2012-12-11 YAL: Becoming Allies Finale

The story so far...

Kids were kidnapped from all over New York City and Metropolis...

Various teenagers with powers fought not one, but two organized attempts to kidnap kids from Central Park, where named costumed teen villains lead groups of costumed thugs...

Those thugs turned out to be brainwashed kids themselves...

Clues from those incidents lead to a fight club right outside of new York City...

At said fight club two of those very same teenagers were about to be forced to fight each other when some of those other heroes intervened...

When the fight club was dealt with, Axiom used the clues from that park to discover where the majority of the missing kids were being held, under a park in a secret base in Brooklyn...

Some of the same teenaged heroes attacked that base, where it was revealed that Granny Goodness was the villain behind all of this. /BUT/ she managed to get away...

And on top of that, the fighting spilled out into them open where the media managed to catch it on tape, and they in turn claimed this group was a new teen team they dubbed the 'Young Allies'.

And now for the conclusion.


 * Dun dun /DUN/!*

North Brother Island. It's a 13 acre island located between The Bronx and the infamous prison island of Rikers. Once it was not only a hospital, but also the 'home' of Typhoid Mary (the original, not the super villain), as well as others who were suppose to be isolated due to diseases. At another point in its life it was the 'home' of World War II Veterans while there was a national housing shortage. At still another point later on it was a home for, and treatment center for drug addicts. but for a long while now, decades really... The island has gone to the birds. Literally. It's been a bird sanctuary, one that humans aren't allowed in. Or at least that's what it's suppose to be.

Why is that a 'suppose to be'? Because as of late there have been a few odd reports. Rumors really. Things that could be brushed off as 'just kids having fun'. Or at least they've been treated as that by the police. But considering the clues that the 'Young Allies' have gathered, especially after their last run in with Granny Goodness's mind controlled minions, which hinted at an island hospital that had gone to the birds, this was a place worth checking out.

What sort of effects happen are up to Wiccan's player, but the team, or at least those who could be contacted once it was figured out that this is the place, end up appearing on the beach of the island, not too far from what looks like a woods that has grown up around some buildings. And while the sky overhead might be clear, and it may even be warm out for this time of year, it's almost as if a cool wind blows from somewhere closer to the interior of the island...

Huh? (Type "help" for help.)

There are no lights, no booming thunder, no great special effects as Wiccan teleports those of his friends, his new Team, to the suspected strong hold of Granny Goodness. Instead the heroes appear out of the mists like fog coalescing into human shapes and forms.

Floating a foot above the ground Wiccan's eyes still glow for a moment after the teleport before he drops to the ground and waivers for just a secont before standing up straight again. "Ok, were here. Now, what next before anyone notices we have arraived?"

Teleportation, very awesome. Tommy is impressed, but trying to appear nonchalant. Because he is too cool for going woah, wow or anything like that. There is Eddie for that. "Okay, so we have to find the fat grandomother and here super-kids, right? Only think I guess the kids are brainwashed, so have to be gentle and... does anyone have a plan or are we improvising?"

Appearing soon out of the mist is Speedball. His kinetic field is active, and he's got quite a few bubbles of kinetic energy floating around him. "What was the old saying," he says. "No plan survives first contact with the enemy?" Beat. "Or was it No Plan Survives?" He glances over his shoulder, then towards the rest of the island. "Any idea where Bavmorda might be hanging out, here?"

Axiom made sure to try to call in as much of the new team as possible to gather for this. He arrives beside Wiccan, smiling at the new teleportation effects. "That was awesome," he whispers to his friend, keeping watch to make sure he doesn't fall. When the others ask about plans, Axiom shrugs a little. "They're probably in or um..under the hospital b-b-building," he says. It's a guess.

SCENE: Kate Bishop has set the pose order.

"Very smooth," Xavin murmurs once she's appeared on the other side with all of her molecules intact. Not that she doesn't still give herself a quick onceover, just to be sure.

"I--" Her eyes drift towards Axiom for a moment before setting firmly on the hospital. "--suppose we'll want to find some way to figure out where they are," she quietly finishes. "Perhaps ambush them. Silently."

The lack of booming thunder or flashes of light from Wiccans teleportation spell probably helps the team more than can ever be put into words. After all, it does mean that the team may very well have the element of surprise on their side.

And yet as Speed and Speedball ask about a plan, Hawkeye blinks, before glancing at Xavin.

"Possibly Axiom." she murmurs, before glancing at the groups resident speedster, "Speed, please scout the outer edge of the island as fast as you can, look for any signs that people are here."

But then, before she can even voice her agreement with Xavin, a voice booms from what sounds like almost everywhere on the island.

"/THAT/ won't be necessary kids."

Yes, that's Granny's voice.

"I've been expecting you. I'm not below the Hospital, but I am in it. And... I'll make a deal with you. I won't stop you if you can catch my new Furies. I'll even let them go if you can. But every one of you that falls gets to join them. And if you manage to catch all five of the ones that remain and bring them to me in oh... Ten minutes, I'll even turn myself in. But if you can't, the whole island, and possibly a good chunk of this city will go up in a nice little explosion. Have fun!"


 * Click!*

And of course as soon as that voice fades away, a few things can be heard moving in the woods nearby. Large things. /VERY/ large things.

Wiccan nods at the others. "The Hospital would make the best sense. It's an already built structure no need to build anything new to set up shop." As the voice starts up Wiccan floats into the air, maybe a foot or so above the ground looking around with eyes alrady glowing as he trys to find any sign of someone or something near by. "Well, thats just great. No surprise and little time. IwanttoknowwheretheFuriesare, IwanttoknowwheretheFuriesare, IwanttoknowwheretheFuriesare!" Wiccan chants before casting his arms out and creating a set of five glowing blue orbs that float around him for a moment and then alther thier shape to point in the directions of those he is looking for unless they have some ability to camoflauge themselves from the spell.

"So much for stealth," grumbles Tommy. He listens to Granny message and tsks. "Like I am buying anything she is selling. This is going to be rigged against us, but lets see..." he quickens himself and does a fast search of the immediate area, looking in particular for cameras and sensors that could be used to track them. If he finds any, he disables it with his matter disruption powers. Then he checks those noises.

Immediately turning to Xavin, Speedball speaks up. "I want it known that we /were/ ready to do the stealth thing." It was a good idea in unfamiliar surroundings, but then they got made. "I swear," he mutters. "She sounds like that one old actor guy. Can't remember the name..." When one of the orbs of Billy's starts to point out the direction of the furies, Speedball walks...yes, walks in that direction, speaking to Speed. "What she's selling? It's probably those hard candies that sit in that bowl all year and end up in one clump by Christmas. It's like, Grandma Sandard Issue."

Axiom jumps and lets out a little squeak when the voice rings out, looking around quickly. "Am I the only one that thinks the only thing she wasn't lying about is the explosion?" he asks as he looks for the furies. "Those c-c-candies sound terrible," he remarks idly to Speedball.

Xavin lifts her eyes to the sky and stands a little bit straighter when Granny's voice booms overhead. Only after she's sure the wicked matron is gone does she begin to untense, and even then, it takes the mysterious sounds in the wilderness to /really/ snap her back to reality.

"We'll want to--" she begins to suggest as Wiccan chants, only to be interrupted when a sudden gust of wind blows hair in her face, courtesy of Tommy.

"--split up--as much as we safely--"

Given that she can plainly see through the veil of her hair that Tommy is missing, the alien just exhales sharply, picks out another orb, and starts off after it. "Ten minutes isn't a lot of time to find and possibly subdue these... Furies; we'll have to try not to stray too far from each other, I guess."

If you want to know that badly where they are Billy, you might not need a spell. Not as one of them comes running right out of the woods. Only as this 'fury' charges, they start growing in size. We're not talking growing super tall mind you. Nor are we talking growing fat. Instead it's as if they're almost hulking out as they bulk out with more and more muscles. Heck, these muscles just twist the persons form so much that it's hard to tell if this is a guy or a gal, but either way, they just radiate a pure aura that it wouldn't take much for them to physically destroy someone if they physically touched them. Which kinda sucks for Wiccan since he is the one this person is charging right at.

But then again, as that spell is cast, someone in the forest does start to glow. Unfortunately as Speed rushes around trying to find and deactivate the various sensors, this person glows with an odd blue, almost electric energy. An energy that goes flying towards Speed as he charges towards those noises.

Of course as others talk about candy, an extra voice can be heard from behind them. A strangely odd voice. One that sounds almost like an absent minded girl that all but whispers, "Granny has the most wonderful candy. Not anything bad like that. But you will know that soon enough." before she starts lashing out with a certain amount of skill and expertise, enough to make most amateur martial artists jealous. But the real kicker here isn't the skill involved. Instead, it's the speed. Because these punches and kicks come at a speed that probably would rival Tommys if he was a martial artist. And worse, they come towards Speedball /and/ Axiom, as a series of blows are aimed at each of them.

Hawkeye and Xavin on the other hand have their own problems, because before Kate has a chance to say anything or do much more than draw her bow and get an arrow ready, because they get an odd problem of their own. Namely it's as if someone, somehow is channeling voices at them. Voices that no one else can hear. Voices that appear to be coming from nowhere. Voices that are screaming at them at the tops of their lungs. Voices that aren't even saying anything major, or evil, but instead are shouting at them in a way that they can only hear, about the minutia of every day life in the city...

Heck, those voices are so loud, and so sudden that Kate can't help but stumble and drop her arrow as she tries to cover her ears in a vain attempt to block the voices.

Wiccan can't help but grin a little at Speedball and nods at Axiom. "Ribbon candy is not quite that bad, but it is close. Pure sugar and questionable flavor extracts and the occasional piece of lint." Wiccan shudders a little and nods at Axiom. "No, your not the only one." He was about to say more, but then the low rent Hulk wannabe comes charging out of the woods at him. Oh joy, the walking monsters always seem to go after the spell caster in DND games so why should things be different here.

Wiccan goes straight up, hoping at least in part that the brute is not much of a jumper. His hands crackle with electricity for a second before he tosses a bolt of lightning at the Fury that chose him as a target. "Well, at least this means we don't have to go hunting."

Tommy remembers the blue fireballs from last time they meet these crew. Nothing much to worry, they come slowly. 10 minutes? That is a lot of time. Not that he plans to play Granny's game. He should go after the old woman now, the other 'Young Allies' can deal with these losers. He glances back.

Or not. Hawkeye is disarmed, there is someone moving fairly quickly attacking Eddie and Speedball, and a giant thug charging Billy. At least, he notes, they are making really easy to find them. He ducks to avoid a blast. Shifts left. Waves mockingly at the girl, standing just between her and the giantish Fury trying to charge Billy. Then ducks again.

"I'd trust the ribbon candy, lint included, over anything Granny Shrek tells us." Speedball isn't in his usual manic mode today, despite the commentary. He's still walking, keeping with the team. He's actually...serious about this, it would seem, so he does, just barely, see the approaching Fury. "Incoming!" he calls, and puts his arms up in a blocking position. It's the speed, as object at speed have increased mass, that hit Speedball like sledgehammers. His kinetic field can diffuse most of it, but from the grunts, he's feeling something. "Ax!" he calls. "Ax, dupe meeeee." He's hit from an unblocked side, and goes flying...

Axiom just about jumps out of his skin at the sudden voice from behind. Turning quickly, he scowls only to get socked in the face and sent staggering back. Axiom knows how to take a punch though so he's not going down. Arms up to block, he nods quickly to Speedball and turns up his powers. First Speedball gets boosted. Another blow strikes and knocks Axiom back a step before he mimicks Speedball, costume shifting to a combination of his own and the masked marvel's as he takes on his powers...just in time to go flying like his friend. "WOAH!"

Where Granny's voice fell on them like a bomb, the babbling chorus assails Xavin's consciousness like gatling shells. The wide-eyed Skrull has just enough time to hiss, "Hawkeye--" in a strained, shocked voice before she can't hear anything at all over those screaming voices. It's all a jumble of nonsense and mundania, and like Kate, the wobbly-legged alien is quick to clutch her hands over her ears in an attempt to block the sound out.

/Un/like Kate, as those disconnected thoughts and ideas shove their way incessantly into her thoughts, Xavin's body begins to ripple and contort rather rapidly as she shifts from her dark-skinned base form through a variety of others; age, race, build, even gender changes by the second as the alien tries to cope with the barrage.

Is that brute a jumper? Or is it like The Hulk and not something to be underestimated?

Survey says...

As Wiccan goes up, the wanna be hulk lets out a loud snarl, but unfortunately it can't jump that high. On the other hand, it can pick up things like rocks. Which in theory it can hurl at insane speeds. Or at least it could if it wasn't being struck by lightning. But then again...

"GRAWR!"

Is it growing bigger as the magically generated electricity hits it? Looks like.

On the other hand, as Tommy taunts the girl hurling blue energy, said energy ends up hitting it as she tries to hit the speedster. And that causes the brute to turn and snarl at its own team mate?!?

"Granny said play nice! Otherwise you no get electric boy as new toy!"

The martial artist speedster though... Giggles (and yes, somehow she manages to giggle in a way that's menacing, even if it does also come off as extremely bubbly) as she watches Speedball go flying, before she glances at Axiom as he goes flying as well, "D'awww... The cute boys always run away from me!" is shouted before she starts to /run/ towards Eddie. Only strangely enough, her running speed is maybe only olympic sprinter level, while her reflexes are still insanely fast.

"Come back here so I can kiss it and make it better!"

And while Hawkeye can't really do much as she kneels there, fighting against the voices in her head, as Xavin shapeshifts, the voices fade away. In fact after a few moments, the voices not only stop, but from somewhere in the woods not too far from that blue energy caster that was trying to hit Speed, there's a sudden loud cry of pure, unadulterated /PAIN/.

Wiccan blinks, and would say something that should get his mouth washed out with soap is he just saw the brute grow and did not hear what the other Fury said about playing nice. "Ineedadistraction, Ineedadistraction, Ineedadistraction!"

Wiccan's chanting ends with a flash of light and he is gone. Or more to the point he is no longer where he was. Instead he is sloating maybe 20 feet east of where he was, and 10 feet west of there, and 5 feet lower, and 15 feet above, as well as at least four of him are standing on the ground surrounding the brute. If lightning is just going to make the bad guy stronger he needs a second to think, and giving himself a dozen odd mirorr images to taunt the villians should give him just a little bit of breathing room. All of the copies of Wiccan say at the same time, "You know what, I may like them with muscles but there is such a thing as too much. You want a plaything, look somewhere else."

Tommy is not, of course, anywhere near when the brute turns to see what hit him (her?). In fact, he is behind the brute, looking for a brick or something large to hit the muscle-bound Fury on the head. Clonk. If that does not work, well, he is hard to catch.

There's a rush. One, of power; Speedball has never been boosted by Axiom. He's always been afraid it might be addictive. He can now see why. It's...control, it's strength, it's that feeling that he can do anything. There's been that lingering thought at the back of Robbie Baldwin's mind; the others mostly tolerate him and they keep him around only because Eddie seems to want him there. Now, he feels he has the strength to prove himself

The other rush, concurrent with this increase of power, is confidence. And what the Fury Speedster says gets his attention. "Oh, is that all?" he calls, bouncing off a tree and coming back at a high speeds. "I got a kiss of my own, right here!" he says, focusing his kinetic field into a punch, stronger than he's ever managed before.

'

"Waaah!" Axiom is definitely not used to Speedball's powers. It's something he'll need to fix if they're all going to be on a team. That's for a time when he's not hurtling through the air though. Thankfully he doesn't go to far before he lands, a few light bounces along the ground as he stops mimicing Speedball for the moment. He starts again once he's back on his feet, getting ready to defend himself against the incoming attack. He just smiles as Speedball steps in, staying ready to follow up if he needs to.

When the hundreds of voices within are replaced by a singular cry of pain from without, Xavin shifts a final time, desperate to overcome the wild permutations that exposure to so many powerfully alien voices brought on. The alien's hands are still shaking a little as they're lowered.

"Hawkeye," he exhales in a low voice that is at once familiar and foreign while the last vestiges of a barista's uniform give way to his purple and black bodysuit and a pencil-thin brown goatee recedes until there's nothing upon his strangely ridged, green chin. As he turns his head towards the place in the woods where the scream emanated from, he holds a gloved hand down to Kate.

"One of them sounds injured; what say we aggravate it?"

And yet, with Wiccans electic assault halted, the brute is moving a lot slower. In fact, it's almost lethargic speed as it tries to lumber up to one of those Wiccans so it can smash it. Oh sure, the blow is hard enough to shatter a boulder and send a small cloud of pebble sized pieces flying /everywhere/ with an audible *BANG!*.

And while that brick might not do much to the brute, Speed has no trouble getting away. Especially considering how slow it's moving. On the other hand Speed does have to worry about another blast of blue energy from that thug who tries to hit him with a burst earlier.

"Hey Speedy! Leave my baby brother alone!"

Of course that female speedster is so focused on Axiom that she doesn't notice Speedball. At least not until it's too late. In fact, she doesn't really have much of a chance before that enhanced punch connects, and she's sent flying. Up. And away. And out towards the river.

"Looks like team Fury is blasting off again!"


 * Ding!*

All right, so maybe there's not a *Ding!* /BUT/ there is at least a *Splash!* in the river a good 15-20 feet off shore.

And as Xavin finishes changing, and that shout of pain happens, Hawkeye starts to recover, and even offers the teams 'tree girl' a slight nod as she gets up onto her feet again.

"Lets do it." is muttered as she starts to charge towards the sound of that cry, and if she notices the color of the shapeshifters chin, she doesn't comment on it.

All though as they rush, the pair will probably have to dodge incoming fire from that blue energy person as well, and if they make it to the sound of that shriek, they'll find a girl who looks almost painfully young curled up in the fetal position whimpering.

Wiccan has two ideas on how to deal with the brute, either hope a good bit of physical thrashing will work or try and over load him. Of course, there is another option that comes to mind as Speed starts looking for something to hit the brute with. The first version of Wiccan hit by the brute goes poof ending up nothing but a cloud of smoke, as well as any others that get hit with anything. One of the many versions of Wiccan flying, walking, or just generaly moving around passes Speed as they all say at once, "Trade you?"

Once there is the slightest sign from Speed that he agrees to the trade the real Wiccan steps out of where he hid himself off the battle field near the trees behind the girl that was hurling blue energy. "Tag!" He says as electricity leaps from his hands aimed for the blue energy throwing girl. "Your it." He says the last as all of his duplicates vanish.

"I am not Speedy, that is the other archer girl," replies Tommy, getting singed by the latest energy blast due to slowing down enough to correct blaster. "Ow. Okay, fun time's over," he speeds off, really speed off, there is a sonic boom as he rushes the blue energy blaster. Slowing only at the last second so not to hit so hard he takes her head off. But still aiming to hit hard enough to knock her out. Well, if he gets her before Wiccan does. And they left the brute alone, probably a bad tactic.

"Hey," Speedball shouts as his punch has a very visible effect. "I never got to give you flowers!" He remembers something Granny was saying before, and...well, they are the good guys. "Be right back!" With that, he hurtles off into the distance, towards the nearest lake where the Fury could have fallen into. Granny did say bring them to her, after all...

"Speedy isn't here today! She'd totally kick your b-butt though!" Axiom calls out when he overhears that voice. Fanboy, sue him. He jumps as Speedball bounces off, leaving boosting and mimicking range. Axiom shifts back to his normal appearance as the boost ends, looking around and then settling his gaze on the big brute. "Oh b-b-boy..." he trails off, not sure how to deal with that one.

The green-skinned, pointy-eared tree hurls himself to one side and rolls along the ground when blue fire streaks towards him. Xavin isn't an acrobat, persay, but he's still pretty quick to retake his feet after that; subsequent fireballs are handled similarly, though there are one or two that nearly prompt him to throw a hand up and erect a protective field before he reigns himself in and sticks with evasive maneuvering. Now and again, he quickly peeks over to glance on Kate's progress, just to be sure she's also safe.

If she /isn't/, one of those fields will surely come into play--cover or no.

As they reach the whimpering girl, his skin is already shifting from green to elm-brown, and his fingers are lengthening into leafy tendrils; that they're looking at a frightened child rather than a ferocious supervillain keeps those extremities at bay, however.

He /still/ shifts near enough to loom over the girl, though, letting those vines dangle a foot or two away from her prone body--just in case.

"You have five seconds to explain why you're here," he coolly informs her with narrowing red eyes. "before something awful happens." Beat. "Or we rescue you, I suppose." After a quick glance towards Kate, he quietly finishes, "We--will have to see."

"Time's starting to run out kids." is said as Granny speaks up, her voice echoing through out the island as the fighting at the beach continues. "In fact, I'm actually starting to get bored. Maybe I should adjust the time on this a little. You know, just to spice things up a bit... Maybe I should just switch over to /seconds/."

And then, Granny /LAUGHS/.

Of course as that brute is left alone, it tries to lumber around and find something to hit. Or throw. Especially as those Wiccan copies vanish.

"Grawr! Rularu smash!"

And yet, as he's left alone, that brute starts to noticably shrink. Sure as it shrinks it looses muscle mass, but it does start to move faster, but well... It's getting noticably weaker. Heck, with every step, it looks more and more normal. Becoming well... If Shia LeBeouf was 14, he'd look like this kid. Of course if he knew that Axiom might be coming after him, he might of stayed 'buff'.

The energy blaster on the other hand is stopped, suddenly and violently due to that one-two combination of the speedster and magical twins, before she hits the ground. Only as she falls, her gaze drifts from Tommy to Billy, and she mutters something about 'seeing double'.

And while Kate and Xavin might be dodging blue flames for a bit. As they arrive at the girl, she just whimpers at the guy with green skin, before she manages to say, "I do it for Granny. Granny loves me. Everyone else hates me. Granny loves me, so I would die for Granny..."

And that catches Hawkeye off guard, even as she glances at the shapeshifter (who she finally does a double take at), before asking, "Do you think you can carry her? We do have to bring all five to Granny..."

And no, that girl who went flying into the river isn't forgotten. In fact Speedball can nab her easily and bounce back to shore, if not catch up to the others while carrying her.

Wiccan does not wait to see if his lightning bolt hits, not with Speed headed right for them. Instead he goes straight up once more glancing around the battle field to see who is still standing, and who needs to be taken down. With Axiom dropping back to his normal look once Speedball is out of range and the brute of the bad guy group dropping in size Wiccan takes a second to reach for a pocket where he keeps a handfull of zip ties. "Bindhimholdhimfast, Bindhimholdhimfast, Bindhimholdhimfast!" Wiccan chants before throwing the zip ties in the direction of Rularu.

The brute shrunk? Maybe he should... but looks like Wiccan is on it. Instead, Tommy grabs the blaster girl and brings her back with the others, looking to see what happens with Billy efforts to bind the now puny guy. "Looks like we got four of them, is that all?"

"Here's one," Speedball says, his odd voice ringing out as he bounds back to the group, leading the trail of bubbles that follows in his wake. "Wasn't sure if you were counting this one or not. She's not a very good date," he adds, as he lowers her to the ground. At least he's not dropping people; she might be mind controlled, so he lets her down gently.

Axiom curses silently as Granny speaks and laughs. If he weren't worried about staying unnoticed as he creeps up on the brute, he'd yell something back. As the brute starts shrinking, Axiom frowns. He feels bad about everything that's been happening to these kids but he knows he's got to move fast. Scurrying forward, he moves behind the former brute and tries to strike him in the back of the neck like how Sif showed him how to knock people out without causing too much serious damage. Of course he hasn't noticed Wiccan's woking on binding yet.

"Understandable; she seems like a /wonderful/ woman," is Xavin's flat response to the girl's fanaticism.

Definitely not a rescue case. Those vines quickly snap out to coil around the girl's body, and in a matter of seconds, she's a bound, sobbing bundle upon the alien's shoulder as he trudges towards the hospital.

It's all a little unseemly for him, impending explosions or no; subduing and carrying off hostile combatants was a whole lot easier to stomach when they weren't brainwashed children.

"Cover our backs," he soberly murmurs to his teammate. "Just in--"

After briefly touching a couple of fingers to his throat with a furrowed brow, the alien squints towards the girl on his shoulder for a long second, then looks down at his palm, and finally, towards Kate; with each shift, his eyes grow a little wider until he's looking to the archer with a mixture of disbelief and barely concealed panic.

"I--" he uncertainly utters, letting the syllable hang there briefly before just turning his eyes forward again. "--/we/--" His body shifts and shrinks until he's--well--a /she/, complete with brown skin and long hair.

"--have a city to save," she quietly finishes.

The now former brute is quickly struck by Axiom, and rendered unconscious, before just as quickly ending up bound by that spell from Wiccan.

The unconscious blaster is grabbed by Speed and ends up being carried.

The Martial artists speedster is set on the ground by Speedball.

As Xavin shapeshifts again and carries the girl, she continues to sob.

Kate on the other hand nods at the 'tree girl' then nods, before jerking a thumb towards the islands interior.

"Guys, I think we're running out of time, and we have to..." she starts to say, when...

Granny can be heard yet again.

"Well well. That's four. And you're still on the beach. I said /FIVE/. but of course Ralph is here with me. Or at least will be for another 45 seconds until this bomb goes off. That is if I adjusted the timer properly. But oh well, even if I didn't, this cheap piece of garbage should go off soon anyways."

Wiccan growls a little as everyone gathers together and Granny starts to taunt them. "Right, no more games, everyone hold on tight..." Wiccan takes a deep breath and focuses on the mental image he built of the description he had been given of Granny. By the time she is finished talking he is saying, "And if I fall, forget me and go for the goal. TakeustoGrannyGoodness, TakeustoGrannyGoodness, TakeustoGrannyGoodness!" With a flash of light, and a lurch to the right Wiccan teleports the team, and all four of thier prisoners before dropping to his knees with the wind taken out of him from the effort.

"Told you she was not going to play her own rules," comments Tommy when Granny speaks. "Maybe we should..." whatever he was going to say, he forgets it as Wiccan starts chanting. "Or maybe we should jump into her den, I guess," he mutters. "Okay, ready."

Settling his prisoner down, Speedball stands with the group. A bit of concern crosses his face as he sees the strain Wiccan is under. "When we get there," he says to the others. "Go. I'll keep an eye on Wiccan." Just in case there's more than just Ralph and Granny down there...

Without needing a prompt, Axiom starts boosting Wiccan to make sure they get in. He mimics him too, thinking the extra firepower will be helpful inside. He frowns at the sight of Wiccan straining as well, nodding to Speednall. "Stay s-safe," he cautions his friends.

"It hardly matters, now," Xavin says of Granny's cheating. "If we /hurry/, we may--"


 * FLASH!*

"--find--a way--" Blink. Blink.

"This--is not the forest," she tersely observes.

While not completely disoriented by the teleport, but as she turns and glances around the room, her jaw drops, before she starts to reach for something in her quiver.

There's a flash of light. Maybe it's the teleportation effect. Maybe it's something else. What ever it is though, as the team re-appears from that teleport, there is a flash as the appear in a room. Half the room looks like it's falling apart. Like an old abandoned building. but the other half looks brand new. Worse, it looks high tech. And in that high tech half there's a chair in front of a closed metal door. Guess who's in that chair? Yes, that's right, it's Granny Goodness.

But Granny isn't the only one in that room. There's also a boy. One who is floating, with glowing eyes. One who has energy that cackles over his skin and body, and who occasionally pulses with a bright light. And strapped to his chest, there's a timer.

But aside from that, there's no sign of a bomb.

"Hello kids. And Ralp... You can let go in oh... About ten seconds. Just let that energy free and destroy the city."

"Yes Granny. Then I can have some ice cream, right?"

"Yeap. Just come find me and I'll give you all the ice cream you could ever want."

And with that she just starts to stand up?!?

Wiccan is breathing hard, and going to take a few seconds to fully recover. But, while he is not up for actual fighting or spells he can see whats going on. "Ralf, Don't listen. Ed Asner in Drag is. Just using you." Wiccan can't help pulling a Shatner while trying to convince the kid that Granny is obviously turning him into a suicide bomb.

Tommy moves the second they arrive. Looking for, well, minions, traps, anything. But mostly keeping an eye on Granny and Ralp. "What the hell? Are you going to blow yourself too, along the kids and the island?" But Granny had a teleporter the previous times they have fought her followers. Maybe the old woman can do it. "Wiccan, if she tries to teleport, stop her like you did with Harm."

"She's lying, Ralf. If you blow up the city there won't be any ice cream left," Axiom blurts out. "Or you either so you c-couldn't eat it," he adds, stepping towards the boy with hands spread to show he's unarmed.

Xavin's eyes dart around for a little while as she adjusts to suddenly being elsewhere, but Granny's gravelly voice draws her attention straight to the mad goddess--though the crackling boy beside her soon demands the alien's focus. Rather than try to rationalize with either of them, she snaps her free hand to her temple, and - after gently setting the sobbing girl down - stretches her other arm towards Ralph, fingers taut as they shrink back from their leafy state.

"If I collapse and begin bleeding through the nose in a few seconds," she tersely informs her teammates while a bubble of invisible force forms around Ralph, "don't be alarmed."

Her eyes twitch towards Axiom briefly, and then she quietly - and somewhat begrudgingly - adds, "A boost would be... helpful," before swallowing and setting her jaw.

"Oh, that trick won't work this time." is said as Granny stands there, glancing back as she grins. "And Ralph won't kill me. He can't. But you guys are another matter." Then she just glares at Ralph.

"Get on with it Ralph. Granny is waiting!"

Yeah, she's starting to sound more than a bit impatient. In fact as she waits, she sighs, before pulling out a remote and pressing a button on it, causing her to mutter, "Sometimes I have to do everything myself.

And with that, the metal door opens and out rolls another, more traditional looking bomb. One that starts to count down from 15...

And as Xavin does... What ever she's doing, the old woman audibly growls.

alph on the other hand just starts to glow brighter, and brighter, pulsating faster, and faster.

Kate meanwhile pulls out a small device, one that she screws onto the head of an arrow. An arrow she starts to aim, not at Granny, but into the door behind the old woman...

Tommy's eyes narrow at seeing that second bomb. Okay, that one he can handle. He jumps forward, rushing to the device, grabs it and jumps through the nearest window, running down the wall and then away. 15 seconds, plenty of time to get it to the middle of the river and then run back, right?

Axiom nods to Xavin, quickly boosting his alien friend. He mimics as well, copying Xavin's powers and shifting into an odd fusion of his own costume and Xavin's outfit. It still feels weird but now isn't the time for it. "There's no trick!" he calls out, looking to the others quickly. He jumps as Tommy speeds off, eyes wide. "Speed!"

A faint ring of dust flies out from a surprised Xavin's feet when Eddie does his thing, courtesy of a shockwave of invisible force.

"The boy is handled! Get--" she begins to instruct Eddie before - once again - Tommy cuts her off by running away.

"--bomb." Beat. She squares her eyes on the invisibly shielded Ralph again, hissing, "Alright, then," and curling her outstretched fingers a little.

And that arrow is let fly!

But it doesn't do anything loud. Or flashy. In fact what ever it does is silent. That is if it does anything yet.

And yet, despite that, Kate smiles.

Granny on the other hand smiles as well, even as the light from Ralph becomes so bright that it's blinding. In fact, as the assembled heroes deal with Ralph, and possibly are even blinded by the light, she slowly slips into the same room the arrow was fired into...

That is before there's an explosions. We're not talking a small one either. We're talking one with an audible...


 * BOOM!*

We're talking one with an insane amount of force. We're talking insanely bright flashes of light that is blinding.

But for some reason, it's as if there's actually more light than anything else...

Axiom isn't sure what to do since Speed took the bomb and Xavin says Ralph is handled. Trying to thing up what to do, he starts towards Granny but ducks when Hawkeye's arrow flies. "What d-ah," Axiom starts, stopping and shielding his eyes from the light. He starts to say something else when there's that explosion which knocks him clear off his feet, the power booster sprawled.

Wiccan has taken longer than even he was expecting to recover, the spell earlier he used to do the mirror images probably took more out of him before the teleport than he even knew. He is on his feet though and just about ready to be back in the fight as things start to get really intense. As the light off of Ralf starts to increase to a near blinding level Wiccan starts to chant. "Moreforcefields, Moreforcefields, Moreforcefields!" He starts to chant putting up extra force fields around all of Wiccan's team mates. Xavin may have Ralf covered, but in case his forcefield around him fails Wiccan wants to make sure his friends have extra protection. When the explosions are over, and the spots clear from his eyes, he will figure out what all he has missed and figure out what to do next.

The brighter Ralph gets, the further Xavin is forced to look away from him, until even /that/ isn't enough; soon, she's reduced to squinting at the ground, hand still grasping the air in front of her while she thinks spherical thoughts to maintain the barrier around the boy.

"Ralph," she tightly says, "This is /ridiculous/; you are being man--"


 * BOOM!*

Rather than finish her terse appeal to reason, Xavin emits a clipped, agonized screech and flies backwards a ways before crashing to the ground, a stream of blood already slowly trickling from her nose.

All in all, a slight improvement over what she was expecting.

And if you think that's an improvement Xavin...

Well, for starters, don't feel bad. You're not the only one sent flying. Kate is too. And as she crashes to the ground, she drops her bow.

But that's not the improvement. Oh no. For, as that explosion fades... No, as the light fades, something can be seen. Something that would of been the true 'ground zero' of the explosion. For while the explosion may have been contained by the overlapping force fields, there is still something there, in the center. Something that blinks, and looks around at the people here. Something that looks untouched or phased by what happened.

Yes, that's right. Ralph is still in one piece. And on top of that, he has something to say to everyone here.

"Can I have my ice cream now?"

Of course as soon as that's said, there's a 'Boom' from the room next door, the one Granny went into. And while she's not there anymore, there is a large machine in there. A machine that appears to be melting in places, and smoking in others.

Wiccan blinks, and then blinks again as the spots in front of his eyes start to fade. Ok, so his forcefields did not go up in time to keep people frm being nocked about but with hope they helped some. As Ralph asks for ice cream he blinks and lets out a small laugh. "What flavor do you want?" He asks before looking into the room Granny escaped into.

It's a floor full of Young Allies apparently. When the chaos passes, Axiom pushes himself up to his feet. Ralph's request for ice cream gets a slight sigh but no comment. Instead Axiom glances towards where Granny went before moving to offer a hand up to Kate since she's closest to him.

"I--would--suggest--nngh--caramel..." Xavin weakly offers while pushing herself up onto her elbows. A little blood dribbles into her mouth, then, prompting her to quickly swipe it away.

"Where did--" Squinting to try and force some semblance of focus onto the currently vague and fuzzy world, she eyes the room Granny disappeared from for a little while before finally groaning as things fall into place.

"Perfect," she mutters, rubbing her face with her unbloodied hand.

"This is where someone jokes and asks 'Did anyone get the license plate of that Death Star'." Hawkeye mutters, even as she accepts Axioms help getting up. Or at least she does, before blinking at Ralp, and shaking her head. Sure, she could comment on granny getting away, buuuut...

"We can get ice cream. But....."

The archer surveys the scene, especially in that other room, before finishing that thought.

"Alright. Hey. Alright. Good job, guys. Lets just not come in tomorrow. Lets just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? Theres a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I dont know what it is, but I wanna try it. /THEN/ we can get ice cream."

Wiccan nods and sighs, the cross dressing Ed Asner cloen got away but they stopped her and the brain washed kids with powers are all safe and in custody now so thats a win. "Sure, sounds good. I like Shawarma. How about Pinkberry after, better than normal ice cream."


 * 1) ROnce he's sure Hawkeye is okay, Axiom moves to offer a hand up to Xavin with a big grin. "She g-got away but we still saved the kids and the city," he says. "We won," he adds, starting to bounce with energy. "Shawarma is alright. I've n-never had it warm," he admits. "I thought Pinkberry was frozen yogurt?"

"I'm not really in a celebratory mood," Xavin mutters after gently pushing Axiom's hand aside so that she can stand on her own.

Of course, she immediately presses a hand to her forehead and sticks an arm out to her side upon taking her feet again, thanks to a a rush of dizziness; rather than fall, or stumble towards Axiom for stability, however, she slides a foot back a little, turns her eyes squarely to the ground and tries to ride it out.

"But this child will need to eat, I guess."

Said child simply chimes in with, "I'm Ralph." towards Xavin, before he starts to wander off. That is if no one catches him.

Then again, considering everything, odds are the authorities might be here soon.

And Kate, well, she just shakes her head, before reaching for her cell phone, "I might as well call us a boat then."

Wiccan nods at Axiom. "It is, but like I said better than normal ice cream. Although if we want that we can always find a Marble Slab. Although the real question is what about..." He just tilts his head to sort of point at the other four furies besides Ralph that he had teleported into the area with them when they first attacked. As the kid starts to wander off Wiccan intervines, in the most non-threatening way he can by getting infront of him and offering a hand. "Hello ralph, I'm Wiccan."

Axiom just gives a concerned frown as Xavin pushes his hand away. He keeps boosting her to help with healing and energy restoration, worried about his alien teammate. The worry only gets worse when Xavin stumbles back. "Are you okay?" he asks, lowering his voice a little. "A b-b-boat would probably be g-good. It's a far swim," he comments.

"I'll be fine; it isn't every day that I weather an explosion."

Xavin quickly picks her head up to try and seal that assurance with a tight smile, and though everything is still bobbing around her a little, she turns her attention to the wandering Ralph rather than look to the ground again. "A boat will do; we'll want a large one."

Odds are a helicopter or two would be better, but that'd be a bit too flashy, wouldn't it?

"I'll see what I can do." is said to Xavin with a smile, before Hawkeye glances at the others.

And Ralph? Well, as Wiccan introduces himself, he just manages a slight, "Hi." before he yawns. And passes out.

Yeah, nearly destroying a large chunk of a city will exhaust a kid!