes finally narrow in on the jumpsuit man, but knowing 'who' they're looking at doesn't tell her -why-. What she wouldn't give for her old team and a few of their toys. Someone watching your back and the airwaves was always a comfort. Tracing a fingertip in a light pattern across the top of the table she sits at, a tiny golden butterfly shaped out of light emerges from between her fingers. Taking wing, the little 'watcher' flutters to follow Cindy's path and sate the Witch's curiosity

*

"Sounds like a good idea," Steve mutters in response to Black Widow. Even then, Cindy is already getting up with Steve following close behind. Originally he'd planned on walking with her, posing as a couple, but the little one took off already. Oh, the folly of youth. Although, being split up probably wasn't such a bad idea.

"Careful now. We don't know what this guy is transporting. If it's something that goes boom." A look up towards Cindy as she saunters several paces in front of Rogers, "Then we could have another big problem on our hands."

In the bad part of town, the suburbs outside of Paris proper, Shift's message is from Justin Dastern of SHIELD. It wasn't clear he had this number.

<Shift. Trouble at the Champs Elysees.> A set of coordinates are given in the next message, followed by another message. <There's a standoff inside a coffee shop on the north east corner. Terrorist from Algeria wanted by SHIELD and several European countries> The fourth message is a grainy picture of some run of the mill terrorist with a shaved head, goatee, and sunglasses.

*

From her perch, Natasha can see it unfold all rather quickly. A man in a business suit drops slightly and sets his briefcase down right in front of the man in the jumpsuit. The latter picks it up as fluidly as you like, and then it's in the hands of the man in question. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Horgan takes a right away from Cindy, Steve, and Witchdoctor, but still in range for Black Widow for a tad bit longer.

*

"Suitcase down, I'm taking the shot," Natasha announces on com, just before the man in the jumpsuit can pick up the suitcase. She fires a shot of tranquilizer dart, before quickly loading to hopefully still get a shot at Horgan as well, "I'll try for Horgan," she says as she reloads, "but you can help him trip up if he turns tail." Back with her crosshairs on scene, she checks for last position and goes from there to locate Horgan.

*

Cindy Moon shivers a bit, rolling her shoulder and stretching out in an exagerated way as she pulls her collar up to conceal her mouth. "Ever feel like you're being watched?" She mumbles, slowing down a bit so she's walking abreast with Steve now. Honestly, it was probably for the comfort of being with Steve above anything else. "Eh, if something like that happens again I'll give him the ol' razzle dazzle." She remarks cheekily, flashing a hand signal at Steve as she tries to get closer to him, yep- totally a couple! Which is adorable, because Steve is all of a foot taller than the tiny spider-woman.

"Who even /wears/ jumpsuits." she adds to herself, barely over a whisper, only for her to perk up as Red speaks up. It's go time! The girl already tensing as she reaches to her neck, the girl pulling her red scarf up to conceal the bottom half of her face, her bangs cascading over her eyes as she gently lets a hand brush along Steve's arm- with his go!

*

Dastern? "You've got to be fucking kidding me," Shift murmurs. He reads the message, even goes so far as to examine the grainy picture, then tosses the phone aside.

Smoke, smoke, smoke. Blow. Repeat.

Then, with a sigh, Kwabena curses again. "Son of a bitch." He snatched up the phone again, examines the coordinates, then swipes over to an app titled, simply, KILL. He taps and holds, and within seconds, the phone's memory is wiped. For good measure, the mutant's fist transforms, and he crushes the phone to mash.

In the blink of an eye, his clothes are flopping to the ground. Where there was a Shift, there is now a cloud of black, living smoke. It 'leaps' up to the wall, curls up, then vaults itself into the air, headed for Paris.

Not far from the Champs Elysees, some poor sucker gets ripped off his motor scooter. Probably a bad idea to roll down an alley blasting French rap music. The French party kid grunts and complains as a naked black man seems to come upon him from nowhere. There is struggle, but in time, with the sounds of Booba blasting from the motor scooter, the party kid's clothing has been ripped free.

"Merci, connard," Kwabena leers, before transforming into smoke and filling the poor chap's horrible clothing choices.

Damnit, Dinah.

https://youtu.be/8D2ACpSnR60

Moments later, the motor scooter rolls out into the street. It's rider, dark skinned, wears bright red jeans, a high collared yellow shirt and a fucking puffy vest with band patches on it. Thank goodness for the Ray Bans.

The rap music keeps on bumping. Kwabena pulls up next to a pair of well dressed French models, and leans his high top sneaker down onto the pavement. He promptly begins hitting on them, his French accented but well practiced, but behind the shades, he's not looking at their legs, their asses, or their caved in faces. Nope. He's casing the area, looking for the target.

Damnit, Dastern.

*

Well…things were happening. That much is certain. Alyse's little watcher keeps its link back to the Witch's senses while the blonde woman herself stands from her seat. She's stepping to walk parallel to the 'coupe', keeping an eye on both them and the jumpsuit man when finally she sees the briefcase switch. A handoff? The plot thickens! Ever curious, but not clued in on the game, she herself seems to have gone unnoticed for now as she trains her gaze on the scene unfolding.

*

PNK!

The tranquilizer dart hits true, right in the back, just below the neck. Horgan should be sleeping like a baby, but unfortunately the dart falls to the sidewalk as it hits something metal. I guess that's why he wears the dorky looking, loose fit jumpsuit. The dart clatters around, it's pointed edge blunted and bent from where it came into contact with the suit.

Horgan turns towards where he was shot from and raises his right hand. A half second later, the entire facade of the apartment building Natasha is in begins to melt. The walls turn yellow at first, and then pink and the brick and mortar begins to melt away. One person, who was enjoying the beautiful breeze as the sun is moving towards its set, screams as their flesh begins to burn away from bone.

Horgan, meanwhile, bursts into a sprint and turns a corner into an alleyway.

The tires of an out of place looking SUV begin to screech as Steve bursts into a run after Horgan, slowed mightily by the commotion and the people in the streets. People are beginning to take notice, several are beginning to yell, afraid there is a terror attack happening right in front of them.

The SUV skids into a turn and the back passenger door opens towards Steve as someone throws two objects out. Steve catches his helmet and his shield in one fell swoop and never breaks stride as he pulls out onto the street, which seems easier than the sidewalk at this point.

*

Kwabena pulls into eyesight of the coffee shop, close enough to see into the windows. There doesn't appear to be any terrorist attack in there, but he can see Captain America, dressed in casual wear, plus helmet and shield, running right towards him.

"Nat, are you alright?" Steve yells as he's running along. "This has gone to heck," he says afterwards. "If you're alright, do we have any chance to get the guy who had the handoff? I've lost Horgan. Moon?"

*

Cindy Moon caught the plink of metal on metal, the crowd noise little more than static as her senses pinpoint on Horgan. She would have all of a moment as he turns around, the young woman cringing as lightning ran down her spine. "Widow! Move!" She shouts, her silk senses flaring as she tries to push her way through the crowd. But, she doesn't have a chance to intercept, the young woman stymied- and then stopped as she glances over to catch sight of the melting building. O-Oh Crap. /Crap/.

She's frozen for a moment, eyes glancing this way and that as the panic sets in on the street. "A-Ah Cap- Silk senses are out." She hisses under her breath, a sharp pain shooting through her head and momentarily stunning her as everything starts moving all at once, a hand reaching up to steady herself as she takes in a sharp breath.

"Moon?"

"A-Hr! On It!" She shouts back, squinting and pushing herself through the immediate haze. She pushes her way through the crowd, only to crouch and then throws her hands out, two lines of webbing shooting out to anchor on the roof of a close building, and then with a pull and a jump- then with two more lines she's airborne, already trying to scope out the goofy jumpsuit.

Look Shift! A spider!

*

"Der'mo," Natasha hisses when she notes not only did the shot at Horgan fail because he's either some kind of cyborg or wears an exoskeleton, but he's apparently got some sick abilities, because the building she's in is coming down. She doesn't wait for that to happen, sniper rifle quickly slung over her back, she shoots a Widow's Line out the window and swings out across to the to the building on the other end of the street, "of course I am. Please tell me someone got the briefcase," Natasha asks across com, her voice a bit unclear with the rush of wind as she swings to safety. "I'll scope once I get set, a moment…" and as she reaches the other building, she clings to it's wall and promptly climbs up towards the roof, where she means to setup a new sniper's nest, trying to retrace the fellow in the business suit.

Cindy Moon notes, she can't believe she said something as dumb as 'silk sense' outloud.

*

All eyes seem drawn toward the apartment building, as the facade begins to melt down. No longer holding to the models, Kwabena's mouth falls open a bit, before a curse in French is uttered out. Like wiping one's ass with silk, indeed.

Speaking of.

Shift takes note of Cindy vaulting into the air a moment before Cap comes into view. "Cap!" he calls out, whipping the shades free to reveal his telltale silver eyes. Then, the motor scooter is peeling away, ripping around to give chase on the fleeing Horgan. Kwabena may not be able to see the melting man, but he saw which alley the guy sprinted into. The little scooter honks to move people out of the way, before mounting the curb to cut across an intersection, shaving time. "Deplacer! Hors du chemin! Deplacer!"

About that time, the music changes.

https://youtu.be/qOGSqC7xds8

Shift grimaces. French pop music is the worst.

*

Mysteries are usually subtle. Even a dart from a suppressed rifle in a crowded street would still fall into that catagory in Alyse's eyes. But things like melting buildings and burning bodies? Not so much. The sounds of death and screaming have Witchdoctor reaching into her jacket for a gun, only to find fingers clutching empty space of a weapon she'd left behind. A frown comes to her lips, but only because a gun would leave far fewer questions then whatever else she might do.

Perhaps Cindy's sensory boost might pick up on the strange fluctuation that is the Watcher butterfly, but what comes next is far simpler to take into account. Even melted, a falling building brings with it debris and danger to people on the street. People including a certain Witch who'd come here to enjoy French coffee and a relaxing evening! Raising her hands, Witchdoctor brings her palms together almost like she were making the motion of a 'slow clap', but the hands remain fixed while the building's pieces rain down, only to warp and twist in their paths as if the smoke and wreckage were being compressed in some invisible tube. While the 'energy' creating the walls isn't quite as visible as some of her other magics to the naked eye, the effort is a little harder to ignore as Alyse gives a grunt of effort and finally turns on her heel back towards the pair she'd been following.

And fall on the man with the Rather distinct shield.

"Oh."

*

"Wish I could," Steve huffs to Nat as he follows where he thinks Horgan went. He can't see, of course, being on ground level. Cindy, can, however, and she sees something odd in the alleyway. A manhole cover being slid back into place. That's certainly odd. Especially since there's no one by it.

Steve stops abruptly, almost barrelling into Shift's scooter. "That is a terrible outfit," he says as he runs by. "Come on!"

But Shift is already thinking what he is. They've both lost the MELTER but Cindy is on the scene.

*

THE TRISKELION
NEW YORK

Justin Dastern sits back into his chair and closes his eyes in frustration. The plan should have worked. How Phillips got information he didn't have access to was infuriating. His Hail Mary to have Shift intercept and slow Steve's progress didn't take Cindy Moon into account.

With a violent swipe, Justin knocks laptop clear off his desk in anger. So hard in fact, that Tracy from down the hall knocks to see if everything is okay.

"Das?"

*

Black Widow gets out of the apartment just before the flooring goes slag and falls away. The MELTER is no longer applying his terrible technology, but the damage is done. Several people have been killed already while still others have received very bad burns. But there is still the mission.

The man who dropped off the briefcase is moving quickly against the floor of traffic. He's trying to pick up his pace, but not look like he's trying to pick up his pace.

Luckily, the chaos of the apartment building is being taken care of by the Witchdoctor. Material that has no right to remain standing holds in place allowing many more people who would likely die or at least be injured to find a way to freedom.

*

Cindy Moon cringes, a hand reaching up to her ear as she lands against one of the buildings that form the alley way, the woman clinging to the wall with one hand as the other flies out in the direction of the manhole cover. "He's using the sewers!" She calls out, being ever so helpful as webbing erupts from her fingertips once more, the girl snagging the cover before she snaps her arm back, getting leverage on the line and then twisting her whole body as she pops off the cover with relative ease. Enhanced strength is fun, You know what is less fun? The smell as she drops from the sky straight into the sewer.

Chasing HYDRA through sewers? Honestly, the deja-vu is overwhelming.

At least Mr.Jumpsuit isn't a tentacle robot, that would make things interesting again.

"In the sewer…" She mumbles over comms, landing triumphantly beside the ladder and quickly checking about, things were calmer down here- but even with her Silk sense she knows she's going to be at a dissadvantage. "Watchout for whoever is up there…" She adds, glancing upwards into the bright light funneling in from above.

*

"I was trying to blend in!" Shift retorts to Steve.

Riding a scooter dressed like a chump with terrible music blasting that he doesn't have time to figure out how to switch off. Without his uniform, likely to end up naked and not in the fun way. Shift has had better days.

The scooter pulls up to the open manhole cover, at which point he can finally spare time to kill the radio. Hopping off, Shift takes another moment to survey the area for hostiles. He spies the webbing hanging from the walls above, and doesn't need a comm to know that Silk has made for the sewers. He leaps in behind her, using a momentarily solidified pair of hands to grasp the ladders' edge, slowing his fall. His usual landing? Again… probably would end up naked, and covered in sewer grime.

With a splash, he lands, turning silver eyes upon Cindy. "What an incredible smell you've discovered," he quips, by way of greeting.

*

Natasha set in her new sniper's nest, keeps huting the man running with the suitcase in her sights, and if she gets a chance, she will take a shot. She wants that suitcase, "acknowledge, I'm trying to retrieve the package. We'll rendezvous back at the safe house."

*

By the time the building is clear and falls into a more static heap, Witchdoctor's eyes are left with nothing much to see. The rest of the team had moved pretty damn fast in their pursuit and she'd been too busy trying to protect the civillians and herself to know which way they went. Only the little tiny bobbing light of her Watcher spirit that still followed Cindy with the single-mindedness of any dutiful construct left her with any idea of where things were moving or what was going on.

"They're clear…they'll handle it fine…" she comments to herself, turning with intent to leave the scene and the work up to the agents…then the scent of burning flesh truely hits her nose and she exhales a breath with a muttered curse, intending to follow along just in case. That 'Melter' couldn't be allowed to use his toy twice.

*

But it isn't the normal sewers.

Once Cindy gets down into the caverns below, she'll feel a dark sense of foreboding. The manhole covers up an air vent into one of Paris' creepiest secrets: its catacombs.

Built to provide more space for its citizens, the graves of thousands were dug up and buried in a maze of passage ways underneath the city. All around Cindy are skulls and bones, built into a spectacular jigsaw puzzle. The pathway leads to the right and to the left. No light. And no discernable exits.

Steve leaps down to join Cindy and lands in a huff. "Well, I could have ended the day without seeing something like this."

"Seriously," Steve says to Shift. "The clothes are terrible. And that's coming from me. You know what I wear."

Steve looks around. "I'm not going to be much use here. Moon, do you feel anything? We'll head one way. Shift, do your thing and go smoke down that way, see what you can find." Goin' gas will at least get him out of that outfit.

Witchdoctor, still, is able to watch the proceedings without any interference.

http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/77663/paris_catacombs.jpg

*

Cindy Moon doesn't even need her silk sense to realize there was some serious bad-ju-ju going on here. It just /had/ to be the catacombs, and Cindy cannot help but squeeze up against Shift as he makes his apperance. You know, so he can watch one side and she can take the other! "Well, I try." She remarks, the frown set on her face a she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Just, needs to focus, pay attention to your surroundings, close out the voices… Her little moment of meditation hardly picks Steve up as he lands as well, the young woman trying her absolute best to catch any hint- even the lightest ragged breath. "I- Not yet. Can't get a pinprick on him." She could almost feel the webs running about her, each one carying a gentle vibration but hardly speaking to her. "Though, remember what I said about being watched?" She asks, opening her eyes and putting a hand to her head. "Still can't shake that." She remarks, more than a little worried as she turns her head. But, she's doing her best to hide it as she turns down the tunnel.

"Let's get to it Cap." She remarks, letting Steve take the lead sos he can use him as a shield. You know, that's why he's here right?

Cindy Moon figures it's just the skulls staring back at her at this point… Grisly.

*

Steve receives a dubious look. "No uniform," he explains, before rummaging around the clothing, looking for anything that might create light. As it turns out, the douchebag had a little blue, very bright LED on his keychain, which will have to do.

"Dat chucklehead doesn't match de description Dastern gave me," Shift informs Steve. He casts a look toward Cindy when she squeezes up against him; he doesn't have any kind of extra senses per say, but he has experienced death and resurrection. Something tickles the senses there, though nowhere near the same degree. "You sure it ain't just de heebiejeebies?" he asks quietly.

"Hope you still got eyes topside," he tells Steve when it's time to move out. The lack of a uniform might explain why he isn't going to smoke. He's not about to willfully get naked in front of a lady unless she asks. Or he's left with no choice. With the blue LED lighting the way, he takes the tunnel to the left.

*

Catacombs. Even before she hoists herself down the manhole's open cover and into the darkness, the witch can -feel- all the…'history'. So many deaths and so many bones tied to one place and stacked to the point of forming walls and floors of bone? It's a necromancy dream and she's no necromancer. Her magic stems from something almost entirely the opposite. Giving a little grimace at the astral 'gunk' smothering her more mystic senses the blonde Witch continues her tailing of the 'Superheroes'

*

As the trio walk along, there's an eery quiet. Steve treads carefully; one foot in front of the other with the shield hung low. "Dastern? What does Dastern have to do with this? This is Phillips mission."

"SHIELD's here in some capacity, Odame. They should be able to keep an eye on things." But even as he says it, Steve doesn't know if he feels it's true.

And then, something. A faint hint of light in between the teeth of one of the skulls.

"Shh," Steve says as he listens close. His head leans almost against the skull like Hamlet listening to sweet nothings from Yorik to confirm that whoever made this little hideout did so with a small error. An error Captain America was going to take advantage of.

He reaches backwards and slams the group of skulls as hard as he can by using his shield to create a wedge. The wall of faces gives way, crumbling all around them. Beyond the rubble, the MELTER is downloading information into a set of computers in a high-tech computer lab of somesort. The suitcase sits just out of reach from where he stands and the foe's eyes become as big as saucers.

From the angle, Witchdoctor can see everything that's happening, including the makeshift laboratory.

*

Cindy Moon shutups just as instructed! Crouching low and keeping close as she tenses, one hand on Steve's shoulder as if they were something akin to a SWAT team, Cindy may have been watching too many movies. She's totally in the moment, which would also explain why all of the SHIELD talk went right over her head, though she at least got the ill feelings! Though, may be the fault of the skulls.

All of the skulls.

All staring at her.

But there's no time for crushing claustrophobia, the woman quickly turning around the corner as Steve breaks down the wall, one eye closing as she takes aim and-

Twhip! Twhip! Webbing shoots directly for MELTER's hands! If Cindy snags him, the spider woman is most certainly going to pull him into her- or well, more accurately? Pull him into Steve.

*

Phillips mission? The admission brings pause. Kwabena isn't far away, still contemplating the complexities of SHIELD, when Steve hushes them. Thinking he's found something, Kwabena doubles back and rejoins the others, watching as Steve straight up Indiana Joneses the wall to provide an opening.

"What de…" Kwabena's uttering is cut off by the twipping of Cindy's webs. In a blink, he's off, sprinting into the room and making a move for the briefcase.

*

Labs and lairs, just what had she gotten herself into? Cap's dramatic reveal had the Witch tensing, but the 'Melter' is probably more suprised then she is. She doesn't go barreling out just yet, not making any big revelations of her own about her lurking nearby as two of the trio rush forwards and leap into action. Instead Alyse hangs back with a frown and thoughts of things seeming too simple, her hand held out at her side starting to fill the air with the light tingle of static as a small jump of arcing voltage dances between her delicate fingers. Just in case."

*

Cindy yanks the Melter towards Captain America who drives his shield right into the face of the man they've marked. Lights out. It's pretty unceremonious. Meanwhile, Shift is able to get to the briefcase easily. It jiggles, and it is heavy. Shift knows enough to know that there's something pretty dangerous inside.

And just like that it's over. Steve stands in front of the computers, hoping that someone knows how to pull information out of it. Because the Melter was logged in, it opens up a host of avenues for information retrieval.

<Phillips, this is Cap. We found the package. And a whole lot of something else. We need extraction pretty quick, but someone with computer expertise had better get down here quick.>

<Good news, Cap. Widow just got the other one.>

But still, that feeling of being watched never leaves Steve. He looks over his shoulder, almost glimpsing Witchdoctor, but she stands just behind some of the rubble and out of view.

Steve looks to the computer screen, and against his better judgement he clicks on something. A list of names and cities begins to scroll. He clicks on something else and a photo expands: Drawings and plans and schematics of Fort Kirby.

*

Cindy Moon blinks, deftly cutting the lines with her fingers before she whistles and leans out over Melter. "… Don't ever let me get on your bad side…" She remarks to Cap as hed does his work, pulling the rear guard as she gently pushes the now unconcious Melter with a foot. You know, after she webs his hands behind his back. He really should just be happy that she hasn't learned his codename yet, because that's lame and cheesy even by HER standards.

"… Does this mean we have a combo move now?" She asks outloud, glancing towards the entrance once more before turning her head. She's glad she isn't the only one with that sneaking suspicion, but her abilities are still on the fritz and she hasn't scoped out more than that ill feeling.

*

"And tell Dastern he can eat a bag of d…" Shift chokes off the last word when he feels just how heavy that briefcase is. Looking down, he gives the item one testing jiggle, and his silver eyes go wide. "Oh. Dere's something nasty inside. Rogahs, bettah make sure dat extraction team is outfit with all de 'oh fuck' precautions SHIELD can afford."

There is a brief moment where Kwabena considers what might be inside. C4? Hot potatoes? Something nuclear? He suddenly seems to be carrying it with quite a bit of caution.

"Silk…" he quips, unwilling to move just yet. "Please make sure he isn't typing 'format drive c'?"

*

Ever unnoticed aside from Cindy feeling unnerved and some rumors about something holding up a collapsing building, only a faint flicker of blue light cast by the lightning that silhouettes her against the shadows and might offer a glimpse of the heroes magical stalker after the efficient dealing with the Melter. He was caught, supposedly by the good guys…so he'd get to live today.

A glimpse of blonde hair out of the corner of her eye and the Witch starts back the way she came, several steps taken before she vanishes in a sudden up-drafted swarm of what appears to be a thousand of those butterfly lights before they wink out to leave no trace of her behind.

*

Witchdoctor is careful not to be scene by the 13 SHIELD agents who start filling the catacombs. The entire extraction process takes 22 minutes and is done with a quick phone call to the Parisian police to let them know what's up. A bomb squad enters the catacombs to open up the briefcase…It's as bad as they expected. Inside is a biological weapon that could have put everyone with in a 6 mile radius at extreme risk. And that's without wind.

Hours later, as Steve, Cindy, Black Widow, and Shift are on their way home over the blue Atlantic Ocean, Steve sits in the chair of a Quinjet. The Melter and Horatio Umberto are locked up in the hold, with the former's toys taken away from him.

A far away look in his eye as he tries to think about what this all means and what Zemo's plan is. Really, even what Zemo's motivations are. The whole thing is lost upon him until an annoying warning trigger begins to sound.

"This is Carson," says the pilot as the distress signal comes through. "I need Phillips and Captain America right away. Fort Kirby is under attack!"

TO BE CONCLUDED.

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