2012-07-08 The Need Sequence - Pt. 4

7:00 PM. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC. The White House.

Alerts have gone out to military, secret service, and police. The Hulk is loose, and his path of destruction seems to be pointing towards Washington DC. On top of that, there is chatter on various channels that an attack is planned against the President of the United States tonight. The warning came too late to move President Wash Abbot from the White House, but the Vice President is currently airborne on Air Force One, heading to the safety of Camp David. Congress has been dismissed, and Senators and Representatives of the House are all evacuating to safe houses or heading out of DC to their own homes. Attractions such as the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, National Mall, and Capitol Building have been evacuated and residents have been advised to stay home and off the roads tonight.

The National Guard has been mobilized and has set up several roadblocks on a 5 block radius around the White House, complete with tanks, in preparation of the Hulk's arrival. President Abbot is in a safe room in the White House with his family, while SH.I.E.L.D. operatives and Secret Service Agents stand guard on the grounds, working in concert. Bomb-sniffing dogs are scouring the building as well.


 * BOOM!|| The ground shakes a little. ||BOOM!|| Again. ||BOOM!|| Once more. The impact tremors are spawned as the Hulk approaches in gigantic leaps, eating up ground in enormous bounds. He is not alone. Big Green is accompanied by a small army. Nine costumed beings flank him, appearing for a moment, then vanishing to appear with him at his next leap. The National Guard blockades are entirely bypassed by the leaps and the teleporting of the group.

With a shuddering of the earth, a cracking of pavement, and the bursting of a water main below him, the Hulk lands in front of the gates to the White House.

A tattooed man appears with the other costumed beings in tow, then he "vanishes" himself, leaving the team of "marauding" terrorist mutants there with the green giant. They are: a muscular armored woman with short, dark hair (Arclight), a bald giant of a man with rippling muscles wearing a blue costume with a yellow zigzag stripe (Blockbuster), a spear-carrying man with Inuit features (Harpoon), a man with long white hair in a purple costume whose lower body appears to be a whirlwind (Riptide), A blond, shaggy-looking man with claws and fangs, wearing brown and gold spandex with a fur collar (Sabretooth), an armored Native American man with long black hair, carrying a big gun (Scalphunter), a young Korean man in jeans, a t-shirt, and a green army jacket (Scrambler), and a green-haired woman in a swirly costume in shades of green (Vertigo).

"Dammit, I just did my hair," complains the latter as the water main soaks them all. Meet the Marauders. And the Hulk.

THE SOUTH LAWN

The Hulk leaps over the gate, and the White House beyond it, to the back of the building. He lands with an earth-shuddering ||BOOM!||, crushing a goodly portion of the First Lady's garden flat. Secret Service Agents and S.H.I.E.L.D. grunts open fire on the massive green creature, but the bullets just bounce off his tough hide harmlessly. Well, maybe not harmlessly. They do manage to make him mad. He grabs hold of a large tree, rips it out of the ground, and throws it at the patio of the Oval Office in the West Wing. Agents fall under the strike of the tree trunk, pinned and groaning in pain.

Arclight sweeps Scrambler up under one arm and follows on foot, with Blockbuster in tow. The Marauders, whoever they are, are clearly taking the tactic of splitting the defenses of the national landmark.

Jean Grey, Marvel Girl, was sent here by Professor X as a member of the X-Men, along with Colossus. Charles had picked up a mass of mutant minds heading for DC, then zeroing in on the White House itself. After the emergency scramble, she and Piotr are here. "Cameras will be out front," she notes to Colossus as she flies them in. "We'll go to the back." They swing around to the south lawn.

Not good. None of this is good. J'onn is none too keen on excessive publicity, but he also understands that it is becoming inevitable. His plan on getting people used to the idea of him more slowly? It's not going to work out that way, at least he doesn't think so. Descending out of the sky, he's not doing anything to conceal his approach, this time. One big, green Martian...but as he does so he's already reaching out to scan mentally. How many bad guys? How many civilians? How many potential...oh, hello, red-headed telepath. Excuse me...no, he does not in ANY way try to read *Jean's* mind. Besides, right now he's just doing tactical assessment.

"There is the Hulk." Colossus points out. Since Jean is using her telekinesis, he's already transformed since the extra wait is negligable to her. "Which means the others, at least some of them, are the mutants. Was the Professor able to get a count?" Sometimes it's just 'One... two... many.' He's hoping that in this case, there's not one too many.

A red flash screams out of the sky like a comet rocketing in from space. After a horrible crash just to the west of where the Hulk is damaging things, Superman rises slowly, casting a shadow over Hulk's green frame. "I do think I warned you the last time we met. This ends tonight." Superman reaches his hand backward and fires a punch at Hulk's face, a bit of payback for last night.

Wonder Girl hovers in the air over the White House. It had been hard to miss the path of destruction, and just as difficult to get here in time to see the Hulk pull his spectacular tree-stunt. She's pauging now to catch her breath and look around, noting as she does so the red-haired woman that she thinks she remembers from that riot.

Superman's dramatic entrance is followed by an similar blur of blue and red. Supergirl was given her instructions by Superman as they approached and Kara follows through on them. She lands hard in front of the Mauraders, sending a shower of dirt clods at them. Kara raises from her landing crouch, wary and ready to fight. "Surrender now. This is the only chance you will be given."

As J'onn swoops in, he senses that there are hundreds of people on the grounds, mostly Secret Service, SHIELD, and civilians. The vast majority of them are inside the White House itself. There are nine attackers, three of the normal sized ones and the Hulk are on the South Lawn.

The Hulk looks up at Superman and grins, letting out a deep, rumbling laugh. "Heh, heh, heh. Hulk remember man in longjohns. HULK SMASH!" The giant leaps into the air to meet Superman's fist, swinging one of his own in return. It is truly a clash of the titans.

Marvel Girl drops Colossus on the lawn. "He said as many as ten," she notes to her teammate, before she alights on the ground near him, ready to watch his back. "I'm sensing three and the green guy back here."

The Marauders look at Supergirl, then each other, then Supergirl again. And they laugh. Arclight throws a seismic force wave at her while Blockbuster chucks Scrambler over her head. The Korean boy reaches down to try and touch Kara in passing, so he can disrupt her powers.

Okay. Superman is fighting the other green guy...and the other three are going after Supergirl. Easy decision, really...he's going to go help the one who's actually outnumbered. Of course, he also has to keep an eye on what Marvel Girl and Colossus are doing. From his initial scan, he believes they are good guys, but Jean has pretty decent shields and J'onn is not going to try and reach through them. He's not sure which is the worse threat, so he makes a tactical guess...and angles down towards Arclight, bent on knocking her to one side before dhe gets the blast off, throwing off her aim. Of course, he could easily be too slow.

"And we have no idea what they can do." That's always the fun part. A ninety nine pound mutant could be as strong as him. At least they have some high powered help. Giving a quick look around, Colossus takes stock of who's where. And since one's nearby, he uproots a tree and throws it at the largest grouping of their mutant foes.

A powerful shockwave emanates from the colliding fists of Hulk and Superman, sending waves of sound and force in every direction. The glass of the White House erupts into thousands of shards as the sonic boom passes. Superman is knocked a few paces back but rebounds quickly. He digs a foot into the ground and vaults himself at superspeeds towards the Hulk in a ...well...a super tackle.

"Whoa." Wonder Girl whipps around as the entrance of Superman registers, her wide-eyes turning to a grin when she sees who has joined him. And her friend, it would seem, could use some help. Shaking glass shards from her hair she drops down enough to kick against a tree, sending her speeding toward Scrambler with her arms out, aimed to tackle him to the ground.

Seeing that they're not surrendering, Supergirl launches herself at the big bruiser, figuring her strength will be the best counter to him. As she flies forward, she swerves out of the way of the man that was tossed at her, but ends up sideswiping the forceblast. The impact throws off Kara's angle of attack on Blockbuster, possibly making her miss or leaving her open to a reprisal from him.

Arclight tumbles to the side when the Manhunter connects with her, but it doesn't seem to phase her. She rolls to her feet and moves to slam both hands into the Martian's chest, releasing an shock wave at him, with the addition of her super strong fists. "Wow another green guy," she notes in a deadpan. "They're popping up everywhere."

Blockbuster jukes out of the way of Supergirl's charge, right into the path of Piotr's throw. Colossus' tree slams into him but he slaps it aside with a meaty fist. "You wanna go, metal boy? Let's GO!" he roars, and then charges at Piotr.

Meanwhile, Scrambler tucks and rolls as he lands on the other side of Supergirl and is attacked by Wonder Girl. He grins as she tackles him and presses his hands to her face. His touch is capable of nullify the girl's powers.

Marvel Girl sweeps the area to sense the other minds of heroes present. |"If you allow me, I will connect us all mentally to speak, so the criminals cannot overhear,"| she broadcasts.

Martian Manhunter is thrown backwards by Arclight's attack, not quite ready for it. He slams into a tree, which buckles with the force of the Martian hitting it. He shakes himself, and leaps skywards. Marvel Girl's telepathic contact is allowed through his rather impressive screens. |"If you can handle it. I could also do the same duty."| Multiple telepaths...which may or may not be disconcerting to the others here.

Piotr doesn't rush forward to meet Blockbuster though he does brace himself for impact. "Jean, incoming. Can you keep this one in mid air? Use him as a club?" Fighting fire with fire is usually useless as equal forces counter each other.

There is a green, red, and blue tumble as the Hulk and Superman roll over and over out onto the green of the White House back lawn. As they're about to come to a stop, Superman stretches out his legs, bracing them both and strategically comes to a stop on tap. *WHAM* He brings a Kryptonian fist smashing down into Hulks head, caving in a large area of grass and dirt down below. The Man of Steel takes a deep breath, happy for that to be over, but Hulk's large hand swats him with a vicious side-slap. Superman zooms off towards the White House, crashing through somewhere on the second floor.

Wonder Girl rears back and gives a sort of strangled-sounding grunt at the strange pain coming from the man's touch. She reacts swiftly, though, aiming a fist up between them in an uppercut to Scrambler's chin. It might not hold her usual power anymore, but hopefully it'll still hurt!

Supergirl turns and recovers from her missed pass on Blockbuster. The metal guy seems to be able to handle him for now, and Kal told her not to engage the Hulk. Gritting her teeth, Kara prioritizes and flies at Arclight from behind, hoping to ram the woman and knock her down and out.

Arclight slams her fists down onto the ground, and an earthquake begins under the feet of everyone on the South Lawn. The ground bucks and heaves, earth splitting in places, pushing upwards in others, with the wave of force heading for the Manhunter. Then the shock-wave creating mutant gets slammed into by Supergirl. She grabs onto the Teen of Steel and begins wrestling with her.

Blockbuster is almost on top of Colossus when Marvel Girl throws up a TK wall between him and Piotr. He slams into it face first and bloodies his nose. Jean grunts and staggers, both her hands raised up in warding. "Not really. He's very strong," she tells the other X-Man. |"Maybe better if you do it then, sir,"| she replies to the Manhunter politely. It's taking a lot of effort to bring Blockbuster down to Colossus' level.

Scrambler's head snaps back as Cassie punches him, then he returns the favor, slamming his own fist at her. If he connects, he grunts and shakes it off, before running away from her and towards Supergirl.


 * "On it."| He quickly opens a telepathic relay between the present heroes. Quickly, but gently. He's done this before, it's clear. His mind voice is much the same as his regular voice. Rich, deep...and he wonders why Scrambler just ran away from Wonder Girl. Interesting. What is that one up to? A quick assessment now. Who needs his help next?

Well then. If Blockbuster is too much for Jean, Colossus is more than willing to take him on. He doesn't actually crack his knuckles but the attitude is there as he moves around the barrier Marvel Girl threw up and slams a fist at Blockbuster's head. Given what Jean implied, he's not holding back.

Hulk pulls himself out of the crevice Superman created for him and begins to stop towards Supergirl. His gigantic muscles stretch as he reaches up high behind Supergirl, intent on smashing her down into the Earth.

Arclight's rumbles wake Superman who doesn't stick around the office he landed to ask questions. With a whir he comes out the hole from which he came, a view back at the office shows it totally destroyed.

THOOM!

Superman tackles the Hulk before he can get to Supergirl and buries both the mutate and himself several stories beneath the Earth. Both beings punching each other all the way down.

Wonder Girl attempts to pull back into the air after landing her punch, but the lack of ability throws her off, and she falls to the side instead. This is enough to dodge the punch, but its also enough to piss her off. "What the heck did you /do/ to me!?" She screams, throwing herself at Scrambler's feet to knock him over so she can, if successful, start punching him repeatedly in the face!

As Supergirl wrestels with Arclight, she continues her flight, struggling with the woman as they zoom over the ground. Kara's trying to resist *any* intrusion into her mind, friendly or otherwise; of course, she really doesn't have the defenses to resist J'onn telepathy. But Supergirl has another objective as she grapples with Arclight. She aims her flighpath towards Cassie and Scrambler, trying to hit the man attacking he friend with the combiened body weight.

Marvel Girl uses her telepathy to shoot some mental pains right through Blockbuster's skull. It's enough to offbalance the behemoth so that Colossus' fist connects. She then intensifies the pain of the blows the X-Man connects with ten times, to make Blockbuster think he is being hurt that much worse.

Blockbuster howls, and then he tries to get an arm around Colossus' throat to hold him still from behind.

Arclight puts the force of her shock wave behind the hand she shoves in Supergirl's face, trying to blow the Kryptonian off of her and through a window of the White House.

Scrambler is tripped up by Wonder Girl en route to Supergirl, and he slams into the ground. He rolls and slaps a hand against her arm, however, to send her nerves into overdrive. It's enough to make someone have a seizure or go immobile. Then Arclight slams into them both.

It's hard to determine which of them are the threats, but 'what did you do to me' from Wonder Girl...convinces him Scrambler is a threat. Of what kind, J'onn is not yet certain. He can't attack him physically without hitting Cassie. (Hitting Arclight, of course, would be out of the question). So he takes a leaf out of Jean's book and sends a mental blast at the guy. At the very least, it should disrupt his concentration on whatever weird ability he's using...at best? He's planning to try and knock him out.

Colossus can't tell what Jean is doing to the enemy but that he's still standing after a full strength blow to the head tells him more than he needs to know. He drops to the ground to avoid the arm coming for his throat then uses both feet to kick Blockbuster in the stomach, aiming to send him flying.

The lawn is now completely trashed after Arclight's earthquakes and Hulk and Superman playing Landscaping by Toddlers(tm). Then comes a slight shudder to the ground that does not come from Arclight. A moment later the Hulk leaps out from the depths with Superman raised above his head and vaults him southward onto the wide open stretch of land where they plant the President's Christmas tree each year. Superman's limp body slides along the grass and as soon as Hulk lands he's trudging along after the Man of Steel's resting place.

But as soon as the Big Green Monster gets there, Superman has a surprise of his own. Two beams of burrowing hot energy sear the Hulk's face causing him to scream in pain. An uppercut later, the Hulk is airbound once more, clearing the Washington Monument with ease and landing in the Tidal Basin with a disasterous backflop that takes out almost all of the water.

Cassie starts to scream, but is cut off as her body starts to twitch. She falls, going still as her body hits the ground. She is going to have to seriously hit Wonder Woman up for some traning without her gauntlets when this is over.

The blast from Arclight sends Supergirl flying into the White House, obliterating a china cabent when she lnds in a dining room. Kara shakes her head to try and regain her focus as she stands back up.

Then, Cassie's strangled cry rings out...

Supergirl flies out of the White House, moving just under the speed of sound. She lands in frond of Cassie, protecting her, and uses a her strength in a clap at Arclight and Scrambler, sending a wave of pressure and sound at them. Her eyes blaze red and she growls. "Leave. My. Sister. Alone!"

Oops, Scrambler accidentally fries Arclight when she slams into him. The mutant woman twitches on the ground, in the throes of a seizure, and her powers run rampant, causing more violent earth tremors. The hole Superman and the Hulk made in the ground collapses inward. The damaged area of the second floor of the White House begins crumbling. Panic rises inside the building, slamming both telepaths with the force of it, and making them put up their shields to stay sane.

The Manhunter slams his mental blast into Scrambler. The Korean boy screams, grabs his head, and falls to the ground, twitching spastically. Then Kara shockwaves him. He falls unconscious. That's two down.

Piotr's swings feel like they are ten times as strong when they connect. At least in Blockbuster's mind. He goes down, nerve endings confused as they fire spastically, transmitting much more pain to his brain than is actually being dealt out. As Colossus makes progress with Blockbuster, Jean grits out, |"I'm going to help Superman; see if I can calm the Hulk."| She rises in the air, and flies to where the monster landed in the Tidal Basin, and zooms right at the giant green menace. She slaps her hands to either side of the Hulk's head from behind, in an attempt to probe his mind and find some memory to use to sedate him psychically.

Great. People panicking, the building damaged. But two of the bad guys are down. J'onn does not hesitate before flying towards the damaged part of the building. He probably can't repair the building, but he can at least pull anyone in direct danger out of there. And, of course, away from the superpowered fight. The White House can be fixed...especially with all the powered people around here. Humans are harder to repair.

As Blockbuster goes down, Colossus gets back to his feet and rushes his fallen foe. He leaps feet first onto the man's chest in his best wrestling Smackdown move then drops again to snake an arm around Blockbuster's neck. It's thick with muscle but so is Colossus and he knows exactly where the carotids are and how hard to press to cut off blood to the brain. In this case, very hard. Very, very hard. Cyclops' training program emphasizes fighting smart, after all.

The Hulk's shoulders come out of the water near the 14th street bridge and Jean is on him within a second. Her long fingers stretch out over both sides of his head and try to calm his mind. Inside she feels nothing, sees nothing but fury. With a roar, the Hulk grabs one of the bridges legs and, all in the same movement, twists his body with a lone step and slams Jean Grey like a baseball pitch off into the sky!

Superman, who is nearby, attempts to give chase, but he's caught by the cape and taken into a giant green palm.

SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAMSLAMSLAM

Over and over, Superman is slammed down into the bridge, breaking it into pieces all over.

Wonder Girl groans, fighting unconciousness with everything she has. When she hears Supergirl nearby, she struggles to push herself up, and manages to spit out hoarsley, "Dont.. letim... touch... "

Gently, Supergirl helps her friend back up. "He's out," she tells Wonder Girl softlly. All three of the Mauraders seem to be down and out for the most part. Kara turns her gaze towards the other scene of the fight, and a cry of anquish escapes her lips as she sees Kal being treated like a rag doll. "Stay here," she tells Cassie, propping the girl up against a nearby tree before zooming off. She's flying as fast as she dares in an urban environment; and if Jean is a baseball, Kara's makign a run for the wall, trying to catch the woman before she hits the ground.


 * POOF!|| From a place of darkness, a heavily-tattooed man, bald, with a black section across his eyes, appears suddenly, and grabs hold of Supergirl. ||POOF!|| They vanish again.


 * POOF!|| They appear one hundred miles away and he lets Kara go.


 * POOF!|| He's gone again!

The Manhunter is able to evacuate many trapped security staff who were up on floor 2, using it for sniper positions.

Blockbuster flails, but he is too late to realize, as Jean gets out of range, that he is not in that much pain. By then, Colossus has leverage and has cut off his blood flow. His eyes droop, then he is unconscious.

Marvel Girl takes a full force slam with a piece of the 14th street bridge, delivered by the Hulk at a very high level of anger. Her TK shield comes up in time to keep her from being crushed into oblivion outright, but she can't stop the kinetic force that hurls her up, up, up, into the sky. The sky around her goes dim, then dark, then cold as her air supply vanishes in upper atmosphere, then low orbit, before she begins to slow. The bubble of telekinetic force around her is sustaining her, but can only do so for a few seconds more. She says her mental goodbyes to her friends, to her family, willing them out into the void. She slips unconscious without noticing the amber glow nearing her. Goodbye, Jean Grey.

He's aware that the other telepath was just thrown out of range...but the security guys are more vulnerable. Perhaps foolishly, J'onn is trusting Jean to catch herself...and not realizing in anywhere near enough time that it's too late. He's evacuating trapped people. Not civilians, no, but people who just aren't up to dealing with this.

Colossus doesn't let go immediately once Blockbuster stops struggling. He's not going to kill him but he's definitely going to make sure he's well and truly unconscious. He might even have held on longer except that his head snaps up and he leaps to his feet, frantically looking around. "Jean?! JEEEAAAAAAAAAANNNNNN!"

The Hulk let's Superman go with a fling and the Man of Steel slides to a stop on the remnants of the bridge. The Hulk begins to stalk back towards the White House but stops as the Kryptonian staggers to his feet. His face is bleeding, a sensation he can't remember having. Purple angry bruises line his face and chest, which is partially exposed do to the Hulk tearing at him. Nevertheless, he refuses to quit when he probably should. "You killed that poor woman," he begins. "You've caused destruction and terror. You will not harm our President."

With renewed vigor, Superman attacks the Hulk who is taken aback and off guard. Over and over the Man of Steel brings flying fists, knocking the Hulk backward and up onto land. With a vicious uppercut, he lifts the Hulk up off his feet and crashing onto the street. Right away, Superman is on top of him driving his fists into the Hulk's face over and over and over.

Wonder Girl is trying to argue as she pushes herself away from the tree when suddenly Kara is gone. "No!" She stumbles forward, still trying to get full control of herself. "Supergirl!" She jogs unsteadily out, scanning the area for her friend or for the first enemy to vent her anger on.

The sensation of teleportation leaves Kara dazed and confused. But with the person that took her away nowhere in sight, Kara's determined to get back to the fight; Kal needs her help! And she can oly pray to Rao that the poor woman was caught by someone else. Kara flies up into low orbit, gets her bearings, then flies back down towards Washington DC. Her vision lets her know that Kal is alive and handling that green monster, so now, Supergirl diverts to a nearby construction site, grabbing a roll of steel cable to tie up the three Mauraders at super-speed.

As Superman wails on the Hulk, the green giant staggers back. He shoves Superman off of him, roars and challenge, and then lifts a fist to strike back, grinning at his enjoyment of the battle. That's as far as he gets before he freezes in place. The Hulk's eyes go glassy for a moment, as if something is missing, or leaving him. He blinks, then slides to the ground, losing consciousness, growing smaller with every single moment. Finally there is no one but a scrawny, unshaven dark haired man lying there, swimming in the torn pants of the giant he was a moment ago.

Wonder Girl slowly feels her powers returning to her, as Scrambler's scrambling wears off.

There are injuries to be tended to. The battle lasted only a couple of minutes, and the tanks of the National Guard roll up too late for the party. Emergency personnel arrive on scene seconds after they do. DC goes on a lockdown.

Martian Manhunter touches down. "I am sorry. I can no longer sense her." Given his planetary range...he should have gone after her. He knows that now. Not knowing who she was...although he can still hope, just vaguely, that she is still alive somewhere, that that distant fading out was not her ultimate departure. He feels, though, as if he failed yet again. Has to remind himself deep inside that he cannot save everyone and solve every problem.

It's a good thing Blockbuster played no direct part in what happened to Jean or Colossus might be taking things out on the unconscious mutant. He just stands there, staring up into the sky, mentally shouting Jean's name and hoping for an answer. At least he's spared having to tell Scott and the Professor.

Wonder Girl pauses in her search briefly Flexing an arm and forming a fist, she takes a deep breath. "Oh thank the gods and angels." she whispers to herself. She glances around, then returns her gaze to the sky, "Supergirl, where are you?" Slowly, being careful not to press herself, she works on lifting herself into the skies to better search for her friend.

Cassie's question is answered in the form of a super-speed blur, grabbing the unconcious Mauraders and wrapping the three of them up in some industrial cable. With the villains contained, kara flies up to Wonder Girl and hugs her. "Cassie! You're okay!" She takes a moment to check the battlescene...looks liek the good guys won and Kal is okay. Relatively speaking.

THE NORTH LAWN

The rest of the Marauders scale the fence and spill over onto the North Lawn, heading for the main building. As Secret Service agents and SHIELD grunts rush out to meet them, Vertigo raises both hands and focuses. A wave of her namesake rushes over the defenders, sending them to the ground, vomiting, disoriented and, in some cases, unconscious.

Oracle related the location of the stolen materials from the Research Lab in Gotham and Batman organized a quick reponse of all available Bats. The armored vigilante mounted the Batwing and soured out like a whistling black streak towards the capital. "Oracle. With the attacks on the other two facilities, there will be more individuals on the ground to help. Create a dedicated communication channel for the amassed resistance."

There's a digitized affirmative while the tech wizard goes to work getting things in order.

Twenty Minutes Later

Since his partner is already in Washington DC. "Robin, I'm doing a fly over of Pennsylvania Avenue. Link up with the National Guard Troops and patch them into the sub set channel for military assests on the ground." The voice behind the white glowing face in the cockpit of the whirling, slick black aircraft is as cool as ever... but he's /encouraging/ cooperation with the other forces... including the military.

Oracle let's Batman know he's got a signal through to some of the comm armed heroes, "This is Batman." His eye twitches behind the mask as the vehicle twists down into a sweeping dive meant to scatter some of the Marauders charging the front of the building with a of peppering concussion grenades. Buying time.

"We need to coordinate against these forces. Maximize efficiancy.. Report off names..."

The Batwing climbs but the seat slides down and forward towards a release hatch along the bottom of the vessel, to let Batman sour out in a low altitude drop towards the North Lawn of the White House... landing broken by the current of electricity sent through the memory fabric cape draped down like leathery wings from his back.

SHIELD being here should be of no surprise and is probably here in no small number. One of their ranks is Agent 13 who was assigned to come and try to make sure things do not get /too/ chaotic. Too out of hand. Briefed on the situation, Sharon and the others bide their time at first, some keeping their cool while others are trying not to succumb to the nerves waiting is causing.

Unfortunately the waiting ends all too soon when the Hulk and the others put in their appearance.

"Alright. This is what we were trained for so..." 13 looks at the others and grins as she hefts a sniper rifle and gets herself into position. The others should undoubtedly know what they are here to do. Just a matter of if they will be able to pull it off.

Already on the ground, Robin's head snaps up as Batman's orders com streaming through, and quickly rattles off the instructions to the on site commander. He repeats the active comm frequency, to synch everyone together. ***We're online Batman. Robin reporting in.*** he says into the broadcast frequency. That godsense of Thor's really nailed it this time. Thankfully, it allowed the Teen Wonder to get here a few minutes ago.

Robin steps away from the command center when the waves of vertigo start taking out the front troops. ***We're losing the front line.*** he relays, ready to move in.

Aqualad and Aquaman have few real boundaries, when it comes down to it. If there's water, there they are. On this particular day the news of the impending attack has filtered out, and Jackson Hyde was one of the ones to catch it. Unfortunately, Aquaman was not. The student had been trying to reach his mentor with little success, and eventually decided to pitch in alone. He also had to hoof it, so he's a bit late.

The water, though, that helps. The boy's arms stretch out toward the spewing liquid left in the Hulk's wake, a bar of glowing metal in each hand. The water responds in turn, jerking toward him, swirling and churning under his feet, propelling him over the gate and into the lawn. He balances on the wave as if it were completely solid, eyes flashing over the mess that's about to ensue, eyes and tattooed arms glowing vivid blue.

Midgard has called him. He felt the tremors of this coming, felt the realm nudging him along, all but forcing his hand. He sent Sif toward the area earlier this morning, knowing only a vague direction and little else. He'd collected Robin, rather forcefully, and ensured that the youth would be in the area, where he would be needed, when the time came. Then, hovering in the clouds above the White House, Thor waited.

Now, as the Maraudors attack, a crack of thunder rings out, and Thor drops out of the sky onto the North Lawn. The ground beneath him complains at the impact. A fine cloud of dust drifts up around him. His red cape settles about him as he stands from his landing. In his right hand, Mjolnir - the Asgardian relic of legend - crackles with the sparks of an electrical storm.

Stormy blue-gray eyes sweep the gathered area and note the sickness inducing Vertigo. Thor pulls his arm back and throws Mjolnir at her, seeking to end her attacks on the various guards that she holds in her grasp.

There are times when Thor's godsense is both gift and curse. It sent Sif in the direction she needed to go, yes but gave her no true destination. She did, however, manage to luck out in that, she finally went far enough in the direction given to make it on the scene with just moments to spare.

As Sharon readies her rifle, a kinetically charged spear comes flying at her through a window. The five foot weapon with the barbed head detonates behind her and her agents as it hits the wall. ||BOOM!||.

As Aqualad rises up and over the gate, a large-bore projectile is fired at him from Scalphunter's gun. The man is using the trees as cover for himself as he flits from trunk to trunk, taking pot shots.

As Thor's hammer screams towards Vertigo, Riptide imposes himself between them and spins up rapidly. His tornadic winds whip the hammer off course just enough for Vertigo to get out of the way. Then he fires a dozen razor-sharp, shuriken shaped weapons out of his vortex at Thor.

Vertigo thanks him quietly before she turns to focus her power on Sif, sending a wave of disorientation through the goddess.

Batman's landing is dramatic, if anything. Coming down onto one knee infront of the rushing onslaught of attacking mutants shortly after the shockwave takes them off their feet. The solid cape becomes loose again, draping down like a shadow falling from his cowl, eyes up towards the combatants...

Eyes flicking between them quickly. Standing up from his crouch he rushes towards the one throwing the spears towards the windowed snipers. Ducking himself down as he approaches, prepared to dodge the incoming projectiles. A trio of batarangs gripped between his fingers hurl towards the man with the side arm twist of his wrist, fanning them wide. Followed by a leaping kick, cape flaring behind him, towards the Mauraders chest.

Debris showers the agents who scatter, some shouting in surprise while a couple others stumble in their hurry to get out of the way. Sharon merely ducks and covers her head with her arms, not wanting to get hit and potentially taken out. "Anyone see where that came from?" Once that bit of amusement's over she looks down her scope. "How did things go to Hell so quickly," she adds, that question spoken quietly under her breath as she addresses herself.

Harpoon and a few of the others are taken stock of and then she notices the poor guards, the sight of whom get her to wrinkle her nose. "Alright..." She doesn't know it was Harpoon who took the potshot at them but he gets the fun of being her target, and after a bit of slow breathing Sharon slowly pulls the trigger.

Robin takes stock of the situation, before heading into the center field towards Riptide. The teen throws a small knock-out gass pellet to cover his charge as he pulls his staff from his belt and twirls the collapsed center rod of his staff, extending the bo to full length.

The sound gunfire and the flicker of movement out the side of Aqualad's vision prompts an instinctive reaction, a sharp jerk of his hand that sends what remains of his wave into a spiral, spitting him across the ground and, barely, out of the way of the first shot. For the next ones he has to run, waterbearers bringing what remains of the liquid in front of him in a dome-shaped shield. "Bad idea, Jackson," He hisses, "Bad idea." Regardless he's charging straight for Scalphunter, cutting the distance between them.

Thor sneers as his relic is flung to the side, left hand already reaching out for it, calling it back, when the sharp shuriken fly at him. The Thunder God, charges toward Riptide only to drop at the last second with one leg tucked under him. Thor slides - baseball style - toward the tornadic creature. Mjolnir settles into Thor's hand.

Two can play the winds game.

From flat on his back at Riptide's feet, hammer in hand, Thor swirls the air about him, kicking up a mini funnel cloud that he flings upward at Riptide, using the tail of the swirling winds to pull himself back up to his feet and ready to hurricane-fling himself up at Riptide to THOR-SMASH at him with his hammer.

Sif's sights had already been set of Vertigo, the woman's abilities noted and it decided she needed to be one of the first to go down. When the woman shifts her attention of Sif, the Goddess can guess what's going to happen next and smirks.

The moment they lock eyes, Sif seems to simply disappear for a moment before reappearing about ten feet closer and two yard to the right, strategically teleporting herself closer towards Vertigo while staying in the woman's eye sight just enough to, hopefully, keep her attention on the Goddess until she can be taken down one way or another.

Harpoon takes a batarang to the shoulder and staggers, line up perfectly for Batman's next move. As Gotham's hero does his magnificent leaping kick at the other man, something brown, orange, and yellow intercepts. Sabretooth snarls, standing his ground in front of the Dark Knight, as the Inuit spearman rushes back into the trees like Scalphunter. "Oh look," Creed smarms, "It's a Bat. I like Bats. For supper!" He lunges at the Caped Crusader, claws extending ominously with the dangerous glint of adamantium. He slashes at Batman's chest.

Harpoon jukes behind a tree a second before Sharon fires, and her bullet explodes into the wood of the trunk. He pokes his head around the side and throws another spear at her, though he didn't have time to charge it.

Riptide suddenly has Thor in his personal space. And the Thunder god may find that place unpleasant. You see, Riptide's skin secretes a substance that instantly crystalizes into sharp, snowflake like shapes. Being in his funnel with him, spinning at superhuman speeds, is akin to having yourself forced into a very fine woodchipper. The Boy Wonder is not paid much attention to. The mutant knows the weapon he wields would be reduced to kindling before it reaches him.

Scalphunter sees the boy charging at him, and he levels his gun to aim carefully at Aqualad. His finger dances on the trigger and he fires.

Vertigo whirls on Sif, and she sends her waves of nausea at the woman.

Batman responds to the sudden intervention with a mid-air twist that leaves him landing off center a few steps away from Creed when the yellow mutant steps into the way of his kick. The attempt to frighten him or even draw out a reaction, is met with a blank stare from the Dark Knight, standing up with his shoulders rolling while the man is busy talking...

Batman's eyes move across the hulking man's form, getting particularly strange readings from the glinting claws suddenly swiping at him with lightening quick reflexes. The bat ducks down quickly, steps forward with his cape thrown up above him to mask his movements and smashes his fist straight into the inside corner of Creed's knee and dancing back with a backwards roll when the attack barely even staggers him.

Creed rushes, throwing a wild slash aimmed at the Batman's throat and again his cape is thrown out infront of him with a twist of his wrist, shifting down onto his spinning left foot stepping down with his right onto Creed's bent knee and coming up with both hands held fast to the Sabertooths skull hanking him down into the smashing left knee aimmed for the center of the creature maul.

A hairy yellow fist comes around, grabs Bats by the throat and hurls him forward with a growl... Flipping off his hands to land in a backwards slide, pushing off back at the creature as the other charges to meet him..

"I'm not going to get a clear shot," Agent 13 announces on the SHIELD comms. "I'm going to help with the evacutation of the second floor." Several voices rise up to make it known that they understand, but she's not listening. Sharon leaves her current post at a dead run, her rifle traded for a pistol.

Always the quickminded one, Robin gets an idea. A whirlwing of sharp crystals, and a god who can fire lighting from his hammer. The Teen Wonder runs, and pulls his grapple gun, fires and is lifted into the air to sail over over Riptide's head. The boy throws his metal staff, aiming the point to just get it near the whirlwinding man's head. "THOR! LIGHTING ROD!" he yells, as the grapple line pulls him clear.

Seeing Batman facing two on one, Robin releases the grapple line and changes course to assist his mentor.

Aqualad isn't much when it comes to combat at range, but he's doing his best to correct that. His pace is frantic, teeth clenched together, the impact of each bullet cracking and sending ripples across the dome of hardened water. Then he's in the trees, diving behind more natural cover before his shield shatters completely. He stops there for just a second, breathing heavily.

And the next time Scalphunter sees him he's in close enough range to do something about it. The metallic tubes he uses have sprouted two 'whips' of liquid from their base, both wrapped around the branches of neaby trees and used to send the Atlantean swinging forward. A foot lashes out, aiming for the sniper's weapon, either to disarm or set him off-balance enough that closing in further won't get him immediately killed.

"Vile jotunn," curses the Storm Lord as those razor flakes slice into him from every possible angle. Eyes narrowed into slits to keep any offending snowflakes from scratching at his eyes, Thor is quick to react to Robin's offered tactic. You want lightning?

The skies above darken in nearly an instant. A crack of thunder rings out, and from the skies above a single, white-hot and blazing lightning bolt streaks down from the sky aimed for Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, who's in the heart of the swirling snowflakes of blender-dom. To help matters, Thor hefts high his relic, gliding from the ground to touch Riptide with it.

All the while, those tiny shards and flecks rip tiny holes and shreds from his red cloak, slice into the bare skin of his cheeks and forehead and nose, and seem to sand-blast across the metal of his armor, scuffing the finish and leaving minute scratches coating it. No, not this does not feel pleasant at all.

The next wave from Vertigo has Sif teleporting yet again but not quite quick enough. When she reappears some fifteen feet closer and the yard to the right, it's only to stagger as the nausea sweeps over her for a moment, the feeling so strong it gives the Goddess pose and almost brings her to her knees. Her eyes narrow at Vertigo and that sword is twirled, a sound close to a laughing growl coming from the Sif before she pushes past the sickness and charges, full speed, at Vertigo.

Harpoon, still wincing from the batarang, leans from around the trunk of a tree and fires a kinetically charged spear at Robin. Much like some Cajun whom he predates by four years in canon (cough), his charged items explode on impact.

Aqualad whips the gun out of Scalphunter's hands, and the man pulls two semi-automatics from his belt, firing wildly at the Atlantean.

The lightning rod caught in Riptide's vortex gets electrified. The mutant screams as arcs of electricity shoot through him and around him, and then out of him and across the lawn, hitting trees, metal things, and high places. Then he slumps to the ground, inert.

Oh Crap. That's the last thought Vertigo has before she begins running away from Sif as fast as she can. ||POOF!|| From a place of darkness, a heavily-tattooed man, bald, with a black section across his eyes, appears suddenly, and grabs hold of Vertigo. ||POOF!|| They vanish again.

The cape is shreaded with a dozen strips where Creeds claws racked through it with each time Batman flung it up into his face, but it's served it's purpose on both occations. The blood that was oozing from the Sabertooths mouth has already stopped flowing before the two meet back up, claws slashing in towards Batman's side a hair after he's spun out of the way like the wheel axel on a high preformance car.

Both of Batman's arms come up to block an strike meant to rend him, turning his body just enough that the force of the blow doesn't knock him down off his feet. The protective gauntlets prtect his arms from most of it, but even through them he felt it. Pushing with a grunt, Batman shoves the arm away, using the momentum to get some distance between himself and the mutant.

"Oh... you're just workin' up my appetite little Bat..."

Batman sees Robin's approaching, positioning Creed with a slow step to his right, so that the boy wonder is coming up on the mutants back.

"What are you suppose to be, anyways? The Cowardly Lion?" The Dark Knight growls... Get them mad. Thumbing over a explosive batarang to arm the charge once it's left his fingers.

"You. Don't. Scare. Me." With another growl, Sabretooth rushes him and Batman hurls the projectile towards the beasts throat... He'll heal it but it'll give him something to think about.

Batman dives as the explosive goes off but the adamentium claws rack straight down the center of his back. Not enough to sever muscle but tearing the rest of his cape into a tattered mess and leaving two thick red lines in his flesh where they cut straight through the nomex armor.

Sabertooth's head snaps back when the explosion goes off and staggers towards the approaching Robin, grabbing at the bloody open wound in his throat with both hands, gasping for air while his healing factor begins the process of righting itself.

Robin smirks at first as the spear is thrown and backflips, normally letting the spear pass under him harmlessly, and he lets loose a razor sharp batarang of his own, aimed at the back of Stabertooth's knees.

Then the spear explodes. Years of training kick in and keep the boy alive as the explosion knocks the boy off course and he hits the ground rather akwardly, rolls a couple of times and comes back to his feet. His cloak is in tatters, the fire-retardent, bullet stoppping material having taken the worst of it. Not the Teen Wonder's day for capes it seems. Robin's eyes tighten as he moves forward again, pulling and throwing a set of heavy weighted bolos aimed at the tree Harpoon is hiding behind, to wrap the tree and hopefully have the weights strike home.

Aqualad can't help but be reminded how bad of an idea this one was when the guy pulls out even more guns. One bullet scrapes his shoulder when he lunges in, pressing the advantage, not intending to allow Scalphunter to get too far. A webbed hand smashes one of the automatics aside, a waterbearer dropped in favor of slamming a palm into the man's chest. The electricity comes after that, the Atlantean unleashing his bio-kinetic charge into the man as he takes him to the ground.

Thor pushes hair from his face in annoyance, as he surveys the area quickly. All the foes are down or gone. He can sense the people trapped behind him, and so without a word, the god turns in midair, and flings himself toward the second floor of the building, calling out behind him, "Champion! Mortals trapped inside." Yes, because that makes sense!

Vertigo disappears with another which causes a look of annoyance to cross Sif's features. Thor's call, however, distracts her and her eyes lift to him and give a sharp nod of her head before she once again takes off at a dead run, her full speed once more being employed to get her where she needs to be in order to get those trapped inside to safety.

Batman lands in a roll and staggers back up to his feet without paying attention to the searing pain in his back... One hand shakely pushes him back up to his feet, defiantly resistanting any attempt to break the intentions to /stop/ this /monster/. Positioned infront of the fountain in the center of the White House's North Wing...

Creed growls when his throat is knit back together enough to capture air and throws himself into a staggering charge of the off center Bat. The cowl wobbling slightly to give the impression that he's ready for that killing blow... A target just waiting to be taken under the claws of the sabertooth..

Creed throws his claws down into the grass and leaps...

Batman glances up lazily, intently staring behind the white lenses of his cowl and turns his body to hide him grabbing a handful of high electricity capsules... Waiting. As Creed comes down from his high pounce and rolling at the last second with surprisingly strong agility, tossing the pellets backwards in a fan as the mammoth Orange and Yellow mutant smashes down into the water.

Elecric blue arcs run up through him as the water acts as a conduit, the adamentium claws intensifying the shock, sending the mutant into violent convulsions, roaring in anger and growing pain as he's brought down onto one knee...

Batman pushes up and takes a deep breath.. determined.. Purposefully stepping towards the wounded opponent who's clawed his way out of the fountain and taken hold of one of the bat's tall armored boots.

Depressing a button in his gauntlets extends shock rods from the ends of his gloves... and the Dark Knight drops his fist straight down into the side of Creed's skull, putting him down... grinding his knuckles into the side of his face with his own teeth grinding until he's certain the man isn't moving besides to take shallow breaths..

Wounded? Yes... Batman stands up straight and shakes his head, throwing water off his cowl as he turns to look out over the White House lawn.


 * POOF!|| There's that tattoed guy again. He grabs hold of Riptide and in a flash, they are gone. ||POOF!||

Robin's bolos swing around the tree Harpoon is using as a shield, and the weighted ends clock the Inuit mutant in the head. He goes down like a pile of bricks, unconscious.

Aqualad's charge sends Manhunter into unconsciousness. He's down for the count. So is Sabretooth, though they'll need to incarcerate him fast before he heals back and wakes up.

EPILOGUE

There are injuries to be tended to. The battle lasted only a couple of minutes, and the tanks of the National Guard roll up too late for the party. Emergency personnel arrive on scene seconds after they do. DC goes on a lockdown.

Above the White House, just as the evening dips into twilight, there appears in the oncoming night sky a flash of firey radiance, in the shape of a giant bird. Then it vanishes, as if it never was.

ELSEWHERE

Senator Juan Castroneves, of the Progressive Party, representing California, pulls his hybrid sedan into his parking spot at the condo he lives in while in DC. He is still somewhat alarmed due to the evacuation of Congress tonight, and the news of the battle going on there with the Hulk and powered-persons unknown. He blames all the anti-mutant rhetoric floating around for this bad karma occurring. With a sigh he gets out of his vehicle, grabs his briefcase, and locks the Taurus behind him with a bleep-bloop of the alarm. He misses California. He misses his family. He wishes people would just treat one another humanely instead of finding new ways to hate and segregate.

The dark haired man, of Mexican descent, unlocks his front door and ascends the steps to his bedroom. He tosses the briefcase on an armchair and loosens his tie. His parents came to the United States when they were newly married, and he was born here. He hasn't forgotten the struggles they spoke of in Mexico, nor of the prejudices they faced, still face, in the US. It's why he entered politics. He believes in equal treatment and civil rights being extended to all. The Progressive Party snapped him up post-haste.

"A nice sentiment, Senator, but one that is in opposition to my goals," says a voice behind him.

Castroneves whirls around to stare into the face of a tall man, wearing dark blue and red metal armor with high collar behind his head and a cape made of strips. He has black hair and a petit goatee, red eyes, and chalk-white skin with a red gem in the center of his forehead. He is smiling toothily at the politician. "Who are you!? What do you want?"

"What do I want? Nothing of real value, Senator. Just your life." He snaps out a hand and crushes the man's throat, even as his own body begins to shift and change, into the visage of the Senator himself. Castroneves last sight is of his assailant becoming him. "The diversion worked well. Granted, we'll need to get back our people who were captured. But, now, the real work begins."