2013.06.22 - A Downward Spiral

BOOM!

Fire spews through the broken glass of the open window, and the woman comes tumbling out of it, miraculously unscathed. She looks up over her shoulder, breathing hard, long blonde hair just slightly singed. She waits. And waits.

"CUT!" the director calls. Rita Wayword -- 'Ricochet Rita' to her fans -- tugs off the blonde wig and shakes out her raven tresses, rising from her post-somersault crouch into an easy, relaxed pose. Some twenty feet away, in front of the barricade that is disrupting Times Square traffic, the actual star of the commercial (a blonde actress with no interest in somersaulting through flames) idly smokes a cigarette.

"How was that?" Rita calls, stretching a little.

"I want to try it one more time," the director says. "Try to spring up right when you land."

"I thought that was the kind of thing you could fix in post. With the CGI's." On the set, Michael Jon Carter quietly speaks to the actress, although not too loudly; he does not want to be overheard by the director. Directors are touchy, and will yell at you or even bite you if they feel you've somehow impugned their honor. After a moment of thought, the tall blond man has a realization. "Oh wait, if they could do that, they wouldn't need us, anymore. Never mind." He resumes sipping lightly from his bottle of water. Someday he will get to be the one leaping through fire and broken glass. Or, at least, some stunt guy will do that while pretending to be him, because who actually ever wants to do that on purpose.

Outdoor shoots like this one are not an uncommon occurrence on Metropolis' streets, and once he got used to the idea (directors and actors get really mad when someone bursts onto an action movie set and starts assaulting fake terrorists mid-scene, as it turns out), Xavin quickly learned that beyond the glitz and glamour and hustle laid something very, very important:

Tables and (sometimes) trailers full of free food.

"Excellent call!" he exclaims, pausing from surreptitiously stuffing Craft Services muffins and fruit into a messenger bag to do so. For today's meal, he decided to go with the form of a balding bike messenger in his 30s; the envelope he's presumably meant to be delivering is waiting on the edge of the table, but he does, at least, have a logo-adorned t-shirt and an awful, bike-adorned cap to give his presence some legitimacy.

It wasn't exactly something Doug Ramsey would usually watch, but this was one of those commercials where people were allowed to hang out, watch, and maybe, some lucky person would get paid to be an extra. Why that was, Doug suspected, had something to do with the quality of the commercial, but hey... he wasn't going to complain.

Standing behind the lines, peering over and watching, the young mutant can't help but grin, applauding for the unknown grunt who was doing the hard work. For whatever reason, this was something that Doug could empathize with, a lot.

Weaving his way closer as Rita is invited to do a retake, Doug regards the actors, then the stunt people. Maybe he should get Rita's autograph instead... Nah.

Missy Cramer, primetime TV darling on some terrible teen paranormal show, just eyes Michael with a raised eyebrow. She shakes her head, ashing her cigarette. Models.

Rita frowns. "I bounced up last time and you thought it looked too phony!" she protests. At this rate this commercial for Lady Spice deodorant will never get done. "I am doing it one more time, and you can take it or leave it." She looks over her shoulder at the costume girl. "I need a new wig, hon, when you get the chance. This one's all charred." She waves the crispy wig around for emphasis.

"At least these are fire-treated. The synthetic ones burst into flames like the Human Torch," opines Michael, to the disinterested Missy. He idly waves a little of the lingering second hand smoke away with his free hand. A little louder, he tells the stunt woman, "You looked great anyway, Rita. Kind of a shame I don't get to kiss you." He gives her a playful wink, and then looks thoughtful. Does that count as sexual harassment in this era? Hm. Probably not. Michael smiles brightly and fires a finger-gun Rita's way.

After trying a couple of times to wedge a banana into his bag(and nearly making a mess in the process), Xavin figures that enough is enough, zips the food-laden satchel up as best as he can, and slings over his shoulder to make his escape.

A few steps away, however, he remembers the loose end still sitting on the edge of the craft service table, so with a soft sigh, he doubles back to retrieve the letter. This time, when he makes his exit, he makes sure to veer towards the most important-looking people he can see: Michael and Missy, who are just hanging around while everyone else is working.

"Yo," he calls, slowing when he's close to them and waving the letter above his head. "Delivery for--" His eyes flick between the two for a second before settling on Michael, who he then just shoves the letter at "--you." It's addressed to Mr. Philip Cheboi of Brooklyn, so at least he got the gender right.

His 'job' 'done', he then sets about trying to hurry out of there so that he can enjoy his hard-earned supper.

And soon enough, Doug ends up in front of Michael and Missy. His eyes shift between Michael and Missy, before the young man offers his notebook and a pen to Missy. "May I have an autograph, please?" he asks, shifting his body language to that of 'fawning fan'. For whatever reason, he hadn't done that in years, but it seemed like his best bet of getting an autograph.

A sympathetic smile is offered to Michael as he's dealing with a letter, which apparently was just tossed randomly...

Rita is initially surprised, then grins at Michael. He's a weird one, but she's come to enjoy his earnest and somewhat off-kilter way of engaging with the ladies. "Too bad for sure, Mikey. The frail over there is heaps more famous than me, though, so she'll have to do!" Procuring a new wig from the wardrobe-mistress, Rita tucks her black hair back up into a bun and slides it on. It fits well, and she reaches for a comb to tease it into a simulacrum of Missy Cramer's wavy style.

Missy, for her part, rolls her eyes. "Ohmigod. You want him, you can have him." She pulls out a compact mirror and starts checking her eye make-up. At Doug's arrival, she turns and *sighs* dramatically. "Do we not have anyone running security on this barricade?"

"I'm sure I'll cope," Michael replies to Rita. He starts to give Missy a response that just might get him fired, judging by the expression of annoyance on his face, but then a courier is handing him a letter. "Uh... thank you. Do I have to sign--" but the delivery guy is already hustling away. Looking at the name and address, he says aloud, "This isn't me."

Michael looks around, then calls to the sound guy, "Phil, your last name isn't Cheboi, is it?" The response from the man handling the microphone is a shrug and baffled head shake. Michael looks at the letter again as he rubs his chin with his free hand. "I can't open this. Opening someone else's mail is a federal offense. I guess I'll re-deliver it later, myself." He is fairly certain it is the kind of thing a superhero ought to do, so it gets rolled and then tucked into his shirt pocket. The shirt itself is only partially buttoned, since his role in the commercial requires that he be shirtless. He turns back to the actress and says, "Missy, just sign the guy's thing. You oughta be nicer to your fans, when they go to all the trouble of trying to love you."

Signing--?! Xavin freezes a few feet away, and after carefully weighing his options, he decides he'd be better off trying to just sell the ruse, lest the mail police start asking questions. The mention of federal offenses just seals it.

"Yes," he calls out after Booster pledges to deliver the letter himself. Turning swiftly 'round, he clears his throat and starts digging through his bag to see if he can't find something for the celebrity to sign. "Right. Yes--you do have to sign," he says as he makes his way back over. "And you--aren't--Philip Cheboi, obviously, but--due to--budget--reasons, we've begun, uh, crowd sourcing our deliveries." Beat. "There are rewards, of course." Beat; he fishes out an apple, offers it over, then glances towards Missy and Doug. An awkward smile begins to form once he sees the notebook and pen

"There isn't any way I could--borrow those once you're done with them, is there?" he tentatively wonders.

Chastened by Missy's denial, Doug frowns, glances at Michael's admonishment, and rewards him with a bright smile. "Thank you!" he exclaims, as he shifts the notebook towards Michael. "And you're...?" he asks, uncertain of just who he was asking.

Xavin is met with a blink. "Uh.... you need a sheet of paper?" he begins, pausing in mid-gifting Michael to rip out a piece of paper and offering it to Xavin.

Rita just shakes her head at Missy, not saying anything. Michael seems to have the proper admonishments well in hand. Instead, she focuses on getting her outfit back into proper shape for the second attempt at the stunt. The technicians are setting up the pyrotechnics.

Missy just glowers. "Ugh, whatever," she says, reaching out to accept Doug's notebook and scrawl an illegible wiggle on the page.

"Uh... thanks, dude." Michael accepts the apple from Xavin, and if he notices that it might look a lot like the apples available at the catering table, he says nothing about it. He leans in slightly towards Xavin and says in a slightly quieter tone, "If you just wanted autographs, you just had to walk up and ask. She doesn't bite," he nods slightly in Missy's direction. "Not in the literal, physical sense anyway."

Straightening up, Michael gives Doug a brilliant smile and says, "I'm Michael Jon Carter. Also known as Booster Gold. Although at the moment..." he makes a sweeping gesture at himself, indicating the comparatively normal clothing he is wearing, "Not actively participating in dealing with criminal activity." His glance darts briefly to the letter curled in his pocket. "Probably."

"Absolutely not," Xavin assures as he shifts Doug paper right towards Michael. "And that's why I'll need a signature here."

Flicking his eyes towards the only available pen, he waits until Missy is just finished writing to lean in and pluck the pen from her fingers so that it, too, can be offered to Michael.

"Your generosity is appreciated," he then says to Doug and Missy as he flashes them another awkward, close-mouthed smile. "And your courage is commendable!" he calls to Rita a moment later.

The pen pilfered, Doug looks at the illegible autograph, before hauling out his smartphone and snapping a quick shot of Missy. And then after a moment, he clicks Michael and Rita as well. "Thanks, Mr.... uh... Gold! I'd love it if you'd sign too," Doug smiles. Man, he'd have loved to show this off on all the social media.

Doug's eyes shift to Rita as she gets ready. "Ma'am, would you sign too? I thought you did a great job the first time, and... well... stunts are indispensible too."

"Sure, kiddo!" Rita chirps, reaching out to sign. Her signature is a fancy-schmancy affair with looping handwriting and little stars over the "I"s in 'Ricochet' and 'Rita'.

She's just handed it back to him when a portal hums open in the wall of the building directly behind her, and three pairs of hands reach out to wrap about her neck and shoulders.

Michael flashes a smile for Doug's photograph, telling him, "It's Booster Gold, or just Booster. Mr. Gold sounds a little weird for that, it's like calling Diana 'Ms. Woman'." After signing the page for Xavin, he tosses the apple he is holding, idly catching it out of the air. He does not bother to catch it when the portal appears--it may be nothing, just a deranged fan stepping out of the wall to grab at Rita, but things are rarely that easy.

"Missy, get to your trailer!" Michael is leaping forward, or actually he is flying forward, arrowing right for Rita, or at least the arms clutching for her. He grabs at one of the mysterious wrists, in case this is some kind of otherworldly kidnapping attempt.

"Thank you!" Xavin chirps, turning to finally make his way off rather than reclaim the signed sheet. "Pleasure doing--" He slows when the portal open and peers back over his shoulder at it. "--huh. What a fantastic--"

Wait--is that a stunt? Maybe some kind of wormhole generator rigged up behind the wall of that building? Xavin ponders this right up until Booster bursts into action, at which point he decides to just follow the human's lead by throwing his hands forward to cast an invisible battering ram into--whatever is on the other side of that portal.

"Get to safety!" he blurts to Doug, the wee bicycle adorning his cap gently swaying to and fro.

The problem with hanging around the X-Men long enough was that inevitably, for whatever reason, the sense of doing right overrode whatever self-preservation instinct one had. Even if Doug died once already, it was still something he had to do. And so when the portal opens, Doug's first thought is to grab and fling Missy to safety, as notebook and pen go flying.

And then, ignoring the scream at him to get to safety, Doug turns, relying on his SHIELD training to wave his way towards Rita, intent on grabbing her and getting her out of there.

"What the hell?!" Rita cries, all she manages to get out before one of the hands clamps over her mouth. She bites down hard, and her teeth nearly crack. Metal, underneath the skin. She whimpers in pain, held fast.

Missy Cramer sprawls to the ground, screaming at the top of her lungs. She starts scrabbling on hands and knees to hide behind the barricade.

Booster manages to yank one of the hands free from Rita's shoulder, but it's not going to budge unless he pulls. All three pairs of hands are intensely strong. Xavin's battering ram hits up against the portal and fizzles, crackling away into displaced energy.

This would be much easier with a power suit on. However, even without his Booster Gold suit, Michael is extremely strong for a human. With one of the mysterious wrists clutched in his hand, he grabs at another and takes a step back, hauling hard, clearly intent on pulling out at least one of the apparent attackers. The muscles of his upper body ripple and flex, and the two buttons he had fastened for his shirt actually burst off from the strain; it isn't even his shirt, just something thrown onto him between takes, so Wardrobe will probably be annoyed about this.

"Aggh!" Xavin exclaims, clutching his head when translucent blue sparks leap from the collision site. His body ripples from head to toe, shifting in height, weight, and even skin tone - caucasian to, well, green - as the backlash sears his nerves, but he manages to get himself under control a few moments later.

Squinting past the spots in his eyes, he watches Booster's struggles with their mysterious foe(s?) for a tick before taking off towards the portal; along the way, his body undergoes another transformation as skin of both arms cracks and tears and hardens into a sheathe of interlocking orange rocks.

"Make room!" he exclaims once he's near enough to grab a hold of an arm and start trying to disentangle it from Rita.

Joining Michael and Xavin at pulling at the arms, Doug notices quickly this isn't going to get anywhere, and so he lets go, ducks underneath the arms, and pops up, trying to interpose himself between Rita and... hell, it was one entity coordinating those arms, was it, from the way they were coordinated and moving...

Never mind that, Doug! Get in between, and try to make further separation by pushing back and forcing Rita away...

All the arms come at once, and as Doug correctly deduced they all belong to a single entity -- Spiral, Mistress of the Wildways, who comes somersaulting through the portal in a flurry of limbs, opalescent hair, and big furry boots.

Rita goes sprawling to the ground as Spiral releases her, looking down to sneer at her erstwhile captive. "Pathetic little worm," she says, spitting at Rita's feet. Rita's eyes are wide with horror.

Spiral turns to the men (and Xavin). "Boys, I'm a bit busy if you don't mind."

When Spiral pops out of the portal, Michael nearly tumbles backwards, but he never hits the ground. He hovers instead, then straightens up in the air and gestures at the six-armed being. "What is this, are you going for the Spider Woman niche? Anyway, assaulting Rita is not okay." He finally lands, beside and slightly in front of the stuntwoman, folding his arms across his chest as he gives Spiral a disapproving look.

Xavin is sent flailing back a few feet by Spiral's sudden entrance, and nearly puts his rocky fist through a mailbox before managing to catch himself.

"Hh--yes," he gasps, leaning heavily against that box--which creaks a bit beneath his oversized digits. After shaking his head a few times, he straightens up, brushes himself off, and adds, "It's still a crime, even if you drag her to another dimension first." After a thoughtful moment, he slides his eyes towards Doug and Michael for confirmation; he's still trying to get the hang of Earth law.

Six-armed, and she moves so very coordinately that Doug was well willing to believe that Spiral could move very fluidly. Shiva, destroyer of worlds, maybe...?

"We do mind, miss..." Doug replies mildly, as he takes a few steps backwards, both to gain some space away from Spiral and to stay closer to Rita. "I don't suppose it would help if you tell us why you want her...?" he asks, choosing to exercise the diplomatic option first, although his SHIELD training has him with his hands up in an aikido stance.

Spiral just throws her head back and laughs, rich and throaty. "Oh, I'm sure you do, poppet," she purrs to Doug. All six arms flare outward and then bend into dramatic angles. She steps forward daintily, voguing with three times as much strike-a-poseability as a normal person. On the third vogue position six samurai swords flash into being in her hands. She points three of them dramatically at the would-be heroes. "Kneel, mortals, for you face SPIRAL, and she will end your miserable lives."

Great. If he had his suit on, this would be easy. Without the suit, Michael has stabbable flesh. Then again, so do the other people here. Maybe not the guy who turned into a rock, but using him as a living shield would be bad form. So--no weapons, no armor, but he does have his flight ring. Negotiations do not seem to be working. This leaves one course of action. Two, actually; but one would be running away, and Michael is not willing to do that. "Mm, no." He launches into the other course of action, which means he literally launches, flying forward fast and low, aiming a tackle at Spiral's lower body.

"Tt," Xavin gently exhales as he sinks into a martial posture of his own. The dense earthen plates covering his arms sink into his body, leaving smooth - and brown - flesh in their place; as the rest of his body shrinks and darkens to accompany his shift in form, he adds, "Absolutely not," to Booster's refusal, his voice spiking rather sharply upwards in pitch somewhere around those last couple of syllables.

Probably because he isn't so much a 'he', anymore.

Concentrating on the space behind Spiral, she presses brown fingers to her temple and conjures an invisible block for the six-armed death goddess to tumble over, should Booster's tackle prove successful.

Keeping an eye on Spiral's body language, which was proving to be tricky because she had six arms and any one of them could twitch and have him reacting, Doug shifts, as the others near him move into formation. Being used to working in a team environment, the safest thing to do was...

Oh, one flies, and the other apparently was a shapeshifter. Which meant...

"Well, nice to meet you Spiral... but if you don't mind, we'd like to keep our lives," he comments, as he's left to cover Rita and act as decoy. "Besides, it looks like the lady doesn't want to go with you."

And as Michael and Xavin shifts to action, Doug pulls Rita up quickly. "C'mon, I don't know why she wants you, but we might as well use it..."

Eyes dart towards where the special effects explosions were being set up. "Come on, that way." If Spiral follows, well...

Spiral is about to make a witty retort to Doug when she is tackled about the stomach by Booster Gold. "Oof!" she oofs, slamming backward into the invisible object that Xavin has created with a loud *thwack*. She bares her teeth at Booster, grinning almost hungrily. "You're a tough one, bunky. I'm gonna eat you last. Pretty face to carve up nice." She swings one of her arms and hurls a magic sword in Xavin's direction, then drags the point of another over Booster's shoulderblade.

Missy Cramer, all but unseen, wriggles on her hands and knees past the craft services table.

The flimsy fabric of Booster's shirt is sliced by Spiral's blade, opening and showing the red line drawn on his skin as the sword cuts his flesh as well. Sucking in a pained breath through his teeth, Michael tries to grab at her wrists, although she just has so many that even if he were able to secure two, that leaves four more to wreak havoc. "What is with crazy women telling me that, lately?" Booster will worry about this trend, later; right now he is trying to wrangle a dangerous blade-witch without getting stabbed to death.

"A sword?" Xavin sneers, snapping her right palm out in front of herself to erect a semi-spherical field couple feet out from her body. "You can't be seri--"

That last syllable is interrupted when the flying sword slices right through the center of the field, stopping mere inches from the wide-eyed Skrull's nose. The backlash of having yet another field unceremoniously destroyed by the madwoman sends pain spiking through her skull, but with no time to relax and let the discomfort subside, she has to settle for finding some way to subdue Spiral without causing herself further headaches.

"Perhaps," she tensely suggests as her upper body stretches like purple and black taffy towards Booster and Spiral's fracas, "they just find you appetizing." Despite her seeming lack of concern for easing Booster's fears, she does mean to lighten the futuristic footballer's load some by trying to coil strong, ribbon-thin arms around a couple of unaccounted for wrists.

"I don't know!" Doug exclaims, as he tugs Rita along. From the way Spiral spoke, Rita was the target. But if she could pop in and out like that, there really wasn't a safe place, save to get her in a place where they might have a better chance of dealing with Spiral...

Rita makes her way into the set, finally getting her bearings and pulling Doug in after her. "There's something about that woman," she says, once they've crouched behind the window facade. "And I don't just mean all the crazy stuff about her, the arms and all that... it's that she knows me. I've never met her, but she knows me. When she looked at me it was like she looked right into my very soul."

Spiral hisses as Xavin's stretchy limbs wrap around her wrists. She releases another of her magic swords, and it dances along Booster's back, making a shallow warning slash across his shoulderblades. "Next one goes deeper, lover."

And then, with a weird jig-kick of her legs, she's gone.

She reappears 50 feet away, dancing out of the air to pick up Missy Cramer in two of her powerful arms.

Missy screams.

"They thought I was here for that weakling," Spiral says, staring through the stone facade of the set to glare toward Ricochet Rita. "But her I'm saving for another time. That one needs to ripen." Her smile is wide and terrible. "It's you I came for, dear heart."

Booster bites back a groan of pain as his back gets slashed again. When Spiral suddenly vanishes, he drops to his hands and knees on the ground, blinking with some surprise. Missy, getting kidnapped or possibly killed? She is a difficult actress to work with, but even she does not deserve that kind of karmic comeuppance. What would he usually do? He would blast Spiral, or try to trap her. These are not options right now, but--he looks at Xavin, says, "Imprison Armsy McStabbyhands," and then he is flying at the multi-limbed woman and her captive. He is leading with his fist because this is a dynamic flying posture and is therefore sheer habit for him, but rather than laying another attack upon Spiral, he is grabbing for Missy.

Xavin's limbs end up littering the ground when Spiral unexpectedly vanishes from the midst of them, but she manages to curl the rest of herself sinuously upright rather than wind up face first amongst--well, herself.

"As soon--" she begins, stretching way, waaay up to survey the area, "--as I find--oh."

As she bends her upper body down to try wrapping herself fully around Spiral's many arms, advances on the stunt set with long, rubbery steps to try and avoid stretching herself too thinly.

"What did either of these women do to you," she wonders of the madwoman, "that you couldn't at least give them the courtesy of an honorable duel?"

With security milling about, Doug glances back, and notices Spiral now menacing Missy. Cursing himself for not getting the actress to safety as well and for the assumption that Spiral had been after Rita, Doug releases Rita as soon as they near security. "Be careful," he says. "Call SHIELD for me, tell them... uh, tell them Ramsey encountered a problem, a potential hostile meta is after several targets." Not that he was part of SHIELD anymore, but surely they could send someone who was active.

And then Doug makes a u-turn back, his attention now on Spiral. Body language... read. What was she up to...?

Spiral waves and angles her four free arms in an ornate and fluid movement, and both Booster and Xavin find themselves smacking right into a mystical forcefield. The sorceress shakes her head, sneering. "This one is one of Mojo's favorites. She'll be a pretty slave for him, once I make a few... adjustments."

"Please," Missy begs, frantic. "I've got money, I'll do anything you want. Please let me go-o-oo!"

Dragging a fingernail over the corner of Missy's mouth, Spiral licks her lips. "Money means nothing to me. We'll have such fun in the Body Shoppe, you and I." With the screaming young woman in her arms, Spiral does a series of steps that open a portal beneath them. She glances over her shoulder at the heroes. "Meet me on the Wildways, if you dare. I'd love to play some more with you, but I'm indisposed at the moment. Mojo is waiting."

For once, Booster gets to feel what it is like to crash into a force field. He bounces off of it, rattling him enough that he stops flying and is stumbling back on his feet. Then he lunges forward again, pounding on the invisible shield with his fists. "What the hell! Let her go!" Beating on the force field is getting him nowhere, so with his hands pressed against it as if he were doing some kind of post-modern mime act, Michael exclaims, "I'll find you and bring you back, Missy!"

Xavin ends up plastered against the surface of the field when she crashes face first into it. Given a moment to collect her wits, though she's able to peel herself free and join Booster in pounding on the field with overlarge fists.

"Coward!" is the only word she has left for Spiral, and it's spat through the barrier with a snarl.

"Not a coward," Spiral says, laughing. "An opportunist. Ta-ta!"

And then they're gone, Spiral and Missy both, and the maw in the ground snaps shut behind them.

Booster takes a lunging step forward as the force field suddenly vanishes, then remains in this wide stance as he looks around for anything that might make sense to him. He dropped that letter to Mr. Philip Cheboi at some point, his shirt is tattered and bloody at the back, and even his hair is pretty tousled up from the exertion. It still looks good, though; this is probably his actual super-power.

Staring at the spot where Spiral and Missy were standing moments before, Booster turns his head and looks at Xavin. As is his habit whenever he runs into someone who is unusual, he speaks to Xavin in Interlac. ""

Xavin squints at Booster as though he were speaking Martian rather than Interlac, probably because she's only getting maybe every third word, thanks to Booster's 25th century dialect.

"" she replies, speaking slowly and throwing in a few hand gestures to make sure that Booster can understand her. ""

With that, she ceases punching her palm and stretches her neck up to look for Doug. "Other blonde human: you can come out, now! It's safe for you!"

Coming up, Doug grimaces as he slows down from a run. "Ahhh... hell, I'm sorry..." the young man pants, as he puts his hands to his knees. "I thought she was after..." Voice trailing off, Doug looks back towards where Rita is currently surrounded by security. "What the hell just happened?"

Rita, for her part, looks positively baffled. "No," she's saying to one of the security personnel. "I've never seen her before in my life. I think I'd remember! But she seemed to know me... oh God, what's going on?"

"Dude, no, it wasn't your fault." Booster holds up a hand to Doug, as if to reassure him. He gets interrupted when some of the medical personnel on hand for the commercial approaches him and Rita, to examine their wounds. Although his back is a mass of blood at the moment, he fends them off long enough to speak with Doug and Xavin, saying, "You guys were right in the thick of it, it would help a lot if you could like... hang around a few? So we can compare notes and figure out what the hell just happened." He gets pulled away at that point, because the studio's liability insurance is already getting pushed to its limit.

"I--suppose," Xavin tentatively replies. "Let me just--" Her eyes dart around for some sign of her discarded bag o' plunder, and once she finds it, she squints for a moment, and then it's gone.

With that, she lightly dusts her hands off and drifts over to the security team to give them her account/harass them for not sufficiently protecting one of their clients from extradimensional abduction.

In turn, Doug turns over his personal information, including his SHIELD contact. Not that it would be useful, but at the least, it would give him clearance on what was going on. If he'd thought to take the other civilian... but at the time, it had seemed like Spiral was going for Rita.

It still made no sense, though... was that a feint? It hadn't seemed so at the time...