HoM: Eye for an Eye

February 09, 2018:

In the HoM reality Agent Moonstar and Agent Mercer are dispatched to deal with a possible human terrorist cell.

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Plot:

Mood Music: [*\# None.]


Fade In…

This particular reality is different in some ways and in other ways it's the same.

A war is being fought. Same. Between two groups. Same.

One strives to be given the same rights as the other. Same.

Both groups struggle between fanaticism and moderation. Same. Only the roles have been reversed. It's no longer mutant against human, now it's human against mutant. Mutants are the upper class here, the ruling class. They are the dominant species and it's the humans who find themselves oppressed.

As such, there are groups of humans who take extreme views of things. Those views often devolve into violence.

Which is what brings SHIELD out tonight.

Agent Moonstar and Agent Mercer have been dispatched with a specific mission in mind. Scout out a particular warehouse in a particular city for human extremists. And while typically these particular missions are a bust, tonight is different.

It's as the two agents skulk through the warehouse that the trap springs. Between one stack of large heavy wooden boxes and the next movement occurs. It's from the top of those tall stockpiles that a box suddenly wobbles and then falls, crashing towards the ground and the two agents.

And even before that box hits the floor (or potentially the agents) gunfire erupts from the opposite of Dani and Owen.

Clearly tonight is going to be one of *those* nights.


A clear mind. It's the biggest difference in this world for Owen Mercer. Without a damaged past to haunt and derail him, certain things never got their hooks into this man. He's not expending energy fighting off that which plagues him in our world, he's laser focused on his mission and on keeping his team safe. Granted his team in this case is just himself and Agent Moonstar but all the more reason.

Something tweaks in Owen's mind just as the the crate begins to fall. Maybe he caught sight of the movement of a shadow somewhere, maybe it was a sound, whatever it was it's enough that he's moving before the gun fire even begins. It helps that his speed is far beyond that of most of the humans they have to face.

"Moonstar move it!"

The warning comes out almost too fast to understand, and not much of a help considering how soon after the gun fire starts, but it's worth a shot. With a leap, he looses an exploding boomerang for the source of the gunfire and lands behind some crates, taking cover for a minute to try and gauge if there are more attackers besides the immediate gunfire.


For Moonstar, in this particular reality, she's rougher.

Or perhaps tougher is a better choice of words. She's seen things, fought things, more so than what's in their world. The bit of softness that she has in their reality is replaced by a core of fortitude brought upon by pain and loss, and an understanding that life is not always easy.

Either way, when trouble asserts itself quite prominently, Moonstar's handgun is brought up in a sharp movement. Owen's words are heard and while they blur together into an almost seamless string of syllables, something within them is understood thanks to the years they've been working together.

"Already moving." She shouts, dodging to the left and moving towards a large stack of crates. Much like Owen she's going to use them like a shield and even as the two split apart, Dani strives to keep some part of her attention upon him. Like a good partner would.

She returns fire to the other side with both sides now spitting bullets at each other, though the extremists currently have far more bullets than the two. That boomerang that Owen throws arcs outward and over to where the gunfire is coming from. As soon as that weapon of his is seen shouts can be heard -

"Aw shit, run! Get away! Duck!"

And while there's the soft sound of people trying to scramble away, they won't get too far before that boomerang explodes. It's enough to shatter a handful of crates the humans were using as a blockade. Wooden shards now rain downward and for both Owen and Moonstar they'll see a few unconscious bodies upon the floor. A handful of the would-be terrorists, mostly men, but a few women seen upon the dirty floor. Slowly Dani straightens and with a look over to Owen, she'll raise a hand upward, a silent question - You okay?

And in that moment of inattention (for Dani at least) four metallic balls arc high upward from just a few feet away from the original hotspot of extremist action. Those grenades, because that's what they are, fall toward the ground and even as they fall the timers tick silently down to detonation -

3 - 2 -


Owen can't help but smile at his partners reply. He should have known she would see it too, whatever tipped him off. He just can't help himself when he has the speed advantage that most don't enjoy.

While Dani draws her gun, his official side arm stays in it's holster for now. He has plenty of weapons on him as this was an officially sanctioned mission and Owen is always prepared for the worst.

Danielle may be tougher here, harder, but Owen is if anything more sentimental and open. There's less bravado and humor, and more honesty than his other self could even comprehend. Dani's questioning gets a smile and an "o" OK symbol with his hand. He's distracted looking at her in the moonlight streaming through dirty warehouse windows long enough for the the grenades to get to 2.

"Fuckity shit." <== Some things do not change.

With a flurry of both hands, he launches two razor boomerangs at two of the grenades, hoping to slice them in half or at least deflect them away. He isn't fast enough to hit all 4 in a second though, but he has other tricks up his sleeve.

In this reality Owen didn't come back to the past as a child. No, he grew up in the future. Meaning his trick boomerangs have a bit more fancy future tech. Like the flurry boomerang he launches, it breaks apart into a seeming thousand small pieces, creating a shield around him. Dani is too far away to try and shield her as well, but he knows she can handle herself in worse situations than this.


His a-ok brings a nod from Dani, then it's back to business.

There are grenades dropping down upon the duo and that deserves their full attention.

While she doesn't have boomerangs at her disposal she does have her bow and arrow. Not necessarily technologically inclined, but useful for when bullets aren't always the answer. As such, her gun is holster and her bow brought to bear. An arrow is pulled from the quiver that sits upon her back and with the ease of a professional, Dani nocks, takes aim and then shoots.

Three projectiles against four grenades. The two razor boomerangs slice neatly and cleanly through two of the grenades, while Dani's arrow hits a third, knocking it off course. That fourth grenade, however, makes it through and hits the floor with a clatter. It lazily rolls toward the two, midway between both agents. Then it detonates.

Though not with any sort of concussive force. Instead a wave of invisible energy lashes outward in a large radius. It's an EMP grenade. Deadly to anything technological and unshielded against such attacks.

Their comm gear goes down with a crackle of static and a high-pitch whine of sound. The tracking beacons housed within their gear and suits likewise die a silent death. And then for Dani her left eye.

The eye she lost so many years ago and had replaced with a cybernetic one. Electronically arcs within her socket and through her skull and that's enough to cause the woman to stagger and scream in pain.

Along with that pain half of her world goes black.

For a few seconds, at the very least, Owen will be on his own as Dani grapples with the feedback bouncing in her skull.

And with her scream a few shouts can be heard, "We got one of them! We got one of them!" Those words are enough to bring a resurgence of gunfire. Less than before, but still close to half a dozen armed individuals firing upon both Owen and Dani's locations.


While Owen himself may be unaffected by the pulse of energy, his shield isn't so lucky. It falls with a clatter of tiny boomerangs (yes, the flurry boomerang bursts into smaller boomerangs, it's very cute). Owen looks down at it for a moment and bemoans it with a sad, "Aw, flurry boomerang… no." Before he hears Dani's reaction and realizes what must be happening to her prosthetic eye.

"Shit. Dani, you alright?" He can't help himself, he blurs towards her and pulls her down to cover her until she can regain her composure. "Give it a second…" Maybe? Hopefully.

Most of his trick boomerangs are toast now but at least the two razor boomerangs from before hit their marks and returned, and he has his sidearm if it comes to that. He moves, purposefully slow enough to be seen, and loudly enough to be heard.

"I'm going to make you regret every terribly aimed single bullet your fire, you pieces of shit. I've seen blind children with better aim!"

With those taunts out of the way he launches a single razor boomerang just above where the gunfire came from, with the right arc it should come back and bury into something soft and fleshy like a combatant.


A few more hoots and hollers might be heard from within the warehouse around the duo. It doesn't seem to matter to the terrorists that they've now potentially angered the mutants.

Bullets still whiz past here and there, embedding into crates, and the floor and even the walls. One supposes ammo isn't in short supply, with how much the men and women of this particular cell use it. Waste it even.

For Owen, he'll find Dani compliant in those first few seconds of feedback. When he pulls her down to cover her, she goes easily enough, when he asks if she's alright, she actually answers truthfully. "N-no." Until she finds that composure, where her training reasserts itself, "Yes. 'm okay." She adds, her words still sounding a bit slurred. "Where did they get those from?" She gasps out, her good eye rolling, even as she struggles to get to her handgun, or her bow at this point.

And then, once she's aware enough that Owen deems it safe to leave, he's gone. Off to make himself a moving target, literally. That pulls a quiet curse from Dani, but she understands what he's doing. Hell, his speed makes him good at playing a great moving target. It still doesn't mean she's happy about it.

His taunts bring a heavier onslaught of bullets as well as a few jibes back, "Hey man, FUCK YOU. Hope the girl is DEAD. DAMN MUTIES. FREEDOM FOR HUMANS." And while they offer those snide insults back at Owen, they're not so stupid as to break cover, but what they are stupid about is continuing to stay in one place.

And so, when Owen throws that razor boomerang outward it flings past its target before the return arc easily finds its mark. There's the meaty sound of a boomerang impacting and cutting into flesh, a gurgled sound of pain from the victim. Along with that gurgle of pain is a louder, shriller scream, as a second man witnesses the razor boomerang burying itself into his comrade back. That's enough to bring that second man staggering out from behind his crate, his gun drawn but pointed towards his dying 'brother'. Then that gun swings around and the man takes aim at Owen.


The bullets may be whizzing in real time, but while Owen stays out of cover they might as well be standing still. He watches each of them individually, aware of their path, not discounting their ability to hurt him as limited as it may be.

Keeping thoughts of Dani out of his mind for the moment, he reminds himself of how capable she is. He finally answers Dani's earlier question, rhetorical as it may be. "I'm guessing the fuckin Bat." Because even here Owen finds himself at odds with the Batman, albeit for completely different reasons.

"She's not dead. Unluckily for you. She's just planning how badly to maim you before we arrest you."

The gun swings at Owen and he head tilts at it. How far away? Hmm close enough. And just like that Owen is in front of the man, holding his gun.

"You should have stayed behind cover. Rookie mistake."

And Owen uses the butt of the guys rifle to bludgeon his face. A few times. More times than is strictly necessary. But they killed the boomerang flurry! Oh, and they zapped Dani's eye. That too!


There's an almost comical reaction from the man -

Just as his finger tenses to fire at Owen, the man soon finds himself unarmed and that's enough to bring a widening of eyes. A look of shock flickers across his features and his expression tightens up into a look of 'oh shit.'. All of that is likely seen by Owen right before she slams the butt of the gun into the man's face.

Repeatedly.

Sure, it's likely a few times too many, but no one here is going to say anything. Not Dani, at least.

The man, with the boomerang in his back, finally makes his presence known. He staggers outward, his gun raised. Blood trickles from his mouth, his nose, and even though he realizes he's going to die, he still takes aim at Owen.

And while Owen likely doesn't need the help, he'll find an arrow zips neatly past him, before it buries itself into the already dying man's chest. Between boomerang and arrow the man wheezes one last breath before he topples over.

That causes a very small pause from the onslaught of bullets, as the last remaining men and women take stock of the situation at hand. Then, like good little rats, they start to abandon ship. The spat and cough of guns picks up again, but it's clear the group is running, as the lag time between bullets begins to lengthen.

Dani, for her part, stands beside the crate the two used for cover, bow in hand. Already a second arrow is nocked against the bow and string. Her good eye flicks to Owen, then in the direction of the bullets. "They're running. We need the leader."


After a few extra smashes to the face and a kick for good measure Owen finally lets up. Right around the time the *thwip* of the bow registers. Oh? Hmm, look at that, the other guy wasn't quite as down as Owen hoped.

Turning a face with just a bit of blood splatter on it towards Dani, Owen smiles and says very sweetly, "Thank you sweetie!" Knowing full well how much it will likely piss off Dani to be called sweetie on a mission, especially since she is likely still in pain. This may not be the Owen of our world, but some things are constant after all.

He disarms the man with the arrow in his chest, and retrieves his own boomerang. He only occasionally needs any speed now, as the bullets are mostly dying down. But when Dani calls out, he grunts in agreement. Jogging at normal speed back towards her permission he calls, "Can't they just wear a fuckin' sign. I'm the leader! Grab me!"

He nods towards a stack of crates and says "You go high, spot 'em with your good eye?" It's a good thing Dani is at least occasionally fond of Owen. Veeeery few people get away with mocking her missing natural eye. "I'll run route and take down who I can?"


Thank you sweetie.

That's enough to bring Dani's good eye back to the man. There's a laser quality to her gaze as she fastens it upon the man, but instead of admonishments, she just rolls her eyes. Eye.

Then, like the well-oiled team they are, she moves in tandem with Owen, even as she snorts at his gripe. "Look for the one running the fastest. They always seem to be the ones trying to get out of dodge the fastest."

It's those last words of his, however, that earn another sharp look from Dani. "You're so lucky I like you." She grouses good-naturedly, "Otherwise you'd have an arrow in your nice looking ass." She ends with, even as she levers herself onto the first crate, then the second and finally the third. With her bird's-eye view it's not hard to see the general layout of the warehouse, or the emergency exits, or the fact that the people are running for that emergency exit.

"Straight back." She yells down to Owen, "An emergency exit. Looks like there's five or six of them running. I'll try to stall them." She ends with, even as her good eye narrows - with that narrowing the woman reaches out with her own powers. Psychic filaments appear around two of the runners, a man, and a woman, and to those two humans their greatest fears materalize.

One is pretty average, a giant spider. The ghostly form of said spider hovers near the woman and the woman immediately stops running to gape in horror. "Ohmygod." She whispers to no one but herself, then, "OHMYGOD."

For the man all that materialize is a shadow black shape. It holds the vague outline of a grim reaper, and it's enough to still the man's movements with shock and surprise.

The last three continue to run, however. Uncaring, or rather knowing that they need to escape. That there are things they must pass on to other cells for their kind to survive.


Giving his best winning smile, Owen takes the laser like gaze in stride. This is hardly the first time he's been on the receiving end of a glare from Dani, let alone women in general. It does help that he knows there is genuine fondness underlying it. Unfortunately for Dani that means he enjoys pushing her buttons even more.

"Look at you. We're on a very important mission and all you can think about is my cute ass. Disgraceful Moonstar." He sighs for effect, "But understandable. It is amazing."

With her instructions though he snaps easily back into serious mode. He may be quick with a quip but for the most part it is interlaced with competent actions. He eye rolls past the woman and man experiencing their worst fear, but not without comment. "Spiders? Death? Really? How lame. Pigeons attacking you while you sleep. THAT is something to be afraid of!" Technically that's not Owen's worst fear in this world. That would be failing to keep his little brother safe. Thankfully Bart's life is a lot less complicated and dangerous than Owen's.

Gaining on the leader with normal speed, Owen bursts to pull ahead. An arm is stuck out in a clothesline at the largest man running. He goes down and it gives Owen time to question, "I'm guessing you run this little sad sack cell?"

But sexism gets the better of Owen, as the woman who actually leads the cell is able to slip by him. Considering Dani outranks him and is actually the leader of this field team, you would think he would see that coming. But no.


If their comm gear was working Owen MIGHT hear the sassy retorts Dani's currently muttering beneath her breath. As it /is/, he'll just have to imagine what she's saying.

Which he probably can. He's good at that.

But still, there is an undercurrent of affection from her, and care, as she keeps an eye upon him as best she can. Making certain he's relatively safe (in this business) while they strive to take down the cell. It's only when he clotheslines the wrong person that Dani *sighs*. SIGHS. "Owen." She mutters, even as her bow raises upward, "One day a woman is going to be the death of you."

The soft *twhip* of an arrow being released might be heard. It sings quietly through the air as the steel-head arrow buries itself deeply within the woman's leg. That's enough to cause her to scream, grasp at her leg and fall. And while another might just lay there in pain the woman doesn't, instead she turns that fall into a wobbly sort of roll and scrambles back to her feet.

Her run now is punctuated by a severe limp. If Owen is aware enough he might just be able to catch up to her -

Sexism aside.


Oh Owen knows exactly the look that Dani is giving him right now. Were he not on a mission he would even do his spot on Dani impression of her 'being angry' at him. But he is focused on the mission, slightly smirking to himself at the thought of her shaking her head.

So far as the leader goes, Owen may have made a rash judgement, but he can still course correct. It's something in the eyes. Too much fear, not enough anger or resolve. This is not the right person. Speed blur: cuff 'em style. Owen leaves the big oaf in cuffs and turns to see that Dani has nicely tagged his actual target for him.

He could catch her at normal speed but it leaves too many variables in play. And so while he can feel that his speed is starting to cause him some pain he still uses it to push ahead. Maybe it's a bit cruel but after having to run that much and the strain, Owen aims a mean spirited kick at the injured leg.


Yes, Owen does do a mean impression of Dani when he wants to.

Most often it makes her scowl, but sometimes when the mood is right it actually makes her laugh.

Right now, however, it's all about the business. Already a second arrow is being readied to follow up that first, but before she sends it on its way Owen moves -

Like lightning.

And while he moves with that speed force of his, Dani frowns slightly. She may not be able to see all those subtle cues from the man, but something in the back of her head gives her a silent nudge about how far Owen is pushing himself. It's what causes her to descend from her perch, as he catches up with the wounded leader.

His kick aimed at the arrow pierced leg hits squarely on the nose. It brings a shrill scream from the woman and another fall to the ground, and this time she doesn't roll back to her feet. She lays there, face contorted in pain, as her hands wrap around her leg. There's a vague rocking back and forth from the woman, as she tries to ride out the waves of pain from her wound.

With the majority of the people either down, or captured, the gunfire ceases. Silence falls within the warehouse itself, up until the scuff of Dani's booted feet is heard. "You okay?" She asks, as she appears around a stack of boxes, her good eye immediately going to Owen's face.


Owen knows. He knows that Dani is aware that he's losing a step and pushing himself. It annoys him, that is still true, when someone shows concern. But he's grateful that she knows how to slip past his defenses anyway. They both have their issues but somehow it seems to work for the two of them. Pushing thoughts of Dani aside, Owen focuses on the leader writhing on the ground.

He keeps a watchful eye on her, making sure she's not pulling a weapon or worse, a switch. When Dani appears, he doesn't immediately face her, keeping watch still. He moves at regular speed now to cuff the leader. No use in pushing it any farther. Eventually he gets around to answering.

"I'm .. getting there."

In this case 'there' is not okay so much as pushing past where he should. It's easy to do when everything feels like it has to happen now. And trying to keep up with Bart since he's been back in this time certainly hasn't helped. He may have access to the speed force, but he's no speedster, as Dani is ever so quick to remind him.

"How's the eye? Still feelin' it?"

See? It's fine for him to show concern, even if she would tear into any other agent who tried. Something in the way they show concern as professionals makes it okay, even if their relationship has long since left that little box behind.


Her singular brown eyes stays focused on his face for a few silent seconds. Gauging what might be heard beneath those three words of his.

And what she sees seems to satisfy her. It allows her to nod and switch her attention from him to the woman on the ground. When Owen moves over to cuff her, the woman only gives a token resistance, thanks to the nausea inducing pain from the kick to her leg.

A pat down of the woman reveals a few things -

A switchblade, a packet of personal letters and a small gray thumb drive.

It's the thumb drive that holds Dani's attention for the longest of seconds, before Owen's last question pulls her from her thoughts. "It's okay." She answers initially before she flashes a tight smile to him, "It's getting there." An echo of his own words back to him now.

"Come on, let's get this one back to HQ. Then see what we can learn from the drive." Then a look shifts back to the bound woman, "Hopefully it holds something useful for us."

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License