2012-07-31 Arresting a God

The weather finally cleared into the late afternoon, and the setting sun is casting long long shadows and the lights of the city start to kick on. Everything is a-okay. At least in Loki's mind. He's got what he wanted. The wanted criminal is being brazen, and sitting at a sidewalk cafe, drinking a cup of iced mocha, drizzled with caramel and playing with his new, sleek black i-phone, complete with an engraved 'L' done in scroll-work on the back.

He's alternating between playing with the phone, sipping the mocha, and reading from a small instruction booklet, telling him all about the phones features.

"This makes no sense..." he says to himself. "Why would birds fling themselves at pigs in houses?"

Considering Loki's face has been plastered across billboards, television screens, and police bulletins over the past few days it's no wonder that the police would find him eventually. Someone must have called it in sometime after he'd arrived, because within the next few minutes a large cluster of police cars begin to fill the general vicinity. Lots of sirens, moving bodies, and once bodies in blue begin to assemble there's even a megaphone: "Attention! Put the phone down and put your hands in the air!" All the super-humans must be away on business.

Next on World's Most One-Sided Fights... And well, not all of the super-humans are away. Some just work at the street level. Most namely, working for food, laundry privileges and helping with odd jobs. Rain has a box under her arm, glancing to a delivery slip as she walks along the sidewalk. She hums a vaguely familiar tune under her breath. Something about pigeons in a park... Despite her transient state (No, she's not turning into liquids or plasma...), Rain would likely at least spot the odd TV or billboard. She is intent on that delivery slip. Peer to slip. Glance at address. Wait, are those police cars? With an audible CLONG, she smacks into a lamp post and reels for a moment. Her eyes even go cross and there's a few curses. But in shaking it off, she's finally noticing - huh, sirens and - ... a familiar guy in green and cops. There's an owlish blink. "... this is not going to end well." But on the other hand, maybe it will? There is after all, the faint possibility that if one drops a tea cup, it will fall together and not shatter. On the other hand, jumping in without looking is a surefire way to get set on fire, made into meat paste or worse. For now, she holds still nearby, glancing between the two groups. Diving in, after all, could also rile the police.

Stephanie /was/ having a perfectly nice day of familiarizing herself with the city; with her shiny new Stark internship demanding that she spend more and more time here, knowing how to get around quickly and efficiently is key.

Today, she has familiarized herself with two pizza parlors, a movie theater, that movie theater's arcade, and now, a bubble tea cart. Just as she receives her frothy, mocha beverage -- her lips mere moments away from meeting the thick straw -- police sirens and blaring megaphones roar onto the scene; with a shriek and a start, she sends the thick tea and tapioca concoction /flying/ into the air.

"--4.50," the vendor repeats after a moment of shock; he tentatively reaches forward to take the money still sitting in the tea-covered girl's open palm.

Once the money's changed hands, she shakes the shock - and some of the drink - from herself, then takes off running towards the nearest drug store.

Loki looks around a moment in confusion as the police all start to swam in, and then smiles. Such chaos. He glances around, looking for this man with a phone that these mortals must be yelling at, as he tucks the phone into his designer jacket. Reaching for the mocha again, the god looks amused. Obviously these mortal men don't mean Loki. That would just plain be suicide.

With a subtle shift, his clothing changes from a designer, stylish ensemble to a gold armor over black leathers. "I am not in the mood tonight, mortals." he says, with a thunderous voice that would make the gods stand at attention. "Leave."

That causes some disturbance in the crowd of officers. Most of them fall back a few steps, cringing at the sound of the god's voice. There's an awkward silence for a few seconds, and then: "Put your hands in the air or we will be forced to take you by force!" Or try! There are lots of guns pointed in Loki's general vicinity, gas canisters readied, all sorts of things that would pose an inconvenience to a normal person. And, of course, they're trying to put work through to people who can handle the situation better.

People who are probably not Kyle Rayner, but he's shown up anyway. The commotion must have drawn the greenest Lantern, who arrives in the most ostentatious way possible. Standing on the back of a miniature spaceship, something modeled in the vein of a TIE fighter, the symbol on his ring and suit emblazoned on the wings. "Hi there," He chimes, his construct wobbling along out of the sky, "I don't think we have enough weapons in the vicinity. So I brought more!"

Whoa. Pause. Right. Good thing she tends to wear her outfit to work and really, in her case, the line between dressing like a wayward nerd and costume is a very fine one. The voice makes her eyes go wide as plates. Rain's frozen in place, staring for a moment. Ah geez. Guns against that guy? That's /really/ not going to end well. Her survival instinct is doing battle with the urge to help the poor mortal saps. The arrival of the green Lantern fellow makes her blink. Huh. She's more stunned than anything else. Be brave, be brave. Deep breath. She carefully sets the package in a safe spot. Though, she quietly questions the wisdom of challenging the god of magic as a witch. But hey. Either way she summons the ole flying broomstick and sits on it. Ominous hovering time! "Er... um, yeah." Someone failed battle cries 101. Awkward.

The Spoiler's costume involves a second-hand utility belt and matching utility bandolier, a flowing cape and hood, a mask devoid of features save opaque white eyes, and violet spandex.

Unwilling to lug all that crap around Manhattan for a whole day, Stephanie Brown has to make do with the purple ski mask and bootleg Spider-Man t-shirt she snags on the way to the store's bathroom; a minute or two of cleaning up, changing, and dealing with angry cashiers later, and Gotham's suburban vigilante is bursting onto the street, ready to protect bystanders from the threat of--

Of--

Spoiler quickly looks around until she spots the god in gold; a quick look up at a nearby billboard confirms that it's probably him. She swallows and quickly pats her jean pocket; the little thing of pepper spray on her keychain should /absolutely/ be enough, she tries to convince herself. And then he /speaks/.

And she promptly switches hands, pulling out the phone in her other pocket instead; if nothing /else/, she's bound to get a retweets out of this; the emerald space ship and--broomstick riding witch confirm it. As she darts towards an alley for cover, she vigorously rubs her fingers across the phone's screen to try and unlock the stupid thing.

Loki is normally quite the beautiful man, but the smile that settles into his face at the arrival of the Green Lantern is positively creepy. He...splits...for lack of a better word. First there is one Loki, and then there is two. Those two both step the side and now there's four. Those four step to the side, and now there is eight.

All eight Loki's reach down and pull what looks to be a large, egg shaped stone from their belts. The stone, is marked with an Asgardian magical symbol meaning 'power'. "And pray tell, what are you green man?" he asks, his voice but a whisper that seems to carry to all corners.

Well. At least no one cracked a wizard joke. It's progress. Even if they did, she honestly wouldn't notice. Loki's splitting has her transfixed for a moment. She might not know what the Asgardian symbol means, but she does know that rocks are good for throwing, hitting and who knows what else in this case. And there's 8 of the dude. That's pretty bad ass for a start as far as she's concerned. She watches the exchange between the Green Lantern and Loki. Rain hesitates, staying where she is. She pauses as there's a few guns turned at her. She is content to linger in silence, peering out from beneath the brim of her hat.

Trying to get pictures of the confrontation is proving a more complicated task than Spoiler initially anticipated: Loki's splitting makes it hard to get a clean shot of him and the green light shining everywhere is screwing with her contrast--not to mention how much harder it makes concentrating on anything else. She does what she can to work around these obstacles for a little while, only to have her first clear shot at the Loki Gang ruined when an emerald laser slams into the concrete, obscuring him from vision as she hits the shutter.

When she looks down to see a screen full of green light, she lets out a cry of frustration, grabs a discarded bottle, and rears back, ready to hurl it up at the cosmic policeman in frustration; thankfully, another look at the billboard convinces her to redirect that anger.

So instead, the mostly empty bottle of beer whizzes out of the alley on a collision course with--/one/ of the Loki's heads; the young vigilante plants her hands on her hips and tips her chin up defiantly near the alley's entrance afterwards, once she fails to find a suitable hiding place that isn't a garbage can.

When the Lantern's shot goes off, Loki's eyes narrow, and he tilts his head forward, the smile never slipping. On all eight faces. "So be it." all eight of them say at once, before they all start to raise their hands, palms outward. A beer bottle comes sailing out of no where, and passes harmlessly through the body to crash into the cement. The image just flickers a moment. Then all hell breaks loose.

From each hand, white hot energy blasts, tinged with a green magical energy, lance out into a variety of targets all around. 16 blasts in all, with two aimed at the flying green lantern, meant to cause whatever they hit to explode in a giant fireball.

Now the police are really out. They all go ducking and covering, a few cars explode, one of them flips up into the air. Not their day.

The TIE fighter also explodes. Thankfully, Kyle can fly. And he does fly, the blast of the explosion propelling him into the wall of the building immediately behind. Then down the street with a thud. He does seem pretty okay though, considering. "Ugh. Alright. Let's do this the hard way." A step, a wind up, and casts something down the sidewalk with an under-hand swing. It's a bowling ball. A giant green, glowing bowling ball. "You've struck out!" People would groan if things weren't exploding.

This ending peacefully was a bit much to hope for. Despite the often surreal humor of Rain's existence, there is nothing really funny about this - perhaps aside from the pun or explosions. Regardless, her eyebrows lift at the shot and - there's a beer bottle. She has to be a little impressed by the bottle chucker. There's a yelp as a beam brushes by, although she doesn't escape getting donked on the back of the head by a piece of rubble or something or other. Ow. Her eyes water. Well, at least she doesn't have to worry about the cops for now. Or the flippy car. She'd giggle at the pun if the back of her head didn't hurt like mad. With an irritated sniff, she draws one pistol, the other hand on her broom. There's a faint yellow glow and crackle as some spell or another is being drawn up. Mind you, she's questioning the wisdom of trying a magical firearm against Loki but it beats trying to outdo him in an insult fight.

The beer bottle sails through her target, and before Spoiler can cry foul, the trickster god is treating Manhattan to eldridge destruction. All she can do is watch as Loki explosively renovates the block--that and run out into the street for safety as the burning remnants of an electrical transformer threaten to fall on her head.

Looking around at the flipped and burning cars littering the street, the buildings with their walls violently sheared off, and terrified civilians caught in the crossfire, she tries to remind herself that 'safety', like so many things in life, is relative. Swallowing, she locks her eyes on the guy who served her earlier: his cart is smoldering, and he's too dazed to notice the wall that's about to fall on him; she hustles over there to drag him out of the way before it's too lake, keeping an eye out for new beams all the while.

The giant bowling ball rolls towards Loki #1, and Loki #2. Loki #1 just stands there, and flickers in and out of reality a moment as the bowling ball passes right through him. Loki #2 however, is bowled over with a grunt that sends him to the floor with a cracking of the cement. Loki #2 growls, and vanishes for a moment, only to reappear floating in the air above the other seven, bits of the cement still falling from his armor.

The other seven, keep up their onslaught, firing bolt after bolt at random, looking like automatic tracer fire in the darkness as the nearby lamp posts explode, casting pockets of darkness. "You FOOLs!" the floating god shouts, voice again thundering across the area. "I am Loki! The God of Evil! You dare attack me?"

Green Lantern looks a little smug about his luck, but he doesn't have too much time to bathe in it. A blocky looking shield is brought into being in front of him, something that soaks some of the impacts from the squad of Loki's below. It's clearly not pleasant, the man gritting his teeth, fist outstretched. "Aren't the god of tricks?" When his eyes flicker to the approaching broomstick woman there's a slight pause, and a quick jerk of his head at the mess. Maybe she can help!

Wince. That looked like it could've hurt. Rain's head already smarts from a rock or two, but at least she seems to avoid the worst of it. She'd be amused as Loki #2 is bowled over, but it doesn't last long as the veritable barrage of bolts keeps coming. She clings with one hand to her broomstick, looking either very distracted or incredibly intent, depending on who one asks. It's not a super awesome Thor level blast of electricity, but after a long moment, that pistol comes up - and hey, there are stranger things than elementally augmented blasts right? Poor Loki #2 seems to be the fellow she's aiming at. Rain follows the Final Fantasy strategy of dealing with bad guys. Focus fire! Still, it's a bit tough shooting from the back of a broom. It's a remarkably strange attack in and of itself, really. Magical. Guns. Weird.

"O-okay," Spoiler murmurs as she helps the vendor to his feet. "Can you walk? C--"

*KRA-KOOM!*

Spoiler manages to squelch a very un-vigilante-like yelp as the explosions begin anew, but she does so while hunkering down with her hands pressed against her ears.

"H--hey!" she shouts up at the witch and the Lantern. She isn't so sure that it's /safe/ to, yet, but she straightens a little and tentatively waves a hand over her ski-mask covered head. The vendor - who stumbled and fell on his butt during all the commotion - is clutching his chest and trying to catch his breath. "Hey, there are, like, /civ--/"

*KRA-KOOM!*

"--oh my God!" she squeals once she's done huddling on the ground. The vendor manages to scramble to his feet and take off running, bolstered by fear. "/Stop/ that, are you /cra--/"

*KA-BOOOOOOOOOM!*

A van a few feet down the block takes a direct hit and explodes; the shockwave lifts Spoiler a couple feet into the air, and years of tumbling drills are the only thing keeping her from landing on her head. Once she manages to pull herself up with the aid of a lamp post, the shaken vigilante grabs a brick and hurls it at #7; she staggers around almost drunkenly on the followthrough, but manages to fall back against the post before she can end up on the ground again.

Trying to throw stuff while the whole world is spinning around and burning is not, as it turns out, the best idea.

Loki #2 seems to be about to say more, when the magical elemental bullet hits him full on, and sends him flying back through the glass siding of the building above the coffee shop. The brick strikes Loki #7 right at that moment as well. All seven of the Lokis vanish, like someone flipped a light switch.

It's quiet. Too quiet. It's quiet just long enough for people to think it's too quiet, and start to poke their heads out of cover to see what all the quiet is about.

That's when the glass sides of the buildings, on either side of the street explode outward, and start raining glass shards on the street below. Loki emerges from the hole his body made, a large hunk of glass through his midsection. The god scowls, and pulls it from his body. There is a distinct red line, and even red smears on the glass, but very little blood from such a deep wound.

Kyle has a chance to recuperate when things aren't exploding, the mess of Loki's not requiring to keep focused on that shield. He hovers in place when the god vanishes, seems fairly pleased in the brief lull in the battle. "Nice sh-" And then there's glass everywhere. "Aren't you done?" This time the Lantern calls a train. Green rails appear in the air, a roller-coasted of tracks that an engine barrels down. Destination: Loki. It's a little obvious, but it sure is fancy. And what's the point if it doesn't look good?

Rain would thank Kyle for his kind words, but the brief pause is interrupted. It's amazing how simultaneously fast and slow things seem at once, as the brain tries to catch up and make sure Rain doesn't end up a wet smear on the pavement. She doesn't have time to reply, as glass rains down like crystalline shrapnel. Unfortunately, she doesn't have armor or cover and was pretty busy setting off a spell. It would be elegant, if not for the twinges of pain. She yelps as a few pieces tear at her jacket. Friggin' ow. "Ow ow ow, that's as bad as a splinter bomb..." Don't give him ideas! Most of the damage is superficial - it's just irritating and hurty. Regardless, it's time to start casting up another spell. Alas, it takes her a moment - no fire this round.

"Haa--okay--" Spoiler pants as she leans forward to rest her hands on her knees. He's /gone/ now; she even squints at the hole he made for a couple of seconds just to be sure before dropping her head. "--okay--oh my god--" She takes in a big gulp of air. "--oooooh my god--uh--good job--" She braces herself and quickly glances up, gives the airborne hero and heroine a thumbs up, and just as she looks back down to keep herself from throwing up, the /windows/ are exploding.

The buildings closest to her were hit pretty badly by Loki's first two salvos; Spoiler stands perfectly still as razor sharp crystal rains down all across the street, eyes as wide as the holes in her mask.

"Se--seriously?" she sputters, once she can breathe again. She watches in disbelief as Loki pulls the shard from his belly.

"/Seriously/?!"

With the raining glass, sending sparkling pain into the gathered heroes and police below, Loki grins, that smile growing a little cruel. And then...what the fu....TRAIN!

There is a loud crunch sound as Loki goes back into the building he just emerged from, and the distant sound of glass breaking, that might have been him coming out the other side. Or him flying away. In either case, things grow quiet again.

Kyle CLEARLY didn't expect that to work. He even has a few floating balls of green energy prepped and ready to go before Loki gets carried away by the Lantern Express. "Oh, hey." Hmm. The man swivels in place, casting a wave at the people below, floating people, all sorts of people. "Thanks! Got to go!" And off he speeds, in pursuit. Of course, he'll probably get lost within the next few blocks. He's still getting the hang of zooming around, orientation is hard!

Blink. Blinkblink. A train. He hit the magic god with a train. Rain is somehow in awe of the green fellow now. The not malevolent one. Her mouth opens. Her mouth closes. She stares for a long moment. She is quiet. She looks down though, perhaps hearing Spoiler. "Um. You okay?" She asks quietly, lowering herself to the ground. "I'm... gonna grab that box I was delivering and scoot if you are..."

Loki /might/ be gone this time, or he /might/ come back and Spoiler /might/ die when he blows yet more stuff up.

Rather than find out, the rattled girl stumbles over to her fallen phone. When Rain calls out to her on the way, she looks up and shouts, "I'm--aah!" She stumbles right into a pothole and nearly ends up splayed out on the ground; desperate flailing and a burnt out Prius are the only things that keep her upright.

"--fuh--fine," she manages to gasp out after catching her breath.

From that point on, she keeps her eyes glued on the ground; it'll take her a little while to work her way to the phone and longer still to get to a subway, but she should be able to manage it--as long as she pays attention to the ground.

"Thanks, I--" She plants her feet, takes a second to scan the damage, then promptly lowers her eyes with a shiver. The police are right there; surely, other emergency workers are on their way.

"--yeah, we--we should /not/ be here anymore," she decides; and with that, it's back to stumbling off to safety..

Rain blinks. Her eyes widen as the girl nearly falls. She reaches over to pick up her box, neatly tucked by a corner. Some glass is brushed off. Her eyebrows lift. "Um. I'd offer a broomstick ride but I think that'd just get me shot... So ... be careful out there. Be well." She waves, seeming relieved Spoiler is able to walk away. While she seems awkward and uneasy, there is genuine concern. Either way, Rain will trundle off down a darkened alley, likely to change and head in the general direction of away.