2013-01-03 Unscheduled Mayhem

The After New Years Traffic is terrible on Interstate 87, so many people traveling, some taking advantage for an early weekend, others returning early from the holiday to prepare for work and school, commuters, and so many others. The section between Westchester and Manhattan is especially hectic today. The sun is just beginning to set among the scattered clouds, the colors creating one of the true wonders of nature, a mural of beauty spread across the sky. The crisp weather has most people bundled up, but some more daring folks are allowing the 30 degree weather to keep them alert and alive. It would be a shame to spoil the beauty of nature, but sadly while traffic may allow folks to witness it, that can't make them actually look, and the occasional horn blares out as someone gets frustrated... ahh New York...

It's time to get out of the city. Carol needs... air. Clean air, quiet surroundings, and well... she is also working to try to help out a friend. "Feel free to raid the tupperware back there. I packed enough turkey and swiss sandwiches to feed a small army, or maybe one of you.... maybe." she says to the little Broodling in her car's back seat. She turns on the radio in hopes of finding... -something- worth listening to. Something that won't piss her off. Oh... AC/DC.. that'll work.

So she leaves a hand on the wheel as she slows for the traffic and just settles into her seat. Sure she could fly to Westchester in a fraction of the time it'd take to drive, but.. she really isn't supposed to be out powering herself around right now. Suspended... yeah. That's a buzzkill for sure.

Working contacts in the criminal underworld, even when for a good purpose, was ugly business. A silenced gunshot clapped inside a filthy house, within which resided a meth dealer who dabbles in human trafficking. However, it's not the dealer Shift intended to hurt. He intended to hurt no one. It's the dealer's trafficking contact, who'd been tracked to that very house in Queens, who was the real target.

Regardless, the meth dealer flailed about on the floor, gripping a fresh bullet wound to his leg. Shift rotated the gun toward the criminal's head next, while leveling a well performed, ferocious glare toward the trafficking kingpin. "Names, Trenton, or de next bullet will..."

Moments later, armed thugs came from everywhere, unloading their weapons upon Kwabena Odame in what would have spelled certain death. Of course, the 'invincible man', as he was known in those circles, simply ran out of the house, jumped on his motorcycle, and took off at breakneck speeds, headed toward Interstate 87.

Sure, his failure at getting any information from Trenton the Human Trafficker was frustrating, but really, letting his thugs see that Kwabena could simply not be harmed by mere bullets served its purpose. However, the traffic he now found himself trapped in... -THAT- was frustrating. Raising a hand to his bluetooth headset, he speaks, "Dial Kurt."

Ring! Ring! Ring!

It's a strange day, alright. Mystique bumped into Nightcrawler, had the most civil conversation with him since ..oh, ever, and now they're on the road. Together. It's probably best not to ask how she was able to afford the Mercedes-Benz that she's driving right now, having taken on a different persona as well so she wouldn't get pulled over for driving such a nice car when she hadn't looked far out of high school. An ounce of prevention, and all that.

It's been a mostly silent trip from her end, not finding much to say. Their good conversation led to something which she decided is important enough to lend a hand with. Sure they -could- have teleported, but this gives them more time together. It's something she doesn't see a whole lot of.

Teleporting in from the city, well.. while Kurt could do it without too much problem thanks to practice, taking someone along? Kurt does have his secrets still, and it probably would have put Mystique out cold for a little while, thanks to the distance and the amount of 'takeoffs' and 'landings' he'd have to do in the middle of it all. So, a car it is!

Kurt, too, has been quiet, considering. Yellow eyes look out the tinted windows as they take the Interstate. It's started a rather bad day, and now? There's a warmth that sits within; he's not a monster, not a demon.. and now beside family, no matter how estranged, there's something finally 'right'. How long that'll last, however, is anyone's guess.

And the phone rings. Kurt blinks and looks first to Mystique, his brows creasing, and it takes the second, third ring before he realizes that it's his phone that is going off. Digging into his pocket, he picks up after checking his caller ID. "Ja..?"

Looking Over at Carol, Broo smiles, "Thank you Carol, both for the ride, and for the food." he glances back at the tupperwear, considering. He could eat the sandwiches and enjoy them, especially since he's worked hard on savoring food since his extended excursion to New York taught him some things, but he also has to consider that there is no telling how long they'll be in traffic and rationing the food might be a good idea, especially if eating too much of the yummy Turkey at once might cause him to find the pretty colors produced by the lower angle of refraction more then a bit soothing and cause him to doze off. He squints a bit at the music, but decides to experience it and see if he can find the positives in it, "Do these conveyances come in powder blue? For some reason I would think a powder blue one would be quite humorous."

Unfortunately, it seems traffic will be held up for a while, partially because... well... someone is holding up traffic. A sextet of costumed beings is literally demanding tolls, and quite the eclectic bunch they are. The Tallest of them looks like someone took an idealized Professional Body Builder, inflated him to three times as muscular, and then enlarged him to over a story tall, though he seems mainly to be flexing and showing off to either intimidate people or illicit such awe that they hand over their money. Next to him an Asian Male, only he seems extremely... well... artificial... like a living Anime character, his hair spiked up impossibly high, his eyes several sizes to large, and that isn't including how he stretches his hands to reach through windows to grabs stuff. Blocking most of the traffic is an obese fellow, who seems to be throwing some kind of semi-clear pinkish goo which oozes on the cars, but seems to harden on the tires, immobilizing the vehicles... though what is more a wonder is how his weight doesn't immobilize him. Circling over head is a guy wearing mechanical bat wings, and occasionally aiming a weapon at anyone that seems to be getting uppity with his cohorts, silver articulated poles spidering out across the wings to give them their support. The final pair are a sort of furry girl with feline features, slinky movements, and claws that seem to rip through the metal of cars... and near her is the only other female in the group, a small yet buff girl with large hammer heads either on her hands or instead of hands, and she actually slams them through doors and crushes front ends with ease.

The tall one's voice carries, very eloquent and somewhat regal and superior in his tone, "I am Brobdingnag, and we are the Legion of Stupendously Exceptional Renegade Superhumans. If you cooperate, no harm shall come to you. But if you do challenge us, beware, for we shall show you no mercy. So says, BROB-DING-NAG!!!" flexing and actually doubling in height so more people can see his physique. The stretch anime guy also grows big and grabs a pair of cars, holding them above his head at about three stories above the Interstate, snickering and adds, "Hehehe, I'm holding up traffic."

"Actually yes, they -do- come in Powder Blue. I went with white because.. it was what they had on the lot at the time." offers Carol. She reaches into the container and grabs a sandwich for herself, figuring that she'd better do it now before they're all gone. Up front she has.. a six pack of bottled waters. She eyes the drink and squints. It's not what she -wants- right now. But she looks up in time to get stopped before she rear-ends the driver ahead of her. "Really? It's not like this is a crowded rou...." and she cuts off as she sees the flying batwing guy up ahead. "Oh, tell me this isn't a handful of idiots out making .... " She rolls down the window as she speaks and leans out to look forward. Then she takes a deep breath and shakes her head, "This.. I did not need. Let's see if I can make this work out without violence. Colonel Fury would really hate it if I had to break his rules."

She smiles to Broo before saying, "You might want to stay here if you don't want to spook other drivers. If I need help... I know who I can count on." And that said, she pulls onto the shoulder, parks, sets the parking brake and steps out of the car. She leaves it running because... who's going to steal it with a 3 foot -bug- on the seat?

Out comes her wallet with her SHIELD badge. Sure, she's suspended, but that's hardly common knowledge, and then she starts walking forward towards the Legion of Really Exaggeratedly Stupid Targets. She waits until she's in easy speaking range of them before she calls out, "Hey.. I don't mean to be insulting but..." She flips the wallet up and shows the SHIELD ID. "I would really.. -really- like to get you guys to go home and I dunno.. play video games... It would really save me a whole lot of paperwork and keep me from -really- getting upset."

Of course, the fact that she's in street clothes doesn't really help her intmidation factor. But it's been a long week for her and she doesn't really give a crap anymore.

Don't misunderstand a mutant's intentions! Kwabena had certainly called 9-1-1 on his way out of New York, informing them that a meth dealer had suffered a gunshot wound to the leg at a certain address. -That- cell phone had been ditched back in Queens. -This- one is scrambled, caller ID blocked from those who haven't been designated to see it, such as Kurt. It's the cell phone he uses for his friends, not for staging criminal activity in order to glean information that would lead to the rescue of innocents... okay, we're rambling now.

As soon as he's connected, Shift reaches up to press a hand against the earpiece, hoping to drown out some of the traffic noise. "Kurt! It's Shift. Round one was a no go in de Big Appahl, except dat I've ruled out some few contacts of having any promising leads. On my way back, but dere is dis..."

Blink.

"... traffic jam." The tone of Kwabena's voice changes from quickened to slow, almost morose at what he can see of those holding up traffic. He's still a healthy distance behind, but Brobdingnag's voice manages to reach his ears clearly, even above the rumbling of an idle motorcycle beneath him. "Oh... my... God," he drawls into the earpiece. "Are you on I-87?" Not yet waiting for an answer, the Ghanaian reaches beneath his black leather riding jacket, retrieving the hood from his well concealed costume so that he might stretch it over his face and bald head, concealing all of his features save his chin and mouth and helping to block out some of the ambient noise from his phone call with Nightcrawler. Following this, he guns the motorcycle and moves off into the median, kicking up dirt, gravel, and half-dead grass as he tries to close the healthy distance.

Mystique is starting to regret this whole car ride thing. It wouldn't be so bad if they were able to -keep moving.- "Traffic is usually much more smooth-flowing at this hour," she says through another fake accent of another fake persona. Tonya Harris is back at it once again, complete with straight black hair, green eyes, and brown bomber jacket. The impatient drumming of fingers upon the wheel isn't part of the act, she really is getting that irritated.

Then she gets to see what the problem is. Sigh. And her son is sitting beside her. You know the one, the religious one that doesn't believe in lethal violence.

-Sigh.-

"We may have ourselves a bit of a situation here, Nightcrawler, my dear." Rather than risk another car, she, too, makes herself a window to pull out onto the shoulder. Turning around is a little bit impossible from here. Someone should really do something about this. She's not about to start pointing fingers or anything, but -someone- really oughta clean up this mess.

SIGH.

"Care for a little mother/son trust building exercise?" she inquires while flicking the ignition off, popping the keys, then stepping out in a swift yet somehow exaggerated motion. "Hey! You crazy kids in your silly costumes, do you mind? Some of us have places to be. Now be a good bunch of sweethearts and clear on out of here, yah?"

Kurt is indeed in traffic on I-87.. and the chances are good that Shift can actually hear the same things through his phone as he is hearing in first person. "Ja.. then we can rule out-" Beat. "Oh, Gott im Himmel.." and yellow eyes turn to the view that is before them. Glancing beside him, he exhales in a sigh. "Ja, I am near.." before he hangs up the phone.

He doesn't catch Carol's departure from her car, but is rather more concerned with what is going on with him.. and Kwa. Kurt waits for Mystique to park the car on the side of the road before he too sighs. "It looks like something should be done." And the passenger side door opens, allowing him to exit the car. "Let us see if this cannot be handled with a little calm conversation."

Reaching for a pair of sandwiches, Broo nods to Carol, also grabbing a bottle of water. He moves so he can watch, and changes the channel on the radio to some classic Queen, as he watches intently and snacks. He is sure Carol can take care of herself, but he's there... if she needs him.

Brobdingnag partly ignores the shouts and smiles, "Foolish humans, we care not for your insignificant laws, we are all countries unto ourselves, and every nation must make treaty with us as such." he flexes, "So says, BROB-DING-NAG!!!" The guy circling flies higher and then swoops down, eight of the silver arms that appeared to be a part of the wings actually moving and coming down to act like a set of spider legs, and grabbing a Smrt Car up, carring it toward his overly animated accomplice, "Japanimaniac, stop fooling around, and start collecting the stuff. I don't care what Broadbangnag calls us, just as long as we pay the boss and get our cut." he drops the car on its side at the feet of Japanimaniac who grabs it up and begins juggling it with the other two cars, "Pay up, pay down, pay all around, but pay the toll, or you we roll."

The hammer handed girl goes over and starts hitting on an armored car's doors that has been stopped by her obese companion, who has coated the windshield and doors in that gunk he makes, sealing the driver and guard in, he smiles, "Sledgefist, crack it, I'll be able to buy lots of Twinkies with this cash." Sledgefist snearing and saying, "Lardball, you should eat healthier..." before denting the doors to the armored car. The Catgirl hopping on top and purring, "I smell toys coming to play. Get the money, I'll go sharpen my claws." before bounding into the foray, headed toward the fun.

Reaching a hand up, Carol massages the bridge of her nose. She pulls out a cellphone and sends Fury a text. Simple text... a few words. Had no choice. Then she puts that away and raises her voice. She uses.. THE VOICE. You know, that voice that an good military officer manages to manifest so that even over the din of combat, the men can hear her orders. "I am not talking about local laws you rejects from an MST3K convention! Agent Danvers, SHIELD! You will cease and desist..." and then the hammering of the armored car starts and she shakes her head

A flash of golden yellow energy ripples across her clothing, and when it is done, she's in that black lightning bolted, sashed bodysuit of a costume. "Do you have any idea what sort of week I have had?!" She adds, her voice dagnerously controlled, but to those who might be able to tell... she's on edge, very much so. "Now, last chance, go.. away. Without your spoils, or I will personally stuff catgirl here up Fatso's rectum... and that's just to start with." Yep, she's just stalking forwards now, no fear, nothing but frustration and anger bubbling up to the surface.

Following the median, Shift makes pretty good time, and soon, the unmistakeable blue of Kurt can be seen. With the twist of a throttle, the Harley sportster spews more debris behind as it rips down the median, only slowing when the bike comes to a halt nearby 'Tonya Harris's parked car. A kickstand hits the gravel, Shift hops off the bike, then jogs up to meet them.

The presence of Nightcrawler's unfamiliar counterpart causes him to keep his mask in place; better to look like one of those masked vigilantes than to be outed. There was too much value in secrecy, especially considering how she's crying out at the troublemakers. Little could he know that the shapeshifter had already encountered him before, and his accent was all but unmistakeable.

Upon joining them, Shift is granted a better view of what's going on. Cars being juggled about, armored cars being assaulted? His lips are turned into a rather stern frown. "I have a feeling conversation won't stop dese ones," he half grumbles, before pointing toward Carol in a meaningful way.

"She's friendly." He looks toward Nightcrawler, but the meaningful look in his eyes is kept secret by the mask. "I have worked with her before. Let's go to her aide!" Quickly, Kwabena starts making his way through the stopped cars, heading toward Carol with all due haste.

Mystique would love to point out to Kurt that these guys appear to be somewhat beyond the rational conversation stage, but she's really trying, here! She could retaliate and prove to her kid that she'll always be so quick to resort to violence and alienate him all over again, or she can try and let him have his moment. Given the week he's been having thus far, it would do him some good.

And now there's another man coming to join them. The mask is probably a good idea, but that voice... Not many people with an accent like that around here, let alone would-be hero types with something to prove. Her expression as Tonya remains neutral, but on the inside she's amused. There is something so very familiar about this man on the bike.

"It would seem that your friend is less than inclined to chat it up with these individuals."

Then there's the SHIELD lady, someone whom Mystique feels that she should know. "Goodness, we have ourselves a right smorgasbord here." To Kurt, she says "If you have any convincing speeches queued up, might I suggest this as being the time to employ them?" And if they didn't have eyes upon them already she would so morph into a highly recognizable hero type and start in with the threats. Iron Man is looking lovely this time of year.

Kurt's looking at the display before him, and casting a glance behind him, over his shoulder as Kwa joins him, them, he points towards the armoured car. "There are people inside.. I will get them out so they are not injured." Calling his shots! Following his teammate's gesture at Carol, lips press in a tight line and he nods, "I see.." he begins. "SHIELD?" His voice lowers, "Be very careful, mein freund." They'll take mutants in as quickly as anything else.

Glancing back to his mother, Kurt knows that she can take care of herself, but.. he doesn't want to see her injured. Not now. Not just when...

There's an expression of disappointment that crosses the blue fuzzy elf's face. There's really no time, and anything he could possibly want to say has been taken by the 'I've had a bad day' speech by Carol. Shaking his head, he chuckles ruefully. "There is nothing I could add, with my week." It's not a second, however, before he's gone in a *bamf*, leaving behind that acrid smell of brimstone behind him. Landing upon the top of the armoured car, he grabs hold of the catwoman, "You need to be put away.." and with another *bamf* only a heartbeat later, the pair seem to disappear.. and in the next moment, the guard and the driver are put safely on the side of the highway with no sign of the catwoman. (She's been put in the locked/gooped cab of the armoured car, what with the back locked against entry..)

Brobdingnag puffs out his chest, "The Nation of BROB-DING-NAG does not acknowledge the authority of the Silly Human Inadequately Educated Loser Dump. Take your puny, tiny, wee badge back to your Helidaycare." and makes himself so tall he is now straddling the Interstate. Sledgefist and Lardball are a bit less happy with Agen Danver's threats, and actually pause in their assault on the Armored Car, both looking a bit nervous. The Catgirl meanwhile rushes towards Kurt and purrs, "Hellllllloooo hansome. Werrrrrrre you been all my life?" as she seems intent on pouncing on him... albeit playfully and then ends up locked in the cab of the armored car.

Japanimaniac meanwhile seems to get a demented look on his face, "Make you a better deal SHIELD Lady..." extra arms extending from his sides to grab up 5 more cars and add them to his juggling, "You can take Mainecoon and cram her up Lardball's hiney, and I'll just keep juggling." then begins to cackle while keeping the 8 cars aloft, tossing "Hey Arachnabat, bring be a couple SUVs and minivans." to the winged guy. Arachnabat seems almost as shocked as Sledgefist and Lardball, pondering his animated allies idea, but also perhaps pondering Carol's comment. Brobdingnag seems to flex more, completely unphased by the threats.

"You guys -really- don't feel like growing a brain cell between any of you, do you?" asks Carol as she looks back towards -her- car. She figures... they want to take pride in being weird? She'll show them -weird-. She gestures.. one of those... c'mon over here gestures, towards Broo. Then she looks back towards the juggler with what can only be referred to as an evil grin. She looks past them towards Shift and her eyes narrow. A reminder of what she's been trying to forget, but she just shrugs. She registers what she assumes is Blink doing blinky stuff from the appearance of the little purple and black smokecloud when Kurt teleports. Well, only two missing from this little encounter.

"Okay Stretch Armstrong..." she says towards Japanamaniac. "You just got elected to take pussycat's place." And she's just stalking right towards the guy. She does wave to get Shift's attention, and then gestures towards the smoke puffs of teleport, and then towards the cars being juggled. She's hoping he gets the message she's -trying- to send.

Yep... that's Carol, and while he didn't know her too terribly well, Kwabena easily recognizes the tension in her voice, for it was a tension that all the prisoners of Latveria shared. Kwabena spares a thoughtful, earnest look toward Kurt, then nods his head in acknowledgement of the fellow mutant's warning. "I will do just dat," he answers.

(It's a good thing there are some non-foreigners here! Between Kurt's Deutscher and Kwabena's Ghanaian, there's a dangerous bit of thick accents bouncing around.)

His eyes meet Carols, then dance about quickly between her targeted gestures. Realization dawns upon him, and he calls after the poofing form of Nightcrawler. "Kurt! Skyward cars!" He jerks a hand toward those vehicles that are being juggled, hoping that Kurt gets the message as well.

Finally, he sets his eyes upon Slegdefist. With a *poof!*, the riding leathers fall to the ground in a heap, and where Kwabena stood is now a cloud of black smoke. When the cloud reforms into an African again, he's now clad in gunmetal gray. which begins to crackle as he summons darker thoughts. Stretching his arms out to either side, they begin to harden into a matter state far beyond that of normal human flesh, and even begins to take upon the appearance of something that could only be described as tank armor.

Heavy footfalls then precede his advance upon Sledgefist as he lifts his arms in a fighting stance. "Back down," he warns her. "Back down, now!" His advance continues with heavy footfalls quickening as he moves to engage her, if only to distract her from further smashing of trapped cars and their encased victims. Teeth are revealed behind peeled back lips as he snarls and swings a strong arm toward one of her hammer hands. Better test out how strong they are, right?

Point one for her offspring! Nice job on the teleporting, there. "My, but that is a big fellow," Tonya undertones in a bit of amazement. That would be a bit tricky for her to copy, not to mention for as large, or small, as she could make herself, she still can't affect how much she weighs. It rather takes some of the fun out of being fifty feet tall. Alternatives. Go tiny..and do what? "Oh, sod it," she lilts before shifting into something that looks like a cross between a dragon, an armadillo, and a hedgehog, only if the 'hog had long, metal spikes instead of quills. Intimidation takes many forms, like an armored pin cushion. It's easy enough to turn into something that people won't want to mess with. Go on, play with this thing, you guys know you want to.

Like the big blob of a man over there. Slow, easy target, has a ranged attack. Good thing Mystique is a fast little metamorph! The mercury-hued creature she has become leaps onto the roof of a nearby car (but not her own,) vicious talons shearing paint off of steel with an ungodly shriek as she--it- bares needle-like fangs at the opposition, slowly stalking its way closer with a feline-like predatory stance. Eyeing up the big guy with glowing red embers of eyes as though he might make for a decent appetizer. Growling is super easy when one can change her very larnyx.

Kurt is back on the side of the road, and yellow eyes narrow as Japanimaniac begins to add cars to his juggling. Now that he's got the Mainecoon in the cab (made all the easier with her pounce!), he makes a leap into the air and *bamf* disappears right into the aether after catching Kwa's gesture up. He reappears once again, inside one of the cars that is now on it's upswing.. and he's quick! "Do not be afraid," he murmurs, "I am getting you out.." and thankfully, the drivers have had the foresight to actually wear their seatbelts! Taking hold, if the screaming in the cars weren't loud for the fact they were being juggled? Demon!

Still, the elf takes a hold of the driver, one after another.. and in every couple of heartbeats, yet another occupant of the vehicles is set onto the ground, away from the fray. In the distance.. the siren of police cars can be heard.. but damn this traffic!

There is a bit of confusion, as Broo lazily comes out of the car, looking sort of sleepy, rolling a turkey sandwich around in his mouth, his tongue half hanging out and his eyes droopy. He flutters a bit, though seems to have moments of losing altitude as he suddenly stops flapping only to start again. Making his way over. He yawns, and still with food in his mouth... partly forgotton, says, "Yaz Cawoh?" landing near her so he doesn't have to keep flying. He sort of sways on his feet, almost like any second he'll just fall over and go to sleep... not like Kwabena's seen it happen before or anything.

Is it possible for Brobdingnag to get any taller, perhaps, cause at these proportions every inch becomes a smaller and smaller percentage, so a few here or there may be hard to tell, but he really has become oblivious to most of the fight, flexing, "Oh yeah... now you see the power, the glory, the might, the beauty, the magnificence, the majesty, the awesomeness of BROB-DING-NAG!!!"

Lardball does not have the ego his brobdingnagian compatriot has, but what he does actually have is surprising speed and agility... turns out while the guy is huge, he could actually give an Olympic sprinter a good challenge, which only is an issue if the Armadraghedgomeranaut chases him. He signed on for handling civilians and maybe some gun wielding highway patrolmen, or at worst some extreme survivalist with high powered rifles, not aliens, monsters, and demons. He looks like he is trying to break the 3 minute mile as he flees, and throwing those balls of... well now that Mystique is close enough, smells like fryer grease with porkrinds and french fries and burgers and probably any other fast food you can think of... the guy actually is throwing balls of the stuff they suck out during liposuction... how's that for a power.

Mainecoon starts to claw her way out, her claws doing little to even cut air holes in the reinforced material, were it a normal car she might have been okay, but with her appearance there Sledgefist abandoned the back doors and is working to free her, "I'm coming little sis. You just hold on." she gets stopped by Kwabena and seems to plead, "I surrender, I just want to get Mandy out. Please help, my sister has claustrophobia. We'll come peacefully, just help me save her."

Arachnabat seems to have decided to cut his losses, he divebombs down and uses those extra spider arms to grabs some of the stuff they got from individual cars as he swoops by, headed away from the scene, a small rocket extending from the center pack of his wings.

The real issue is that Japanimaniac doesn't seem to be stopping, and in fact looks to be trying to add more vehicles to his juggling arsenal, and then one of his hands becomes an atlatl and another becomes a trebuchet, and he begins to fling the cars toward the sirens, and adds a overly cheerful, "Catch those if you can!!!" he even grabs the first cop car that gets close and flings it, saying, "Well, guess we can't say when pigs fly..." cackling hysterically.

"Sorry Broo, looks like I didn't need to bother you when it was naptime." mutters Carol as she shakes her head, "They seem to be... well, most of'em are being smart. Two however..." She gestures towards the juggler and says, "Shift! I got this one! Send Blink to intercept the flier!" And then she's launching herself. She hopes all of those cars are empty... but for the moment she's focused on trying to stop the guy from getting -more- of them.

How you might ask? Well, that part is simplicity itself. She flings a burst of Photonic Energy right at the guy's face just before she crashed into his main body full force in a flying tackle, aiming to curve upwards and pull the guy into the air and away from all of this. "I wonder if we can still catch Fatso. I can only do about Mach 3 up here..." she says to the guy.

Skidding to a halt, Kwabena pulls back on his heavy assault, the pleading voice triggering a knee-jerk response and a gasp from his face. His body almost immediately begins reverting to a normal state, and he holds up his hands in a brief gesture of peace, before walking around toward Sledgefist's other side. He momentarily watches as Nightcrawler handles the rescue of those trapped inside Japanimaniac's juggling cars, along with Carol's attempts to stop the crazed anime guy. He cocks his head in momentary confusion as she mentions Blink.

Blink? Where?

Oh yeah, Kurt! He's about to pass along the message, when he recognizes that the flier is, indeed, trying to escape. Instead, he spins back toward Sledgefist, hesitant to offer assistance just yet while eyes narrow beneath the concealing mask. "How do we stop him?" asks the Ghanaian, and points toward the -towering- form above the freeway. Oh yes, he's holding 'Mandy' hostage, at least for the moment. Leverage in these kinds of situations are hard to come by, after all. "Dis has to stop, now!" he urges her, a subtle pleading in his own voice.

Alright, so becoming something disgusting in order to challenge something -else- that's disgusting seems to be an effective, if not revolting, tactic. Lardball gives chase (and how the heck does he move so fast with that much to lug around?) It's all that Mystique can do to dive out of the way of that incoming projectile of wretchedness, curling strips of paint off of yet another car as she leaps from one roof to another. The screaming from inside of that Honda is just priceless, admittedly.

Hammergirl nearly gets to face the fictional creature's wrath next, except that she's trying to save her cat of a sister so they can leave. Good girl. That leaves Mister Juggles and the towering behemoth. Short of letting herself get stepped on by the giant, Juggles seems like a better bet. Except that he's already being handled. So, then. Mystithing versus Sir Brob.

This seems slightly one-sided.

Fortunately, there's a whole -host- of things that are problematic for people once they get through the epidermis. Worms, parasites, even fly larvae. And, the ever impressive hedgehog quills. She can afford to part with some of herself here, right..? Oh, hells yes. Metal body spikes suddenly form hooks and barbs as she makes a mad dash for the big guy, intent on -smacking- a good dozen or so razor-sharp quills into his ankle on her way past. Let's see how he likes that.

Kurt's on the ground once again, his chest heaving now as he takes breaths. There were a few people that had multiple occupants in the cars, and they're down, thankfully. His gaze rises again, however, as he catches the next bit that Japanamaniac has in store; "Mein Gott.. will someone please stop him.." comes a weary request. It's been a hard week!

He's focused now on the retrieval of the drivers.. each one that the badly rendered attempt at an anime character's has tried to throw. The cars that he's got in the air, he'd emptied but for the new ones.. and once again, he pushes and begins the rescues.


 * bamf*

That sound is heard over.. and over.. and over. The cop is extricated from the car before the vehicle crashes. A couple of other people are freed from their cars before another thousand pound projectile hits it.. and with each teleport, the blue elf pushes himself over.. and over. If it was just him? Cakewalk. More than just him, over and over?

Looking around, Broo nods, then yawns and flops over, curling up, pulling his hood over his eyes to shield them from the light. His tongue hangs out, only curling a bit to push the sandwich back into to his mouth, rolling the sandwich lazily around as he sort of hums and gurgles in his sleep. His little fit and hands moving as if he were running on all fours or climbing.

For the most part, Brobdingnag has just gloated, flexed, and grown... and then his ankle is hooked and there is a howl of extreme pain, followed by the sound of thunder as he begins to hop up and down on the other foot, the ground shaking from the mountainous form bouncing up and down on one foot, each hop making a footprint that sinks several meters into the ground.

There is no pause, no consideration at all for Arachnobat, Sledgefist says, "Besides being real smart and skilled, he's just a trained acrobat with a bunch of gadgets. Take out the controls on his right gauntlet and he's just wearing a depowered exoskeleton that he's not even strong enough to move on his own. Now help me get one of these doors off." she looks back to the armored car, "Just hang on Mandy... I'm gunna get you out, honey." a muffled voice from within screaming, "Sadie... Sadie... I can brrr... no airrrr.... bein crrrrushed."

Also screaming is Lardball, whose voice has gotten pretty high, "Not in the butt, not in the butt... Keep that freak away from me. I know where he has been." as he parkours over other cars, railing, dividers, and anything else in his way.

Japanimaniac barely reacts to the blast, no screams, no gasps, just a *pop* sound as he deflates like a torn balloon, shrinking down to a skinny 6' guy, his hair flopping as he is hit by Carol, and then bounces off her fist, and then the ground, and the barrier, and several cars, like a living rubber superball, even rolling up as he bounces, until he is stuck in a ball in a glob of Lardball's "projectiles". His voice weakly says, "You're disssssspppppicccccablllllle." bubbles forming in the 'stuff' as he tries rocking from side to side and looks like he may be trying to unroll himself.

Okay, that guy's stuck. Carol shakes her head and veers off from the guy stuck in the lard. She smirks at Lardball's fleeing speech and then flies right up in the face of the giant, "Oh shut up you big baby!" she says, "Stop throwing a tantrum or you'll -really- get into trouble. Now, do you really want me to bring Nick Fury down here so he can -really- make you feel small?" she asks, hands on her hips as she hovers there before Brobdingnag's face. She's almost begging him to hit her and give her an excuse to do something really and truly violent.

Following a quick nod of approval to Sledgefist, Shift turns back toward the armored car. Once more his lips peel back and he produces a feral snarl, coupled with the hardening of his fists once more. The skin of his arm crackles as it hardens into something more like titanium, and with a quick and almost beastly roar, he throws that fist right into the crack separating the armored car's doors.

A scream of metal is produced, and the doors go banging inward, providing freedom for the girl trapped inside.

Kwabena steps back, visibly relaxing his soul and body. Flesh returns to normal once more, and he simply turns to give Sledgefist a nod, before moving back toward Carol and Mystique. For a moment, he merely watches to see if this might end peacefully after all.

Kurt, for his part, is setting the police officer down when the call comes over the police intercom to advance, now that it's looking as if the tide is turning. For the one officer, regaining his wits, he pulls the gun on his rescuer. Immediately, the target that the police officer draws on is gone in a *bamf*, leaving behind the tell-tale brimstone smell. "Demon.." is called out, and back to where his fellow cops are. What else could he think? (Whether his fellow officers believe him, that's another story!)

That last teleport, however, brings him back to where the Mercedes-Benz is.. and there comes a shout, (or what he believes is a shout..) "Time to go..!" Kurt turns around as if he's going to walk back to the car, and as he takes that first step- he falls over. Down. Out cold. Unconscious in a pile on the side of the highway.

Big or small, strong or weak, -no- one likes getting impaled by sharp, pointy things. Mystithing's idea worked, but now the highway is in absolute ruin and the guy's still jumping around like a three hundred ton pogo stick.

Maybe she should slap some quills into his other leg, too? She's starting to get the hang of this form, it shouldn't be too difficult to fling some more of them as projectiles right off of the end of her temporary tail... Mmh, best not risk it if she doesn't have to. Having gone with metal, she's already left a good chunk of herself behind. That's one of those things she's learned a long time ago not to push too far, bad things can happen.

On the other hand, he's the only guy left. That means everyone opposing this nonsense can all focus on the same giant. As if in response to Carol's warning, she emits a cry of warning that's a curious blend of a higher pitched shriek and a low, rib-vibrating snarl, adding some demonic acoustics to an infernal visage.

It would be enough to give her a sore throat if she couldn't just heal herself on the fly.

Then the situation changes. She hears a familiar voice calling out, turning in time to see Kurt drop on the side of the road. There's no moment of hesitation while Mystithing weighs her options, claws tearing deep furrows into the pavement as she leaps past the big guy, bounds across half a dozen cars, and pounces -right- on top of the blue mutant's prone body. Guarding. Growling.

Shifting.

It's Tonya again. And it is definitely time for them to find a way out of here.

The quaking seems to briefly wake Broo up, he closes his mouth and swallows the sandwich, then staggers lazily back to where he left the car... there was a car there... really there was. He looks around, stretches and yawns, looking for the White Prius. Where did he leave it? It isn't like it got up and drove off on its own, or grew wings and flew away, right?

Pulling Mainecoon out of the armored car, the hammers on Sledgefist's hands seeming to have retracted, she hugs her sister to her and comforts the terrified girl, "It will be okay. Nothings gunna happen to you." though there is a look of fear in Sadie's eyes... perhaps contemplating what will happen if Mandy is arrested and put in a prison cell.

Arachnabat doesn't gloat, he doesn't waste time, he waits as the whirling sound of the jet engine on his back reves up, preparing to thrust him far away from this place, this insanity, any flying vehicles, disgusting stuff, crazed monsters and aliens, catgirls, hammer handed women, out of control agents from organizations with acronyms, rubbery lunatics, egotistical giants, demons, and who knows what else...

Lardball might think he is home free at this point, no one in pursuit of him, a good head start, lots of vehicles to slip in among, not to mention that this is the US, obese guys aren't exactly an oddity. He tries to fiddle with something on his wrist and he looks for temporary cover... all he needs is a few more moments.

Brobdingnag either can't hear Carol over his own cries of pain, or doesn't care, he continue to hop around in agony, and then as iff to defy her, does actually take an idle backhand swing with his billboard sized hand at her, as if to swat the pest that is interfering with his attempts to deal with the injury to his ankle.

Well, Carol has had enough. This may or may not be a good idea. But she's going to try to meet force with force. She's strong, super strong... as that hand flashes out, she lets loose with a right cross that could level buildings, aiming for the hand to try to stop its swing. She hits it, and there is a -loud- snap as bones in the hand crack. Okay, so he's not ridiculously super tough. But she also -takes- a hit and goes flying back a bit before she adjusts, stabilizes and shakes her head. The next thing that comes out of her mouth... if it wasn't for her Mezzo Soprano... would sound like classic Bill Cosby. "I... have had.... enough... of you!" She cries out before she sends a photonic blast, and then another right behind it, at center mass for the big guy.

After watching the sisters reunited, Kwabena immediately turns and makes for a retreat back to where Nightcrawler has collapsed. He looks up just for a moment as Mystique and Carol take on the big guy, but for the time being, his attention remains upon a fallen comrade, checking for a pulse.

Mystique has done her part here. So has Kurt, for that matter. She's not dealing with the big guy anymore. One way or another, she is -going- to find a way out of here, by car, with her son. It's a good thing that he's not a very big guy, she can get him into the car alright. Of course, there's the mystery man in grey to deal with now, as well. "Your concern is noted. He will be fine." Of that much, she is certain.

As soon as Kurt's in the Mercedes, she's going to leave. Their point has been made. Together, for perhaps the first time in their shared history. It's still Raven in there, however. She'll kill anyone that tries to get in her way now, including the cops.

Broo rubs his eyes and looks around some more. His lipless jaw quivering... he's lost again. He can't find the car, he's oddly tired again, and the ground keeps shaking under his feet. He looks around frantically. There is destruction, there is screaming, but he now finds himself standing alone with no idea which way is home, and tears begin to form in his eyes.

You know how they say to make you forget the pain in one body part, that you should hurt another body part, yeah, that only works for a second and then both hurt more... and that seems to be Brobdingnag's issue a he hops on one foot, and clutches his broken hand with the other hand, and then thankfully the pain and shock overwhelm him and he passes out, shrinking faster then the time it takes him to crumble to the ground in a moaning unconscious heap. Yes, Brobdingnag, for all his ego, turned out to be sort of a wuss... but then again, he never did anything besides gloat and grow big, almost like he wasn't meant to do anything else... except maybe draw attention away from the others... and save for Japanimaniac, he may have succeeded. With Kwabena leaving the girls, Mainecoon pulls out a device from someplace she had it secluded, and after a burst of light, both she and Sledgefist are gone. With the headstart and a place to get cover, somehow Lardball has mingled with the crowd and disappeared as well. Given time to get a bit away and get his thruster prepped, Arachnobat accelerates off over the horizon into the setting sun. Leaving just the two growing goons to take the fall for the entire mess. Maybe they'll get lucky and get Damage Inc. service duty... maybe... if they're lucky.