2012-12-07 Quis Custodiet Ipsos Procella

A man hobbles along fairly quickly through the stacks of cars, hopping lightly on one foot as if it pained him, while using the other to support the majority of his weight. It's not a full out sprint, but he deals with the pain of the twisted ankle well, and his loping strides still allow him to keep ahead of the heroes that have dogged the steps of him and his three friends ever since New York. New York. The man grimaces and struggles with the straps of the jet pack, shrugging it off as he takes cover in the shadow of the crushed husk of some old jalopy. The buckles come free and he quickly checks the control panel. This ought to buy him a few seconds. The pack hums softly as he throws it at the base of the tall stack of cars and continues to run, checking the charge on the pulse cannon strapped to his left arm, and the shield generator on his right. Not ideal..



   The heist was going swimmingly, they got into Stagg Ent., killed the guards, cut the vault doors open, no one sounded an alarm; they got the nano fiber tech for their boss. Then crossing the damned bridge out of town they got tagged. How? How could th-doesn't matter. All that matters is that the rest of the crew is caught or dead after the Hummer was flipped. The lone remaining Intergang thug checks his pocket, still got the tech so it's not a total loss. And the meet is only just ahead, he can still make it. He pushes off of the car and continues his loping skipping hops towards the center of the scrap yard where his boss and more of his people will be waiting for the results of the theft.



Looks like this is Stormwatch’s first real opportunity to disrupt a major Intergang operation. They have been gathering information about this strange high-tech mafia-like organization for the last couple weeks. They look much more dangerous than common gangsters, with gear that rivals the kind of crazy stuff A.I.M. can pull on a good day. They must have a super-genius supplier with Dr. Doom level smarts, or maybe there are aliens behind them. Definitely the kind of bastards Stormwatch wants to control and neutralize.



The other members of the murderous gang are all unconscious or dead a few miles away. But this one, carrying whatever they stole back in research facility, has managed to fly at high speed to the scrap yard. A place with hundred of hidey-holes. He is smart for a thug. Unfortunately for him placing several tons of metal between him and Nate is not going to be terribly useful. Being very few minds in the area means Nate can pinpoint them all. He has carried Rose with him all the way from the highway battlefield, but he lets the swordswoman go, "I can feel him within ten yards, just ahead of you." He flies forward to cut the gangster retreat, shielding himself from a the likely pulse cannon burst.



The will be time for a celebratory dance later, for the fact that playtime is over and now the real deal begins. Not that she isn't having fun in her team oriented spars and nights out getting relatively tanked. Once feet met ground Ravager takes a deep breath, shifting heavily booted soles over the solidity beneath her now, reaching into her tac belt and withdrawing her inhaler, taking a large pull off of it while watching Nate fly off to head off the one they are after. Good enough for her. Reaching back she tentatively runs pale fingers over the hilts of her swords and down to the releases. Check. That blaster holstered at her right thigh is also checked, all the while her footfalls begin to carry her in the direction Nate had gestured before he took off. Ravager did not seem in a rush outwardly. Each step is silent save for the low groan of her armor that stretches over her figure, the small patterns of plate maille traversing up over her outer thighs, sides and down her arms, covering the more tender areas the reinforsed vinyl-like attire beneath may not keep safe in totality. She is on high alert despite her casual pace, cold blue gaze sliding over the surroundings, listening for sounds outside of her own breathing and footfalls.



The soft hum of the jet pack becomes a high pitched whine before completely vanishing into the pitch no human ear can hear, making it fall silent for all intents and purposes. Then a forty foot section of steel and earth is subjected to a gravitational force far beyond earth's fields. Whatever energy the pack used to power itself over loads, and all of that mass seems to shrink now occupying a space the size of a beach ball for a couple of seconds, then violently reverses direction with a change in air pressure that pops the ears. There's no explosive /sound/, but the sudden rending of metal it deafening as three stacks of cars begin to topple as their supports vanish, then instantly reverse direction, hurling themselves outward with the change in gravity like two tons bits of shrapnel lazily wobbling through the air in every direction.



The thug doesn't hear the explosion, but he does hear the cars falling, the sudden chaos behind him, and he grins to himself, hobbling faster towards the meet. There. He spots the warehouse like building in the center of a clearing of trash, next to a car crusher, a couple of cranes, and a few big pieces of machinery like bulldozers and the like. He waves frantically at the guard, firing a blast of the pulse cannon into the air, "MASKS!!" he shouts, letting the others know to gear up.



"What the hell?" Nate is momentarily distracted by all that metal collapsing. |"You okay, Rose?"| He sends to the white-haired girl. That almost gets him hit by the pulse cannon, but that was a wild shot and the thug revealed himself. Nate answers fire with a telekinetic blasts aiming to the ground at the feeling thug's side. Careful not to hit him directly, now there are no civilians in immediate danger there is no need to use deadly force. He is sure they can get plenty information out of him, so he wants to take him alive if possible. On the other hand, judging by his words, there might be more gangsters around. Uh huh. Yeah, about ten more minds in a warehouse. He sends that information to Ravager telepathically.



<p class="MsoNormal">Odd... Ravager titlts her head as a noise blips into nothing. She knows the sound of tech when she hears it after her latest job, but her pace towards the area has ceased and her hand raises, pushing fingers through the long white hair to wrap around the hilt of a sword as her body spins slowly, looking. Her back is facing the blast area when it happens, that force not only erupting a blast of large objects to form helacious sized shrapnel but a breeze as a precursor; that is the tell-tale sign that has Ravager dropping to her knees and bending forward just as a vehicle flies over her head in a metal somersault. <<So far, so good...>> Ravager mentally responds to Nate as she rises to a stand, withdrawing her swords and turning towards the blast area. "Ground Zero it is." She murmurs and picks up her pace, heading directly into the fray with the head count in her mind as well. Time to narrow down the odds.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">The thug never sees the hit coming, and he's slammed to the side suddenly, his body impacting with a stack of unforgiving cars. He slumps to the ground, dazed and fighting unconsciousness. But his message was delivered, and the thug that was guarding the warehouse has already dove inside the building, shouts can be heard from inside as the men quickly shrug into various weapon rigs.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Outside where once there stood great stacks of flattened cars, there is now a hole, a clean cut hole, not a crater, but as if a great ice cream scoop had come from the sky and simply taken nearly fifty feet of earth out of the scrap yard. At the bottom of the scoop, nearly lost to side, is the soft shine of metal, and a dark hole nearly 8 feet across, part of what the scoop removed, descending into some sort of cave. Ravager, the nearest of the heroes, is off to fight the thugs leaving the sight of the explosion behind, which is why she never sees the pair of crimson lights that come on inside of the darkness. Electronic eyes that show themselves to be attached to a pair of robotic spider like contraptions that scurry from the shadows of the 'cave' and into the light. It's why she never sees them grab two of the old school American muscle cars, their spine like legs piercing through the steel like butter, and dragging the two ton vehicles down into the hole as though they were made from plastic.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Meanwhile Nate floats up to draw fire from the thugs, hopefully giving Rose a chance to catch them by surprise. Besides, he wants to get a good look at them (and their minds). He is pretty sure he can avoid or block anything they can throw at him. But it wouldn't be the first time he is wrong in that regard.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Ravager watches as Nate rises up, taking on whatever any may throw his way, so far it is the attention. Who can miss the hovering man, those that decided what comes on foot isn't as big of a threat. She is silent and on her approach stops by the downed thug that had set off the blast, one sword hissing from its sheath as she points the blade accusingly at him. "You know the drill, talk." She's going to give him a few seconds and if she meets stupid indignance she will stop wasting her time. Nate is lining up a good open for her but if she can get anything of worth, she'll take it.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">The warehouse wall is blasted apart by the blow of some energy weapon, leaving the building with only 3 sides. Men pour from it's interior, most carrying large high tech weapons of one sort or another, though a couple are already strapped into rigs similar to that of the original thieves. A crimson laser cuts through the air towards Nate, it's beam slagging through a near by car with ease, leaving the top part of the car to slide off to the ground below with clean melted glowing edges where it used to rest. The other men turn their attention skyward as well, and soon flashes of energy weapons fill the air, utterly destroying anything they touch. Intergang gets it's gear from scary places, the green balls of energy that hurtle through the air like frisbees, blow up like rockets when they contact anything, lasers melt through cars, none of those weapons are standard.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">The thug blinks away confusion and stares up the blade at Ravager, "Huh...?" he says intelligently. "Jesus lady!" he realizes now that's a pointy metal thing. "What do you want?" he's not entirely sure what she's looking for, but he's not a fan of stabbings so... "It was a robbery, I thought you spandex people knew how this works?!"

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">"I'm very aware, but it tends not to come with that." Ravager states as she gestures to the blast area and then... The multitudes coming out of the warehouse bearing hi-tech artillery. "When you wake, let me know if you have more info." Lunging forward ravager attempts to knock the thug out cold with the butt of her hilt, then turns and runs towards those bearing the hi-tech weaponry, all of which thus far distracted by Nate. Leaping over one of the cars, ravager slides across the dented surface and manages to draw her other sword, one opponent that is nearest meets one leg that kicks out at him before she even hits the ground, another is attempted to be met with a sweeping slice of her newly drawn blade as she seeks a landing between the two.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Nate flies quickly, but... he still gets hit a couple times, as he is still not very good moving on the air. His telekinetic shields hold, although he is sent flying back a few yards. |"Seems we have found a large crowd"| he projects to the rest of the team. Then he flies lower, seeking cover among the wrecks and a mild force blast to the closest gangster.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">It's late afternoon, the sun still a ways from the horizon, though that does little to warm a brisk New Jersey December. The scrap yard has recently become the scene of a warzone as a couple handfuls of Intergang thugs equipped with advanced weaponry duke it out with the heroes that have tracked them here from the daring high tech robbery of Stagg Enterprises. As the lasers and explosives go off around them near the heart of the scrap yard, a large hole in the ground, hidden away among the labrynthine corridors made by the stacked up flattened old cars, has uncovered something alien. Unseen as yet and unknown, it works to potentially sinister purpose as spider like robots fetch nearby flattened jalopies and drag them into the dark recesses beneath the earth that the bomb has uncovered....

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">The thug Ravager was talking to had his thumb sloooowly moving towards the firing stud of his pulse cannon when his already ringing skull is bonked soundly, knocking the remaining sense from him instantly. Her sliding kick meets flesh easily and her slicing sword severs the trailing wires and tubes that seem to feed power to weapon the second man uses, leaving a sparking hissing cable hanging from his power pack on his back, making it so much dead weight. None of them had been looking around, all that fighting Superman in Metro has left Intergang paranoid about ariel long hero sorts, a role Nate was filling nicely. The sudden addition of a ninja has them trying to play catch up. One drawing a bead on Ravager is knocked sideways by Nate's blast, skidding through the dirt in a puff and a curse. The disk of glowing energy that would have cut her in half instead hits the ground near Ravager and detonates like a hand grenade, kicking up dirt and hubcaps in a spray.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Magik is fashionably late to the party, but that's because she made a detour on the way. A two-dimensional disk of light opens parallel to the ground and slides upwards, leaving the white-clad Magik and green-clad Sentinel in its wake. All they need is someone dressed in red and they'll be set for the holiday season. Illyana scryed Nate's location from Limbo, so she's got an idea of the chaos going down. "Looks like you get to play Target." She says, projecting her thoughts towards the telepath even as she says them aloud. Looking over to Sentinel she says, "We need to shut these guys down before they get to somewhere that's *not* already trashed." Then she's flashing out in another Stepping Disk while another opens vertically behind one of the thugs. Arms reach through to grab and haul the weapon-toting one back through the circle that winks out. A hearbeat later another disk opens and a chain-wrapped de-weaponed man hits the ground, unconscious.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Sentinel hates that place. He really does. "Next time I'll fly." It'll be almost as quick though he might break some windows if he's not careful. Taking to the air, he does a quick survey of what's going down and then forms a large dome which drops toward the thugs below.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">A quick entry in comparison to her slow and stalking approach. She was not about to slow in the midst of that fray that had weapons beyond the capacity of her body. Ravager isn't built like the rest of the team, and her armor isn't well equipped for what is being fired at Nate. A deterrent is exactly what she needs to get in a stay in. Once in close quarters Ravager's blades strike out at a blinding speed. Aiming for the gear and the weapon's power supplies first before she goes for those holding them, but if they got in the way, she won't hesitate. Landing and sweeping both her blades out to the sides they arch outward and back to run paralell to her sides and strike at whatever is close. Rising she spins just in time to see that beaded blast coming at her and that is about it before she is taking flight much like Superman, but far less graceful. The blast sends her flying with the hubcaps as her confetti just before landing on a car, the propulsions speed pitching her through a junked cars windshield to land in the front seat, unconscious.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">The addition of the other heroes is something the remaining thugs did not see coming. They started with ten, and in seconds they're already down nearly half their number. One with a force shield raises it and calls for a retreat, raising a glowing greenish bubble around the front of him and a couple men with him. Two don't listen and aim their cannons at Illyana while a third uses the cover of the bubble to try and lase Sentinel out of the sky, "Fuckin' masks!" he cries, the crimson beam slicing through the air with a soft hum. The largest group, shielded, try to back towards the warehouse quickly, popping shots off as they go and leaving their fallen comrades where they lay.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">They back up into the green dome behind them and curse, one of the thugs turning his weapon to it in an attempt to cut through the green energy with his own purplish energy weapon, "Hurry!" another encourages.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Nate grins when Illyana appears with Sentinel. "Yeah, I don't want to lose sight of any of them." With sight he also means losing track of their minds, looking at them helps. He loses his grin when he feels Rose being knocked out. Clearly he has been too nice with the goons. With a gesture, he send the rusty remains of a large truck flying to scatter those still fighting, then charges them, hitting hard enough to crack their armor and probably their bones too.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Magik had stepped out of another stepping disk, dusting her hands when the bad guys swing their weapons towards her to open fire. Her hands turn outwards, another portal snapping open and the deadly fire disappears into the disk of light. She's seen what those weapons can do, so she doesn't redirect it back at the guys. She'll let the boys clean their clocks.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Sentinel tries to dodge the red beam but doesn't quite succeed. Fortunately, it just splatters harmlessly against his shoulder much like a laser pointer. Reassured about the strength of their weapons, he lands just outside the dome he created and presses his ring against it. Tendrils starts snaking out inside it to try to weave around those trapped within.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Nate's human missile act receives attention enough that one of the men turns to run before Nate reaches them while the other fires wildly into the sky, trying to warn the mutant off. He fails. The pair are rammed into and fly away, arms and legs akimbo, weapons tossed harmlessly aside, broken and sparking. The group inside the bubble find themselves entirely out classed. While their weapons usually give heroes pause, most of those heroes aren't Sentinel, and as they fire inside the dome, their energy weapons splash almost harmlessly off the shielding until green tendrils weave among them, causing one of the men to panic. His fear ends his high pitched scream echoing uselessly inside the bubble.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Nate spares a second to make sure the gangsters can't keep fighting and then goes to check Rose's injuries. |"There is no one else in the warehouse"| he notes telepathically. |"But there is an odd tunnel back there. I am not sure if it has anything to do with them"|

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Magik lets the disk close and watches the man screaming inside Sentinel's bubble. She looks over at the Jade Knight with a smirk. "Nice. You've got potential." She says with a wink and then heads over to join Nate where he's standing with Ravager. "A tunnel? In a junkyard? In *Jersey*?" She reaches out to check Nate for head injuries. "I think you got clonked."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Sentinel just gives Magik a look as he waits for everyone in the dome to finish being gift wrapped. Once that's done, the dome dissolves and he turns to walk toward Nate. "How is she? I'll give her healing a boost."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">It's a short wait, soon the small crew is gift wrapped and separated from their weapons, one of them, a thick necked man with a pock marked face and a thrice broken nose stares daggers at the heroes, silently fuming. Ravager is unconscious, but her armor saved her from the worst of it, bruises aches and pains will likely be her only serious injuries, assuming she didn't suffer a concussion, something one can't very well tell without proper equipment.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">"Just a couple times," replies Nate to Illyana. But then he nods to Alan, more serious, "please, do it. Meanwhile I am going to scan these guys to see what were they doing here." He glares back at the man with the broken nose. Then peers into his thoughts and memories for information. What were they stealing? What is in the warehouse? Who is their boss? Where did they go that hardware? And also what is that tunnel in the middle of the junkyard?

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Magik finds something to sit on while she lets Sentinel take care of Ravager's injuries and Nate play Mr. Interrogator. "I should have brought popcorn." She says dryly.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Sentinel puts his ringed hand on Ravager's shoulder to send healing energy into her. He then turns and does the same to Nate. "What was this about a tunnel?" While the question is directed to Nate, he's watching Magik. Studying, more likely.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Even as Nate reaches into the big man's mind... he finds nothing of real import. Broken Nose smiles at Nate, a broken toothed smile of a life time hard luck case. "What's wrong boy? Lose your keys? Seein' if maybe I hid 'em from ya?" A soft Georgia drawl slips from his lips, but it's oddly high brow, not red neck. Gentlemanly in tone rather then uneducated. A search of the other minds proves nearly as fruitless. Stagg Enterprises was developing a new carbon nano fiber manufacturing rig. Someone wanted it. None of the me know who. None of them know where the weapons came from except Intergang. They work for Intergang. Intergang is the customer. Intergang is all that matters. It's common misconception that Intergang is some sort of gang, filled with thugs and muggers and much like any other mafia. That is a falsehood. It's a cult of religious zealots that worship crime like others worship god. In service to their religion, they've obviously been tampered with mentally. In most of them it was done inexpertly, leading to things like the one man that panicked in the bubble and another that ran, but in a few nothing was seriously damaged, just removed, scooped away leaving them nothing of value to give up. Thoroughly, but not carefully done. Broken Nose just grins more, "Find yourself a different warrantless search ta illegally traipse through boy, not gonna find anythin' here."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Something chirps from nearby, an electric sound, filtered, and a small floating orb, roughly the side of a volleyball eyes the gathering of heroes. It's silvery and dull with what appears to be a coating of dust. An iris slides open on the front of it and a trio of different sized crimson eyes stare at the heroes for a split second before a long thin beam of red light issues from it's center. It's wide, nearly four feet, and it flashes, up and down quickly, over first Nate, then Sentinel, then Magik, and ends with Ravager, the entire process is painless and almost exactly what one would expect a cliched 'scan' to look like in a sci-fi movie. Where the thing came from is anyone's guess.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Nate smirks at Broken Nose, but doesn't even bother to answer his taunts. "Brainwashed zealots," he comments quietly to the others. "Probably a dead end, but we should check the warehouse, they know nothing about the... what is that?!" He raises a TK shield when the floating orb seems to flash some kind of light at them, just in case.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Illyana arches a brow at Sentinel as he watches her, a hint of a smirk playing about her lips. Any comment she might have made is interrupted by the sphere's appearance. "Hey, what's tha--" She breaks off as it sweeps them each with a red beam and then frowns over to Nate, hopping down from her perch. "I have a bad feeling about this."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Sentinel spins as the flickering red light plays over him and only because it doesn't seem intended to harm does he refrain from blasting it. "Didn't I see this in a movie?" he asks, not taking his eyes off of the orb.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">The orb remains there, hovering, staring with it's unblinking eye as they all stare back. It doesn't bob in the air, hovering as if on a stick or as though it were just sitting on solid earth, which actually is a little creepy. The wind seems to have no effect on it, making it appear more fake then real. Everyone knows hovering things bob and sway with the wind. It's in all the TV shows dammit. The iris closes, then opens again, as if in mockery of a blink, a soft 'sniktsnikt' sound slipping from the front of it.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">From the gathered Intergang sorts, a vague sense of hope starts to issue, something Nate can feel, except from Broken Nose, who is now mixed curious and concerned. Of them all, he's the only one that isn't sure if the floaty thing is a friend, in fact... he has no idea what it is at all.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Okay, so probably not an Intergang weapon. Nate steps forward and reaches to the orb with his telekinesis, to pull it closer. "Looks like some kind of scanning machine. Does not look Intergang design, weird. By the way, those morons do not know about that hole and what could be there either."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">"Careful with that thing." Magik says as Nate brings it closer. "In case it might go boom. Now where's this hole?"

<p class="MsoNormal">"If it was going to do that, it would have done so already." though Sentinel wouldn't swear to that and his tone makes that clear.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">When it's nudges, the crimson eyes instantly change to yellow and it quite simply... vanishes. Poof. As if it never existed. Cause that's not creepy at all.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Nate frowns when the orb vanishes. He looks around carefully, and explains. "When we got here there something odd happened, a part of the junkyard sunk and at the same time some of the cars were sent flying through the air. Now there is a large hole, about fifty feet across, and what looks like a cave at the bottom."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Illyana's eyes narrow as the orb disappears. "Uh huh. Someone wanna tie them up or hit them on the noggins real hard? I'm sure the cops'll be around in a bit given the ruckus. Let's go check out this hole. Maybe that's where our peeping tom is from."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">"Then lets go take a look." Sentinel suggests. "It seems unlikely that thing came from somewhere else. That would be too many coincidences." Looking around the yard, he constructs a large green cage that opens from the top. "Why don't you dump them in there?" he says to Nate.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">From the direction of the cratery hole, comes the heavy thud of something hitting the earth, as if a car had fallen, but there's none of the crunched metal sound that has become so common place in the last few minutes. A sound, electronic and inhuman issues from the direction, a mixture of sing song tones autotuned, like a bird passed through a machine if birds sang in a tenor. It has the cadence of uniformity, not the randomness of noise, which sets it apart even further.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">"Sure," Nate sends the bound thugs floating into Sentinel's cage, then leads the others to the strange crater. Definitely it sounds as if some machine is activating. He surrounds himself in a psionic forcefield and floats down to investigate.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Illyana frowns as they get close enough to hear the thud and the musical sounds. "Something's definitely up." She steps up to the edge with the others.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">In the crater stands a man in heavy armor of some sort. The creases of the armor seem to glow with a soft pinkish light, casting odd shadows along the black and red patterns painted over him. Redish blond hair tosstles ever so slightly with the breeze as his fingers flex almost in test, and he rolls a shoulder experimentally. When Nate comes over the stack of cars and into view, he finds the man already staring at him with an expressionless face, half covered by a sort of mask that covers his eyes and neck. The man stares, unblinking, and then begins to walk the rest of the way out of the hole, his steps leaving footprints in the otherwise cleanly cut crater like hole. Whatever the sound was from before is gone, and only the costumed man remains. For someone who's just come out of a cave-thing though, he's remarkably clean.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">The door to the cage falls shut when the last thug is put inside and Sentinel follows the others to the hole. "At least it's not the Close Encounters theme." That would be too bizarre. And then they have company and he steps in front of Illyana.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Illyana leeeeeans over to the side a bit to see around Nate, but certainly lets him play shield. Hey, she's squishy. "Well. I wasn't expecting that." She admits. "It's a guy. Or something."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Glass makes the most harmonious sound when it hits the ground, like icicles on a power line during a winter breeze. Yep, that’s what her head felt like, except drop a icicle on her brain-pan. Sitting up after rolling over Ravager's hand presses to her head and the recollection of the happenings came back full force, her hands scrambling for her swords, blind feeling in the sudden and abrupt flailing. Finding the familiar feel of hilts in her hands she pushes up and leaps from the car - an acrobatic roll landing her in a crouch with her swords drawn in all her epic glory!.... To nothing? Blink. A familiar cage bearing the suited men inside. "Tch." A cut from her head left the dark stain of blood down the side of her face and entwined a contrast in white hair, but most of the aches seem to be quickly fading, enough so she is looking around and not yet sheathing her blades. Too quiet. Moving outside of the vacant fight area she sees Illyana, nate, and alan. "Nice of you guys to join..." Pausing she tilts her head and focuses on Spartan. "Oh, he looks friendly." She says as she tightens her grips on her blades. Sarcasm, yep.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">It looks like a guy, but Nate frowns. "I can't feel his mind, there is nothing there." Not 'nothing' as in Illyana's case, who has a mind, just very shielded. Just nothing, like if he was trying to scan a rock. So maybe it is an illusion. He peers at the armoured man. "Hello, who are you?" He greets warily. To Rose, he flashes a smile |"you okay? Sentinel gave you a healing boost"|

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Magik leans in closer to Sentinel. "If he says 'take me to your leader, I think we need to punt him into orbit."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">The chevrons cut into the shoulders of his armor give the entire get up an almost military feel, the uniformity of it, the utility of it also fits that mind set. The soft pinkish flicker of light in the creases, the chevrons, on the inside of his forearms, be speaks some sort of power source, making it likely some form of powered armor. His gaze wanders this way and that as he crests the lip of the crater and eyes the heroes there. His eyes, green the exact shade of Alan's, turn towards Nate, his gaze seemingly focused on the mutant. He opens his mouth and more of the sing song auto tuned noises issue forth, his lips twisting and turning clearly forming them. Ah. A language. Words. Great. Try making those with human vocal cords.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">"I can do that." Sentinel agrees, without taking his eyes from the armored form. Doesn't sound like he's joking. "Well, if he did, we can't understand it." He does relax slightly though since the guy doesn't seem to be immediately hostile.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">   <<Instead of feeling like I got hit by a truck, I feel like I got hit by a Volkswagon.>> Ravager offers Nate a wavering smile in return, her eyes barely leaving Spartan in their careful watch. She didn't have to worry about the feel of a mind, she just went by instinct and right now, she is in accord with Illyana. She'll thank Alan later for the aid, but right now her body seems relaxed, all save for the flexing of musculature beneath the tight fabric of her armor, causing the maille to gleam against the lighting that is cast. "Or we can offer him a phone home, now."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Nate still misses too many of the pop culture jokes. And the team abuses them too much, in his never humble opinion! "Uh, I had never heard a language like that one," he comments. Annoying, because he can always communicate with other human beings thanks to his telepathy, but it looks like Spartan is not human at all. "What now, do we try sign language?"

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Spartan's mouth opens again, and the words come out, this time his expression hardens around the corners of his eyes, his tone becomes demanding and less cordial.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">There are sirens in the distance, as the cops are finally headed their way to investigate the situation and Magik doesn't have a Titans ID to wave them off anymore. She frowns, "We should relocate." Then she looks back at Spartan. "And whatever he is, probably best he not play patty-cake with the cops. One of you boys want to find us an elsewhere to be? Otherwise y'know, I can." She smirks over to Sentinel at that. She knows he doesn't like Limbo. As Spartan's tone (literally) changes, she holds out a hand towards him, one finger upraised in a 'hold that thought' sort of manner. "Be nice, AutoTune."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">"I'll stay here and meet you later." Sentinel suggests. "If I leave, the cage will fade and they'll escape." And it's not like the police can stop him when he wants to leave. "I'll just tell them I arrived to find them fighting some people with advanced weaponry and as soon as they were defeated, you all left." True enough.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Ravager isn't waiting. Seeing as no one responds to her she steps to the edge of the crater and slides down the side, kicking up debris in the wake of the slide that has her hitting the bottom and staggering for a moment. Her head still hurts, it has a pulse of its own and it was tossing her off balance some. Regaining her posture she moves towards Spartan, swords still drawn but held at her sides, dropped from poise in front of her. She can't speak computer, but she scans over him and shakes her head. "Communication sucks, I'm not good at this." Hearing the sirens she frowns slightly and stops in her pace just outside of Spartan's arms reach.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Spartan's eyes narrow when Ravager nears him, and he moves, putting himself physically between her and the hole behind him. He speaks a single noted tone that while not english, is universal in the literal sense. Someone is protective of their um... cave?

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Nate hrms, "I don't know if we should leave. There is something down there that I think we should investigate. And if they guy is unable to communicate the police might get into trouble, or get him into trouble. I wonder if we could hide this hole."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Magik gives Nate a level look. "Can't you like, move mountains with your mind or something? Cover it with some junk. Though..." She frowns at Mr. Protective. "Might be kind of difficult considering there's a lack of communication." Her lips press into a thin, thoughtful line. She looks over to Sentinel. "You take the baddies and deal with the cops." Then she looks to Nate. "You hide the hole." Then she steps over with Ravager and raises a hand to summon a stepping disk beneath the pair of them and another under Spartan. "I'll find a way to talk to our new friend without causing a scene."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Ravager raises one pale brow and peers over Spartan's shoulder towards the hole. "Don't want your treasure bud..." Illyana stepping up has Ravager eyeing her and sighing. "we taking another stray in? That seems to be the theme." Ravager grins then and winces. "you got a stiff drink and painkillers in Limbo?"

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Well, if Illyana removes the stranger from the equation, is it necessary to hide the bottom of the hole? Maybe. Nate will assume it is and pile a few hundred tons of flattened cars there. Should take only a minute. Alan can talk to the cops, and then they can all try to talk with Spartan in Limbo.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Spartan's gaze flashes down to the stepping disk that appears beneath his feet, and his face suddenly hardens in a stern line, one of his hands clenching into a fist as pink energy surrounds it in a crackling globe that starts to leak energy towards the sky. His gaze then travels over to Illyana, his eyes flashing a matching color and he issues that single tone 'no' command again, a scowl worked firmly over his features. Of course... then he's gone and all the commands in the world mean bubkiss. Stupid teleporters.