2012-12-15 The Widening Gyre

Detroit, the Motor City; for many within its borders, the turnaround in American automotive industry hasn't really been felt yet, large stretches of industrial and commercial real estate vacant or falling into disrepair. Gangs roam sections of the forgotten stretches, but several structures stood out on repeat reconaissance wherein trained operatives in limited numbers did little but maintain an apparent entrance to something the Batwing's scanners could not penetrate. In fact, that was a big final piece of the puzzle: an overarching e/m field throwing up white noise to all electronics in a sizable radius; starting -beneath- the city streets. The larger entrance identified by Wolverine and Batman's reconaissance is within the mostly intact confines of a decomissioned dogfood factory, vacant save a trio of guards stationed within, apparently guarding nothing.

A similar deceptive lack of activity exists in the stout warehouse where the infiltration team seeks to find a second entry point to the subterranean lair: three men, well armed with assault rifles and shotguns, defending a derelict building. Of course, one member of the 'team' already knows the secrets of the base's hidden elevators, its advanced security and sensor features: her job is to make it easy and quiet on the warehouse front, and draw the alarm to the intended abrupt attack on the 'abandoned' factory.

It's been an interesting 'assignment.' Working within close proximity to other mutants working underground, and ..humans. Mystique has had a lot to think about while getting herself well rooted into this organization, assuming the identity of one of the Marauder's own, a man going by the name of Riptide. During her visit she's managed to scout the place out until much of the complex has been committed to memory, including details on security and who operates it. Without having any direct means of contact with those about to assault this facility she's going to have to go with what's available, which means the signal for first contact is all up to her. From there it's just a matter of pulling the right strings in the right order from the heart of the facility, itself. Child's play, really. The worst part is going to be taking over security, which for one in her position shouldn't be much of a challenge at all. Let the games begin.

With this much prep time, Mystique's in good standing. The various checkpoints have been rigged with a bit of computer hackery and the command post will grant her access to the whole works. One quick shift to copy a security person later and she's in the hub of it all.

One of the others looks up at the apparent return of one of their own, "Fastest bathroom trip I've ever seen."

"I had a light dinner," comes the response as the imitated man takes a seat, picks at the terminal, and opens the back entrance for the stealth team to make their move. Let's give them a head start.

With one member of the stealth team able to go invisible, Nightwing has requested that they position themselves fairly close to the warehouse in preparation for the distraction. Over their comm he says quietly, "Wait for our signal...Just no lethal force." He's hiding in the shadows himself on the roof of the warehouse, binoculars held to his domino mask, watching the guards as best as he can from his particular vantage point and waiting, perched and ready to move at a moment's notice. As soon as the back door opens, he moves, saying only, "Now!" his footsteps silent as he runs across the roof and drops down to quickly dart inside.

If there's anyone right there who might protest his appearance, he'll make sure that there's enough distraction so that the other visible member of their sub-team can slip in unaccosted.

True, J'onn can be stealthy. Today...that's not his job. The woman who can become invisible and two stealth specialists are more suited to that...and less suited to the task of blowing in the front door and acting as a distraction. The limit to his telepathic range is annoying, but can be dealt with. For right now, he's going to come in from above...and not alone. He keeps a bit of a distance from Firestorm - by now the other Leaguer probably knows part of why, that the Martian's incredible durability and invulnerability does not seem to work on fire-based attacks. He is, however, carrying Colossus...the one member of this team who can't fly on his own. The maneuver is planned...the Martian descending to deposit the metal man in a good position to smash the door then swooping upwards again. Comfortable and maneuverable in the air...and while he isn't Superman, he's definitely a presence likely to attract attention.

With one member of the stealth team able to go invisible, Nightwing has requested that they position themselves fairly close to the warehouse in preparation for the distraction. Over their comm he says quietly, "Wait for our signal...Just no lethal force." He's hiding in the shadows himself on the roof of the warehouse, binoculars held to his domino mask, watching the guards as best as he can from his particular vantage point and waiting, perched and ready to move at a moment's notice. As soon as the back door opens, he moves, saying only, "Now!" his footsteps silent as he runs across the roof and drops down to quickly dart inside.

If there's anyone right there who might protest his appearance, he'll make sure that there's enough distraction so that the other visible member of their sub-team can slip in unaccosted.


 * "I'll do what I can,"| is the best promise Wolverine can offer. 'No lethal force' is not the easiest edict for a man with deadly blades hidden beneath his skin to follow. The black-uniformed mutant is lurking somewhere in the shadows outside, using a combination of dark colours and his own small stature to conceal himself until it's time to move.

When the signal is finally given, he sprints from his cover, making a bee-line towards the entrance. He makes sure to clip one of the guards with a vicious elbow upside the head before disappearing amongst the freight, just to keep some of the pressure off of Nightwing.

Firestorm feels the e/m field once he is within range. "Yeah, so I might be able to EMP it down, Manhunter. But we are close to the city, I could hit the grid." He is not very good with stealth, although his ability to walk through walls could have got him to the hostages quickly. If only they knew exactly where they are! Well, that is the work of Nightwing's team. As for the guards, "drop your weapons, we are the Justice League!" They are supposed to draw attention, right?

Invisible Girl has been waiting alongside Nightwing, though unlike the darkly dressed man, she's not even trying to be stealthy. She doesn't have to. She's simply hovering invisibly next to him, listening and waiting for the go-ahead. She knows Logan is also somewhere nearby, but she trusts him to not need help with being sneaky, just like Nightwing doens't need help. Not that she'd refuse them if they asked. When Nightwing gives the signal and moves, she follows after him as quickly and silently as a ghost, trying to not crowd him overmuch. That would be bad. Nearly as bad as getting left behind.

If there's one thing a large, muscular, metallic man is good at, it's being a distraction. Add in his red Justice League costume and Colossus can't be missed. Once he's on the ground, he saunters toward the door and the guards guarding it. "You should do what my friend has suggested." he tells them. "For if you do not, I will have to take them away from you and soemone might get hurt when that happens." Someone being them, of coruse. He's taking his time to give them lots of opportunity to report in to their bosses.

With Mystique's premeditated precautionary programs planted in the security grid, it's a quiet task indeed to simply override the seal on the cargo elevator in the derelict warehouse. An uncharacteristically modern section of floor opens to reveal itself as, in beautiful synchronicity, the far louder impact of the LITERAL man of steel shatters windows and rumbles the street several blocks away. It's a tremor that registers on local seismographs, even as Nightwing and his capable cohorts slip past the diverted security-- each camera won't go down long, and it only takes Mystique's 'partner' about two minutes to start hmm'ing at the couple dead monitors in his grid. "You got cameras out, Brooks?"

The trio of guards within the warehouse remain unalerted, and then suddenly distracted by the shifting of pallets and boxes in the other room, completely unaware as Wolverine picks off one soldier, almost the same instant Nightwing's entry drops his partner whilst the last steps into the room with the elevator, before suddenly realizing he's alone and wheeling about, raising his weapon; a contrast to the immediate fire Colossus and the strike team are under. Seconds after his impact, automatic fire comes from the corridors of the factory, its wide front providing ample view of J'onn and Piotr's display, immediately responding to the impending attack with lethal-- or at least, the intent of lethal force.

A moment later, a high explosive grenade goes off, launched from an underslung launcher straight for Colossus' feet; it's exceptionally loud, if not designed for this kind of heavy lifting. After the first withering moments of fire, the men inside the building immediately start to fall back towards its core, however-- it would be clear to the veteran heroes on the side of the angels that they've been trained for this kind of scenario.

Showtime. Suppressing a wry smirk, Mystique, or 'Brooks' as the case currently is, starts working the network. Connections with critical security terminals centered around the stealth group get re-routed from neighboring systems, they can call for help but help won't ever arrive. The other side of the coin, the noise, the chaos, that becomes the focal point in no time flat. It's entirely easy for, say, someone to trigger an alert that the base is being assaulted with a few extra keystrokes.

"There's a disturbance out by the factory, we're under attack. Get those guys some reinforcements, it looks like they're going to need them."

How's the shadow team doing out there? Progressing as scheduled. Mystique calls up a floorplan and gets a list of all of the doorways which can be remotely triggered, prepping the system to guide them directly to their objective simply by locking out all of the unnecessary doors. They're big kids, they can handle some direct confrontation. If any manages to find its way back to them. Back to the assaulting team, let's give them some light. These guys need to know how badly they're about to get pounded. Floodlights surrounding the guard post are remotely activated, turning the scene into something more akin to an arena fight. All it needs now is some loud techno music.

Non-lethal force. Sometimes that means letting a guy go who is doing nothing but practically wetting himself in fear. With the two guards down and the attention now at the 'front lines', Nightwing gestures for Wolverine and the Invisible Girl to follow him. They're mission is to extricate an fight only if needed.


 * "Underground. We need to get beneath the warehouse. No idea what will be there."| He's already heading towards the nearest door. With any luck, it's one of the ones that's been left open.

Well trained...although a grenade against Colossus? J'onn doesn't even worry about that. Instead, he fires off a couple of blasts of VERY controlled force vision. At guns. That will pretty soon not be in their wielder's hands. "Last chance to surrender, gentlemen," he informs them as he descends, preparing to go inside the building. With his telepathy partly 'down', he doesn't know how the other party is doing without asking them. Radio silence strikes him as a very, very smart idea right now. Touching down, he glances at Firestorm. "Or, we'll have to...deal with the situation." Firestorm is, really, EVEN more intimidating than the green-skinned alien.

Non-lethal force. Sometimes that means letting a guy go who is doing nothing but practically wetting himself in fear. With the two guards down and the attention now at the 'front lines', Nightwing gestures for Wolverine and the Invisible Girl to follow him. They're mission is to extricate an fight only if needed.


 * "Underground. We need to get beneath the warehouse. No idea what will be there."| He's already heading towards the nearest door. With any luck, it's one of the ones that's been left open.

A grenade? "These guys do not know what they are up to?" Firestorm waves lazily, turning the grenade into a bright, red, plastic Christmas ball. It bounces lazily, "I would have expected that by now the bad guys would know better." He strides forward boldly, letting the Martian (who is a better shot than him) break the ineffective guns with his eye blasts. He is not being careless, though. He has nothing to fear of normal bullets, but he is scanning for unusual energies or materials. The 'Wardens' might be around.

Invisible Girl catches the third man in a force field like a child holding an action figure, and then Logan's there knocking him unconscious so she releases the guard again. A few different force fields gather up the guards' weapons and swiftly crush them like soda cans as Sue herself becomes visible. She follows Nightwing when indicated, continuing to hover a few inches above the floor out of habit. Hope Logan doesn't mind that that makes her seem taller than him. She does raise her eyebrows at the Wolverine's method of dealing with the elevator's controls. He and Ben would likely get along famously.

Colossus doesn't look too worried about the grenade launcher when it's pointed at him. "You're going to need to do better than that." he says as he continues walking toward them. Even had it gone off there really wasn't anything to worry about. "Firestorm? They might actually have something a little stronger than their fireworks. Lay down some cover? Smoke or fog or something."

As alarms go up in response to the more overt Justice League incursion, guardposts throughout the facility deploy men; some set up station at hardened locations deep, deep underground, protecting the myriad secrets stretched throughout the labyrinthine laboratory. It's the first time Mystique's gotten a look at anything close to a legitimate 'floorplan' for an installation that's not on anyone's plans in the first place. There are over a dozen marked sub-levels, each stretching the entirety of that several-block breadth between points of entry.. deeper and deeper beneath the Earth.

Even at the monitoring station at the heart, five levels deep, 'Brooks' has scarcely scratched the surface. Mystique's unwitting partner helps urge armed response that quickly moves to the overpowering interlopers; above ground, the gunfire conspicuously ceases without announced surrender, two of the men disarmed-- at least until they draw sidearms amidst their flight. At first, it might seem like the men are in full retreat under the triple threat of the attacking superheroes-- but they only fall back around a false wall behind the production floor, taking cover amidst conveyer belts and activating trip-mines as they fall back. It might not stop them.. but perhaps they can buy a moment's time.

Behind the harried men, all the lights on the factory floor flicker brilliantly as the express elevator hidden in the wide wall approaches from below. The room is filled with the rhythmic flicker of a rotating red warning strobe. When the elevator doors open, the factory floor will fill with armed and armored men, dressed in sleek and nondescript gray armor with full, face-obscuring helmets over their features. One carries a gyroscopic-mounted cannon that looks like it belongs on an alien mothership, and wears a larger suit of armor-- and a much slighter, green-haired woman who darts off to one side, and seeks to level the approaching heroes with waves of nausea and sensory distortion.

It's a psionic attack, immediately apparent to at least the Martian, as the Marauder seeks to assail the minds of the Justice League with, one might say, raw vertigo the very moment they press the attack. Meanwhile, as one elevator ascends, the other descends, its controls shorted out by Wolverine's adamantium key.

Thanks to Mystique's quick hacking, the cargo elevator only goes to one floor; a floor that happens to be a very, very deep one. They'll descend for long minutes, on a trip notably slower than the express elevator. "Brooks? I've still got systems going down in D-quad, on the.. other side of the base..." there's a beat as he checks logs, double-takes back at his 'partner', it can't be, can it.. ?

There's a problem with the ol' bathroom trick. It has a high success rate to start, but it always ends in trouble. Trouble which Mystique is expecting. Once more the door to the command room opens as the real Brooks returns, which results in a complete double-take as he's staring at the back of himself at his own terminal.

"The hell--"

The fake Brooks is already in motion, jumping backward out of the chair and closing the gap long enough to ram an elbow into the copied man's face, dropping him where he stands. The second man already situated within the control room turns and gets to his own feet in time to take a thrown knife that zips from the metamorph's hand. Two guards downed in seconds.

"Should have spent more time washing your hands," Mystique lilts with a faux sigh, shifting for once into her actual form as she electronically locks the door behind, sealing herself into the base's nerve center.

One security headset placed upon her head later and the call is made. "Alert, we have a breach at the factory," she sends over the comms in a voice which should never come out of a woman's larynx. "They're metas, get everyone out there!" Then she'll lock the doors behind them. Such a shame when that happens.

With the room to herself she's free to call up the cameras located throughout this massive complex, keeping an eye on both teams at once thanks to having several monitors at her disposal. It's the stealth team which gets Mystique's attention the most, chin propped up in a palm as she leans closer, watching that black and white realtime footage. They -are- here to rescue a prime target...


 * "Keep 'em busy,"| is offered to their insider as well. Nightwing can't help but grin at the way Wolverine handles the elevator, "Classy." Over the comms he asks, |"Assault team, you all right?"| He hasn't heard otherwise and knowing those out there, he's fairly sure they're handling what comes their way.

When the elevator opens again, he's back into stealth mode in case there are any waiting for them.

The elevator ride is taking far too long for his taste. After a few moment he begins looking about foe potential escape routes if they should be needed.

It's not J'onn that answers...because he's suddenly under psychic attack. His shields snap up instantly, but extending them to protect Piotr and Firestorm will take at least the work of a moment...and enough concentration to keep him from immediately doing anything else. Focus. Focus. What he does say is, "Green hair." Hopefully that's enough to clue somebody in as to the source and maybe even manage to knock the woman out. He'll be able to act himself in a moment, but his priority is protecting his team from an attack they have no defenses against, no way to dodge or evade.


 * "On our way down,"| Wolverine transmits as the elevator doors shut. And then... he waits.

And waits.

And waits.

Not pacing the confined space as he waits for the action to begin again is difficult; he settles for posting up right near the doors so that he can be first one out. When they /do/ finally begin sliding open, he exhales softly through clenched teeth and gets ready to head out.

If there /are/ any guards waiting on the other side, it's on them if they want to get in his way.

Firestorm nods to Piotr, "none of you really needs to breathe, right?" His hands glow white and the air of the warehouse becomes darker, full of smoke. The smoke is a mixture of harmless color and tear gas, and the oxygen he leaves in the air is too scarce to allow heavy exertion. All in all a very unpleasant environment for regular humans. Or even superhumans that need air. The wave of nausea almost causes him to lose concentration, but J'onn protects him just in time. Nevertheless, he lets himself fall to a crouching position, a hand on the ground. He can feel the composition of the floor better if he touches it. Choices, choices. To the other team he replies: |"Things are getting interesting up here. I can see one or two of those 'Wardens' attacking us."|

Invisible Girl goes invisible again before they disembark the elevator, though Logan can likely still place her location by her shampoo (rosemary mint). She isn't aware of Logan's healing factor, so when he moves to be the first out of the elevator, she mentally prepares to put a force field between the shorter man and whatever might lay ahead. And she hopes it ends up being unnecessary.

Colossus staggers a bit as the psychic assult hits him but as J'onn's shield starts protecting him, he dispels the remaining dizziness with a shake of his head and regains his balance. Now that the real enemy has arrived, it's time to stop playing. He reaches for the nearest object which in this case happens to be a wall. Breaking off a piece, he throws it down the hall to encourage them to keep their heads down. And then another. As was pointed out, like Wolverine, he doesn't fly. But like Wolverine, when he has someone strong enough to pick him up, he can do a fine imitation of it. He made sure the ones in the Justice League knew how to do that. "Manhunter, fastball special."

Two men on the floor, and a fortune's worth of high-tech equipment at her fingertips; it's a good day to be Mystique. She has little trouble following the stealth team down the elevator shaft with the aid of the facility's rather impressive security measures.. if not for her very particular skillset and power? It's unlikely even Mystique could have slipped past the deceptively unwielding security.

So it is that wave two proves notably more prepared for the kind of threat the Justice League represents.. so it is that, somewhat incongruously, Mystique might notice mere moments before two mutants crash onto the cargo elevator from a floor somewhere above its current descent. The first, a powerfully muscled, statuesque brunette way, way taller than Wolverine, announces her drop with a tremendous, booming shockwave of searing force and sound, enough to knock the strongest man from his feet; or blow through a brick wall.

The blast wave hits the sides of the elevator shaft and surges back inwards, moments before a massive bear of a man-- probably exceeding the mass of the infiltration team put together and wearing metal-studded armor-- follows her down, landing hard with a loud roar before seeking to pluck the (hopefully dazed) Wolverine and Nightwing up in one hand a piece and slam them into the nearest wall with rather alarmingly enhanced strength.

The mental assault that collides with J'onn's threatens to turn his knees to jelly, his brain to whirling, barrel-rolling mush.. but the Martian is no stranger to such attacks, and his own mental fortitude takes only moments to erect that formidable wall, extending it to the assailed psyches of his nearby comrades. A moment later, a triple-burst of superheated plasma erupts outwards, arcing between the three orbs of searing energy as they all but obliterate the cover in their path, the heavy trooper unleashing fire on Martian, man of metal, and molecular magician alike: seeking to pepper the trio with fire while they adapt to Vertigo's assault.

Behind them, the high-speed elevator doors seal closed with the finality of a nigh-impregnable vault, and the transport descends into the bowels of the city once more... as the production floor erupts in exploding incindiery impacts of high-yield plasma. The smoke makes short work of the initial guards-- they had no helmets or rebreathers, but the ones who responded so swiftly from below? Their full facemasks seal off respiration and-- mercifully for them-- their eyes as well. With advanced imaging picking out the Justice League as three very unique and notable targets in the infrared and electromagnetic spectrums, their own attack comes only slightly delayed.

Beams of coherent light arc from readied laser rifles, the squad moving fire from one hero to the next, much like their heavier armored compatriot-- seeking to overwhelm (and let's face it, exterminate) one, and then the next, in quick succession. Maybe they really don't know who they're dealing with, but it's one hell of an escalation. Vertigo leaps to cover, poking up only to take any opportunity to batter those psychic shields, hammering forward with seemingly endless waves of distortion and disorientation that distort the air itself.

Decisions, decisions... Mystique's mind processes countless outcomes while blue fingers methodically drum--pause--drum across the top of the desk. All it would take is a few keystrokes, a message sent to the others. Sealed away, deep underground. Nowhere to go. Kill the lights, could probably even starve them out if she felt like it. Cut off the air circulation. Make them run around in circles for days. Dozens of ways which she could tip her hand and entomb the entire party, just as easily dealing with the man they're all here to rescue. The -human.- The one which she hadn't been informed of until -after- agreeing to help.

Mystique does not enjoy being played.

It would be so much easier with these other two dropping in on the team, a perfect distraction to seal them away once and for all. There's complications in taking this route, however. Always with the complications. Their target deserves so much more than to die underground and vanish from the rest of the world. Someone like that deserves a much more public grand finale. And the others? There's at least one mutant in that stealth group. The goal is not to fight her own kind, it's to have clear-cut sides. Homo sapiens, homo superior. No grey lines between the two, or as few as possible. If she pulls this trigger she'll make a bad situation worse.

She can do better than this. Temptation is running high, but she can do better than this. She -will- do better than this.

Mystique stops drumming her fingers, yellow eyes darting back to the other screen. She's still got her chin propped up in her other hand as she lazily taps a few more keys, locking some more of the facility's boys outside of their own home. They really want to rescue Castroneves? All the better to stage a public assassination later.

These Marauders are doing it all wrong, anyway.

There's a reason Nightwing looked for alternate routes. When the large woman drops in with the shockwave of force, he tries to use the momentum to twist and flip his way towards one of his found escape routes, but the sonic element affects his sense of balance and he doesn't quite make it...or land terribly gracefully. He's not so dazed that he can't press something on his utility belt, activating a noice-cancelling speaker aimed at the large woman.

He's able to duck the grab from the metal-armored man, but the fact that there are now five of them in this enclosed elevator is not really to his liking. |""Shield him""| is ordered to the Invisible Girl as he nods to Wolverine even as he jams a rebreather into his mouth.

When in doubt, use knock-out gas.

Crap. Plasma isn't quite fire, but J'onn still isn't about to take that. He dodges by dropping, with such force that he makes a crater as he hits the ground, cracks radiating outwards from where he lands, and then retaliates in that direction with his eye beams. This is proving tougher than he expected, the Warders, as they were calling themselves, definitely NOT incompetent, NOT inexperienced. He's trying to keep the others shielded, but stopping plasma guy distracted him from dealing with the green-haired woman.

The first impact slams Logan forward against the doors; the second hurls him all the way back against the opposite wall, leaving him scrambling to regain his feet - and balance - upon the swiftly tilting floor when that massive hand scoops him up. There isn't much he can do to keep himself from hitting the wall again; at least he won't have to worry about brain damage.


 * "Taje--the--girl,"| is forced out through clenched, blood-stained teeth as he braces both hands against the metalbound giant's wrist and tries to ignore the fact that the doubles he's seeing right now have doubles too. As far as Logan's concerned, a shield could only get in the way of his best options for escape--though he won't refuse the rebreather when the acrobat springs by to offer it.

It's just a matter of spitting out a lump of pink flesh and a mouthful of blood; those first few moments were /rough/ on Wolverine, even if that bit of missing tongue will grow back quickly enough.

As gas begins to fill the space, he pulls his right fist back and starts pounding at the giant's fingers and wrist; despite the adamantium weighting his blows, he doesn't exactly expect them to do very much in terms of freeing him, though.

No, that job, he'll leave to the claws that slide out with little more warning than a sharp *SNIKT!* just before one of those strikes lands.

Funny how things can change in a few seconds. Suddenly the situation is no longer under control, and the Wardens come with a crowd of heavily armed friends, and with gas masks to neutralize the JLA advantage. But like his team mates, Firestorm is not easy to harm. Plasma does nothing to him, and the lasers cut him, but not deeply enough to stop him quickly. With a wave of his hand he creates a low metal barrier to give himself and the others some cover, then concentrates on the floor, struggling against the nausea. Oh, if he is going to be on the floor watching the room spin, so will they! Teflon, a thin plate all under the areas where the enemy is standing. No more friction. Lets see how they shot firearms now.

Invisible Girl had not been expecting an attack from above, proven by the little yelp of surprise that escapes her. Reflexively, she ducks away from the dark-haired woman despite still being invisible, throwing her hands up and in the same instant creating a shimmering sky blue force field that tries to push her away. Sue's own force field goes nearly opaque giving away her location, and then a similar force field pops into place around Logan. Sorry, man. Nightwing is calling the shots, what he says goes. And, if the armored man doesn't let go fast enough, his arm will be inside the force field and the rest of him ... not. It isn't done on purpose! Honest!

Even those who don't understand Russian can tell Colossus is swearing. These people are remarkably well equipped and while the firepower isn't enough to be a real threat, it's more than a little disorienting in its surprise. The noise and light and smoke from the explosions does more than the weapons themselves. "We have met the real enemy." he broadcasts for the first time. "The distraction is a success." This last added dryly.

For the moment, Mystique remains alone with her thoughts-- or plotting. With the mayhem at the facility's main entrance, most of the manpower stationed within is already responding-- at least, those members of whatever elite mercenary group provides the guard contingent here. There are those within operating on their own orders-- or perhaps a higher directive. A difficult to pin down anomaly shows up here and there in the security controls, as if the same systems Mystique plies are perhaps being accessed somewhere else, as well-- through an entirely different channel.

Blockbuster seems satisfied enough to snag Wolverine, laughing even as Nightwing vaults clear, and grinding the fierce little mutant into the metal wall as the elevator descends, sheer strength drawing a gouging series of dents in the metal paneling. It takes the knockout gas some time to start to effect him, long enough for his gloating to become a sharp scream as adamantium slices muscle and rends his arm nigh-useless, despite resilient flesh to dull the blow. Neither of the infiltration team's assailants are quick to succumb to the gas-- but neither are they protected from it.

Unlike Wolverine, who has the protective bubble Sue offers up to seperate him from what happens next: Arclight tries to blast him right to pieces, while Blockbuster wildly swings for the nimble Nightwing, the only two they're really aware are -on- the elevator. Wild haymakers carry more than enough force to pulp the average human-- good thing that doesn't describe anyone involved. The detonation is a potent blow to the barrier Sue erects, however, its aftershocks felt elevatorwide.

Several of the soldiers firing on the strike team lose their footing trying to reposition as the floor beneath them goes smooth-- the heavy trooper's boots seem to lock down nonetheless, keeping him stable as another sweeping round of plasma fire detonates around our heroes. They seem focused on holding the approach to the elevator itself; it's not hard to understand why when that arrival klaxon begins flaring red once more, either. Despite marching inexorably forward over the changing terrain, and seeking to blast enthusiastic holes in the Justice League's cover, the Martian's eyebeams bisect the trooper's approach and send him reeling, armor torn sharply asunder across their path.

This might have been insufferably boring for Mystique if it isn't for all of the free entertainment. Those two attacking the stealth team, they must have either been in the right place at the right time or they're capable of independent thought to have come across the others. Despite the indigo metamorph not being part of that skirmish, those two -are- slowing things down. That much won't help anyone down here.

Back to the keys she goes, fingers a blur as she rattles through the floorplan once more and sections off a nearby doorway which she had previously locked. She can probably buy them some time. Seconds later and that one nearby lock is disengaged. One more second later and she's got herself linked into the elevator speakers, shifting her throat to form the voice of Tonya Harris, the persona that originally agreed to lend a hand. "Temporary mook storage ahead, first door to your right. Do be careful, darlings." It's up to the others down there to deliver the troublemakers. If they can manage that much, Mystique can manage locking them in.

How's the other team doing? Ooo, that looks nasty up there. How fun! Strikingly little left for her to muck about with, her reach only applies to the insides of this base.

Hold up a tic, something's not right up here. Outside interference with the network..? How might that be?


 * "We have company,"| Nightwing responds to Colossus' broadcast. |"If you're done distracting, I don't think we'd mind an extra set of hands."| That's about all he can manage between talking around the respirator and trying to dodge Blockbuster. The cargo elevator doesn't give him all that much room but at least there are others to vault off of. At some point he manages to land on Blockbuster's shoulders and reaches his arms about the large man's neck. At least he can help the knockout gas along.

At the sound over the speakers, he grimaces, |"Might be nice if the elevator doors would open."|

Ah, good. Firestorm's maneuver has broken green hair's concentration. J'onn exchanges a glance with Piotr...then, time to play bowling with allies as the Martian literally picks Piotr up and tosses him towards the bad guys. Clearly a coordinated move...then, he's moving towards the green haired woman. Oddly, he seems to have no problem with the ice...oh, wait, that's because he's not actually walking on it. More...flying above it. Apparently he's bent on making sure she stays down.


 * "Give 'em hell,"| Wolverine transmits to his fellow X-Man; the hints of a smirk are evident in his voice.

Probably because he's watching Blockbuster and Arclight's catastrophic collision from behind a force field; Nightwing's vicious assault upon the former makes it that much better. Just /watching/ leaves the tracker a little antsy, but the opportunity to let his body mend a little is difficult to turn down.

Firestorm notices when Vertigo stumbles too, since suddenly he feels normal again. Aaaand, there goes flying Colossus. He charges behind the armoured Russion, hitting anyone that is still sanding, and transmuting their advanced laser and plasma weapons into water.

Watching Nightwing bounce around the limited space of the elevator, Sue is about to make another force field to swat Blockbuster when Arclight's blast causes her to reel as if she took the blow herself, crying out again as her hands go to her head. Wolverine's protective force field goes as thin as a soap bubble about to pop, but a second later it returns to full strength as Sue recovers in time to hear their inside help and Nightwing's reply. |"How far are we from the floor we need?"| She watches Nightwing sharply, ready to pop a force field around him as well then cut the elevator's cables. Should have done this in the first place.

Seems Colossus needs to get J'onn to practice his fastball. Still, it's faster than he can run and he uses the added momentum to his benefit as he plows through the enemy. Most of what he hits is breakable - to him if not to everyone - and he pays special attention to the huge plasma cannon and its wielder.

"Well, we'll find out why protocol.." the words fade as a security officer and a tall man in a white labcoat walk into the room Mystique occupies, the former immediately drawing his sidearm and aiming at her, wasting no time in discharging several rounds. The scientist, meanwhile, takes cover immediately behind one console, offering little aid or hindrance to either party.

The hurtling Piotr is rather efficient at blasting the enemy formation into disarray, armored forms flying hither and yon as he impacts, even as Vertigo finds herself little match for the Manhunter in close quarters. The first responders are all but neutralized as the elevator doors open once more... and the production floor erupts in a flare of fire and lightning lancing outwards in mighty blasts, followed swiftly by a rain of icicles-- deep within the structure, its electromagnetic signature pulses, flares higher, cutting over the comms with nothing but static as the teams are disconnected from one another. Nothing to do but finish the mission-- or endure the fight to come. Dust rises into the air from outside the factory as the structure begins to sink inwards with the violent exchanges within.

With the unseen forcefield greatly complicating the battle on the elevator for the Marauders, Arclight's blast catches Blockbuster in its wake, as Nightwing seeks to add a blood choke to the gas seeping into the powerhouses' lungs. The former topples first, aided by her comrade's misapplied haymaker as the vigilante hangs off his throat, but even the behemoth follows a moment later... even as Sue makes her plans, and the slow-moving lift stops near the bottom of its course, the doors opening outwards on a reinforced walkway of transparent but amazingly strong material that can't be any form of glass.

Below and around that clear corridor suspended in space, the facility extends almost as far as the eye can see, into cavernous darkness lined with cylindrical capsules.. about the right size for a body. It's easy to conclude that the vast artificial expanse is half-complete, most of its stockpile clearly empty and a central set of nigh-alien looking walkways and devices skeletal, a web stripped bare; as if they would soon hold much more than they do now.

Or perhaps, recently did-- Wolverine would likely notice it first, the way more and more of the materials out there in the shadows are vanishing as if into nothingness, bit by bit fading from existence.. or to another point therein. The black-purple sheen of protruding, inter-structural circuitry is littered with peripheral connections for untold devices-- none of it recognizable. Of course, the Senator's family lies further down the corridor itself-- in a vaultlike holding cell past the one opened for their cargo.

Awcrap, they're onto her. Somehow those two manage to override Mystique's lockdown on the door to the command center, the blue mutant spinning around in her seat long enough to give the pair a toothy grin and a waggle of fingers before the shooting commences. Once again she's on the move, but one of those shots lands a lucky hit on her before she can dive for cover.

Swearing under her breath, the metamorph snaps back into the visage of Riptide, the wound vanishing just as quickly while calling out in the stolen man's voice "Don't shoot!" even as he pulls a sidearm of his own and opens fire back at the guard.

Once again it's back to Tonya's voice in the elevator, "We're experiencing some technical difficulties, please stand by." At least the mic gets turned off before the sound of gunfire can be transmitted through the speakers. Mystique's not taking any prisoners on this run, and she's -definitely- not going to get taken out by this idiot!

As soon as the elevator doors open, Nightwing hops over the downed Marauders and gestures for the others to follow. "We need to get the family," is said out loud and not on the comm unit. They'll have to help the others once the family is safe...or at least protected in the Invisible Girl's forcefields. Over the comms he adds, |"Hold out a little longer...we'll be able to come help soon."|

Logan stumbles a step when the bubble thins, and checks on Sue over his shoulder with a squint once he's righted himself. He begins to offer a hand out to her, but it's pulled back when he sees her recovering; nodding, he turns his eyes forward, rolls his head around on his shoulders, then sets his eyes square on the doors.

When they finally make it to the bottom, he makes sure to give Blockbuster a vicious kick to the ribs in passing, then turns his head to spit a mouthful of blood and saliva onto the elevator floor before stepping out.

"Yeah," the X-Man gruffly replies, "No shi--"

His mouth hangs open for a tick when he lays eyes on not one, but dozens - if not more - person-sized capsules lining the darkness. Beneath the red lenses of his cowl, the mutant's eyes grow steadily wider as he stares at the vanishing machinery for a few long seconds, at once horrified and transfixed.

When he finally shakes his fascination off, he swivels around until he's facing the family's cell, and then he marches towards it, jaw set.

Sue raises her eyebrows as the elevator doors finally open and she sees the Matrix-esque area beyond. She keeps the force field around Logan until he's clear of the residual tear gas and then lets it drop, though only to where he can step off of it rather than being dropped to the clear hallway floor. She debates making the elevator fall anyway, but really they need to find the captive family and get clear quickly. So instead she steps out after the other two and tries to make sense of the huge, futuristic open area. "Should we split up?" Or maybe not, the Wolverine seems to be on to something. The Invisible Girl hurries after the mutant.

The officer is not really up to a gunfight with a surprise shapeshifter, and he doesn't have nearly enough time to call a warning through his own communicator before he's shot down, as the door slides shut behind the pair-- locking anew. Perhaps no one heard the gunfire, given the mayhem elsewhere in the base? "Don't shoot!" echoes the scientist back, scrambling for an access on the other end of the room, shuffling under cover away from Mystique.

As Wolverine watches, the capsules continue to vanish off the walls; the stations seemingly built out of the very walls spark and sizzle, falling away into the darkness. Someone's been pulling up anchor since the moment they arrived... if not slightly before. The entire facility rumbles ominously, and another energy surge is detectable within its depths, setting hair on end even for those with no other method of detection. The scents are notable, for Wolverine-- a few moments ago, perhaps when their battle on the elevator began, these halls were full of troops. They smell off, like decaying meat fused to circuitry, a sickly sweet smell anyone could notice.. but Logan could assign to individual, presumably sentient and mobile beings.

It likely makes the peaceful stretch of hallway seem decidedly less so, despite leading to the only still-occupied cell in a block of similarly nigh-impregnable metal rooms.. the only thing in the area that still smells human. Nightwing's attempt to raise the Justice League members attacking on the surface is met with angry static-- even their advanced transmissions are devoured by the evil surroundings, the surging e/m interference.

Mystique's no longer being shot at. Improvement. As the guard takes off running, leaving a scientist behind with her, 'Riptide' pops out from behind the console with the sidearm leveled at the whitecoat. "A moment of your time, if you please." There's things being shown on the monitors which is puzzling the metamorph as much as it is those down there to witness it in person. If need be, this mutant will drag the scientist over to a chair and forcibly drop him into it, pointing at the screen. "-What- is that?"

Nightwing's expression is grim as he takes in the disappearing capsules and the stench of the hallway. He's seen a lot in his young years, but this may be moved up to the top. He glances to the Invisible Girl...if she's visible, before he nods and also follows Logan. The shorter man seems to know where he's going and that's certainly good enough for him right now as he'd rather not linger in the area any longer than he must.

"Smells like death," Logan tightly murmurs as they proceed down the invisible corridor. "Whatever else they were up to - the murderin', the kidnappin' - they still had time t' dream up all kindsa nightmares down here..." A beat as his eyes flick to the bare cavern walls where machinery once was.

"Or somewhere," he lowly corrects. "Guards are gone," he adds, almost as an afterthought.

When they reach the metallic detention area, he stops to stare at the occupied cell for a moment, then heaves a drawn out sigh, pops his claws, and steps up to the door to start hacking away at it.

"Don't suppose you can make /this/ thing disappear, can you darlin'?" he inquires of Sue between low grunts and the abrasive whine of layers of metal being shaved away.

Invisible Girl goes visible and can't help but shiver as this area makes her really uneasy in a way she can't immediately quantify but Logan explains so succinctly. The rumbling, though, that /can't/ be good. At the mutant's question about the door, she considers it. "I'm not sure. I can try." She narrows her eyes a bit at the door, then creates a small flat force field that she uses to try to 'slice' through the main body of the door itself instead of trying to force the lock. It's the ginsu door slicer!

Through a slit in the door, it's possible to see one(1) American family huddled together in the far corner, the children around their mother as the facility quakes just that bit more intensely, as adamantium claws shred outer layers of armor plating, digging deep but narrow into the resilient alloy. The invisible disc finds a scant seam, and a tight seal-- it's a struggle to budge the door even an inch, but once it moves that scant first nudge, the mechanism seems to kick in and it opens into its doorframe with a rush of compressed gas and sliding metal, laying the room beyond bare.

It's more living area than exam room, unlike several of the other abodes in this wing, apparently occupied for some time by the huddling family, who remain in the back even once the door releases, rather than rushing forward for rescue. From deep within the compound below and around them, a crackling arc of emp courses upwards between the walls, shorting out various unshielded electronics as the Earth rumbles ominously once more. It doesn't take a scientist to realize there's very, very little time.

The scientist Mystique restrains watches it happen, stutters nonsensically, and rights round glasses on a symmetrical nose before brushing back over-greased black hair. "Y-you're the one who compromised security; let this happen." He deduces, seemingly unsteadily. "You don't understand, we're helping mutants-- humanity!" The response doesn't really provide her with much usable information, so much as ask a question of his own.

The Family needs to get out. Now. As soon as the door is open, Nightwing rushes in and offers his hands to the huddled mnother and children, "Come on, we're getting you all out of here. We need to move. Now." He's not going to give them much time to think about it or question. He just hopes that getting back out is going to be easier than getting down here. He looks to Sue, "Can you make them invisible too?" Just in case there are still folks trying to stop them.

"Let -what- happen?" Mystique demands, shifting right back to her good ol' blue form while digging the barrel of the pistol into the back of the scientist's head. "If you really are trying to -help- then you've got an awful lot of explaining to do." Damnit, she's out of time. The others can handle it from here, she needs to get out of this place. She'll take the labcoat with, he can start filling her in on the details. Assuming he cooperates. Otherwise, the base of a pistol to the top of the head'll do the trick, keep him from slowing her down.

The door begins to move, and sure enough, when he peeks back at Sue, she's staring at it really hard.

"Heh," he exhales, smiling briefly as he retracts his claws and steps aside to let Nightwing and Sue handle herding the family. Unlikely as his senses tell him it is, if anyone /does/ accost them, he'd rather he was the first person they meet while the Castroveneses are being taken care of.

"We might wanna start thinkin' about findin' another way out," he notes, trying to keep his voice somewhat low so as not to alarm the family too much. "Elevator might not be the safest bet anymore..."

Invisible Girl creates a flat disc force field a few inches off of the floor, making sure it's as opaque as possible so the others can see it. "Step on the blue disc here, and I'll get us all out of here as fast as possible." She looks at Nightwing and Logan, clearly expecting them to be passengers as well. "The elevator shaft is probably the fastest way out." She looks around uneasily as the structures around them seem less and less stable. It's like being in a futuristic version of Raiders of the Lost Ark. "Please, hurry."

There's a certain irony to the concerns over structural integrity of the slow elevator back to the surface, and the safety of said ride. There's stark terror in the eyes of all the Castroneves, even as Nightwing and Sue approach them, eyes wide and refusing to make contact with much beyond wall or floor. There's still that same, sickly stench in the air, then a whiff of something.. familiar. The same moment that a large man slathered in the viscera of other beings, bloody and gory and wild-eyed to a mania familiar to few, drops from the ceiling.

The predator waited for Wolverine to hold the perimeter, let Sue and Nightwing pass uncontested, but Logan? Logan meets sudden, shredding claws as ten fingers rake for his back as the large blonde lands, "An' you almost made it to your birthday, /runt/!" an enraged, familiar voice half-snarls. Once Sabretooth moves, so does the Castroneves family-- swiftly onto Sue's disc, huddling together anew. "He'll kill us all!!" the older child screams.

"Works for me." The /elevator/ might not be safe, but the shaft? No problem. Now it's just a matter of getting there--which should be as simple as walking out the way they came, except there isn't nearly enough walking going on behind him. How long does it really take to convince a few frightened humans to leave their prison? Just as he's considering rapping on the door frame to hurry them along, however, he realizes that the morbid aroma wafting through the corridor is still present behind him. Could the guards have been there with the family, a few minutes ago? Or perhaps--

Wolverine's train of thought is forced violently off-track when wicked, familiar claws explode across his flesh. Initially, the mutant howls as the impact of his much larger aggressor sends him staggering forward; once he's caught himself against an empty cell's door, though, the cry of pain flattens into a rumbling, inhuman growl.

"He'll tear you apart," Logan snarls with a fleeting glance towards Nightwing; the warning is accompanied by the sound of unsheathed claws. It isn't a refusal of help, exactly, but there's nothing in his tone to suggest he'd think it wise.

Whether Nightwing stays or goes, he'll turn and hurl himself towards Creed after delivering his warning. 'No killing' is out; his claws are pointed straight for the blonde killer's throat.

Invisible Girl's eyes widen as Sabertooth attacks Logan, and the force field that Nightwing and Castroneves family are now on becomes a full flat-bottomed sphere, securing all of them inside and starting to move toward the elevator. Then another, smaller force field goes straight at Sabretooth's face like a frying pan while Sue darts forward and grabs onto one of the Wolverine's arms, causing her force field to envelop him as well. And then both fields pick up speed, causing Sue to wince and press her free hand to her temple when she and Logan smash through the wall just above the elevator followed by Nightwing and the scared family then start accelerating up through the elevator shaft. People sharing a force field can see each other, but not anyone in the other field.

The elevator shaft blues past them faster and faster until both fields burst out through the roof of the surface building, causing Sue to react with a pained grimace even though she seems unaware of the start of a nosebleed. Both force fields speed away from the industrial graveyards of Detroit, heading for their original meeting point and hopefully secure shelter.

"With fuckin' pleasure." Creed agrees, pausing to sniff at his claws, bloodied with Logan's meat and the scent-obscuring gore from... really, does anyone want to know the answer to where? There's a hungry, predatory grin that shows off sharpened canines and ravenous eyes as gaze passes over the family, Sue, even Nightwing. He throws himself back in at Logan as surely as Logan comes at him, however, forestalled only by that sudden, bone-cracking thwack to the face, setting him momentarily reeling as the Invisible Girl seeks to remove Wolverine from the encounter.

Creed bounds in pursuit, scratches at the invisible shell, roars angrily at the top of his lungs-- with a moment to study, however, Logan is likely to realize several things. One, Sabretooth is missing his adamantium. Two, his left eye looks to be rotting out of its socket, along with one hell of a rapidly progressing skin condition.

Wolverine's claws rake savagely across the surface of he and Sue's field for a short while, each futile strike punctuated by bestial grunts and loud roaring. Having Creed /right there/, mere inches away and every bit as eager to get at him--it makes calming his ire difficult.

A chance meeting of his eyes with Creed's one through the haze of flashing claws and red fog helps, though--and soon afterwards, he finally notices that the talons thirsting for his blood lack the metallic sheen he's come to know and despise.

"What--" Tentatively, he draws his fists back, then lowers them to his sides. "What the hell happened t'--"

Before he can finish his thought, their field is swinging into and up the elevator shaft; once he's steadied himself, Wolverine glances towards Sue and begrudgingly mutters, "Good job. Quick thinkin'," then turns his eyes to the 'floor'.

Invisible Girl doesn't answer Wolverine while the force fields are in motion, almost all of her concentration focused on keeping both groups hidden and moving. Her hand where she's still got a grip on Logan's arm starts to tremble as they approach the muster point and the force fields slow to a stop and 'settle' to the ground, and she absently wipes at her nose as she turns to see if the Castroneves family is safe and sound. Well, physically at least.

As the group levitates away, the deformed Sabretooth roars laughter and derision, "Even the little blonde knows you can't finish it, runt!!" it echoes after them, enraged and mocking all at once. Once the extraction team makes it most of the way back up the elevator shaft, amidst ever-intensifying protests from the metal superstructure around them, the communications blackout ends as the energy surge reverberates back inwards, the ground beneath the facility rapidly giving way as a trench begins to open up from one point to the other, lightning striking from the ground to the sky, rather than its appropriate inversion.

While the Justice League's strikeforce has been sorely pressed, engaged in pitched combat the entire time their compatriots were underground, the forces are whole and prepared for escape... and not a moment too soon, either. The air crackles with artifical thunder, unearthly alien energies, and even the shell-shocked captive family have the wherewithall to run as asphalt continues to split below their feat, as if a crease in the city itself were folding in over the expansive laboratory.

The pseudo-Creed's parting jab rings in Logan's ears as the team makes its escape; even when they're top side and he's fleeing across ground that threatens at every moment to swallow him whole, he has to remind himself that the monster he briefly fought down there was merely a reflection of the real thing, an imitation designed to...

... well, there are only a few things one would ever clone a man like Victor Creed to do. Logan tries his best not to let any of them cross his thoughts whenever he checks on the Castroveneses progress.


 * "We're out,"| he informs the rest of the crew. |"Place is gonna need t' be picked through with a fine toothed comb--assumin' there's anything /left/."| He pauses as the rumbling beneath him briefly grows too loud for conversation.


 * "Not that I'm holdin' my breath on that one."|

Invisible Girl keeps pace with Logan and the others while maintaining a force field behind and over the just-rescued family, though the moment things settle and she has a chance to stop she sinks to ground in exhaustion. "I think I'll stay right here for a bit."