November 04, 2016:
Apocalypse final plan is enacted though with its flaws. The X-Men, SHIELD, Iron Man and Witchdoctor shut him down but not without a price. Terrigen Gas now rolls in clouds across the world.
North American Airspace, Rhode Island
Characters
![class="image1"](http://cmbeta.wdfiles.com/local--resized-images//class="image1"/medium.jpg)
NPCs: Apocalypse, SHIELD Agents, War (Mikhail)
Mentions: Beast, Blaquesmith
Mood Music: [*\# None.]
Fade In…
Approximately 64 minutes ago reports began to circulate across media sites, television networks and radio channels of a massive inverted pyramid shaped was UFO sighted within Earth's atmosphere. It simply just appeared according to eye witness accounts. SHIELD has confirmed it's origin is undocumented and unauthorized, it's occupation of North American airspace is illegal. In response SHIELD and associated military officials declared they will issue a peaceful warning followed by action.
48 Minutes ago a chemical agent began to expel from the UFO.
35 Minutes ago a fleet of SHIELD lead combat aircraft led an assault against the UFO and was destroyed. The nearest Hellicarrier designated Argus scrambles for a secondary approach.
27 Minutes ago the obsidian vessel drifted within visibility ranges to even the naked eye it now occupies space between Canada and the United States where the green cloud proceeds to expel the alien toxin. Visual confirmation HAS declared this to be the warship of the terrorist Apocalypse. Conventional and advanced SHIELD forces have proven so far ineffective against the threat.
15 Minutes ago the first victims of the 'Cloud' collapsed on the streets several dropping in to seizures or convulsions. The full effects of the chemical agent are unknown. Public safety officials are advising all residents stay indoors. Updates will be posted.
11 Minutes ago a sound unheard of in years wails across the streets of almost every northeastern city, sirens, bomb sirens.
SHIELD Hellicarrier Argus - Nick Fury whistles low the end of his cigar being bitten off and spit out before he spins on a heel and looks at the assembled men and women in the command deck of the Hellicarrier, "We cannot get close to it but we can keep it locked down and occupied with MDS, I want all remaining ships in the air in a securing pattern but none of you are authorized to attack, we play defensive." A clearing of his throat and he chews a bit of the left over roll in his mouth.
"Junior Agent Lewis! Get up here." A pause. "Did you get promoted recently? Nevermind. You familiar with this man?" A finger jabs at one of the monitoring consoles, a Tech nearby zooms it in immediately so Agent Lewis can see Quicksilver. A rhetorical question no doubt, Nick Fury knows EVERYTHING. "You are going to get your ass up there with a squad, try to get in personal with him and discuss this. Right now talking might be the ONLY option we have and if that is not an option you are going to stall, stall and stall until we can find a damned solution to this massive clusterfuck. I want that thing out of my airspace."
"Technician Pudi, make sure the Justice League, Titans, Avengers, X-Red, all channels we know of are being spammed with a call to arms. It's time for them to prove they're the heroes we need them to be. I don't care who you try to scramble, even those whackjobs in Gotham if you have to."
A clipped salute is the response from the slender dark man in the SHIELD uniform.
"Whats the status on the DEO?"
A man in a uniform with a dark brown high and tight races up to Darce, grabbing her shoulder, "You're with us! I have a Jump Jet waiting personally just for you and a small armed squad. They're going to be your wingmen tonight."
Justice League Network channels light up, pinging every available 'Lister' in their books, they can't offer transport but they are acting as a hub to rally and one of those individuals is Witchdoctor. Maybe it came through Doctor Strange, Hawkgirl or Spider-Man 2099 but somehow, someway she is being patched in to Justice League and SHIELD communications, "You are needed!"
X-Men are already in motion. The Blackbird is being piloted by Rogue who had the skillset before she ever joined the team - there isn't much for conversation it's a grim moment as they know whats up there, Beast and Pietro.
Gambit does manage a large forced smile, "Allons-y, X-Men?"
Tony Stark has no doubt been monitoring this entire ordeal since one of his satellites began filming events transpiring on the moon. It has been silent until now.
Upon the Celestial tech warship Apocalypse stands peering down upon the world with arms folded behind his back, War and Death flanking him. There are no Dark Riders among their number any longer. A machine exists to his left, it looks like a captains wheel almost if not immobile and so full of cables, wiring and lights. A futuristic console meant for the control and distribution of the Terrigen Gas.
"Gaze upon the world that is now ours my faithful Horsemen. A world that is about to be changed to the bone. Thousands of years ago Kree Xenogeneticists facing demise of their own pitiful race at the hands of others traveled innumerable galaxies looking for the perfect subjects to introduce their science upon, to create a new, unpredictable and powerful weapon they could defend themselves with, they found this planet, our planet and it's apes, the humans, people they would elevate to a status close to mutants, the Inhumans. Do you see my design now? The world will be forced to accept metahumans in even greater number, they will be forced to encounter one another and even should I fail, which I may well as I was foiled in my ascension with Nate Grey's escape, I still win. We still win. The world will be at war with itself." A wave of the titan's hand and he motions beyond Pietro towards the earth below, "Prepare yourselves for War. What bombs they shoot down you will deliver by your own hands."
As the skies mix with a hue of unnatural green the heroes who gather ascend towards the black inverted pyramid to stop the end of days…
Nate escaped, but not unscathed, he still looks thinner and paler than he was before the fateful battle at Blaquesmith's ship and the left side of his face has new circuit-like scars. Nevertheless, he is well-rested and was deemed fit to go in the mission, and he is standing just behind Rogue, leaning against the pilot's seat and glaring at the black anti-pyramid. "Are we going to need extra protection for that green cloud thing?" He asks to no one in particular.
The reports of the UFO had Darcy busy. It was the shape that had her going back to the file she'd put together and sent at Agent May.
34 minutes ago, Agent Lewis forwarded her file to Fury's secretary. At 20 minutes, Lewis was at a work station trying to help scramble emergency services. At 11minutes, she looks up as Fury shouts her name. In his pause, she's left her chair and sprinted the short distance to his side. Tablet in hand, SHIELD office uniform on. This had started, after all, as just another work day, and Darcy hasn't taken time to change into tac-uniform. She looks to the monitor, lips pressing together.
"Yes, sir," is her reply. Crisp and quick and not at all happy sounding. When she's ordered to stall the speedster, she nods. She turns at teh grab to her shoulder
"I'd like to request Wanda Maximoff located and brought to my location as soon as possible," she tells the Agent as she leaves with him at a run. Well, as best as she can run in heels… for two steps. At which point she pauses to yank them off. She'll put them back on later. Like, facing off against her boyfriend, later.
"Fine. But you do what I say when I say. Got that? Anyone takes so much as I pop-shot at him, and so help me I will make filing reports such a living nightmare that working for HYDRA would look like a fucking blessing. Got it? Good. Get me down there and get Maximoff. She's got a file somewhere. Call down to WAND. They can get it.
"And for fuck's sake, someone get me a blue tooth bullet speaker," Darcy's saying quickly. Because in matters of Love and War, War needs to take lessons about playing dirty from Love.
A subtle smile is drawn under a silver fire gaze.
A hand closes in a fist, as an Apocalypse Horseman nods respectfully to his lord.
"They will come." Death says calmly, contrasting with a voice so monstrous and resounding that would cause shivers to the most valiant of men. "And they won't leave."
Raven black hair falls softly, covering a bit of the glowing eyes. He sighs long and relaxedly. The image of the mutant, once known as Pietro Maximoff, blurs for a moment in his place. A raging electric bolt crosses his body violently.
The smile turns sharper.
"They will come."
Rogue is focused, but in a manner that has brow creased, eyes narrowed, and mossy green cast in a foreboding shadow that makes hue hard to see - even iris. A cast shadow making scalera grey. Just like the skies.
Under the water
It's cold and it's grey..
Hands clutch the Blackbird's steer, where she should not be, but she has taken control since she has had to… Since the others cannot be found, and she has **Hell* to pay.
"We're going in, and how we come outta here…. Let's not talk of it, but gas is omitting like piss outta boot and it can't!" The Blackbird is ifted, above the cloud lining but still in atmosphere. "Can tell ya, he knows… We're here." The straps keeping her in the pilots chair are clicked open as auto pilot is guided into and bare fingers peel from the drive, gloves left hooked into her belt as she rises and heads for the back hatch, a finger thumbing the button as Nate gets a sidelong glance, one of sorrow in the backdrop - apology - and a shake of her head to him and Gambit.
"If ya can, protect. But this is only the beginning of the end my friends…" A single tear slides down a cheek and she looks away, regret evident, but helplessness reigns before she sniff it up and 'Sucks it Up Buttercup' before the hatch starts to open and a hand extends to those who need the aid down, otherwise the cloaked "wings" lash outward in a snap of fabric bearing green and 'silver'(white) lining.
Wanda is more than happy to take blame for things that have nothing to do with her so when she is summoned to help she puts it all down to not being a good enough sister. She could…should…have stopped what happened to Pietro but she failed so now she will do what it takes to make things right. A warping of reality and Wanda emerges from a portal and into the air outside the helicarrier. And she is not alone.
The Scarlet Witch, scarlet energy forming around her twitching fingers, frowns at the sight of the pyramid and the cloud of Terrigen gas. "I can take care of that" she whispers about the latter to her companion in the air before looking once more to the pyramid. Her brother will be in there…or at least his shell. Wanda taps at the X-Red comm device in her ear. "Hello? Anyone hear me?" She still has her Transian accent and a rather primitive knowledge of technology. "This is Wan…Scarlet Witch. I am here as you asked."
The Witchdoctor? She's not tied to any of these teams, not here on any government mandate…she's here for her friends. One wayward, both in need of help. Dressed not in her usual 'witch' gear but in what appears to be a white and gold trimmed duplication of Wanda's own costume. Emerging into the air behind the other woman through the same portal her own form appears to be surrounded by a faint golden light, small butterfly-like shapes of that same energy swirling around her fingers.
Without her own comlink, she'd have no direct link to either forces unless Wanda lent her an earpiece, and no desire to risk distracting herself from the potential battle to come. Wanda has the gas covered, Alyse? She's going to make sure her companion stays safe.
The name 'Scarlet Witch' is unfamiliar, but the accent is not. Darcy, having put a SHIELD comm in her ear, reaches up to tap it in order to respond.
"Glad to hear it, Red. This is Agent Lewis. I've got first pick of special teams, and you're with me on Roadrunner Duty. We stall or we re-calibrate his head. I'm packing Floyd, you pack baby pictures. We'll have this cleaned up in five. I'm in the hanger-bay heading for a Jump Jet. Meet me there," Darcy says into the comm. A glance at one of the gun-totting SHIELD agents joining the detail and she adds one more thing: "And if anyone gets trigger happy, you make with the newting. I won't keep track if they get better or not."
A darkened room, a metal tomb covered in screens and holographic visualizers. On every wall hollow visages gaze down into the center chamber where a large metalworking station rests. A shirtless Stark stands tall bandaged up from a number of burns and gunshot wounds gained just a few nights prior. Heavy metal music chimes out into the air through the speakers as video coverage from every news network plays in the background. The room is a mess piles of parts lay on the floor, empty bottles of burbon, and cups of coffee.
In his hand rests a large hammer attached to a swinging arm, only a few seconds pause between slams of the hammer onto the table in front of him. His face is unshaven and his eyes have the look of someone who has not slept in days. Each slam of the hammer down onto that metal suit rings out like a gunshot amplified a hundred times thousands of pounds of force behind every swing.
Sweat runs down the sides of his face as he works flashes of light shining out as hammer makes contact with metal. This has been his world for the last few days. Seek and destroy by Metallica gets cranked up even louder, shaking the ground beneath Tony's feet as he screams out behind the strikes "I need more time!" Starting to hammer in time with the drums of the song speeding right along as the new suit takes shape. People are dieing and he's not there to help, he's not fast enough… yet.
The lights flicker for a moment as he screams at full volume slamming the hammer down with all the force he can muster backed by systems cranked well beyond safe operating parameters. Smoke begins to raise up from the table as he wipes blood from his face.
That weary and tired face cracks a smile as Tony lifts the helmet up to eye level, face plate carved into a menacing skull looking right back at him with blood read eyes, big enough to be the torso of one of his normal suits.
Ten minutes pass and the roof of Tony's secluded research building begins to crack open to either side. From within the building a single black streak cracks out to full speed traveling well beyond the speed of sound as the explosion rocks the Forrest around his home for miles. There's little more then the meteorite trail behind him as Metallica blares inside of his suit new speeds being cracked down by the second as he travels for that pyramid.
"You sayin' you can't do that with your powers for us?" Remy inquires then kicks one of the side panels where a face mask falls out, there are plenty of these. Rebreathers they act as limited air supplies and filtration systems but there is no full body seals incase this agent can penetrate skin.
"No turning back now." Gambit announces before taking Rogue's offer for a lift to the anti-pyramid. The perfect flat ground for a pitched battle and final showdown with Apocalypse and his Horsemen.
"Tarrant, Agent Lewis, name is Tarrant but the other flyboys call me Wildman." A tap on his helmet and he does as commanded, tries to find a way to fetch Wanda Maximoff and then, there she is! "Whoah! Not going to get used to that ever." The Jump Jet pilot exclaims at the two witche's arrival before climbing aboard, the men inside scoot over for Wanda, Alyse and Darcy, "You heard her. No shooting the boyfriend." Quickly the jet is airborne and ripping through the air towards Apocaylpse ship.
"We have a very limited window to set you down unless you can hocus pocus in!" Pilot Tarrant's voice is heard through the comms, "I'll provide cover fire and the men will back you."
The obsidian anti-pyramid is flat and expansive on the top, lots of room, room enough to even land vehicles on it though they likely won't last if that does happen. "Only the strong will survive this test, my new world." A look upwards and Apocalypse stares at the cluster pops of gas in the heavens, the bombs, the plume is expanding above them opening like an umbrella and reaching outwards, as if being drawn in different directions, set locations across the world that had agreed to his terms or been curious enough to build the supposed domes of safety, Buranda, Volgograd, Ulaanbaatar, Osaka, Canberra, Johannesburg, Khartoum, Granada, to name the largest.
Quite a beautiful yet ominous sight really.
"Ah hah! They approach, look at them swarm… " A large smile spreads across those pale features. SHIELD again en masse? A swarm of jets last time destroyed effortlessly by the Horseman War, the X-Men in their Blackbird and what is this? A man in a metal suit? "The wonders never cease. I had hoped for more of a challenge."
"We will let this scene unfold, my horsemen. Let some of them land, have some fun in this world before it fully mutates."
And land the teams and heroes are allowed to do. No assault comes their way. Not yet.
Nate spends only a second to make sure the auto-pilot is going to keep the Blackbird hovering close by. If it is not shot down, but since they are not even bothering in shooting at them yet, is should be alright.
He will do his best to keep Apocalypse and his goons busy.
Dropping through the hatch he forms a telekinetic shield and drops-flies down, directly against the top of the inverted pyramid, and hitting it as hard as he can.
"Pleasure, Wildman. Let's do this." Darcy smiles at Wanda, and nods at the Wtch Doctor as she boards the Jump Jet. She's quiet, focused, calm (seeming!), and only looks up when Wildman's voice sounds. Green eyes settle on Wanda, her hands stilling on her arsenal: syncing the speaker to her iPOD, setting said iPOD onto the folder marked Floyd, and the small 9mm handgun. One magazine worth of bullets. And no armor, no skates, nothing that makes the otherwise office-attired agent look like she should be in the middle of a fire fight. She's slipped her heels back on her feet. The look she gives Wanda says it all: Well? Can you magic-poof us to the roof?
"Of course, my lord."
Death stares coldly at the arriving swarm. He is not a psychic, nor a magic user as his sister, but it doesn't take much to know some of the people who will come. There is, still, hiding in the shadows of a corrupt soul, a young silver-haired mutant, waiting for them, as well…
He awaits…
A new electric bolt flows slowly through his right arm. The projected light casts evil shadows all over the Horseman's features. For a moment, he looks as the monster he is.
And he laughs.
"Come here, come and meet your fate. You will either kneel, or you will, personally, meet Death. But, I assure you, I will feast on your fears for so long, that you will beg me for a merciful end before long. Come, come faster. I'm waiting."
Death casts a challenge, with his voice resounding through all the anti-pyramid at the same time. His voice is thunder. Thunder and rage.
Wanda glances at Alyse with a look of confusion over Lewis' words. "I did not understand much of that" she whispers to the other witch. "Though I think we are supposed to meet her on that." A wave of her hand at the helicarrier before she looks at the gas. Her scarlet magics reach out to the cloud and reality changes. The structure of the gas at the atomic level is adjusted. Hopefully it will do good rather than ill but she can't spend too much time on it with a trip to the pyramid in the offing.
"No shooting my brother" Wanda confirms to Tarrant and she and Alyse get on board for the trip to the pyramid. A smile of thanks offered to the blonde for accompanying her. But then people are staring at her. "Umm…we can try" she offers with not a lot of certainty before looking to Alyse once more. "Shall we?" Between the two of them - one distorting time and distance, the other much better with the portals - they should be able to get the jet there in an instance. Though it is still expected. Wanda sighs at the sound of Pietro's voice. "I would like to blame his words on what has happened to him but he was always like that" she smiles faintly to the others but now there is a pyramid to explore.
//My torrid autumn,
another season decays…
/We are looking for you - to start up a fight!…./ //
Once that is settled, or not, Rogue's hand offered is gloved just before Remy takes it and Nate is given a nod. One that would be the 'tip of a hat' but she bears not hat, not even a draw of the hood that hangs down her back, blasted up and then back with the opening of the bay door. "Don't hold too hard, cuz I am going to likely throw ya." A statement to Gambit and with Nate just beside them he is given a look of study, concern before it is made stoic. "'Ah got a score to settle and Death to bring to a halt. "'Ah made a promise…" Even if it -was- one that may truly end in a Death.
Famine promised Death an epic end, in the end… and this is it… At least for Rogue/ex-Famine. (Didn't get Darcy's memo!)
A catch of wind and that is all it takes, the wind catches the cloak, hovring Rogue and Remy beside Nate and when he plunges, a glance is passed to the Swamp Rat, a small apologetic smile, but a smile none-the-less before the swan dive into a plummet that would bring tears to eyes in the pressure but cause nothing more then popped ears for him and unshed…
Breaking cloud-cover and approaching the Pyramid, Rogue finally speaks before she skims close to surface and releases the hold on Gambit to allow him to do his own Reaping with Nate…
Parting with them Rogue breaks a barrier with a crack of sound that seems almost like thunder to come upon the side of the pyramid, the lightning cast by Death answered with thunder in a landing that offers cracks across the obsidian fascade.
Knelt upon one knee her hair of aubirn and streaked in white covtes her facade, a singe hand tucking beneath the veil to clip the gloves finger between teeth…
…and pull it free, the bare hand baring scarred knuckles extending, giving him a 'come hither' motion of fingers…
Maybe moreso 'bring it'.
And through those locks that green gaze pierces with a smile of accepting the challenge.
Say goodbye to the world you live in!
Speeding along Tony can't physically make the calculations himself as the suit does most of the work. It's a full pitch black in design the suit itself traveling at mach 20. Flames cover his vision as H.O.M.E.R. takes control of the billions of calculations being made every second just to keep it from exploding from traveling at these speeds. "How you holding up there Homer?" Tony asks while looking over the news feeds of recent events, before that confident Scottish accent chimes out into his ears. "I be given her the best Mr.Stark, but I'm experiencing minor malfunctions in the rear actuators, we won't be able to keep up this speed for long."
Stark slows down the thunderous boom following behind him as the metal still glows a bright neon red from the sheer speed of reentry. He holds out arms in a cross pattern, the suit suddenly exploding off of him in all directions revealing another suit beneath much more bare bones. As he stands there new pieces begin to slam down on his frame bulking him up from just over 6 foot to a full twelve feet tall. This new weight leads him to land down onto the surface of the anti pyramid with a heavy crashing sound this new suit not yet painted for the job but built like a tank.
"Sorry I'm a bit late, made a wrong turn on the interstate after that third cloud of poison." Confident as he walks forward. "Oh, hey guys, nice party you've got here, see Fury brought the clowns." Said with a smile and a bit of a point in the vague direction of the enemy. "Didn't mean to bust in, but I think my invite got lost in the mail."
The scene looks like Independence Day, around the floating anti-pyramid dozens of squads of aircraft circle in formation, the balefire green backdrop of clouds mix with the falling sky creating a glow upon the earth below as the world hides from this Apocalyptic scale nightmare.
"The vessel, come to kill me as you did my children? I am pleased you do not let morality hinder your hand. A true warrior doesn't abhor violence and death. He embraces it, conquers and owns it." The Forever Walker appears to be both gloating and taunting those who are joining them upon the expansive obsidian's flat exterior.
Remy LeBeau lands near X-Man with his bow extended cards fanning out in his free hand and glowing with charged energy. He is ready for another whack at Apocalypse. More than eager. It is Tony Stark's arrival has the Cajun cocking his head, "I'm still de most handsome one here. Glad to see you joining us lowly pilgrims, Iron Man."
Tarrant if necessary desposits the trio of ladies on the surface, around them will descend a four armed and armored shield operatives. Tactical experts their mission is to protect Wanda, Alyse and Agent Lewis at all costs. The Jump Jet pulls back before any retaliation is possible.
The green cloud being manipulated by Wanda appears to have some effect but not to the extends she would hope, not without extreme concentration and focus, maybe something more. The sheer size of the cloud is in the atmosphere and spreading, expanding and enveloping the world, it looks very much like a famous NASA cloud coverage photo only very green. It will take more than what Wanda is exerting now to make a massive dent, though, she may have saved a small city with the tinkerings shes already applied. It is a beast of it's own that Terrigen Gas cloud.
"War, Death. Show them your power." Apocalypse demands of his Horsemen.; War is the tall broad shouldered and dark haired man in reds, he has at this point been reluctant to move save for destroying the previous fleet. Now he looks over those gathered, "Dasvidaniya." The Russian-Voidrealm accent is an odd mix but clear enough, raising up one hand he aims his fingers towards Scarlet Witch, Agent Lewis and Witchdoctor, green lances of energy begin to peel off of the tips of his gloves, those human troopers who had landed near them all crumple in to smoldering piles of flesh and bone. Bodies pierced by energy projected fire.
"I'VE WAITED FOR SO LONG, ROGUE. SINCE WE FIRST FOUGHT, I WANTED AN EXCUSE TO MEET AGAIN…" Death smiles, his powerful growls cover words spoken so calmly, so slow… so sweet. "AND SHATTER YOU."
For Death, killing can be an afterthought, or a ceremony. Some killing take more heart to them, and even worse when a challenge has been cast his way.
They had some story, before.
Rogue, formerly Famine, had beaten up Pietro, taking him close to death and forcing him to retreat. Even before kneeling before Apocalypse, he was always proud, sometimes in excess, and that is something he would never forget. Now, maybe he wouldn't take everything so far if it was his true self, but now, being Death, no threat is taken lightly.
And no killing is dealt without dark enjoyment. Death, unlike the mutant he once was, is a beast. A beast who enjoys the hunt.
"WHY DON'T YOU GET A TASTE OF MY POWER, ROGUE? TAKE IT, TAKE SOME OF MY SPEED. AND, THEN, YOU WILL SEE THE INEVITABLE TRUTH,"
The Horseman walks a step forward, facing her, challenging.
"NO MORTAL, NOT EVEN THE MOST POWERFUL OF THEM, CAN OUTSPEED DEATH."
"We can try," Alyse nods in agreement, magics swirling around her. She was practically humming with power, on 'full-charge' after the last encounter had left her rather banged up. The blonde woman moves to look at Wanda, frowning a little. "We will have to deal with them, before we can clean up…" When those green bolts of energy comes blasting towards her, her butterfly-aura flaring as she sweeps a hand sideways and swats the bolt away. She's angry and she's overclocked. Those burning bodies beside her? That doesn't help.
Looking at Wanda then Darcy she whinces before taking to the air. "Watch yourselves, don't let them gang up on you."
"Let's do it," Darcy says, pocketing music player and speaker, then weilding the small fire arm. She waits until the jump jet is on the pyramid, and then she's stepping out and quick assessing the scene. And then she's shying back as War faces off with them… and kills the SHIELD backup they were given.
"Fuck. I wasn't assigned to deal with you, Drago," Darcy tells War, eyes sliding toward Death as he keeps up with the challenges. Wanda's quips from earlier weren't responded to. There's just too much happening at the moment. Maybe later. Over a beer. Darcy can say what had crossed her mind: Yeah. I know. Your brother's a dork. That's why we put up with him.
Death's words to Rogue has Darcy pressing her lips together… and kicking off those heels. She should have dressed out. Oh well.
"Yeah. I'm out," she tells Alyse as she works to make a break for it… toward Death. He's the mark, afterall.
"Hey! Penelope! Yeah, you! Skunk-head! Find your own man, prissy twat. That one's mine," Darcy's shouting… at Rogue as she's running, barefoot, toward her and away from War. War, Darcy knows, she can't handle.
Wanda flings up a shield of her own magics when those bolts come at her but it is too late for the troopers. "Take care" she calls out after Alyse before looking to Darcy. "We should not be wasting time with this…thing" she says of War. "We have to stop Pietro…or at least stop whatever is making the gas." But before there can be any dicussion of a plan, Darcy is charging off towards her brother and Rogue…wasn't she one of the bad guys before? "Wait!" she calls out after Darcy before she flings her magics at War's feet, turning the solid floor into a gello mush that is not designed to support an ant much less a Horseman. Then Wanda is running after Darcy and doing her best to keep them both shielded from any repercussions.
I'll stand, not crawling, not falling down!
Rogue stands amidst the spider-web of damage her landing has caused, the cloak falling arund booted feet and blasting outwards with his 'slow' approach laden in lighning archs.
"Shugah, you don't know mortal!" And when he challenges she accepts without a hinderin', her hand extending to touch through the bolts od Deaths speed, bared fingers blackening, burning, melting the fabric around wrists…
… then reforming it in splinters and ashes as her own body begins to crackle and blur like an unread cable channel, those green eyes sparking with gold lightning as the auburn and white rises around her in a crown of sudden (negative) airs' blast.
There. Not there. Here. Gone. Blurred. Solid.
Darcy is an unexpected element, but one Rogue will use based on her words. She knows. She'd use them if she only -could-. A dart of the attempted absorbed blur occurs around Death, but one that cyclones and snatches Darcy up in her bare-footed path, clutching her if captured within attire but threatening bare skinned contact…
"Death is only beautiful en love, mon ami." A near brush of cheek-to-cheek with Darcy (but no skin contact) before she thrusts the woman towards Death with a burst of force that would hopefully send them both into a pile and scattered.
Point made?!
"Ah got other meddle to settle.."
"Third most handsome Lepue, I've got Homer with me, and I've gotta say he's a pretty Sexy AI" A slight pause from Tony as he flexes about the suit. "Of course that's because he's based off of a modified brain-scan of me, but that's besides the point." He pauses again. "And come on man I come down from the ivory tower at least once a month to deal with this sort of thing. Think of it like an early Christmas present." The fists of his suit expand for a moment just to show off the hydraulics behind them for a moment.
This suit was built for fighting gods, and that's exactly what he's going to use it for. Of course the gods he had in mind were a bit more green but hey it's as good a chance as any. "And is it just me or does these guys have a bigger ego then me?" Said as he turns away from combat a single hand pointing over his shoulder as his attitude shows he doesn't care. "Honestly, I feel like they're kind of taking my shtick." He shakes his head slowly before turning right back. He cracks out his muscles servo's warming up as the large glowing spot on his chest goes wide and he starts to take a run. His feet glow bright for a moment a sudden burst of speed launching him into the air with a crack of breaking the sound barrier. His fist locks down the hydraulics readying to slam it forward with full rocket propulsion a nice slam to the jaw of the big man on campus.
Nate hit the surface of the pyramid hard enough to crack the rock, but he was too optimistic thinking he could bring down a Celestial tech construct so easily. No matter, beating Apocalypse is what matters. Here or on the ground.
"I am not your vessel, old monster. But yes, I come to kill you," he steps forward, heading for Apocalypse. "I don't abhor violence, but I abhor false gods and murderers like you."
And War? They are leaving War alone. Everyone is on good, old Pietro/Death. Way to go, Pietro, so many friends you made. «Gambit». He calls the Cajun through telepathy. «You got to keep the Russian guy from killing anyone else. Uh? Maybe ask Iron Man for help. Big armor Iron Man, I guess.»
"The gas cannot be stopped. It is already in the atmosphere and spreading, what powers it is itself now, nature, the very currents of the Earth. Your X-Men, the Beast uh-Pestilence has made vast improvements upon it. It is one could say a life unto itself. It will spread across this world." War assures Scarlet Witch as the ground near his feet transforms, he gives a curious look downwards and waves his hand, the ground resolidifying, not magic, not hex powers like her but actual spatial manipulation, an interesting mixture against one as powerful as Wanda herself. "What is this? How do you deflect my powers?" That question to Witchdoctor. "What manner of mutants are you?" Oddly enough War is not being aggressive towards them (beyond melting their escort), he stands talking, exchanging dialogue over downright getting bloody.
Apocalypse on the other hand sneers at Nate, Iron Man and Gambit. "False God? I have been worshipped as Kali-Ma, Set, Sauru, the First One, I am the closest thing to a Go-KRAKK" A rocket powered first crashes against the side of Apocalypse mouth as it opens and sends him backwards skidding across the pyramid. That slide turning in to a tumble before he rights himself, one massive hand slapping down on the ground before he lifts his head up, blood trickling down his lips. His face contorted in rage. "I will rend your heart from your chest, human worm." The giant starts to grow, larger than a Hulk now and getting bigger, wider.
"Third? We let the ladies judge that when dis over… if we survive.' Then Stark is off in a flamboyant exhaust blaring show of heavy metal. The epitome of it. "War? Right the Russian from the Island… You sure you two can handle, Apocalypse?" No more questions fired, Remy is already rushing at War, "Bonjour… again." He calls to the red armored Mikhail, "I came to give you these… " Cards, three of them and they're from an opposite direction than he is paying attention. So fixated on the two witches he isn't paying mind to the Cajun.
You paged Darcy Lewis with 'Loved the Drago quip and meant to respond to it. Demmit. Oh well, still, that made me laugh :P'
In Death's eyes, the time slows down, almost to zero.
Around, everything moves slowly. Everything is quiet, and dull. Not even Apocalypse being hit matters, truth be told. The fire, explosions, mayhem, it's just background noise, developing so slowly that he couldn't care less.
He takes a moment, runs around Darcy, who seems to be the only person moving fast, aside from Rogue.
Instead of catching her at full speed, his round around her is in reality a way to embrace her, holding the back of her head, and make the stop as soft as it is physically possible. The background noise unfolds, but it doesn't matter. All that matters is Darcy.
There is a reason why Death is, well, Death.
Pietro Maximoff, as he fought Apocalypse beside Nate, faced his imminent end at the hands of the forever walker. But, instead of leaving this world after a courageous encounter, he was offered a deal: In exchange for Darcy's life and welfare, the speedster would become a Horseman and abandon his own humanity. It was a deal he would do any day, any time.
A deal that's not going very well.
A thunderous growl explodes from everywhere at the same time! It is an explosion of sound that tears apart the air itself. It is a wave of pure hatred directed to Rogue and what she has just done!
But, a closer look, would reveal Death's lips are conjuring a soft whisper, with a silver fire gaze that is focused on Darcy as he embraces her… "Did she hurt you?"
Alright. Super speed is not a gift Darcy has. Her gift is sass. Too much of it. And a Facebook account, but that's a different story. She's grabbing by Rogue, and has just enough time to inhale for a retort before she's flung toward Death. The way she's caught is exactly like everytime Pietro's zipped aout here and there, carrying her along with him.
We shall not mention the first time he zipped about.
Death embraces Darcy, and the normal mortal woman wraps her arms about his neck in return; Darcy Lewis has no fear of and willingly embraced Death.
"Not even slightly," she replies, clinging like a spider monkey with arms and legs. Stall, slow him down, keep him out of the fight. That's all Darcy needs to do.
Of course. There's the jealous, pissed off girl-friend inside her waiting to borrow Tony's armor and take a few whacks at Apocalypse herself but… Must keep Pietro slow as she can.
And so one hand lets go to dip into a pocket and hit play. —o/‘ We don’t need no education… o/`
"Soemone else did. Wanna beat him up for me?"
Witchdoctor pages: RL is messing with me for a bit, more then I can commit. Can witchdoctor go all gas-chasing and try to reverse pestalince stuff, taking her out of the fight?
Rogue had acted knowing better, knowing full well the placement and reasoning behind Darcy's words. Hate her. At this point she does not care, kill her even… Aas long as eventually -they- get what they should - her friends - her comrades. Peace.
A thing she will never know.
Death duly distracted (as was the prpose) Rogue heads for War, the one neglected of attention based on affection. A thing she has none of and knows better then to feel comfort in…
War and his dimensional portal? That gas? Rogue uses the speed stolen from Death and races around War, between the fling of Gambit's cards and a zig-zag between Nate, Iron Man, and Apocalypse as he rises with his own war in his eyes.
The green fog is captured in whisps within the cloak and speeds suction-in-reverse as the small cyclone is attempted around War and his opening, the cards paused in mid air to her very eye, swirled within the green whisps of Terragen before Rogue comes to an abrupt stop and they fast-forward shift then bolt forward at a repressed speed x 10 towards War.
There she stands, blood trickling from her nose, booted feet braced and parted as a tongue strokes across upper lip and the white hem of her cape is ripped and looped into a lasso knot.
"Open it further and I will ride you into that Hell like a gelded steer." Wink.
Nate's eyes widen when Iron Man manages to punch Apocalypse hard enough to send him reeling. Can I have one of those suits for Christmas? But, huh… apparently he mostly pissed him off.
His turn to punch. Although the last two times hitting Apocalypse physically didn't quite made the cut. But the other two times he didn't had giant Iron Man between him and the ancient mutant. "Blah, blah. I impressed some primitive guys by gruesomely killing some of them so I am now a god. No one buys that in the Twenty First Century." Pause. He concentrates and his left eye glows brightly, and then he hits Apocalypse's with a psychic blast, trying to shatter his mental defenses and shred the mind beyond.
"Your rules say it cannot be stopped," Witchdoctor says calmly, the magics around her still swirling with intense glowing fury. Mutant powers, mutant rules…not my rules." A look between the fighters, those she knows and those she doesn't, before the fae-blooded sorceress raises her arms and those golden lights begin to glow more and more intense. Runic patterns begin to form, seeping over her skin and tracing her form as Witchdoctor becomes more and more light and less and less phyical. Rogue had pulled the gas out of the immediate area, but there was the atomosphere and the rest of the world to deal with….this was going to hurt coming down.
"Good luck," she speaks, her voice taking on an almost eerie echo behind her words.
Then she explodes.
Bursting into what appears to be an ever-glowing fog of those butterfly lights, the magical energy that was Alyse's form streaks skywards, unleashing it's magical 'rule-breaking' on that gas with everything she's got.
"Sorry, couldn't hear you gloating over the sound your jaw crunching under my fist." Iron Man comments after slamming down to the ground with a great deal of force. The suit can't fly but it can propel itself forward with massive bursts of speed for short lengths of time, and it hurts like a bitch. As he comes back up to a stand Tony gives a bit of a tip of an invisible cap. "To be honest Doomsday, you're a bit late on the whole ripping my heart out, Taliban beat you to it." A pause as his fist hisses the hydraulics slamming the rocket powered fist right back into place. "If you rip it out to, you'll just be getting on the band wagon." Another pause as he braces himself for retaliation. "See streak here has a point, I mean you might have been scary, back in the day but now we've got bieber, and gotta say compared to him you're a kitten."
NEWS UPDATE - // LIVE! GREEN SKIES OF DEATH //
The world watches in awe and fear as SHIELD, Iron Man and an unknown assortment of other fighters descend upon the "Apocalypse warship" They are now currently engaged in a battle that some claim could decide the fate of the world.
The terror only growing further as a green chemical agent spreads across the heavens in an ever growing cloud. Public advisory is enforcing people stay indoors but already across the globe men and women are being affected by the toxin. CDC, DEO, SHIELD, Cadmus, Alchemax, Roxxon, STAR Labs and many other specialists are already prepping safety procedures to protect citizens from the unknown fallout.
Latveria has somehow shielded itself in a protective sphere. Madripoor is stricken with rioting. Genosha has surrounded itself in sentinels and begun firing off chaff-like counter chemicals in to the air. The responses world wide are countless and variable but it looks like some places are prepared, others not so lucky.
San Diego for instance is in turmoil as the city has been stricken by a large cluster of the Terrigen Cloud. A portion of the city itself looks to be on fire, many people claim a bomb was set off. The conflagration appears to be spreading. Extent of the damage happening on the United States west coast is still unclear.
This live update will continue!
Wanda gasps as Darcy is lifted and flung at her brother; she really needs to get those shields up quicker. She watches Pietro catch the agent, hold her so tenderly, the concern obvious in his eyes. Darcy will do a better job at calming her twin than she will. She looks over at the control panel just in time to see Witchdoctor exploding into a shower of light to permeate the entire atmosphere. So if Alyse is now part of that then best for Wanda not to meddle there either. The control panel! No need to let more of the gas escape. With everyone battling away she concentrates on the alien technology - though an iPhone is alien technology to Wanda - and her hexes slip into the machinery. No matter the origin, machines need certain things to happen to work - a flow of electricity, a physical switch, software even - and now she is starting to interfere with all of that. Her magic seeping down into the wiring of the console and beyond…maybe she could turn the whole pyramid into a bomb?
Floyd. Pink Floyd. So many feelings, emotions and perfection contained in only two words. Each note, each sound, is a path he has walked many times. And, yet, it's a path that is always different, always changing, always tinted in many different colors. That music… That's music Death has not heard… But it's music Pietro has.
Both Death and Pietro know they have to protect Darcy. Both will do it in different ways, however, thanks to his deal with Apocalypse, both are on the same page in that regard.
But, even then, Death is loyal. He is blind and fiercely loyal. He has killed many sentient beings just because Apocalypse ordered it. And, what Darcy asks is well beyond him.
Beyond Death, that is.
The silver fire fades, leaving azure eyes exposed. The cruel grin of the Horseman is replaced by a heartfelt smile. He softly caresses Darcy's cheek and then tucks her hair behind her ear. That's… that's something the real Pietro would do.
And there is something else the real Pietro would do… now with augmented power and… voice.
"HEY, FREAK. ROUND TWO?"
This one casted directly to Apocalypse.
Darcy Lewis pages: Okay. My evil plan of turning Death on his master worked without me having to shoot Apocalypse. But it's late and I'm getting really tired. If you think Apocalypse will attack me to get to Pietro, I consent to that, and to any injuries short of perma-death he might inflict. And then I can get going.
War's mouth opens then closes as explosives pop around him in that vortex of green caught up by Rogue, the inhalation of the the gas causes Mikhail to grip his throat and collapse, his fingers clenching at the ground before eyes lock on Rogue, how long can she maintain Quicksilvers speed? The space around her starts to warp, chasing her in a Inception like display of warping, he is trying to slow her, to ensnare her.
Remy awaits the cyclone to leave him an opening and flipkicks in to Mikhail, slamming a booted heel against armor. "Over here, homme." Distract. Keep his eyes away from Wanda and Rogue. Distraction is something Gambit is good at.
Apocalypse lips are peeled back and teeth displayed, his chest opens up and a blast of ionic energy is fired at Iron Man, "Maggot. Begone!" The beam itself is a concentrated pulse. Unable to see where it lands or if it strikes he is struck by X-Man's psi-assault, staggering and waving an arm in the air. "DEATH, WAR! Destroy them!" A command, one to the very core of their Celestial modifications. He hasn't heard Quicksilvers betrayel nor will he right now. His rage is fixated upon Nate and Stark.
Wanda joining with the Celestial technology finds it foreign, strange, science beyond anything she can fathom almost a life of it's own, it thrums to life at her touch and fills her with pain while she interacts with it but she can exert her will upon it. The magical lifeforce and essense of her meeting that of the extraterrestrial technology, something upon the anti-pyramid explodes outwards, a scream of metal on metal and the entire structure's gravity tips sideways, slides and EVERYONE upon it will shift with it. Wanda should not be driving this thing.
As the golden butterflies ascend in to the skies and meld with it something begins to happen, at first a glow, from a dim green to a bright glowing green and then orange, the atmosphere begins to ignite, a fire spreading outwards expanding in a kaleidoscope of green, red, orange and yellow hues.
Across the heavens portions of the gas begin to break away, scatter and fade from existance only to be replaced by colorful parades of butterflies.
Rogue moves in a blur, a green trail of electricity until the sapping from War begins…. The circle of fabric in a formation of lasso slowing just enough to droop, but lazily slack around Mikhail's neck, tighten, and draw him in….
Fabric on fabric, the onyl contact is made from fingertips through shredded gloves, but as impact is made that green Terragen as well as that of death encircled by butterflies gysers upward in a form Yellowstonne would envy as her body bows backwards and omits the expulsion like that of a nuclear weapon.
The cries can be heard by those neaby she has touched, and when eyes roll back, Wanda, as well as Witchdoctor, Iron…. They can all be seen in a sweeping kaleidascope of memories and sights (if allowed), and with stolen powers they return in memento morii….
Giving Back… In full.
Rogue's form crumples, then, before Mikhail. Slowed, sapped…
But perhas not too soon for Gambit's impact and that of Nate as well as Iron Man's assault with Wanda and Darcy upon Death.
Apocalypse Now?
Nate hovers up when the pyramid shakes with the first explosion, hitting Apocalypse with another telepathic blast. He is putting so much energy that the psychic discharges are painfully visible even for non-psychics. "Keep pounding," he shouts to Iron Man. "He can't handle a fight in the mental plane at the same time. Some godling."
That beam should have been able to destroy any mortal within seconds, the white hot blast of energy tears through the air itself ripping through the fabric. Just before it slams into the front of the suit Tony slams his feet into the ground hard anchoring himself in place. The energy pounds into the advanced metal frame starting to skid the suit slowly backwards as he holds his fists forward. Instead of destroying him it just digs in pushing him backwards. "Think you might be losing your touch big guy." As he slowly forces his arms back in front of himself.
The armor creaks and pauses as he throws his full energy into it placing his fists in front of himself. One foot slowly in front of the other as he moves along, speakers slowly raise from the suit and music fills the air, fortunate son cranked up so loud it shakes the ground. "Oh hey, good work on the music there Homer." A calm exterior even as inside the suit warning sirens are blaring and cautions are being given about how much more the suit can really take. Yet on the outside it still looks as if the thing is holding up perfectly those red skull eyes beginning to glow.
Pietro's back, and has set her down to face off against Apocalypse. Darcy smiles and steps to his side.
"Correction. Wanna beat him up WITH me," she tells him. She's got a gun in her hand, and even as Pietro offers his challenge to the brute, Darcy's pointing her gun at Apocalypse.
"You're a floosy, El Sabah Nur. A punk-ass bitch so patheique she gotta steal another girl's man. You ain't no God. You're a fucking poser pussy bitch wishing he was. But, honey, you ain't even the bar code on this bag of chips," Darcy sasses at Apocalypse as she's pulling the trigger.
And then Wanda happens, and the deck tilts. She's barefoot… and stumbles, then loses her footing and drops to her hip where the slick fabric of her Men-In-Black business suit has her sliding, picking up speed toward the edge.
Death can tell Apocalypse didn't hear his betrayal statement. And that only steals a grin off him.
He leaves Darcy, not before taking her hand, leaving a kiss on top, bowing gently and even graciously, and then he has already disappeared in a blur. A silver blur. Pietro Maximoff is back.
En Sabah Nur may be busy. The colossal being is handling so many urgent tasks. It would be a shame if an annoying mutant, now overpowered by the Forever Walker himself, would blur just beside him.
Quicksilver leans very closely to Apocalypse's ear, and with an almost flirty tone, that tone so distinctive of himself, he murmurs,
"Guess who's back?"
A part of him fights internally as an order is commanded. A part of him who also happens to be following a previous order, one about leaving Darcy out of this mess. And the deal is broken, so Maximoff has a strong point in the internal fight that is unleashing.
Electric bolts fall through his arms, surrounding fists that erupt in punches that go well beyond his usual supersonic speeds. This time it's not a suicidal attempt.
He is raging, manifesting a hate that has followed to the grave… and beyond.
Wanda can't drive anything much less an inverted semi-sentient alien pyramid - so you get what you get. Rather than topple over, she does an impression of a mime running against the wind before rising from the surface t hover over the tilting surface. Yes, she is cheating but she needs to after being blasted by whatever the heck Rogue was unleashing on the world.
Wanda's magics digging deeper into the machinery. Controlling it. Talking to it. Disrupting it. No need to make a bomb of it with Wanda at the wheel. Perspiration glistens on her forehead as she closes her eyes tight and pushes even deeper. This pyramid is going down and its going to hit hard if she has her way.
War's temporal distortion around Rogue works despite him still gagging on a lungful of Terrigen Gas. He isn't even sure what the T-Gas does. What it could do to him and somewhere in there it makes him scared but Apocalypse has augmented him right? Bolstered him… as the warship tilts he slides with it on his chest, hands scrambling for a grip. "Get off of me!" He yells at Gambit.
Remy is about to kick again and then tumbling as well, end over end scrambing for a grasp. "This no good! Whoever driven' needs they license revoked." A stretch and Remy reaches for Rogue, "Anna, c'mere girl, gimme your hand. We gonna fall, we fallin' together!" Also she can fly. This is macho talk for /save me/.
Apocalypse ionic ray ceases it's assault on Iron Man only to fire up and off towards the north, to nothing as another mental bolt from Nate slams him as Quicksilver is hammering away, dents and chunks begin to appear across En Sabah Nur's frame, and a woman, a mortal human female dares to insult him and even call him by name? How did she know his name… his true name? Research. Most likely, Darce over the past few weeks has become an Apocalypse nerd. The assaults to his ego, his body, his mind, its all overwhelming.
"You fools. You think I lost? You think *FUD* *WHACK* You can best me? I am Apocalypse. I am the beginning of the end and the master… *THWAK*"
A hand splays out, giant fingers split and something occurrs upon Pietro, the ingested vial, liquid Celestial augmentations still in his body harden in to spikes, slivers that then shoot outwards from the inside, no longer will Mr. Maximoff be a Horseman but no longer will he enjoy a healthy body or the gifts Apocalypse had granted him. Hundreds perhaps thousands of tiny dagger length shivs burst from the former horseman of Death's innards, organs, bones and skin.
Wanda is indeed forcing the gravitational controls of the warship to helter skelter, it begins to plummet almost entirely vertical towards the east, towards the earth, perhaps with some help, a nudge something of a godsend she can bring the warship down without crushing an entire city. Now is the truest test of heroes.
Apocalypse laughs, a deep unearthly noise yet he crumples to a knee, his hooks formed from his armor keeping him held to the descending ship. "You see. I still win. I always win! I am APOCALYPSE!"
The moment she hit the deck, Darcy dropped the handgun. Worthless now anyway. One hand tries to find soem purchase to catch with her fingers and toes, the other is tapping her comm.
"UFO's going down. Need evac!" she's yelling, hand scrambling even as she's looking back at Pietro to see if he's okay, to make sure Apocalypse isn't hurting him. And then spikes… coming out of his skin.
Darcy hadn't screamed once. Not once then whole time. She'd been level-headed and calm and sassy. Seeing those spikes… Darcy sees red. And she screams, while still sliding, feet trying to find purchse on the ever tilting ground. A broken nail isn't felt. A torn knee and a jammed toe. None of these register to Darcy who's screaming like a Woman Scorned.
"You motherfucking piece of trash! I'm going to cut off your balls and feed them to Quetzalcoatl! I'm going to string you up and let hummingbirds peck your eyes! Bastet's gonna use your grave for a fucking litter box! I'm gonna-"
And then Darcy's off the edge of the pyramid and falling toward the ground. It's highly likely she's still cursing En Sabah Nur as she falls, but really… it's not like anyone can hear her. Right?
Nate kicks Apocalypse in the face, switching to a telekinesis boost to make sure it hurts the ancient more than himself. "Shut up. You lost your minions, you lost the fight and you are about to lose your… damnit!"
The damnit is question is that Nate just realized the flying fortress is just going over a fairly large city. Wanda is truly the terror at the wheel.
"Rogue, catch the folks, willya!?" Because he is going to be busy. No, no way he can lift the whole flying pyramid, it must weight thousands of tons, but he flies to a side and pushes with all his psychic strength to attempt to make the crash as far from the city center as possible.
Hopefully Apocalypse will get crushed by the crash (yeah, sure, right).
I am the sand in the bottom half of the hourglass,
I try to picture me without you but I can't!!
In kneel before Mikhail among the drift of Terra-genocide Apocalypse has caused with his Harbingers' Rogue almost desires defeat after blasting out memries and returning them to their rightful (present) owners. Remy, Pietro…. Darcy… All those she has -touched- see and feel it, even the childhood past… And the regret, an emotion Rogue bears and has not remotely tried to let go, in fact it is why for a moment she seems to give…
But what she saw between Darcy and Death himself still inspired her, so when Gambit reached for her the slump of defeat becomes tested and her spine rights although her head remains low.
"We are X-Men, this ain't over now, En Sabbah Nur… I seen it. But we got t'ing to do. Eh, (e)X-Avengers?" A hand reaches out, knuckles bloody, fingetips rent as they clutch Gambits and no reaction comes save what she had once taken (been given) from him, what she saw… And with a leap she is doing as Nate asked, ut even he is taken in the blast of arms carture and gloved grip before any crash is to be had.
Death/Pietro, Darcy in his hold, Wanda, Nate, and the man smashing face in Iron… No one is left behind if they do not slip from her impact, they burst past the cloud of mist and towards the atmosphere…
No matter how (un)safe.
So, it all comes down to this.
Pietro, formerly Death, had a mission. A mission that kept him alive, even when it meant living as a monster, delivering pain, blood and destruction to the world around. But the mission remained, it was always there. And, when life escapes him in the form of silver spikes, coming out and cleansing his body, he only knows that the mission was fulfilled.
Even now, he can't do anything but smile.
What disturbs him is not the falling fortress, the ancient powerful mutant of the Terrigen material around. What breaks his calm is the sound of Darcy screaming.
Without strength, he tries to shake his head and simply smile. Everything is okay. The guy who harmed you will pay for it. All of that are just thoughts, whispered within his mind. He can't manage a word… But… he has to. The smile hasn't faded… nor the shake of his head.
"It's fine," He says so faintly, falling to his knees. "It's fine… I… I heal fast." And, with that smile still untouched, because not even the silver needles tearing apart the silver-haired mutant will take /that/ from him, he falls unconscious to the ground.
But, still, there's a thought in his fading mind:
It was worth it.
Wanda has no idea where the pyramid is going. Her mind and powers concentrating on driving the vessel to its doom and by now it seems it is going down regardless. But then there is a distraction. A big one. She screams out in pain and surprise as it feels like a hundred needles explode from her flesh. When you're a twin there is a special bond with the other. A sense of how their pain when they are suffering - why can't they ever feel when the other is having fun? And when you're enhanced, that link gets enhanced with it. Wanda turns to see her brother's body erupting in a thousand wounds and her soul drops into the pit of her stomach.
"Pietro!!" Wanda starts flying for him before she is swooped from the air by Rogue. Her magics reach out to wrap her brother. Trapping him within. Refusing to let time march on. Not until she can be by his side to help. To make it all right again. To fix all the bad things she has done…and she's not even aware that a city is about to be destroyed and millions more dead because of her.
Maybe the government should have deported her when they had the chance?
"Alright Homer, how's that generator looking?" Tony offers to the air as he adjusts his stance taking a long pause while the white hot front of his armor slowly cools. "Do you mean besides the rather large hole inside of the coolant chamber, and the massive structural damage to the suit?" The voice chimes back as the Iron Man armor slowly starts walking towards apocalypse, the generators on his suit kicking into overdrive as he readies to tackle Apocalypse right off the side of the pyramid. "I'd say there's about a forty percent chance we explode on impact" As the crack of hitting supersonic rings out Iron man working as a missile right at the already winded Apocalypse.
Caught, Darcy's eyes seek out Apocalypse. Insults still. Insults until she's horse. Insults until she's lost her voice. Insults until she spots that Wanda's caught Pietro. There are no more insults. Nothing but a simple, cold promise: "He survives that, I'm going to borrow Mewmew and bash his face in." Darcy's quiet a moment longer before she's activating her commlink again to make sure hte city below has been evacuated, and for a medical team to meet them wherever Rogue's goingto put her and Wanda and Pietro down. She stays at Pietro and Wanda's side, ordering whatever SHIELD agents she needs to about to get Pietro in to medical. She'll answer to Fury later, no doubt, but for the moment: secure the assets, minimize civilian casualities.
When the fuck did Darcy stop thinking of herself as a civilian? She blames May.
"Hold tight!" Remy clutches to Rogue as she snares those she can, its amazing really watching them all fold in to the flying mutant, Gambit himself is gripping who he can as well, clutching them by whatever fabric, hair, limbs he can manage. "You strong enough to keep us from dyin' right now, ma chere?"
The group of them are drawn free of Apocalypse, swept away by Rogue leaving Iron Man and X-Man behind, "Good luck, homme." He offers Nate. "You can do this… "
Do this? Move an entire warship that is yes indeed thousands of tons, it is in an awkward sideways descent it's crash landing will be monumental. Hundreds of thousands may die.
Apocalypse head rattles backwards from the kick from Nate, his slackened form still clinging to the anti-pyramid as he goes down with it, it is then his eyes light up and he smiles at Tony Stark, "Welcome to the Age of Apocalypse. You pathetic, little, weak human. "
KRAKOOM! The explosion envelopes the First One, the Forever Walker and he disappears and as his vessel of doom descends above Rhode Island? Towards the Atlantic Ocean… The telekinetic barrier surrounding the entire Celestial tech warship adding adjustment to its flight but also burning through Nate Grey. It will take everything he has to save an entire city, perhaps pushing himself to near or even death. Can he do it alone?
*sniff*
Blood is inhaled and her grip within crimson cowl and a tawny trench does not release as they break atmosphere.
"I know what it is to love and be unable…
"Please… We -have- to live!"
*Sniff*
The blood stains pink upon the divet of upper lip and Rogue sets them down upon the Earth as mists still spread and the screams are resounding while domes go up or remain to try and fight off the assault.
In the meantime the Atlantic sounds off blips…
Hurricanes formulate, tornadoes are a result inland, and where those who have not ran and hidden, are about to face a different form of Apocalypse as Rogue lands them all just outside Westchester, but not within…
..No Harm… Family…
But the landing comes in divets upon the ground in response to Gambit's query, a cough that spatters blood upon the ground and rattles in her chest. a hand plants on the ground and she rises.
"Why can't a girl just get some chick'n n' waffles with tea and not have ta fight ta be sure it stays this way…"
Flashes of Mikhail/War go through her mind, that fettered rope of white hem slipping from fingertips as well.
It is weird how things go sometimes. Nate came here to kill a 'god' and ends up trying to save a city. All that rage and power he had prepared for his vengeance, is now used to move the wrecked flying pyramid.
He is falling with it, facing the side of the black mass of stone and alien technology, and glowing brightly, pushing with all his might so the trajectory of the falling machine leads it into the ocean.
Once on the ground, Wanda is at her brother's side and gently lifting his head; her magics still sparking and cracking around him. "Pietro. You have come back so you are not allowed to leave again. Do you hear me?" Despite the tears seeping from her eyes and running down her cheeks, she attempts to do what she can for him. Her reality warping trying to get his flesh, tissue and body back to how it was. Even as giant pyramids fall from the sky and the fate of so many lives hang in the balance, she is only concerned with the one that is seven minutes older than hers and linked forever to her soul.
Remy places a hand on Rogue's shoulder giving it a squeeze while watching, where they landed is a perfect view, the sea mists around them, mingled with the chemicals of the Terrigen Clouds. "Don't even try, you ain't fast enough even with Pietro's speed still in you… Nobody going to survive that." Nate. Nate should be dead in there as well… "Pietro's speed.. " A spin and Gambit rushes from Rogue's side to slide to his knees near Wanda and Quicksilver, "Merde… something we can do?"
"Worry not, this one yet lives." Mikhail Rasputin appears in a green wash of light, Nate Grey is clutched in one arm, dropped carelessly upon the ground by Pietro, "I would not let one so valiant die. Not to that monster… I cannot speak for the Iron Man." Nor would he allow himself to die beside him, not after he has likely just been poisoned by Apocalypse with the rest of the world, his eyes level on Rogue, or is it her fault? "I have seen too much death of late. I give you his life and in return ask only that you tell Piotr and Illyana, Mikhail lives… for now." A rattling cough escapes the former Horseman War and he strides from the group.
Above and all around SHIELD is beginning to land, closing in on those gathered but also securing the area with their remaining forces, which are meager.
Mikhail turns and begins to walk away. His back to them, trying to mask his quickly spreading illness.
The light played, flowing through the leaves on top of beautiful green trees. It fell casting many different shadows on the grass below, in which a pair of children were idly walking around.
Saying it was a forest would be an overstatement, but, for them, it was a jungle! It was the scenario of many unfolding adventures, telling endless stories of heroes and heroines that would never be. Those were stories so wonderful, that the world itself would never make justice, even if destiny gave its best try.
However, those stories are ofttimes tinted with misfortune, and one of them, the younger of the twins, fell as the playful light and her knee is bleeding.
"I will get you home, Wanda, don't worry."
The boy, of silver hair unlike his sibling, carries her in a race against time. If the forest (or jungle!) gets too dark, the knee's wound will be the least of their problems. He is, still, just a boy. There will be a day when the boy will run fast as the sound, and the girl will wield powers that surpass the wildest one's imagination! But, today, they are just kids, caught in a play that went too far.
"You are safe with me, Wanda. I won't let anything happen to you…"
The Transian kid offers, reassuring, to his sister.
And then there's silence.
The memory fades, and blue eyes open for a moment. Wanda may not see when it happens, because it happens fast. Of course it does. But there he is… Pietro is staring at his sister… The same one he never spotted at the fierce fight of before. But it doesn't matter. She is here.
"Wanda?" He asks, forcing himself to speak at a normal tone. He fails, he is fragile, he coughs, but he is wearing that childish smile of himself. "Don't cry, Wanda… I," He blinks, and when his eyes open, they are the eyes of the kid from the memory, the kid in the forest. The kid who played being a hero. The kid who saved his sister. "Are you okay?"
Wanda cries some more…though now they are tears of joy. She frantically nods to his question before pulling his head up to her chest to hug him tight against her. "Will you stop dying on me" she teases through heaving sobs before gently lowering him back to the ground. "Just because you can't remember me does not give you permission to do this" she adds, her magics still doing their work to heal him. But now they do a little more.
When they first arrived in America, Wanda took Pietro's memories of her away. It was a protective measure. Designed to keep them safe if one of them was captured. And she didn't even realise she had done it. And now she doesn't even realise as that block is taken away. Wanda has come too close to losing her twin twice now and if remembering her existance will help stop a third then so be it. They have many friends now to help them if their hunters find them.
"Ok, so I admit that maybe I could have thought that through a bit more" Tony's voice chimes out from the cloud of debris as he stands in the middle of it wearing the frame of what was once the improved hulk buster armor, the massive generator on the front having exploded out into a massive ball of light tearing the suit from the base frame. "But before you say a thing" Tony is cut off by the sudden voice chiming back "Wouldn't dream of it." of homer. The parts of the new suit fall off from the sides of the much smaller sleeker modular suit.
The frame of this smaller suit is a black and gold with connection points for the other parts of the Iron Legion to connect to it. "I only ALMOST died." A few beats pause as he holds out his arms for parts of another suit to come flying right at him latching on in place of the old parts which are now little more then slag after that detonation of the main power core. The suit underneath is still somewhat singed but thankfully seems to be mostly in tact, with the majority of the damage having been taken by the buster armor.
"I've taken the liberty of bringing up a few potential explanations you could throw towards pepper for why you just about got yourself killed there." Loud ca-chunks of the suit slamming into place ring out. "That's the spirit HOMER." When he lands down n the shore he's wearing his much more standard gold and red suit. The blue lights shine out as he walks over towards the rest of the group. "Sorry to break up a tender moment, but just wanted to ask if anyone happened to have some scotch." As the faceplate opens back up for a moment the unshaven tired wreck of a man giving a friendly smile to the collected group, as he looks towards the sinking object.
In a flash Mikhail is gone. Remy settles back on his heels and sits beside Rogue, staring out over the ocean, Nate is still breathing, its obvious from the heavy rise and fall of his chest. The skies, they are green but the golden flicker of butterflies promises they will clear, for the most part, but how much damage has already been wrought? What is still out there? Thoughts for another time. The twins joy at their reunion makes him smile a bit until he hears SHIELD not far off, moving on them and what could very well be some rather loud sass being fired around, ordering them to stand down? Who knows, who cares, Gambit is chalking this up to a win.
"Scotch? No, homme but… " A small flask is produced from Remy's bootpocket and tossed to Iron Man, Cajun Spirits, a mix of vodka, ginger beer and lime. "You think Apocalypse is dead?"
"Course not." Tony catches the flask with a bit of a stony expression despite his lackadaisical exterior during the entire fight. For someone who was so upbeat carefree and willing to risk everything during that fight he looks worn down and tired from life, from all this. "Can't keep a good megalomaniac down for long." He takes a quick swig of the flask before shaking his head and doing a bit of a face. He looks down towards it for a few moments. "Damn this is something." Quickly flicking it over in his hand. "Remind me to head to New Orleans and pick some of this up for myself, might grab a keg or two of it."
A light reassuring smile as he looks out towards the far horizon. "Not that it matters though, he keeps coming back" Another swig. "Xmen, Avengers, and the rest of us'll keep smacking him right back down." He tosses the cap back on the flask before passing it over to Remy. "We're a pain in the ass like that."
"But if I wasn't about to die," Pietro says heavily, with great effort put to every single word, and still every single word sounds so sweet and joyful, "How would you save me?" He coughs more, but the cough is just a grin hiding beneath the beaten mutant. He tries to lift his head, but he just manages to glance a bit around. It doesn't seem to bother him. The pain, that is. "How is everyone? How is Darcy? She is safe, right? She was…" More coughs, he needs more air, he breathes slowly. He bleeds. But it could be worse. It has been worse. "She was speaking her mind to Apoc—" That's a good way to see it, everything considered, but more coughing doesn't help and he just waits for an answer. The speedster tries to gather all the memories of what happened.
"Wanda?" The oldest twin manages after a while, his eyes closing themselves. "I love you, Wanda… don't leave" It's a futile attempt. He is going unconscious again. But there's one more thing that caught his attention. The scotch, of course. "Isn't that Iron Ma" And then, he is no more. For the time being. He is alive, and that's more than enough, but even a mutant who heals fast, and even a mutant who runs at the speed of sound, sometimes, maybe, needs some time to recover past wounds.