2013-01-13 The Brood's Age

Josh is hanging out in Manhattan, looking for something interesting to do, since most of his friends are visiting family this weekend. Anything, really, to get his mind off of the fact that he doesn't have a family who wants to see him. He's mostly been thinking about different ways he could use his powers. Like maybe altering his physical appearance at will? After all, he'd supposedly turned his own skin gold. Subconsciously. So maybe he could make it conscious?

He gazes into a faint reflection of himself in a puddle on the ground outside Grand Central Terminal. Heh. 'Wonder what my parents would think of me now...' he muses to himself. 'Probably that I'm even more of a freak than ever before.' he shakes his head and keeps walking.

In many ways, Broo would think Josh is lucky. Broo never wants to see or even sense any of his Brood relatives ever again. He smiles as he pours a couple quarts of hot chocolate in his mouth, a bandoleer of thermoses full of the hot steamy chocolate goodness wrapped around his front. Despite having job possibilities, he still is looking, just in case the ones people have mentioned fall through. With his bandoleer rotated one slot so the empty thermos is moved to his back, he unfolds his sign that says "I am an Illegal Alien. I seek an honest job for fair wages. I do not want charity. No hand outs, Please? Thank you." setting himself up on a street corner, his tongue splashing around in the hot chocolate, lavishing in the taste as the steam leaks from his mouth and out his nostrils.

And while some people wander, a lone girl ends up slipping out of Grand Central. She's dressed in black jeans, and has a black hoodie (with the hood pulled up), and a black jacket that has a rip in the back. But otherwise, she just looks 'normal'.

That is despite the fact that Laura does kind of have a giant 'don't mess with me' vibe as she wanders out, and down the street. But oh well.

Billy Kaplan had to get out of the house today, it was a moral imperative as well as one for his own physical well being. After making sure his best friend was free and setting up with him a chance to go hang out he escaped his home. With a nice large cup of hot chocolate in hand and bundled up in a blue jean jacket with the Captain America shield on the back and a crimson red scarf around his neck Billy walks along the street talking with his friend. "Plague carriers is what they are. I love them, I do, but there is not a single disease that goes around New York my little brothers don't manage to bring home. I admit I am horrible when I get sick so doing everything I can to avoid getting the flue from them."

Eddie was quite happy to go hang out with Billy. He was just cleaning up the new base so he wasn't busy. In jeans, a Spider-Man t-shirt, and his Captain America patterned leather jacket, Eddie's got a hot chocolate of his own. He winces sympathetically when Billy mentions his brothers. "Oh m-man...the flu is really bad. I hope you d-d-don't get sick."

Josh notices the girl in the black hoodie slip out of the train station, his interest piqued. People like that, around here are likely to be mutants in need of some place safe to go. Whether they acknowledged that need or not. And given her torn clothes...yeah. He tries to get her attention in spite of the 'don't mess with me vibe'. Josh doesn't pay attention to vibes, especially if they conflict with what he wants to do or thinks is best. If he recognizes its presence he's ignoring it.

"Hey!" he waves at her. "You in the black... what's your name?" He's so preoccupied with this that he stumbles right into Broo, despite the fact that he's holding up a sign.

Strength, no matter how great, does little good if one doesn't have the mass nor the stability to support it, and sadly Broo is knocked sprawling into a pile of snow and sludge on the side of the street. He thankfully had the wherewithal to swallow his hot chocolate, but that doesn't help with the issue of cold, wet, dirtied clothing, nor the humiliation of being knocked around like a little bug plushie. Broo lays there a few moments, pondering why he comes to New York City... perhaps Manhattan doesn't like him, he sure has some horrible experiences here. On the other hand he has met some wonderful beings, some good friends, some nice acquaintences, and some really cool beings, so is it worth missing out on such potential relationships to avoid things like this.

Slowly Broo pushes himself out of the snow, his sign already breaking up from the dampness, wiping his face and considering more hot chocolate. He looks back and tries to meet the likely New York hostility with a kind smile and a good natured chuckle, "Oh, I guess you got me. Such an amusing practical joke. Thank you for the schooling." his voice having no sarcasm, though there is a touch of hollowness to the enthusiasm, his heart not really in the comment.

The fact that someone is calling out to her, or at least calling out, does prompt Laura to pause. If only for a moment, so she can glance in the direction of who ever is calling out.

Of course as she does glance, she just has to see the collision. Which in turn gets a small head shake from the girl before she starts to continue on by herself.

Billy Kaplan nods at Eddie and sighs a little before taking a sip of his chocolate. "Me too, the flu sucks and Odin knows what my power would be like sick." Billy is a bit of a worrier about his powers, but that kind of comes with being able to alter reality at a whim. He winces as he spots Josh go stumbling right into a small guy...no that is the insect like mutant person Broo. A little bit of anger bubbles up to the surface as he stalks off twords the nocked over Broodling. He calls out towards Josh, "Hey, golden boy, why don't you watch where your going when you chase after pretty girls!" When he reaches Broo he offers a hand to help the knocked over guy up. Broo may be trying to be nice, but Billy's nearly a native New Yorker and he really hates seeing little guys get pushed around by the stronger and better looking cause they are not worth paying attention too. Or at least thats what he is seeing in the situation if its right or not.

"Lightning sneezes?" Eddie ventures, trying to make a little joke. The collission makes Eddie wince and he follows after Billy. He pauses when he sees it's Broo and offers a hand to help him too. Josh gets a slightly annoyed frown from Eddie but he'll leave the talking to Billy for now.

"Hey, it was an accident, okay? Geez!" Josh protests, glaring as Billy snaps at him. He sighs and glances after Laura as she ignores him and keeps walking. He'll have to catch up with her later. The golden boy hurries over to Broo. "I'm so sorry, Broo..." he says, an apologetic look on his face, and it really is sincere as he sees the broken sign and wet clothing. "It's just...you're so, well--small. I didn't see you."

The help up is appreciated, as Broo does take the offered hands, then looks back and nods at Josh, "It is okay. I am coming to terms with my lilliputian proportions. M'Ndavians take approximately 47 terran years to reach full maturation once they enter adolescents, so I should reach adulthood physically in about 4 decades." he sighs and looks down at his sign "Guess I'll need a new sign." he sniffs and tries to place Billy and Eddie's scents... they're sort of familiar, but he hasn't actually ever met them in their civilian forms...

Not that Laura really gets /far/ from the others before she's stopped. Nope.

But what stops her? A super villain? A natural disaster? Weapon X trying to bring her back in?!?

Nope. She's waiting for a signal at a cross-walk.

All though as she waits, she can't help but almost idly glance back at Josh and Broo. And odds are along the way she may very well see Eddie and Billy too.

Billy Kaplan snorts a little at Josh's protest. He spotted Broo from down the street, of course he tends to be a lot more careful running around to avoid running into people since he does not have the best control of his powers and tends to pay attention to the normaly invisible people like the badly dressed homeless people with signs on the side of the street. "Yeah, and he didn't have a pretty face like her." Billy says tilting his head at the girl that Josh was chasing after when he ran into Broo. He looks down at Broo and his sign sighing a little. "I guess you never got that ride to..what was it Westchester you were going to when we met the other day at the Mutant Action Center?" He asks of Broo since that was the last time he saw him, and it was while he was in civilian ID so it won't mess up his secret ID or anything.

Eddie shakes his head slightly at the protest from Josh. He knows exactly what it's like to be invisible like that and he's had his fair share of being smacked into, shoved over, and the like. "I thought s-someone there was going to drive you," Eddie adds onto what Billy says. He was at the MAC with Billy too.

Shrugging there is a smile on Broo's face, "Oh, yes." the passing faces who were speaking with Mr. Lehnsherr clicking as where he smelled the scents before, and ending his focus, "There was a delay with the people at the center, so I was not able to get the ride from them. But I did make it back. However, I learned I could not keep doing homework for money, as it means I am denying those people their education, and that is wrong. I was loaned some money, so I have a rail pass and a cell phone, and I come to Manhattan to find a job so I can pay back the loans, and pay for things for myself. I decided after a day back with a roof over my head, that I would not let myself be scared of this city, and would make it here... because if I can make it here, I can make it anywhere... I heard that somewhere, so I intend to make it here."

Broo looks to Josh, and ponders, "Well, there is no guarantees of when it will or won't be. Brood rarely subsume younger members of species for this very reason. I am estimating based on the maturation cycle of the host form, but I may mature much more quickly." he pauses, "That being said, I would like to be taller. Being so small has few advantages and many disadvantages, and being able to reach the top of counters and not being run into constantly far outweighs being able to curl up under benches and hide in small alcoves."

And if Laura heard anything at all that Broo says... Well, she might have something to add. Maybe.

Otherwise she just stands there. And waits. And glances back at the group again. even if she's unsure why she's watching them.

Billy Kaplan gives Josh an eyebrow raised look at his being so put out by thier taking a bit of an exception to how he ran into Broo. He takes a breath and bites back the sarcastic comment he wants to give about an apology that sounds more like he was blaming the person he was apologizing too. He is going to try and be nice, even if he is slightly annoyed and can feel a pain starting in the middle of his back. "You can't hurry aging unfortunetly. Well, ok, I can think of a few ways you can, but I have read the comics and seen enough episodes of The Twilight Zone to know its never a good idea."

Eddie just frowns. Part of him wonders if he shouldn't find out where in Westchester Broo stays and talk to them about keeping him out of trouble in the city. It seems like he'd be safer that way. He puts those thoughts aside for now though, glancing Billy's way as Josh apologizes to Broo. He can guess his best friend probably had a comment he's not voicing and gives Billy a little nudge as if to silently agree even if he doesn't know what Billy was thinking of saying. "Even if y-you can speed up aging...is it a g-good idea? I haven't seen as many as Billy b-b-but all the stories like that usually end badly."

Josh is starting to get really annoyed at the dark-haired young man who keeps criticizing him from very second he met him, simply because he'd accidentally run into Broo. Seriously, he'd apologized sincerely, and was trying to make up for what he'd done. What was this guy's /problem/?

"Okay, would you just /lay/ off me, dude? I apologized, and now I'm just trying to make up for knocking him over by helping him out." he quips angrily. "And for the record, I'm /not/ speeding up the aging process, just making him taller. /not/ older. That's it." He groans in exasperation and then turns back to Broo, holding out a hand. "Here, give me your hand. It won't hurt at all, I promise."

Since Josh has reassured that he is just helping Broo grow taller, the littlest Broodling doesn't even hesitate in taking the hand, allowing Josh to work his genetic manipulation... cause its not magic... that is Billy's area, not Josh's. Sadly, Magic might have been better. The process of expanding an endoskeleton and exoskeleton is nothing short of excrutiating... and of course growing extra arms and legs... and tentacles... and a tail... waith make that a double tail, with barbs on the end... wasn't he just going to make Broo taller, not turn him into a full fledged adult brood... the claws extending, the teeths multiplying and sharpening, and of course the wings growing even bigger.

In a matter of a moments, the process has ripped Broo's clothes away as he has shredded them with his greater size and limbs, only parts dangling on him, and his bandoleer, watch, and bracelet going unharmed. The sudden increase in strength leads to the hand jerking and flinging Josh, hurling him towards Laura, as simultaniously the Brood launches itself skyward, moving with amazing speed, swooping around like a bee or locust, seeking... something.

All right, so maybe Laura does hear that over the noises of the city. Because she actually starts to head over towards Broo right as Josh grabs his hand. And she /is/ scowling. In fact as she gets closer she even says, "Not a good idea."

But by then, it's too late. Broo already nearly flies into her, and then heads up into the wild blue above. And as that happens, she leaps forward, and towards the ground, to get clear. All without saying another word

Billy Kaplan says, "Lay off? I am not even saying half of what I am thinking, and I'm not the one throwing around tude cause someone called you out for being rude." Billy meets Josh's annoyance with his own. There is a slight increase in the smell of ozone around Billy as the golden boy snaps at him. "And age change, or size, all I am saying is there is the whole doctorine of unintended consequences to think about." Something Billy knows all too much about since most of his powers, and the drawbacks to having them, come from that. "You never know what could..."

Eddie just sighs as Josh snaps at Billy, his frown deepening. When he gets a whiff of the ozone smell, Eddie shoots a concerned look Billy's way. And then there's the transformation. Eddie lets out a startled squeak and stumbles back. Looking around quickly, he reaches out to tap Billy's arm and give him the 'time to suit up?' look.

"Well /maybe/ you should keep /all/ of what you're thinking to yourself, unless it's actually /good/ or /useful/ some--" But he is cut off as Billy's concerns are suddenly realized. Josh /may/ have overestimated himself. Granted, he had even brought the recent dead back to life with his powers, but he wasn't quite as familiar with the alien's physiology as he had thought. So yes, he /thought/ he was just making Broo taller, but he ends up turning him into a regular full-sized adult Brood. And he is being flung toward that girl he had been seeking after.

"Unnggh!" he grunts as he is thrown to the ground near her. "What the /hell/?!" he exclaims. "Oh...crap." the teen mutters as he watches Broo take to the skies. Well, maybe he's still himself and won't try to hurt anyone. He glances at the others. "Wait! Don't do anything, maybe he won't attack..."

Maybes are like what ifs, they're great, until you realize they go the other way too. If there is anything of Broo thinking in the Broodling, it is only accessing the worst of him... or atleast corrupting the best. Moving at high speed he does two things, he shoots the twin barbs from his tail like missiles... though perhaps his aim is off, since they hit the lamppost and traffic signal poles... and then he slams his upper left claw into a taxi, ripping it half open like a can, a tentacle grabbing the driver, while the claw flings the taxi skyward. The saliva dripping from his mouth creates small little holes in the street where droplets land, sizzling and corroding the asphalt...

Rolling over quickly, Laura looks up, frowning as she watches what happens with Broo, the bouncing, and then finally, the taxi. That is before she does a kipup to get back onto her feat. But as she lands, there is an audible *SKNIT* as her claws pop out.

And that's still before she casts a glance at Billy and Eddie, in time to see them change, which prompts one reaction, a "..." before the girl just tries to run towards the alien.

Billy Kaplan blinks as Broo grows larger, and larger, and then back hands Josh off into the distance. Ok, a little bit of the shaddenfreude seeing Josh go flying is not a bad thing but it still makes Billy feel a little bad. Billy takes several steps back from Broo as he takes off and nods at Eddie. Yeah, this is going to be time to suit up soon. He does turn and look at Josh, "And /that/ is why most episodes of Twilight Zone and Outerlimits warn not to go messing about with nature without thinking about possible consequences." Yes, he is giving Josh an 'I told you so'. It's petty but he feels he earned it. "Ineedusincostume, Ineedusincostume, Ineedusincostume!" Billy starts to chant gathering up the energy to transform himself and Eddie into thier heroic identities as Wiccan and Axiom in a flash of light.

When he hears that 'SKNIT', Eddie looks Laura over and his eyes go wide. Now he remembers that he's seen her before, idly hoping she's been okay since the last time he saw her months back. Shaking it off, he waits for Billy to magic them into their 'work' clothes. With the change complete, Axiom bounces on his heels a moment nods. Watching the chaos unfold, Axiom's eyes go wide and he quickly looks to Josh. "Are you alright?" he asks. "And c-c-can you undo what you did?"

"...." Josh watches wide-eyed as Broo rips a taxi in half. Oh what has he done?! Maybe he should have listened to the other teen after all. And then the girl--oh crap, the girl--he'd suspected she was a mutant as well, but he couldn't let her hurt him. At least preferably not if it wasn't necessary.

"Hey, wait, stop!" he calls out after her as she charges. "Don't hurt him if you don't have to, I just need to get close enough," he nods vigorously at Eddie. "--to turn him back."

Josh stares up at the now-gargantuan Broo, hoping there is some shred of him left in there. "Broo!" he shouts. "I-I'm sorry, please, I know you're still there...it's me, Josh...Eddie Fisher? I was just trying to help--Broo?!"

The acid on the barbs tips eats through the poles, both coming down mere inches from Josh, almost as if the barbs were meant to bring them down on Josh, but the misaim wasn't hitting them, but in the getting the hits just bring the poles down on their intended target... a sign of math and science being applied? Maybe? The Taxi Driver begins to scream in terror, getting a sneer from the Broodling, who tosses the civilian at Eddie, and then speaks in a rasping voice, "Stinks of Pork... you eat him. Want chocolate... give us chocolate flavored Terranmeat." swooping down and buzzing civilians, sniffing them and then buzzing away, slapping some down with a tentacle here or there, the barbs on his tails already sprouting again. As he senses Laura nearing he rushes up again, getting about three stories up and surveying the area, his eyes glowing a redish-orange instead of their previous yellow, flex of darker red here and there...

Chocolate flavored... Terranmeat...?

As Laura watches Broo fly upwards, into the sky, she frowns briefly. She can't fly, thus getting at him that way is out of the question. And by the time she managed to climb up, he could be even higher, or even gone.

Then again, considering who else is here.... And more importantly what one of them is saying... Well, she glances at Josh.

"You fly?"

Wiccan's eyes glow a bluish white while he starts lifting into the air. "Axiom, you work on getting the civilians out of the area, I'll try and keep him grounded!' He turns to look at Josh and ... the girl with blades comming out of her? "Blade girl, I get him down low you mind helping me keep him distracted while Golden boy trys to fix what he did?" The call for chocolate flavored people gets a shudder out of Wiccan. "Broo! You want chocolate maybe we can talk but the soilent green is off the table! First things first, we Need you on the Ground Now." As he says the last Wiccan's vocie takes on an odd tone while he gathers up energy and starts creating a wind pushing down on Broo from above trying to force him to the ground.

Axiom nods. "Stick with Wiccan then," he tells Josh. "We'll help make sure everything goes b-back to normal," he adds. Nodding again to Billy, Axiom's eyes light up bright blue as he applies a boost to Wiccan. Moments later he mimics him as well, costume shifting to a fusion of his own and Wiccan's. Taking to the sky, he starts working on helping civillians away from the area. "This w-way, folks! Please stay calm, we'll keep you safe!"

The civilians are far from calm, as they had begun screaming and running for their lives the moment the Brood had gotten out of control. But when they see Wiccan and Axiom stepping up to take care of the situation, they calm down at least a little bit. Most of them follow Axiom as best they can. One of them briefly nods his thanks to the teen.

As for Josh, he shakes his head at Laura, but nods at Eddie. "Will do, but I can't fly. You guys'll have to keep him grounded for long enough. And---please...minimal damage guys. I can heal him up but it'd be better if he doesn't have to deal with the pain." At this he looks especially at the girl with the claws.

The winds buffet the Broodling, which causes him to fight, trying to avoid them, but avoiding downdrafts is tricky. So he locks in in the being that seems able to go up unhindered, and flies at full speed toward Axiom, intending to tackle him, and seeming to smile hungrily as he nears and smells the hot chocolate in Axiom's system "CHOCOLATE TERRANMEAT!!! YUMMMMMMMMMM!!!" the extended m almost like a buzzing humm. His teeth bared, his mouth wide as he doesn't intend to wait, bitting at Axiom as he tries to grab and tackle the power booster with all four arms and both tentacles. His tails shooting barbs at Josh and Wiccan, perhaps in hopes of shutting them both up.

They say what must go up, must come down, and so the taxi does... right on top of a parked car, vertically, trunk to roof. It could almost be seen as a piece of art, the precise way the crushed top of the parked car keeps the covertablized taxi upright...

"Leave them..." Laura starts to say as she turns, and starts to rush towards Broo now that he's closer to the ground. "/ALONE/!"

And yet, despite having her claws out, as she rushes forward, she grabs a small rock, and throws it at the alien. And while she /doesn't/ jump up and down waving her arms like an idiot trying to recover their favorite gun, she does say something odd, and maybe even stupid.

"EAT ME!"

Wiccan is keeping his eyes on Broo, and those barb shooting tails of his. Turns out to be a good thing he was watching the Alien's tails as he slides sideways to avoid oe of hte barbs that would deffenetly make this into a worse day for him. As Broo makes a tackling dive at Axiom Wiccan pulls some lightning out of the air trying to strike the ground in front of him on the dive in hopes of keeping him off of his friend. Of course now that Broo is going for Axiom that puts him close to the ground, which makes it a good time to try and have him held for Josh to get close. "Bindhimholdhimfast, Bindhimholdhimfast, Bindhimholdhimfast!" Wiccan chants as fast as he can waving his hands in the general direction of the super sized broodling. As the magic catches in his spell metal chains glowing a bluish white start to appear out of nowhere and reach for Broo swinging trying to wrap around arms and legs as well as his body.

"Don't worry, everyone. We'll take c-care of things. Just g-go this way and you'll get someplace safe," Axiom continues directing civllians. When he hears Broo and turns to see where he's going, the power booster's eyes go wide and he squeaks again. "Shieldshieldshieldshieldshield!" he chants quickly, tapping into the powers mimicked from Wiccan. A shimmering blue barrier appears between Axiom and Broo...just close enough to Axiom to probably give him a scare.

It's not every day that Jubilation Lee decides to visit a landmark like Radio City Music Hall. Naturally, that day is when something happens.

But she's only just coming outside and becoming aware of it. The teenage mutant, checking a souvenir program from her tour, blinks as people around her start gasping in alarm and then moving quickly away from...

Oh, crapsicles. Oh, fudge... a Brood! In Manhattan! And it looks like some other young heroes are trying to stop it! Jubes stuffs the program into a pocket of her leather jacket, which she pulls off and hands to one of the tour personnel. "Could you hold this for me, please? Thanks, totally!"

And then she dashes out into the rapidly-emptying street, plasmoids already flaring to life around her hands. "Hey! Help incoming!"

Tail barbs come flying Josh's way. He does his best to dodge, but a few of them dig their way into his skin. "Ugh..." he pulls them out and tosses them away, and the wounds heal quickly as he hurries over to where Axiom is being charged at and is attempting to protect himself with a shield.

"Come on...come on..." Just a little lower and he's on the ground. And then Jubilee shows up. "Jubilee!" he calls out. "Don't hit him too hard, it's--it's Broo. We just need to get him down long enough for me to get close. I'll explain later..."

The shield deflects the Broodling, and causes him to turn toward the crazy girl who wants to be eaten. Even normally, Broo would not find that statement in any manner then it is currently meant, as a demand to be consumed. But a sniff of the air tells the Broodling, Laura is not the desired meal. As chains try to wrap him up, the Broodling once more takes to higher air paths, juking and jinking to stay free, and leaving a cloud of gas behind that seems to be causing the civilians he flies by to become frozen in place, looking paralyzed save for some twitching and occasional gasping. He darts through vehicles at traffic signals, swerving and making a mess as he goes in one window and out the other, almost as if trying to lead the chains on a wild goose chase, or use the chains to limit the areas that can be traveled by beings on the ground. He buzzes Jubilee, and snarls, out, "Ignore JoshEddieFisherFoley, he lies... he also stinks of Terranmeatheat, wants to mate... wants clawterranmeatgirl." he even tries to leave the gas near Josh, but seems to make sure none gets near Jubilee before soaring upward again to try to lose the chains...

Okay. Yeah. With all that flying, just what is a girl to do?

Well, Laura could comment on what Broo says, instead, as one of those chains comes flying past her...

She tries to grab it. And tries to climb it.

After all, it it's trying to tie Broo down, and she can use it to get closer too Broo...

Wiccan is doing his best to catch Broo and not hurt him. Wahtever it is that Josh did to the poor guy it is not Broos fault after all. Of course as soon as he realizes that Broo is trying to loose the chains he changes tactics. Hands waving the chains stop following Broo and instead start trying to get in front of him. With nothing anchoring them the chains don't get tangled in anything but start trying to come at Broo from above and trying to get in front of him and between him and any vehicles or buildings to try and stop the wanton damage. Comefromabove, pushhimtwordstheground!" 

Wiccan blinks as he sees Laura grab one of his chains and starts chanting something new, "Giveheraflyingdisk, Giveheraflyingdisk, Giveheraflyingdisk!" A glowing disk of light form next too, and just under, Laura looking nice and stable while zooming along just inviting her to use it as a platform to ride. wiccan smiles to himself siletnly thanking Axiom for the power boost that is going to make it possible for him to keep this up and hopefully fix most of the damage being done later without throwing Wiccan into a coma.

Axiom lets out a little breath as Broo is deflected. Of course when he sees what's happening to the people, Axiom squeaks again. Rushing to the people, he conjurs up a quick mystic wind to blow the gas up into the sky. THen it's spell time. '"Curethemofthepoison, Curethemofthepoison, Curethemofthepoison, Curethemofthepoison!" 'he chants, focusing on saving people.

"That... that /thing/ is /Broo/?!" Jubilee exclaims, staring after the fast-flying fury in amazement. The way it's going, yet trying to avoid spraying her with that weird vapor and shouting about Terranmeatheat, seems to prove Josh's words true. "How?! What... right, you'll explain later," she amends, already anticipating his words. By her tone, she'll hold him to that.

Instead of worrying about the matter, she looks after her former little buddy. "Broo! Come down here! We totally need to talk!" Not that she banishes the plasmoids. She trusts Broo, sure, but those fangs still look nasty.

The strange gas blows in Josh's direction, and he finds his limbs freezing up. But his body is already quickly compensating, manipulating the toxin until the compound is rendered inactive. He does what he can to follow Axiom and Broo around on the ground, as well as neutralizing the toxin in any innocent bystanders who have been paralyzed. He nods grimly at Jubilee. "Yeah, so...try not to hurt him too much--this wasn't his fault."

There is obvious conflict in the Broodling, his eyes flickering the red-orange fading to an amber and then going back to the red-orange color... As he is clipped a bit by the chains coming down on him and trying to box him in, he starts to crackle with electricity, a field of it partly shielding him from the chains for now, but the impacts causing him to have to adjust his course. He lands near Jubilee, but seems unsure, "No... Jubilee smell too good..." his mouth salivating, the excess dripping to the ground and pooling as it makes a new pothole, smooth and perfectly scoured into the street. He turns away and begins to stop towards some cars stuck at a light, the occupants fleeing, as he smashes into a Hummer, crushing the front end with around 45 to 50 tons of force. He claws into the car, and then as if a little of his old self resists, he takes two of the thermoses from his bandoleer and bites into them sideways, letting the hot chocolate leak down his teeth and seap into his mouth...

And the gas... It's not something that Laura really worries about. She's dealt with gas before, and as far as she knows, this is no different. As far as she knows. Then again, thanks to Axiom it probably isn't much of a concern for another reason.

On the other hand, as that disk appears, the girl with claws blinks, and slides onto it. To he honest, she doesn't know how it works. but if she can... Well, if she can she tries to direct it. To get it to head towards Broo, as fast as it can. In fact, it's almost as if her claws not only /retract/, but she's aiming at him like a missile. One meant to /hopefully/ knock him around, and /possibly/ even downwards. After all, if he stays on the ground long enough for those chains to grab him, or for Josh to do his thing... Right?

There is, unforntunetly, not much Laura can do to diret the disk short of yelling directions out loud or gesturing franticaly so that Wiccan can know where she wants to go. Luckily Wiccan has more or less the same intention as she does once she is on the disk that is much easier to control with ehr on it than the chain was. Rocketing the disk twords Broo he hopes to give her a chance to take him down as he looks like he is headed for Jubilee. Once Broo is on the ground though, and going after a car first then eating a thermose that he had on that bandoleer Wiccan starts directiong thsoe chains at him again to try and at least keep him there. "Golden boy, if your going to do your thing do it quick!"

Axiom isn't worried about the gas either, knowing he can magic it out of the way. When the civillians are clear, Axiom gets an idea. He looks around quickly, eyes going wide as he sees the wrecked car by Broo. "Got it," he murmurs, spying the falling bumper. "Turnthebumpertochocolate, Turnthebumpertochocolate, Turnthebumpertochocolate, Turnthebumpertochocolate!" he casts a little spell to turn the bumper that fell off that hummer by Broo into a chunk of chocolate. Hopefully it serves as more bait to keep Broo in place and not running so Josh can fix things.

"He recognizes me!" Jubilee calls to Josh, and hopefully to the rest of the little posse. "He doesn't want to eat me!" Normally, even being considered a delicacy by some alien creature would be cause for panic, but in this case, Jubes is relieved. It gives them options. And it says plenty for Broo's character!

She begins moving closer, slowly, watching for any telltale movements on Broo's part. Plasmoids still whirls about her hands like two pastel rainbow doughnuts. "Um, Josh? Whatever you're gonna do, I'd do it quick, while he's still on the ground." She prepares to keep him there, some of the plasmoids shifting colors.

"Right, I'm on it, just keep him down!" Josh doesn't need to be told twice. He finishes up healing another wounded bystander, and once he's been assured they're all right, he is on his feet and rushing toward Broo, diving for the aliens' ankle since that's currently easiest to reach.

Wiccan's eyes shift over to Axiom with a grin as he gets the idea to turn aprt of the car that Broo was attacking into chocolate. That was an awsome idea and one that Wiccan wishes he had had for himself. As Josh goes diving for Broo Wiccan hopes that Axiom is able to boost him as well just in case it takes a little extra oomph to get Broo back to normal. For now Wiccan will step back and watch to make sure that everything is good and jump in if h needs to elsewhere. If Josh does manage to get Broo back in shape Wiccan will step back and start using his powers to put the parts of the city torn up by the fight back how they should be.

Were he fully thinking clearly, he probably would have coordinated everything, timing his grab of the bumper, lashing out a tentacle to take Jubilee, and letting Laura and Josh get acquainted with one another by getting them to crash into each other... thankfully, Broo, while still partly in there, is running on mainly instinct, so he ends up getting grabbed, and run into. But where little Broo was easy to knock off balance due to his lack of mass and stability, this full grown version has four legs for stability, and has more then 20x time mass, making him less like a large plushie, and more like over 850 lbs of muscle, exoskeleton, endoskeleton, and armored hide.

A tenticle lashes out and grabs the bumper, biting one end off before swinging it at both Josh and Laura, while he cracks two more thermoses and lets them leak into his mouth, acidic saliva mixed with molten chocolate leaking from his mouth and down at Josh's arm...

Don't hurt him. Keep him down. If it /wasn't/ for the fact that Laura doesn't actually want to hurt people anymore, even if they are giant bug people that have a thing for chocolate, she might end up a bit confused by that contradiction in Josh's statements.

Either way, she gets smacked by a chocolate bumped comes smashing into her, knocking her completely off of her 'flying disk', and possibly even onto Broo proper. but even if that happens, at worst she just tries to grab him and hold on. The claws just aren't coming back out right now.

Axiom winces as Josh gets knocked off. He's about to rush over to help him when he notices the golden teen is healing. Turning his attention to Broo, Axiom wracks his brain for an idea. He knows he's going to be exhausted later for using this much of the borrowed powers but he's started a new spell already. "Iwanthimtosleep, Iwanthimtosleep, Iwanthimtosleep, Iwanthimtosleep, Iwanthimtosleep..." he focuses on Broo as he chants, keeping the chant going even as he casts, trying to lull the alien to sleep so Josh can work his uh...mutantness.

Josh had been just about to undo his mistake and turn the hostile Brood back into the childish, naive little bug he once was when a mixture of acid and chocolate splashes onto him. Ouch. And then he gets whacked by a chocolate bumper. Chocolate isn't /that/ dense, but Broo is strong as an adult and that thing is pretty big. Plus the chocolate's harder since it's cold out. Elixir goes flying into a lamppost. Thankfully he isn't knocked out cold, so he heals up pretty quick. "Ugh...guys I think you're going to have to do more than just keep him on the ground. We need to immobilize him somehow. I would prefer we don't hurt him, but if it's going to be necessary--I can heal him up."

Axiom winces as Josh gets knocked off. He's about to rush over to help him when he notices the golden teen is healing. Turning his attention to Broo, Axiom wracks his brain for an idea. He knows he's going to be exhausted later for using this much of the borrowed powers but he's started a new spell already. "Iwanthimtosleep, Iwanthimtosleep, Iwanthimtosleep, Iwanthimtosleep, Iwanthimtosleep..." he focuses on Broo as he chants, keeping the chant going even as he casts, trying to lull the alien to sleep so Josh can work his uh...mutantness.

And just like that, everything just /curdles/... Jubilee winces as Laura gets smacked from the air and Josh gets whacked away by, of all things, a giant hunk of chocolate! Hearing Axiom, she smiles as an idea comes to her, her plasmoids shifting colors again. Time to try out a new trick, hopefully one that'll help the young spellcaster.

Trouble is, it might /not/ help anyone too close to Broo and looking at him. Namely, Clawgirl... er... what is her name again? She's got to look away. Jubilee lifts her hands and shouts, "Yo, girlfriend! Pull up your pants, we're in public here!" Without waiting for a reply, she hurls a steady stream of plasmoids at the area in front of Broo, where they burst with soft light, while others circle into a swirling pattern, slowly. Steadily.

Hypnotically...

Magic and Mutant powers combine, causing the Broodling's head to rock a bit as he tries to stay conscious... He starts to fly up, trying to get away, and then stutters in flight and comes crashing down, smashing another car, which also gets soaked in the blended corrosive and molten chocolate. His tentacle loosens around the chocolate bumper and his eyes sink closed as he lays sprawled out, semi-snoring as steam escapes his nostrils and more of the mess spreads across the car's upholstery, probably permanently lowering the car's value by thousands of dollars... maybe more. His eyes try to flutter open, but the combination has subdued him for now.

Pull up her...?

Bwah?!?

Yes, Laura does glance away as Jubilee uses her powers. But well, that statement has a bit dumbfounded. Only before she has a chance to really say, or do much else, the giant insectoid alien hits the ground with enough force to knock the clawed mutant girl free.

Thus she falls, and ends up falling clear.

Which in turn probably helps make things easier (or at least less stressful) for Elixer to 'fix' his little 'mistake'. A.K.A. what he did to Broo.

'Little' might be underestimating it a bit. Broo could have done some serious damage. But thankfully Elixir has made sure no one was seriously hurt or killed. Well, at least not in the end. He better have, anyway, this was all his doing.

Finally, the Brood sinks to the ground, having been hypnotized into sleep by Axiom and Jubilee's combined efforts. Thus, Josh wastes no time in hurrying over to Broo and putting a hand on the part of his body nearest to him, which happened to be a wing. Immediately, a golden glow radiates from his hand and the adult brood begins to shrink...

Axiom keeps the chant up even as Broo falls. He wants to make sure Josh can get things fixed. He does get closer when Josh does, keeping an eye on him and getting ready to pull him out of the way of any danger if he has to.

Jubilee breathes a sigh of relief as Broo... falls. That probably hurt, but compared to what the transformed Broodling did to this part of town, it's a small price to pay. She'll apologize later. If she does understand one thing about Broo, it's that he'll totally get the necessity of what Axiom did, and what she helped to do.

In the meantime, she moves to offer a hand to Clawgirl. "You okay? That looked painful. Um, sorry about the pants thing..."

Yes, Laura accepts the hand up. She doesn't brush herself off once she is up. But she accepts the hand up to begin with, which is a thing in and of itself.

And no, there's no comment about the 'pants' thing. On the other hand, she does say to Jubilee, "The pain will pass." as she glances over and watches Josh do his thing. All though once Broo is fixed, the mutant healer might want to start running.

Wings shrinking, claws and fangs retracting some, tail, barbs, extra legs and mass, tentacles, it all rapidly fades as Broo is restored to what passes for normal with him. He is still asleep and slowly curls into a fetal position, his little arms holding the last intact thermos in one hand, and the golden yellow bracelet shielded with the other. He mumbles in his sleep, "No, no... I will not let you eat them. They're my friends, and friends are not food. Plus she's too pretty to hurt..." his tongue lulling out his open mouth.

Josh watches with relief as Broo returns to his original self. He begins to feel faint from, well, everything. All the healing and manipulating he's done today. He gets up once the transformation is complete, and stumbles backward, slumping against the outer wall of a bus stop.

"I-I..." he starts, meaning to apologize to everyone and explain himself to Jubilee. "Thank you all for helping me out...I-I'm sorry...for all the trouble..." he glances up at Wolverine-girl. "You...you should come to the school. To Xavier's. You'd like it there--right, Jubilee?"

As Broo transforms, Axiom stops chanting. Slumping against the wrecked car, he tries to catch his breath. He glances up as Josh falls and frowns. "No need t-t-to thank me. Just try not to do it again," he says. Of course the masked teen just ends up giving Josh a curious look when he mentions the school.

And as Broo /finally/ returns to being himself again, and as Josh tries to 'make nice' with her, Laura just moves over to him. And then, she tries to all but thrusts her fist in his face. Not close enough to touch him kind you, but it is close. And /THEN/ there's a very distinct sound, an actually audible *SKNIT* as her claws, her /metal/ claws, extend. And well... Just as long as Josh doesn't move towards her, he may have a little room to spare.

"/DON'T/. Ever. Do. That. Again." is said before she motions to Broo with her other hand.

"He is not yours to /experiment/ on. /Understood/?"

And /THEN/ her claws retract.

And then she turns. The offer about the school? It's not commented on. Especially not as she turns and starts to walk away.

Jubilee, close enough to hear Broo, blushes hotly when he mentions 'she', having a feeling of who 'she' might be. Could this get any more embarrassing?

Yes, it could. Someone could not only bring up the school, but ask for /her/ opinion on it. "Huh? Oh... actually yes, it might..."

Except Clawgirl's suddenly threatening one of her team! Though her words certainly hint at why, as Josh's did earlier. Jubilee's eyes narrow, but her angry gaze falls on Josh, not the newcomer. "We'll talk later," she says. He's got a Broodling to apologize to, once he wakes up.

And then she's hurrying after Laura. "Wait! Please, listen. Josh totally screwed up, but... that doesn't mean the school's not worth thinking about." She pulls her phone from the pocket of her jeans, offering it to the angry girl. "Let's at least trade numbers, so you can get in touch if you want to know more?"

"I...wasn't experimenting...just trying t...to help him out..." Josh begins to defend himself but he frankly he is too exhausted to argue further or even flinch when she pulls the claws on him. He has begun to collapse to the ground by the time he's finished speaking, and is now unconscious on the ground. Jubilee would be a much better candidate for convincing clawgirl to come to the school, anyway...

Trade numbers? Well... A small slip is pulled out as Jubilee asks. And its given to her. But Laura doesn't stop. Nope.

And of course if Jubes did call that number later on, for some reason she'd get /Anole/, and not Laura.

Axiom lets out a startled squeak when Laura goes all clawful on Josh. He starts to say something but Laura's already walking away and Josh is out cold. Stopping his boosting and mimicking after a quick check with Wiccan to make sure he's alright and headed back to the apartment, Axiom shifts back to his normal costume and kneels down to check on Josh to make sure he's alright. "What a d-d-day..."

In the cratered car, Broo rolls over and his little left claw stops shielding his little golden yellow bracelet, whic must be incredible durable since it went unharmed in the fight, while the shreds of his clothes, broken watch, and even his bandoleer looks in pretty bad shape... he sort of snarls and claws at the air with that claw, as if trying to me intimidating and bat at some unseen enemy, "You shall not harm Kitty, and Jubilee, and Sue, and Karolina, and Noriko, and Tommy, and Carol, and Tommy's look-a-like, and Tommy's Look-a-like's friend, and Mr. Lehnsherr, and Anole. You must go through me, Uberbroo, defender of nice people... in the name of chocolate, I will stop you..."

Josh appears to be fine, just exhausted. A little rest and recuperation and he should be fine. That is, unless he's comatose. In which case, only time would tell if he'd ever wake up, since most doctors wouldn't really know how to treat his unique physiology. Hopefully that /isn't/ the case.

Jubilee takes the slip, nods once, silently, and steps back, returning to the little knot of Xavierites. "I have a feeling you weren't trying to do anything bad, Josh. But road to Hell, good intentions, and all that." She manages a tired smile for Axiom and Elixir, beginning to shiver a little now that the adrenaline's wearing off. "I'll get my jacket. We can wrap him up in it and carry him back." And she hurries up the stairs into Radio City Music Hall. Won't be long!

Axiom just sighs after he finishes the standard first responder check over he learned. Alright, gold guy apparently named Josh is fine. Broo is asleep but fine and that just gets another sigh out of Axiom. He glances up when Jubilee speaks andd nods. "S-sure," he says, figuring she'll probably need help lugging two unconscious friends to wherever this school is.

Jubilee returns after a moment, carrying her leather jacket. She kneels and wraps it around the twitching, dreaming Broo. "I've got to make sure I'm nearby more often, little guy," she murmurs, scooping him up. "Oof! You're a lot heavier than you look."

She turns to Axiom. "Can you help me get him up? Got to at least get him to someplace safe, so I can call the school for a pickup. Oh... sorry. What do I call you? I'm Jubilee," she adds, with a sheepish smile. "Totally forgetting my manners here."

His tongue rolling out, Broo seems to forget his hero dream, spreading out a bit, then mumbles, "Do I have to do all the Eddies homeworks for a year? I don't want to make a cold fusion icecream maker... they only make vanilla, and Eddie Izzard lied about the 'Fruit of the Looms'... he pauses, and I don't think there is such a thing as someone named Eddie, cause I think they're all liars... Eddie Fisher told me his name is really Josh."

"Um...m-maybe he should stay at the school for awhile," Axiom replies about Broo. "I've b-been running into him a lot and there's always trouble when I d-d-do..." he trails off, concerned for Broo and the public's safety. He then looks at Josh a moment before carefully picking him up. He stumbles slightly but manages to keep his balance holding the taller teen up. "I'm Axiom," he offers to Jubilee. "I'm with the Young Aliies," he adds, a hint of pride in his voice. Broo's sleepy mumblings just get another sigh. "He r-really should stay in."

"Young Allies... I'm sorry, I haven't heard of them," Jubilee replies, genuinely apologetic. "But maybe I should get some contact info from you, too. Couldn't hurt to know some other heroes. It can wait 'til we're in a taxi, though."

She smiles down at Broo as she slips an arm under Josh's shoulders, helping Axiom. "He will be, 'til we can tell what Josh did to him, and how well it's been reversed. It'd be majorly bogus if we had to do this again tomorrow because the cure didn't have long enough to set in properly."

Being treated like an overstuff doll doesn't really phase Broo, but his dreams change again, "No. I do not like Makluan eggs and Kodabak meat, it is not something I like to eat, it tastes all yucky, and smells like the stewed Kt'kn feet. I would not like them in my cage, I would not like them in a rage, I would not like them raw nor fried, I do not care just how they died. I would not like them in a bowl, I would not like them on a roll, I do not like Makluan eggs and Kodabak meat, please stop feeding me them Dr. S'Uez, they are not neat."

Axiom hangs his head a moment. "Yeah. We're um n-new," he says to Jubilee. Sure he wasn't expecting fame, but it would be nice if people had atleast heard of the team. He nods a little a Jubilee helps. "Which w-w-way do you want to go. And yeah, I can give you a way t-t-t-to contact us."

"That way." Jubilee points southwards. "They'll be cordoning off this area soon, and that means no taxicabs coming in." She stifles a smile as Broo chants something softly. "Thank you. Frankly, it's great to know there are other teenaged heroes out there. For a while, I thought Kitty and I were the only ones, aside from Josh.

Axiom nods, starting to move. He then gives Jubilee a surprised look. "R-really?" he asks, looking at Jubilee like she just admitted to only today learning the sky was blue. "Kitty?" he asks, the name familiar but him having trouble placing it. "There are tons of us Young Allies though. Me and Wiccan...and Hulkling, Speedball, Hawkeye, Lucy in the Sky and a b-bunch of others."

A bit of a tear starts rolling down Broo's face, "Please don't lock me in the little cage. I'll be good. I won't tell you about anymore Brood infecting security and scientists. I wasn't trying to lie. I'll be good. I don't like it being locked up. I really thought they were infected. I wasn't trying to tell stories." he looks a bit scared and very sad, "I won't mention it again. If you say there is no way Sodality members could be infected without your knowledge, then it must be true. I'm so sorry I lied when I did not know I was lying..." trembling a bit.

"Wow... how'd I miss all those people?" Jubilee asks, stifling giggles. "I can see I need to get away from the school a bit more!"

Then Broo speaks again, and the Chinese-American girl blinks and quickly holds him a bit tighter. "Shhhhh... you're safe. It's okay, Broo. Nobody here but you and me," she whispers soothingly. "We're going home now, and you can sleep in your little bed and drink lots and lots of chocolate when you wake up."

"Where is this school?" Axiom's curious. Not only about where the school is but what kind of place accepts obvious mutants like Josh and aliens like Broo without hassle. He glances over at Broo when the alien speaks, frowning in concern but letting Jubilee handle it.

Broo seems to nod and smile at the mention of chocolate, blissing out in some new dream, but the mention of the school triggers a response from him, "Shhhhh, it's a secret. We can't tell cause someone might come and be mean to the weaker mutant kids. That is why I couldn't bring Karolina back for hot chocolate and sandwiches, and why Carol only visits on rare occasions." actually holding his little clawed finger to his mouth as if to shush about the school.

Jubilee winces at Broo's words, and sighs quietly. "I wish I could tell you, but I'd be endangering a lot of people if I did." She pauses to set Broo down on a bench once they're clear of the site of the battle. "Listen, I'll talk to the people in charge and see what they think. 'Til then, I'll give you my phone number. Call me if you ever need help, and I'll come running if I'm nearby." It's the best offer she can make.

Axiom just arches a brow. "Why w-would I be mean to mutants. I am a mutant..." he trails off. He moves to sit Josh down on that same bench, glancing up at the mention of Karolina and Carol. He knows them both. He then just looks to Jubilee and tilts his head to the side. "Alright I g-guess..." he trails off, taking his 'work' phone out of his belt and getting ready to punch in a number. "And um, if you're ever in any trouble, just give me a r-ring and I'll do my best to get there as soon as possible to help out."

In his sleep Broo fumbles at his bandoleer, trying to open the protective blue and gold with red accents cellphone case on it. Sadly in his sleep his coordination is a bit off, and the phone ends up falling out and bringing up the last dialed number, Carol Danvers, with a picture of Carol smiling in civies, looking a touch hungover. The phone thankfully doesn't dial, but it is just waiting to. Pretty cool that the little alien has the latest model of android phone though, right?

"Thanks, Axiom. I'm sorry I can't be any more open than that... and for the record, I don't think you'd be mean to anyone. I think Broo's thinking about the bad guys." Jubilee gives the poor kid a smile.

And then she hears a thump from the bench she's left Broo on. Huh? Where'd he get a mobile phone? She picks it up and looks at the screen. "Now who's this?" She reads the name and grins. "It seems my little buddy has quite the active social life." She shuts the phone and tucks it back into his pouch. Broo's privacy remains his own, save for this Carol Danvers.

She pulls out her own phone, dialing the number of a cab company she knows. "I can get us to a station on the outskirts. The school can pick us up from there. Thanks, Axiom, totally. I never would've gotten them both this far."

Axiom glances at the phone and blinks. "That's Agent Danvers," he replies, frowning a bit as he remembers the last time he saw her and Broo together. "I wonder why she's on his phone. She...r-r-really didn't like him from what I saw," he remarks idly. "I can come with you out to the outskirts if you'd like. S-so you don't have to get them in and out of the cab and to some place your school c-can find you alone," he doubts cabbies will be helpful. "And you d-don't have to thank me. I'm happy to help."

"/Agent/ Danvers?" Jubilee frowns thoughtfully. "I hope he didn't tell her about the school. Logan'd find some way to blame that on me." She manages a quick smile to Axiom, mouthing 'thank you', as the cab company apparently picks up their phone. "Yes... I'd like a cab, please."