Oil, Smoke and Dragons, Oh My!

September 17, 2016:

Ninjas from the League of Shadows are after a magical artifact for reasons unknown. Things go awry and they unleash a dragon. An eco-terror dragon. An X-Man and some SHIELD agents are all that stand in its way. Will their poiwers combined by enough? Find out!

New York City

Some too urban part of town where a beautiful track of empty lot which had been nearly fully reclaimed by the local flora was very recently cemented over for skaters.

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Plot:

Mood Music: [*\# None.]


Fade In…

It's supposed to be a date. A skate date. Because Darcy's had her cast off for about a week now. WHen one skating session under her belt, it's time to get a bit more physical. Not that the speed race on wheels against her boyfriend (Okay, just as an aside here. How the HELL did that happen? I mean. WHEN!? Pietro moves so fast, all Darcy can do it just hang on for the ride. But, man! What a ride!) can count as NOT physical. I disgress.

It's a date. Out at some too urban part of town where a beautiful track of empty lot which had been nearly fully reclaimed by the local flora was very recently cemented over for skaters. Darcy did not have anything to do with this. She just heard about this, and so, she's going. And dragging (NOT Dragging!) Pietro along. (Not Dragging. Pietro cannot be dragged along. Except that he IS dragged around, because he's wearing his skates and is clinging to Darcy's belt as she leans forward to haul his weight along behind her.)

"You know. I'm going to stop letting YOU have cakes! You're heavy as fuck and a horrible boyfriend. Why the hell is this even happening? WHy am -I- dragging your 'look at me in my atheltic gear all the time I'm so fit and fast and can eat anything because my metabolism in like weeeeeeeeeee whatthefuck Hammy on Coffee' ass? I'm the girlfriend! I should be the fucking Kaboose here, Maxxie-pie. Not you. And not one word about me not having my skates on already, you little shit." Darcy… grousing…

-

"You didn't have to." Zillah smiles gently, her face nothing but a sheet of red thanks to the attentions of a certain ginger. "How did you know I adored lilacs?" The Israeli questions, bringing the bundle up to her face and taking a deep, adoring intake of its scent. "And…how did you get them in season? Isn't it fall already?" Cradling the bundle of white and lavender blossoms, she smiles at the woman walking beside her.

The brunette looks bookish today; jeans, sweater, boots, backpack, and some wide glasses on her face. She also has a companion, it seems, one that has arrived in surprise. "I'm sorry, your name was Pamela, wasn't it?"

-

"Not having to just makes doing so that much better, doesn't it?" Ivy smiles as she walks next to Zillah. Dressed in a green sundress that might almost be taken as a sign of humor for 'Poison Ivy' keeping a low profile, Pamela just shrugs at the question of the Israeli woman she'd invited out.

"Pamela, Pammy, Pam…whichever you like," the cholorokinet practically purrs at the brunette before pulling back with a shrug. "It is, but I suppose you could say I have somewhat of a green thumb."

-

"I am the worst boyfriend, but you are the best girlfriend, Ms Lewis." Pietro Maximoff, a young mutant of silver hair and an ever-present mischievous smile, says in the sweetest of tones. "Would you mind dragging me a bit faster? I'm not really used to this kind of slowness—" and before he is hit, his dashes at mutant-level-speed to Darcy's side. Yes, evading danger and potential deadly blows is something he is used to. And, just to neutralize any killing attempt before it happens, and because he really loves to, he takes Darcy in his arms and kisses her softly. "I mean, there's no rush." He amends and clings again to her belt.

Quicksilver, as some have called him, wears a new Roger Waters shirt, black pants and a silver (he honors is code name) jacket. His hair is messy, as always, but he couldn't care less. Blue burning eyes are sparkling in amusement. Everything about him tells of the great day he is having so far.

"And think of giving my cakes as a social service. Isn't the world a better place every single time Pietro eats a cake? You don't have to answer yet!" his voice is so serious one would even think he is speaking the truth. Or maybe he /does/ consider it true. "Actually, you don't have to answer at all. But, deep down, you know it's how it is." His accent is European, from Transia, to be more precise. Usually he hides it in front of other people, but not today. He is just himself when Darcy is around. "Did you bring team mates to finally beat me in a race?" He teases (even knowing he /always/ loses when racing, specially against Darcy) while spotting two more people around.

-

"I will mule kick you," Darcy retorts after Pietro tries to smooth things over with a kiss. She is looking over her shoulder at his smiling face, finding it harder for her to stay annoyed. (She wasn't really annoyed.) She rolls her eyes at the bit about cakes and as the two come into view, Darcy smiles at the red-head.

"I don't need to cheat, Hot-pants," she reminds Pietro before lifting a hand to wavey-wave at Ivy.

"Hi!" she calls out brightly. because that's what you do when you see someone you only met once in a coffee shop. You greet them big and loud and happily. They'll either fallinto your Weird or run screaming.

And that's how Darcy met her boyfriend. Only on the CW.

-

"Then you're very gifted." The accented young woman smiles pleasantly, going back for another 'hit' of that signature aroma. She glances up then, noticing the waving girl with her pale haired boy attachment. Giving a grin of her own, she offers the wave back, because manners matter. Glancing to the green dressed red-head, she questions smoothly, "Friend of yours?" Should the pair wish to speak, she steps off to the side of the passage way, allowing its traffic to continue without her gumming up the works.

-

Pietro's grin is only enhanced by the threat of being mule-kicked. "You know? I'm very fast. I've never been kicked before. /Except/ for that one time…" His mind drifts to ponder over some memories. "And that other time… Oh, and that day with the chickens and—Yes, I'm very fast, so you can try." His chuckle is defiant!

Then, as waves are exchanged he shakes his head. "See? I knew you were cheating. It's so obvious. Do you want me to believe they were just passing by? No, you totally called them in desperate search for help. Hello!" He says warmly to the newcomers.

-

"I'll taze you first," Darcy threatens even as her lips twitch with amusement as Ivy steps away. Darcy and her Quicksilver belt ornament move over to Zillah. She stepped away in the 'let's talk' so Darcy's gonna stop.

"Will you please explain to my nut-case BF that I did NOT call you in a desperate search for help and that he's being melodramatic?"" she asks of Zillah before extending a hand.

"Hi. I'm Darcy. This is belt cling is Pietro…"

-

Zillah blinks, confusion evident on her features. "Um, I'm sorry? Help?" Clueless to the inside joke, she offers out her hand habitually. "Pleasure to meet you, Darcy. Pietro. I'm Zillah." One hand shaken, she offers it to the silver-haired man as well. Pulling back, she glances off toward the departing Ivy, and then back again. "You know Pamela?" She questions of Darcy, seeing as how the ginger was the one she originally waved to.

-

Darcy's belt ornament nods gently as Zillah gets closer. "My name is Pietro, indeed. Pietro Maximoff. It's a pleasure to meet you." His brow raises at Darcy. "It's fine. I get it. And I don't blame you! Racing me is too terrifying, yes. So you brought Zillah", a new nod is given to the Israeli, "to help you and finally beat me." The inside joke should be clarified at this point. "Because last time doesn't count. You tricked me into getting two ice-creams while we raced, /but/ I don't want to bore Zillah with the stories of your sportsmanship low conducts." He smiles sweetly, of course!

-

"Not really. Met her at a coffee shop. Thought I'd be friendly. She seems busy, so I'm not bothered. By her, anyway. Pietro is a different story…" Darcy pauses to look back at the silver-haired man clinging to her belt even as her gym bag is slung over a shoulder.

"You're not going to get any from me tonight," she states, one side of her mouth kicking up in a smirk. Then she looks back at Zillah.

"We're being weird, and were going skating and-"

That's when there's a small explosion from near by.

"Fuck my life. I was off the clock!"

Something went boom, and suddenly the ninjas (who either caused the explosion, were created by the explosion, or got their ninja hidey-holes exploded by the explosion) tumble out onto a street that is clearing quickly of screaming civilians.

-

Zillah jumps at the sound, her arms clutching around the cluster of flowers, and eyes wide with concern. "W-what's going on?" Then she notices the figures in dark clothing. Nibbling her lower lip, she steps back, ready to allow that 'fight' to fade, and 'flight' to take over completely. The explosion, the screaming, it was home all over again, and not something she was ready to deal with. "We should call the cops.." She whispers to the pair, still stepping away and getting ready to bolt. "Get out of here! They look dangerous!" She pants, "We should hide…"

-

"Oh, of course I will." Pietro says just by the time the ninja explosion starts! "I thought Transia was dangerous, but what is wrong with this city?" He mutters the rhetoric question to himself. And he has reasons. So many strange things have happened since he put foot on New York. But, in a way, for someone who falls into boredom so easily, this is even entertaining. As long as innocent people are not harmed, that is.

"Yes, call the cops. But don't worry. They won't do anything to you. And, if they try, they won't do anything to anyone else. Ever." Quicksilver is pretty confident in himself. The mutant blurs and suddenly his skates are on the floor beside them. When did it happen? Whenever it was, he is now many steps ahead, between the shadow people and the pair with him.

"So, hanging around, I see?" He says to the ninjas. "Your explosive entrance was quite disturbing, you know? We were trying to have a talk here." Pietro walks a few more steps forward, now at normal pace, gazing to be always aware of any of them who gets any closer.

-

"Cops have shit for response time and aren't equipped for this," Darcy retorts, tone calm and focused. She pulls out her phone as she's toeing off her tennis. Phone earbud slammed into her ear, she activates it and tell sher phone: "Call WORK." Gym bag dropped, Darcy yanks out knee pads as she's stepping into bright red skates.

"This is Agent Lewis, calling in a 426, 8th and Madison. Current count, 8 hostiles. There was an explosion; casualty count unknown. We have civilians. Get a response team. I've got a friendly meta. He gets pinched, I get pissed. I'm moving to clear and engage. Hurry your asses," she's saying into the mic on a wire dangling from the earbud as she yanks the laces tight. Her green eyes behind bright red glasses and the heavy prescritpion lens that have a slight green anti-scratch tint to them are clear and steady.

"Clear out. Pietro and I will handle this," says the girl to Zillah as she yanks on a be-stickered helmet upon which is painted the words 'SassMastah D'. Darcy clicks the chin strap and tugs up in the elbow pads as she turns to get people clear and see what can be done about ninjas.

She's now very grateful her SO is a ninja!

-

Zillah nods, and nods again. She wasn't going to say anything against them. Another step back, and the girl is gone, running away as fast as her little legs could carry her, bookbag thumping painfully against the low of her back.

-

Pietro listens attentively to everything Darcy says on the phone, but his gaze never leaves the ninjas. Most likely they won't move so fast that he lost the track of them, but there's always the chance that some of them are enhanced. Or all of them. He may joke constantly and be incredibly relaxed, but when people he cares about is in dangerous, he is very serious about it and takes no unnecessary risk. That said, the fact that Darcy is speaking means she is alright for the time being. He feels the steps that run from the place, and holds his ground to keep any ninja from advancing to intercept Zillah, or harm Darcy.

"Not feeling very talkative today, huh?" He continues pressing them. Trying to get anything from the mysterious people. "I will only ask this once, and trust me, you don't want to test the veracity of my words. Who are you and what are you up to?"

-

The ninjas pietro is facing off against are not talkatice, no. They seem less interested in fighthim as one would think of ninjas who appeared with an explosion… because of an explo- look, it's complicated. They shift, trying to put Pietro between themselves and the building they must have come out of. the Building that had been exploded.

With Zillah running for it, Darcy rolls out to Pietro, tazer in one hand. She fully trusts the speedster to protect her as she peers at the building.

"Dispatch… cancel regular response. Get me a WAND specialist. I'm upgrading 426 to 108," Darcy is saying, seemingly to no one, but she's still got dispatch on her phone's earbud, which is crammed into her left ear. Her phone is tucked into her bra. She flicks a glance at Pietro. "I was off the fucking clock too. I want cake after this," she adds to the BF, "keep the pajama-ninjas busy, would you? I've gotta see… that thing…"

-

A sharp whistle gives it away; that rushing brush of something flying through the air at great speeds as it heads for the figure with silver hair, who's currently trying to talk down some of the figures with covered faces and body armor. A figure perches atop an opposite building, bow still arm's length away, and string snapped back into place. Their numbers, the ones on the streets, don't seem to be made of many, but it appears that some are still in hiding, clinging to the darkness and using it to their advantage.

The archer glares as the projectile misses its target, and after firing, they slip away, possibly to move into a new position; not wanting to fire from the same place twice.

-

The Speedster doesn't like the idea of the ninjas moving. He doesn't care for their reason, or even their direction. He doesn't seem comfortable with them moving from their places.

"Ok, I gave you the chance." He says heavily to the silent ninjas, closing his hands in fists. "We /could/ do this in a pacific way. We totally could. But you force me to do it in a Quicksilver way. And only one of us will enjoy this." The mutant seems ready to dash forward, but then Darcy is talking.

And an arrow.

Pietro moves just enough, not a single inch more than needed, to dodge it as it flies by.

"We're gonna do this, Quicksilver way." He echoes solemnly, letting a sharp smile fade in.

"You will have cake after this," He adds to his girlfriend, fully trusting her, even without knowing her plan, just before sprinting beyond the speed out sound in the ninjas' direction. "You heard her. I'm going to keep you busy." His fists are tightened even more and then he dashes to hit the closest to Darcy first.

-

Having received a request for backup from Lewis, May snags the closest handy arsenal (what? Lunair happened to be there!) and they arrive as hurriedly as possible. THat means that Lunair gets the dubious pleasure of travelling with May via Leyline. Harry Potter portkeys have nothing on leylines, and they only exist in so many places, so they're a few blocks away still.

May gives Lunair only as long as it takes for her to 'borrow' the nearest motorcycle to get over the disorientation, then they're on their way. "Start with non-lethal, and if they're going for kill-shots, reciprocate accordingly."

Vroom.

-

Lunair was actually getting some dessert or another. Her sweet tooth is a mile long. "Okay, I can fly in power armor if that helps." But otherwise, she'll get to the chop— err, motorcycle with May. And she will armor up. But Lunair doesn't really seem to enjoy leyline travel just yet. Even if she's usually using a portal gun to get around faster.

-

Darcy ducks the arrow too, far too long after it had already past. She does not possess the speeds. Her eyes are on the magic… thing… there's a code for-

"084! I've got a very angry dragon coming out of this building. Oil and smoke. I have no fucking clue! Dispatch, tell me someone's on the way!" Darcy's shouting… at the microphone dangling from her earbud, because she doesn't have an awesome communicator and so CALLED THE OFFICE.

"Better be chocolate," she murmurs at Pietro just as he dashes into the fray. She dashes awy from him, toward the now visible skeletal looking dragon. It's undulating body rises out of the shredded side of the building. As Darcy hastily described, what passes as skin and scales of hte beast are iridecent black like an oil spill. Wisps of thick black coal and disel fire smoke drifts from it as it moves, concentrated from the nostrils.

-

With the arrow having missed, the figure on the near by building slinks down to join the chaos that was on the ground. Metal clinks across concrete and road as civies scream like banshees, running in every different direction. Something hisses in the air, cloaking the area with heavy smoke. Something else whips through the air, wrapping around the legs of the speedster, squeezing tightly.

Then, a dragon comes. Grumbling behind her mask, a female voice strikes up and calls a command out to the others of dark clothing and swords. Those not already down from the advances and attacks of Pietro and Darcy, move back and formation and start skipping off toward the growing shadows of night, using the cover of the smoke field. Within the blink of an eye, they're gone, leaving the dragon behind.

-

The ninjas may not be very talkative, but Pietro is. "I'm sure you wanted to ruin our skate date. But the joke's on you, Donatello, because punching ninjas is great date material. Top 5. More like top 10. If it wasn't for—" Smoke bombs? "Seriously? What's next? A bola?" Oh, how ironic. The speedster falls to the ground, unable to move his legs. This is his kryptonite. How could he miss it? The smoke, of course. He fights to free himself, but it is futile. Darcy's words take his attention, then.

"A dragon? SHIELD surely has interesting code names for everything." Quicksilver mutters to himself. "It's probably an illegal cargo, probably that pills youngsters use all the—A DRAGON??" His eyes open wide at the skeletal dragon's presence. So, it wasn't just a code name, after all. His hand starts to vibrate faster, in an attempt to break the whip that holds his legs together.

-

Instead of a response from SHIELD Central beyond the 'yes, someone is en route', the sound of a motorcycle approaching heralds May and Lunair's arrival. When she sees the oilslick dragon, she slows the motorcycle and tells Lunair, "We're going to need something to contain those petrochemicals. Do you want to help contain it, or get something to deal with the chemicals?"

-

Lunair is there with May, in her power armor. She blinks. "Also the dragon. SO much the dragon," She blinks. She isn't on anything, right?

Nevertheless, Lunair pauses. "I can help fight it since that vibrating guy looks kind of busy," Lunair notes. "Or I can give you a bunch of absorbing powder."

Whatever option works, Lunair will lift into the air. "OH. Better idea."

Go go gadget power armored Agent May.

-

Darcy hadn't a clue what she planned to DO with the dragon, but it was a safe bet there would be people inside. She planned to pick her way under the beast, not get noticed… This is a bad idea.

The dragon steps out, claws tearing up the asphalt.

-

The whip that ties Pietro to normal-human speed is destroyed by his fast moving hand and in a fraction of second, he is back again and ready for action. "Agent May. Lunair." Both of them are greeted with an smile, though not as happy as he would like to. There's a dragon in front of them.

"Do you think that thing can run, or fly, fast enough?"

Seeing Darcy close to it doesn't give him more options.

"Hey, you!" He shouts to the dragon, sprinting at full-speed, stretching his own limits to hit the beast as hard as he can. It may not be enough to take it down, but that's not his plan. He hits and runs, trying to lure the dragon to the opposite direction from Darcy, hopefully taking the danger far from her and giving her space to rescue to trapped people, while also Melinda and Lunair can nuke it out.

-

May's first impulse had been to set the dragon thing on fire, but no. That would be bad. And then power armor. She immediately shakes her head no to Lunair. "This will slow me down. Armor Lewis instead." She indicates Darcy, who is ever so intelligently trying to fuck with the dragon-thing. "I'll just take an absorent-powder delivery system." She's kind of mentally picturing a super soaker shooting out kitty litter.

-

And that can totally happen. All of the city's cats are gonna be super confused for awhile. Lunair does as she's asked. "Hi Mister Quicksilver. I don't know, I am in power armor flying. I'm going to bother a dragon. Toodles noodles!" She'll give May a kitty litter cannon and take off.

With a dubstep gun. "Oh geez." Poor Lewis DOES need armor. Why not? And the dragon? Well, the dragon is being zapped with the Twerker.

Lovecraft has NOTHING on Lunair.

-

Darcy had been thinking fire, then water, then Dove. A crap done of Dawn Grease fighting dish soap… and Bounty, the quicker picker upper. Above her, the beast spreads out wings, destroying another chunk of building, part of which collapse down about Darcy. She ducks and covers against the wall as Pietro's distraction has teh beast tracking his movements. If it could inhale, things would be so bad right now. What it does looks like inhaling.. but really, it's more like it's about to upchuck all over Quicksilver. Tar. Sticky and hot.

Darcy will straighten up in power armor. What the heck? "Bitching!"

-

Pietro keeps hitting the dragon fiercely, always running back to guide him to its ultimate doom. A kitty gun and a Twerker. And power armors. The situation is so confusing that it is good for him to be so focused right now in distracting the dragon, while always trying to remain as alive as possible.

-

Melinda May rushes up to where Pietro had been, and fires on the oilslick dragon with the kittylitterlauncher 4000. She aims for that pukeface about to happen. Maybe she can make it choke on itself.

-

Lunair doesn't question it. She'll deal with clean up later. Right now, the dragon is probably twerking its tail off.

"Back! Bad dragon! Can I start hitting it now, guys?!" Lunair is going to probably shift to a stun gun or something if no one objects.

-

Twerking dragon butt is what Darcy contends with as she powerarmors her way inside to force civilians out a side exit. Meanwhile, oilslick dragon takes kittylitter to the maw. The tar sticks into a giant clump of clumping kitty-litter and tar, and clogs its throat. It tosses its head side to side in counterpoint to the butt-twerk, and thrashes against teh side of the building.

-

"Take it down, Lunair." May is totally on board with 'killing' this thing sooner rather than later. She keeps trying to coat it in kitty litter — hope Pietro doesn't mind the stuff falling on him, at least it's chemically inert so won't hurt him — and is ready to pull the speedster clear if the dragon starts to fall over. If she can get her hands on him, anyway.

-

Okay, time for lethal! She has to be careful with sparks and energy for obvious reasons. Lunair is hovering, trying not to giggle at the twerking dragon. "Right. Time to slay a dragon." How DOES one slay an oil dragon? This takes some thinking.

A gun that shoots swords, of course.

-

Fighter is pleased!

The swords slice into the oilslick dragon, and after not too long, the beast slumps and falls and oozes away into a puddle. In the middle of which is what appears to be an ornate statue of a dragon. It has scales of obsidian, black and reflective. The head looks like it is seamed and hinged and as it falls over in the oil and tar that is the only remains of this creature, the hinge opens. It looks like the jar spilled the oil everywhere and that the whole mess came out of the bottle… statue.. thing…

Darcy comes back out when the beast it dead, ready to help now that she's cleared teh civilians.

"Oh. it's gone."

-

Quicksilver pulls out, now covered with… chemically inert substance. He takes a moment to get far from the others, and twist and move as fast as he can, just to get rid of the most part of it. When he's done, after just a few seconds, he returns to witness the fallen dragon, now turned into a magical object of a sort he knows nothing of. "It's gone." he confirms, sitting on the floor for a moment, trying to rest for a moment. "Chocolate, then?" He asks idly to Darcy, trying to manage a smile.

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