| The Uncanny U-Men | |||||
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| What: Thanks to a generous donation from a mystery benefactor, a brand new Health Clinic for mutants and metahumans is opening in the Bronx. It's not a huge event but some word has spread and curious parties and potential patients alike are coming to see the place. But all is not well when a group of people in expensive isolation suits attack anyone with a power whether they're hero or villain. | |||||
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Word has been spreading over the past few weeks through various means. Online, fliers, even a spot or two on the local news. The 'New Light' Mutant and Metahuman health center and emergency care building would be opening today in the Bronx. And so far it's been going great. The opening ceremony was right after lunch and now that it's the afternoon, everything seems nice. The place is well put together, with multiple examination rooms and plenty of supplies. Of course the people funding the whole venture have elected to remain unknown, saying that true charity doesn't need thanks. Right now the waiting room has a few people in it, the receptionist and a few people waiting to be seen. Also? Iceman. One of the doctors working in the clinic is a friend of his and asked him to bring some celebrity presence to the place. He's hanging out in the waiting room and entertaining some kids, one of which appears to be a cat-person.
I'm not crazy. I'mnotcrazy.Imnotcrazy.Imnotcrazy.Sotired.Soooosotired, maybe just a little sleep? Just close my eyes? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! His eyes bolted open and looked down upon the hideously bulbous green sphere of a body with a dozen little cockroach/style lobster legs and three little antennae bristling from every direction. He was small and had scuttled around in ventilation systems for quite a while before he'd found this this place. This glorious place.
They're everywhere. The CIA. The NSA. The DEA. They're tracking him. Tracking him because of the dead china guy. The blood! It was so bad! He would be dead if the man with the magical marvingian bloodlines hadn't interceded and stopped him. This was the first joker body he'd had in a while, a long while and while he adapted after a while, he forgot how much he really did deep down have to admit he liked being human even if he was a lot more comfortable in his skin or any other skin. He walked up the wall a moment, bringing the cart in the room with the IV and the meds with him. He was good. He was all good. All things were good. He just would sit there for a while over the empty bed, drifting in the shadows, drifting in and out of sleep. NO! SLEEP might be the last one! Sleep might be it! And he didn't have a magical marivingi...marivi...french Italian royal bloodline to keep him awake! He had gravity powers and radio powers and enhanced healing but it wasn't like he had enhanced healing! What did he think he was, immortal or something? He sort of...let himself in here while they were building it and has been sort of using his own supply and any other supply of anything to keep him awake he could....he also entertains kids. He lets them fly...or drop really fast. So far none of them have splattered irresponsibly on the ground yet. So far. So good.
Andrea is here because one of the doctors that treated her when she had her accident is supposed to be working here. She was asked to come and haf a checkup in a few months. She has come today for the opening and to see about that checkup.
An unrelated young man enters the lobby, obscuring his face somewhat by holding down his hat as he heads for the receptionist. He's well-dressed; business suit with a vest and tie and everything- but the formal clothes makes his long white ponytail stand out, and he looks as though he's had a long, adventurous day. He's wondering just how wise it is to approach this center, especially when he is probably wanted for his past crimes and on suspicion of a very recent attempted bank robbery, but surely they will understand his need for privacy. If Joseph can find a safe place learn how to better control his powers, or at least where he can seek help, this should be it. Right?
The news of the new charity center has certainly made a splash, especially in some circles. Dr. Hank Pym had heard it being discussed around the SHIELD hellicarrier, where the newest young agent is a mutant. Pym is curious what sorts of professionals have hired on with this worthy cause, and thought possibly he could be of some help. Either way, it sounded like something worth stopping by and checking out. He wanders in without any fanfare, or possibly any recognition, taking in the orderly front area, and smiles at the sight of Iceman entertaining the youngsters. It looks like it's off to a good start, in any case.
The Five-in-One were the golden daughters of the Academy of Tomorrow, a school dedicated to a dream similar to the Xavier Institute, the co-existence of mutants, metahumans and regular people. A new hospital dedicated to the treatment of said mutants and metahumans is something that the Headmistress of the Academy, and their mother, Emma Frost would be interested in learning more about.
Emma's schedule however meant that she wasn't available and since the Cuckoo's break down a few months back it seemed like a perfect opportunity for the girls to investigate and make sure that their own emotional stress and dalliance with individuality hadn't damage their gestalt to horrible, so here they were.
Five beautiful teenage girls, all identical to each other, walking in perfect lockstep with each other. All of them dressed identically in identical sleeveless black dresses with lace from the collar to the bust line with pretty black hearts embroidered through out. Black fishnet stockings and black silted tights over their legs and stiletto heeled ankle boots. Their make up is rather dark and almost gothic but their lips have painted to be pale pink.
As they enter the clinic they all take a measure of the room with a passive telepathic scan, the goal being similar to the obfuscation field of the Academy to find any mind that might be hostile to the existence of this clinic or it's inhabitants.
"Alright, let's go with five," Iceman laughs, juggling snowballs for the kids. There had been a mini-snowball fight going on but they'd been scolded to stop that...even if it was a fond scolding. He glances up as when people enter, offering quick smiles.
The receptionist tells Andrea she'll send the doctor out as soon as they're free and asks her to take a seat. Perhaps out of habit, she offers the girl a pretzel like she has all the kids in the waiting room. If Andrea pays attention, she might just hear some of the people in the reception office talking about some missing supplies. They seem more confused than worried since all requests for new supplies were quickly filled.
As Joseph approaches the receptionist, the woman smiles and looks up at him. "Good afternoon. Can I halp you?" she asks. As she speaks, her hair changes color and style gradually. It appears the clinic employs mutants and metas as well as helps them.
The first thing those five girls might notice with their scan is the fact that they've immediately caught the attention of a teenage boy in the corner of the waiting room waiting for his name to be called. He's in awe some the group of telepaths and trying to silently work up the nerve to talk to them. His nervous state is causing a few flames to crawl up and down his arms though. Seems like we've got a pyro. The rest of the waiting room is pretty normal for what one might expect of a doctor's office. It's beyond the waiting room that might raise some eyebrows. The examination rooms have some kind of shielding against telepathic invasion. It wouldn't take a lot to punch through but glancing at it is like a lot of static and white noise to curious or nosy telepaths. That shielding extends to some offices too. One has to wonder why.
Shortly after the Cuckoos arrive, the door leading to all the doctors opens and a woman in a lab coat steps out. She appears to have transparent skin giving her a slightly...unsettling appearance to some. "Ms. Mendex? We're ready for you and your son," she calls a patient. Obviously she's a doctor here. The head doctor in fact to those checking. Even as she's calling the patients, outside a pair of large delivery trucks are arriving. They're marked with logos for medical supply companies but they're psychically shielded as well. And neither has plates. Tinted windows hide the drivers too. That could be trouble.
Croyd keeps droppong and raising the children like kebobs in a apple...kebob...thing...one lands on the bed and leaves a dent in the floor but is fortunate ly indestructable. "Eh...kids mmmmm we should probably stop now. " Cant sleep. Must sleep. Just a nap. Just a little nap. What harm could it do? More stuff! He....began to...wander on the ceiling.
Andrea is inside, and so does not see the medical delivery trucks. She is sitting working on some homework for class while patiently (more or less) waiting on her turn. She is not here to show off her powers, this is a medical checkup, nothing more.
Joseph folds his hands on the edge of the receptionist's desk and starts to speak with a friendly face when he's distracted by all the things going on in and around the waiting room. People crawling on the ceiling and catching on fire and making snowball fights... and they're still receiving medical supplies. This is going to be a very lively clinic. Just as he's about to dismiss the delivery truck, he notices the tinted windows. That's... odd for something handing off medical equipment. He doesn't want to be paranoid, but he did just deal with an exciting encounter during a routine visit to the bank. Gods forbid something similar occur while he's asking for help here. Finally, the young man returns his attention to the receptionist with an apologetic smile. "Er... right. I'm.. I'm still learning-" Re-learning, technically- "..my abilities and I was wondering if this place might have any information on.. um.. where and how to safely do that." He adds quietly, "I like your hair, by the way."
Hank Pymlooks around, fascinated by the concentration of people with such diverse physiology... for now he's content to just observe the normal operation of such an unusual place. He's about to speak to one of the other people coming and going to learn more when he's startled by Croyd crawling out on the ceiling dragging equipment. "U-uh-- are you alright??" he's totally missed the trucks for now, and their oddities.
In a split second the Five-in-One have assessed the situation. And they do not like it. It was the trucks that cinched it for them. See on January 1st of this year the Academy of Tomorrow was attacked by similarly telepathically blocked vans. The U-Men. It was a name they never wanted to think of again. The name that nearly destroyed their entire lives.
Now all they needed to do was figure out a course of action, which would only take a spit second for them to confer and agree on as well. The walked towards the boy with the pyrokinetic powers and one of them leaned down to him and said, "Hello, Patrick. I'm Sophie and these are my sisters. Right now we need you to remain calm, and when we need you, you help us. Can you do that for us? "
While they have never met Bobby Drake before, they do know who he is... the advantage of their mother dating one of the teachers from the Xavier Institute. And their liberal interpretation of "don't steal information from someone's mind unless you need it."
|"Mister Drake, we are sorry to interrupt your show boating. We are the Five-in-One of the Academy of Tomorrow"| the girls sent into Iceman's mind, their chorus of voices sounding near angelic |"We believe that something bad is about to happen and wished to inform you of such. We do not believe that this clinic is a safe place for metahumans or mutants. Be prepared for a conflict. We will give you more information as we feel you require it."|
The Cuckoo's eyes started to glow as they turned to face the front door. They were marshalling their telepathic might. I might not be effective against the scramblers but it would be a useful way to crowd control the innocents out of the way, or use their abilities to attack the threat.
"Oh, thank you, hun. I've been trying to decide on a style all day," the receptionist, Mary judging by her name tag, replies to Joseph. "We don't have any facilties for that kind of thing in the building but I can give you these," she says, offering Joseph a few pamphlets for places like the BSA, the AoT, and anonymous help lines. "Would you like a pretzel?" she asks, offering the large plastic jug of salty treats to Joseph.
The crawling Croyd gets more attention than just Hank. The doctor...Dr. Phyisque judging by her name tag, looks up with an irritated expression. "Excuse me, you're not supposed to be out of bed much less up there! Please come down from there," she requests, pointing her pen up at Croyd.
Patrick lets out a strangled little squeaky noise when Sophie speaks to him, blushing as a few hundred thoughts of disbelief rush through his skull. He nods quickly, swallowing and taking a deep breath. "I'll do my best," he says, voice cracking a little.
Iceman almost drops the snowballs when telepathically contacted, reflexive defenses going up. He tenses, eyes flicking around until he sees the five identical girls. He notices who they look like and he sighs a bit. "Hey, kids. Sorry but Iceman has to help the doctors for a moment so go back to your parents," he tells his audience, frowning to the disappointed reactions.
Seconds after the Cuckoos ready for battle, the lights in the clinic shut off. Back up power fires up almost immediately despite the frightened reactions of many people inside the clinic. Outside, the trucks open and several people in what appear to be isolation suits begin exiting. All are carrying unusual weapons and quickly marching towards the clinic. They certainly seem to be the U-Men.
Croyd looks at Pym and thinks he should recognize the guy. He should recognize the guy. She he tries. He really tries to answer in a way that makes sense, "Well if I go to sleep I'll die, but the only way to not look like this forever is to sleep, so I have to stay awake. This normally involves horrible decisions on my part but I decided to be responsible and come here where they could administer some lovely ...whateverthehellitisinthisIV to keep me awake until they decide if it really is worse or not worse for me to sleep, but that's Alright, name's Croyd by the way and HOLY #@$@#$@ It's the DEA/CIA/MIB/Medical deliberery folks/Royal Mounties! Don't worry! I can help! They won't see us." And immediately shuts off any radio communications not coming from an official hospitally phone inside of the building. Probably doesn't help MUCH....but....
Andrea realizes the lights going out is not a good sign. She steps into the Ladies room and drops her outer clothers, so that she is in her UMF uniform. She stretches under the door and looks around. Seeing Iceman headed outside, someone she recognizes, she follows him.
Stepping outside, she sees the men with solation suits and strange weapons. She wonders what kind of weapons they are, if they are flame throwers she might ne in trouble...
Joseph 's hand is half-way to taking the pretzel when the lights are shut off and he curses his luck. Not even a routine visit to the doctor can be normal for him anymore. Still, he shouldn't lament his lot right now. The thought of anyone targeting a clinic- where people are at their most vulnerable- is utterly detestable. His identity and privacy be damned, these people are in very real danger! Maybe it was a good thing he came here when he did. And maybe he can prove his good intent yet.
Spinning around on his heel, Joseph faces the people wearing their isolation suits and raises his hands, betting on those weapons being composed primarily of metal. At least some component of those strange suits might be if not... It's time to put his powers to use again. He tries to shove the U-Men out of the clinic forcefully, through the doors and windows!
Hank Pymis focused on Croyd at first, and walks over under him, next to Dr. Phyisque. "Do you need help getting down?" he wonders, spreading his hands as if somehow expecting to catch the ceiling-crawling Croyd. "Wait, wait-- you're dying? What happened, maybe I can hel--" But the lights blinking out interrupts that train of thought. As the backup whirrs to life he gives the physician a surprised look. "..Hiccups with the new build-ing..?" he trails off, noticing the suited armed men rushing the clinic. Oh.. oh. That's..not good, is it?
'The first thing the Five-in-One do is scan every mind they can reach who is not a U-Man, including the staff. If they have no offensive abilities or powers then they are ordered to evacuate into the restrooms and to lock the doors when the last of them are there. If they are somehow part of all this then they are ordered to stay. They'll pay for their crimes along with the U-Men.
The poor pyrotechnic boy, Patrick is given an order by just Sophie's mind |"Patrick, it's Sofie. I want you to use your fire and burn their suits! Then keep your head down and don't let them take you. They will do horrible things if they take you."|
after that, anyone marked as a potential allied combatant suddenly hears all five of the girls melodious telepathic voices |"If you are hearing us, then we have marked you as an ally against this threat. We are the Five-in-One, other introductions must wait. These are the U-Men, religious fanatics who wish to harvest the super-powered body parts and organs of mutants and metahumans to graft to themselves. They are evil. They must be stopped"|
Then the girls turned their bodies into diamond, leaving their brains flesh as to be able to access their telepathy to keep things coordinated. But they knew all too well that the U-Men would not be vulnerable to their telepathic powers.
The U-Men do have metal in their suits and weapons but not nearly as much as there should be. There's a lot of plastics. Test runs of new equipment it seems. Several are knocked back by Joseph's attack but others are caught by thier fellow criminals and held up. Patrick nods to Sophie. "I'm not very good," he warns. He's not letting it stop him though. He stands, arms erupting in flames. He takes a deep breath and sends the flames at some of the U-Men. The suits are pretty durable so it'll take a little more to get through them. Doctors and Clinic staff seem just as confused as everyone else, quickly shepherding scared patients to safety. Dr. Physique is surprisingly calm, this not her first taste of battle.
Iceman scowls as the fighting begins, firing off blasts of ice and snow at U-Men to knock them back. "These guys are seriously messed up!" he calls after hearing the telepathic information.
The attacks and the lack of radio-contact don't seem to bother the suited men much. They take up firing positions and open fire with those strange guns. It's not bullets or energy blasts that are launched. No, it's strange darts attached to cables. Everyone in sight is targeted and the needles on those darts are pretty dangerous. Diamond tipped so even Andrea will feel the sting if she gets hit. The U-Men are even targeting Hank and Croyd. Patrick gets nailed in the chest by two of the darts. He staggers and tries to pull the darts out only to make a startled noise. Those darts aren't injecting anything. They're siphoning blood out.
Croyd drops like a lightning stone and begins to weave in and out of the u men, reversing gravity to send many to the ceiling only to crash to the floor seconds later. A few get it two times. Croyd has enhanced agilility in this form so dodges but the poor iv is hit.
Andrea hears the call from "Five in One", which tells her it is seriously time to stop playing around. The Dart pierces Andrea's skin almost as easily as anyone else's, Andrea can be hurt by piercing weapons, but fortunately the liquid she has that serves as blood in this form is nearly as thick as rubber cement, it can not flow up the tube.
Andrea transforms her hands into blades and her legs into a giant spring. She starts bouncing around cutting the lines from the weapons
Joseph yanks the three darts that landed right out and starts trying to rearrange everything metal he can summon nearby to make a barrier between the U-Men and the people in the clinic not participating in the fight. For as calm as his demeanor is on the outside, still focused and helping however he can smoothly, he's almost running on sheer panic inside. Religious fanatics that append metahuman parts onto themselves?! He's an ally to those diamond pyschic girls now?? They're using siphon darts to collect blood?! Was his life always this chaotic?! Just what on earth is going on?!
Pym gasps when the guns start firing. He shrinks down to ant-size to avoid the dart cables, though the abruptness staggers him. The surprising chorus in his head sounded like they knew what was going on, though. For now he'll follow their lead. His now disproportionate strength lets him leap forward into the midst of the suited assailants.. grafting parts? Siphoning blood? These people are horrific, but they must know what they're doing.. he's still dizzy, but he can at least jumps up on one of the cables connecting to the suits to look it over.. is..the blood going into the guns or the people??
The Five-in-One focus Patrick's mind so that he can use his powers a bit better than he's used to be able to. His powers are going to come in handy for this and his mind is one of the weakest her so rather simple to force in the right directions for the massive telepathic powers of the Cuckoos.
All the girls nod at once and each one splits from the group, and heads to a U-Man, their diamond form should protect them from any harm as they are going to yank the hoods of their isolation suits off one at a time. If these are really U-Men and not just pretenders then being exposed to the 'natural world' before their 'rebirth' should shock them enough to put them out of the fight.
|"We are unaware of the current tactics they are using"| the Cuckoos thought to those fighting with them |"They usually use scapel launching weaponry. Beware they may have other tricks up their sleeves. And keep your eyes the rooms of the clinic, they are psychically shielded for some reason."|
When Iceman's hit by the needles they seem to stall out. The guy is made of solid ice right now, no liquid to suck up. He grabs the cables attached to those darts and freezes them. The cold travels along the cable and ends up frosting over the guns as well which Iceman quickly shatters. "So we're fighting vampires? Where's a priest when ya need one? Could be Holy Iceman again," he jokes, recalling a conversation he had with the priest friend of Vorpal's that was in their anti-Stryker PSA. And while those darts get stuck in the icy mutant and PLINK off the 5-in-1...leaving little scratches at the worst...others hit aren't as lucky. Blood is drawn, even andrea's cementy fluids are eventually pulled along even if they're not getting nearly as much as they would have liked. Up close and personal, Hank goes unnoticed but he'll be able to see some of the mechanisms of the weapons. The fluids drained are pulled through the cables and into the guns. Attached to the guns are more cables that lead to the suits and it appears the fluids are being fed into those suits. It's impossible to tell if the blood is going into the person wearing the suit or somewhere else though.
Whover these guys are, they're trained but it's not giving them too big an edge. Lines are cut but quickly ejected from the weapons as they're reloaded. Croyd's 'worst bounce house in the world' is not much fun for the U-Men. Smashed against ceiling and floor, their suits are cracking and letting out pressurized air. And in come cases, a lot of pained noises. Joseph's barrier provides a nice roadblock and the U-men start banging on it trying to get through since their weapons aren't helpful against it. Judging by the fact that some of the U-Men are going around the building and any psychic check ins the Cuckoos might do with the people they've spurred on to fight, there's some more fighting going on in the back of the bulding. Apparently some U-men got in.
Patrick's flames, focused with Sophie's help, are eventually showing progress. Parts of the U-Men suits are melting, forcing them to fall back towards the trucks. Uninjured U-men are doing the same but the uninjured ones return a few moments later to fire again. The U-Men fight to keep their hoods on, striking at the girls with fists and weapon alike. But once the hoods come off...so does the psychic shielding on those particular men. And while someone or something sloppily implanted a psychic suggestion that these guys are to act like and think they are U-Men...they aren't. Fakes.
Andrea anchors herself by turning her feet into claws and sinking them into the earth. She stretcher her arma and hardens them, fillinthe spaces inside with compressed air, and she spins her body rapidly in place, srtiking several of he U-men hard with her elongated arms.
Joseph , unaware of the fighting going on in the back of the building, puts his efforts into disarming and/or immobilizing the ones in front of him as quickly as possible. One by one, he uses the smallest amount of metal he can find in their weapons and tries to either dismantle it, yank it out of its holder's grip, or throw the gun and its wielder out the door if they have a persistent hold.
The room at least stops spinning so badly for the tiny Pym..and it's a good thing, as he ends up having to jump from U-man to U-man to avoid getting thrown up on the ceiling as well. He doesn't know why they're collecting blood, or for what purpose, but it looks like the others are keeping them back from the main clinic. He isn't a highly trained fighter, though he's learning..but maybe he can help out in another way. He jumps past the assumed U-men towards the vans... Unless their armor is -very- thorough, he finds a seam and slips into the workings of one of them, and starts working on disabling it's ability to actually move. With any luck, the criminals will pile back in, and then be trapped there when the driver realizes the running van won't actually go anywhere.
"We've been tricked, these aren't U-Men," the five girls all said at once annoyance in their voice, "What is Sublime up to!?"
|"Our allies please keep these imposter U-Men busy. Now that some have been dehooded, we can do a more invasive telepathic probe. Mr. Drake, there is more fighting going on in the back of the building but our powers can not penetrate the shielding to determine what is going on. Please investigate. The patients must be protected."|
Even in their diamond form the eyes of the Cuckoos begin to glow as they focus all their telepathic power into the memories of one of the men. The diamond of their form refracting the light through out their entire bodies. Two of the sisters hold on of these fake U-Men by his arms while the other three touch his head with their hands. "Now little man," all the girls say at once only to finish telepathically in his head |"Show us your secrets!"|
They were not going to be gentle with this probe, they were willing to fry the man's brain if it got them the information they desired.
The trucks are armored but there's space enough for Hank to get inside. He might notice along the way to disabling their ability to drive that the trucks have some hidden weapons. Missiles in fact. More furious than fast. It won't be too hard to disable the trucks, it's just a little messy.
Patrick's sticking close to the girls, watching their backs...and occasionally sneaking glances at them. Teenage boy, even in a life threatening situation...hormones. But eventually his flams just...stop and end up puffs of smoke. Patrick's looking a little more pale and now more nervous. "Uh oh," he yelps. Yep, outta fuel. "What's a Sublime?" he asks as he watches the psychic probe. The man struggles but he doesn't seem to have much chance. And there's not much keeping those girls out. Beyond the sloppy psychic 'U-men' act, it's revealed the men are all mercenaries. Several days ago they were contacted by an unnammed employee and paid a significant sum of money for this job. They were given gear and orders to attack any mutants and metas they could find with the provided weapons. Their mission also included stealing all the blood and blood samples stored in the clinic as well as it's computer data. Shortly after being given the mission, their employer...a man that none of them even saw...used telepathic abilities to implant the U-men act into their minds. Creepy.
As Andrea goes all carnival ride, she clips several of the men thrown by Joseph as well as those close to her. U-men are sent flying, more retreating and some dragging injured comrades away. Those fighting Joseph are doing worse as wepons and suits are broken open and others get thrown clear out of the building.
"Damn, on it!" Iceman calls taking to one of his ice slides to go up and over the building. Before he can even get there, something gets launched into the air from that back alley. A rocket of some kind that goes up and into the sky. Two more are being prepared in the front, one from each truck. After some preparations, they're launched one after the other in the same direction as the one from behind the building.
Croyd was originally stunned, and almost fell unconscious but his paranoia against sleep rpuses him one more time and he skips up, standing instantly and runs after those fleeing sending them flying and landing painfully when he gets near.
Still anchored, Andrea starts stretching to reach others of the fake U-men and brings them back forcefully, to that she is soon surrounded by a growing pile of unconscious figures.
The flare of light from the rockets taking off outside catches Joseph's attention? "What was that..?" he asks quietly.. but even before he waits for an answer, he's rushing outside. Missles?? Where are they even going? Extending a hand out to one, he attempts grabbing hold of it before it goes out of range.
Hank Pym hears the telepathic update as he works..he's not Mr. Drake, but he can at least help get some eyes watching the back of the building.. he pauses in his sabotage to get out and put on his helmet. With it he contacts insects in the nearby area, and asks them to scout around the building, and report back to him what they see. That done, he returns his attention to---wait, are those...missiles?? He looks for some way to take those out ASAP.
"Don't worry about it Patrick, it happens to all boys, I promise." Sophie said with a small grin before responding to Patrick's query, "John Sublime, is a very evil man to say the very least. He is involved in turning innocent mutants into weapons as well as creating drugs that damage the mutant and metahumans gene. We have... issues with him. Regardless,"
They let go of the used up fake U-Men, "This one's empty now." They said in unison, "And not much information at that. Pity."
The the rocket goes off. Out of instinct the girls drop to the ground, besides their dresses have been ruined enough for one day, there is only so much tiny rips and runs that they would tolerate before "alt" became "garbage."
<These are not U-Men, they are just mercenaries programmed to believe they are. They've come for blood samples and the computer files. They don't know why. They don't even know who they are working for.>
Behind the building is a bit of a mess. The few mutants and metas that could fight, have fought and several are hurt. They did damage to the U-Men though, a couple unconscios. Iceman's arrival turns the tide though, the X-man creating icy walls and driving the U-Men away with frigid blasts. "Seriously, guys. You're all wearing the same thing? Aren't you embarrassed? I mean what will the tabloids say?" he quips as he fights.
Back out front, several U-Men are yanked back but others are piling into the trucks. Of course once they realize those trucks aren't going anywhere, they're bailing and running for it on foot. Inside the trucks, the missiles are complex but to a scientific mind like Hank they shouldn't be too difficult to disarm. Just don't cut the red wire, Hank! It's always the blue one. Each truck has four missiles for him to deal with so it should keep him occupied.
Patrick turns crimson and frowns at Sophie. "I skipped lunch," he mutters. Yes, his fire powers are food fueled apparently. He looks down at the merc the girls dropped and gives him a kick just to make sure he isn't getting back up. Out of the three rockets launched, Joseph is able to grab one with his power. Should he drag it back down, he'll be able to see it's a remote controlled drone. And cracking open a refrigerated compartment inside it's body will reveal vial after vial of blood. Seems the U-men were sending the stolen fluid somewhere else...
Andrea sees the missiles launching and reaches out to grab them. She can not hold them very long, those rocket exhausts are hot, but she can turn them so they smash into each other when she lets go...
Joseph 's hand clenches into a fist- though he spots Andrea's heroics. "..Guess I should have done that. It's a good thing you did, though." He holds up the vials within. "They were going to use it elsewhere." He drops the vials and steps on them, making sure no one can make use of their contents. He'll have to find someone who can disassemble the rocket and maybe figure out where it was headed. For now, he needs to see if there's anyone else in need of help!
Hank Pymhears the crashes and explosions outside, and also that the suited men have realized the vans are stopped. He works furiously on the missiles, and if he manages to get them disabled in time he drops to the street under the van, and starts growing.. and growing..intending to reach giant size and tip up the van on it's rear doors to trap any criminals that were still in the back inside. Even if he's too late to catch any, he can at least see what's going on outside the innards of the van.
|"Excuse you, Mr. Drake!"| The girls telepathically send to Bobby about his quip towards the U-Men. They were wearing all the same thing and they looked absolutely fabulous! What did he know about fashion anyways.
The girls looked at the moping up of things and realized that they had little more they could do. Their telepathy didn't affect missiles and there was nothing else to punch really hard in diamond form. Keeping the allies coordinated was the best they could do. Though they did start to reach out to other minds to do a quick and dirty causality report.
By the time Andrea's stretching, the remaining two rockets are far out of reach. Wherever they're going, they're going to get there. At least there's the one Joseph caught. It keeps trying to get away from him too, likely to keep going until the fuel runs out. The scattering 'U-Men- scatter a lot faster when Hank goes giant and van-tipping. There's a nice pile of caught U-men to hand over to the cops...and likely the hospital in some cases. As the fighting dies down, the people inside the clinic are getting to work. Despite damage and chaos, they're doctors trying to help patch up dart wounds and help anyone reeling from blood loss.
A message comes from Bobby after that telepathic message. |"You make it work though. These guys, not so much."|
For now it looks like clean up and recovery is all that's left. But one thing is for sure...there's definitely more going on than just an attack by fake U-Men.
Andrea decides that things are pretty much under control, though she hopes that she managed to cur most of the tubes before they got a sample from her and others. In the mean time, unless they are closing the clinic for the day, she still has a doctor appointment to keep.
Joseph stares at Hank in bewilderment for a moment- until he blinks in recognition. "Aren't you the fellow I met on the helicarrier?" He holds up the sputtering rocket with his magnetism. "I think I got something you might be interested in." Hank Pym scoots the van up against the wall of the building so the men inside aren't likely to be able to tip it. He blinks, recognizing Joseph now that he looks at him. "Oh..! Yes, yes I am. What's..." he frowns, "Were there blood samples in there?" he asks, recognizing the nature of the open compartment. He shrinks back down to a normal size as he looks it over. Is the compartment air-sealed? And how were the vials secured? That is, is it reasonable to assume if this thing got where it was going, it would land relatively gently?
The Five-in-One slowly restore their bodies to normal flesh and blood and send out a telepathic message |"Thank you to all who helped. We apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused to your day."|
They went to Dr. Pym and said in perfect melodious unison, "If you require any help analyzing the technology our the motives the resources of ourselves and the Academy of Tomorrow are at your disposal."
They then look at Joseph, he seemed familiar to them some how, "And to you as well Mr. Joseph, we happened to over hear your desire for a safe location to train your abilities. The Academy of Tomorrow has the latest facilities made by Tony Stark himself.
The clinic won't be closed but they're likely to be pretty busy. Andrea's appointment might get delayed a couple hours. The rocket meanwhile looks fairly high tech. The compartment that held the vials was refrigerated and had the vials secured in mostly broken straps. The rocket is designed to land mostly gently but judging by the defenses on the compartment, they expected a crash.
Andrea puts back on her street clothes and gets back to her homework. She brought enough to keep her busy.
Joseph stammers at the Cuckoos' offer. They mustn't know who he is... For that matter, once they did know, things would get very awkward fast. Still, he does need a place to learn... and who knows? Maybe they'll give him a chance even if they did learn his past. "I.. I will certainly consider the offer!"
Hank Pym looks the rocket over. He hesitates a moment, wondering to Joseph, "Do you think you can keep it running but here for much longer..?" leaning to look in the compartment with a pensive look.
The Cuckoos didn't know who Joseph is, they just recognize him slightly based on encounters they had, had with a certain someone. As well as Emma encounters with that same person, "We understand the hesitation to be certain. But we can assure you it is a place of safety where no questions will be asked. It was for us when we first arrived on its doorstep with no memory of who we were save our names."
They then glance over to Hank, "Doctor Pym, that seems like a rather rash and dangerous idea you are having there. And that is coming from a set of girls who tried to kill themselves on a possibility their powers 'might' be used as a weapon to kill their friends."
The rocket's still buzzing and trying to get away. Iceman meanwhile finally comes back around to the front, sliding over to the others. He makes a face when he steps in a blood puddle and then looks to the rocket. After deciding that science isn't his thing, he shrugs. "Everyone okay up here?"
Joseph keeps the rocket hovering close, but aimed up should it escape him somehow. "There's a 50 chance I destroyed my blood samples before they got a hold of them. I'm really, really hoping I did. Otherwise..." He looks about at the carnage around the clinic. "I'm starting to wish I knew anything about first aid. I'm all right, though. What about you?"
Hank Pymturns to the group of girls, expression first startled, and then a little sheepish. "I don't have anything else to track it with on hand.." he explains, but then exhales.. "Maybe you're right though. Uh, Joseph, isn't it..? I'm going to try to disable it for now.." good thing he carries some basic tools with him as habit. As he starts working, he keeps an eye out for any systems that might cause it to self destruct-- say, if it runs out of fuel or something. He adds distractedly to Iceman, "Thanks, I'm okay."
The Five-in-One nod all at once at Doctor Pym, "That would be the better solution. If the rocket was going to a specific drop down point it will more than likely have a guidance system in it of some variety. Perhaps that will lead to some clues."
One of the girls alone (not Sophie) turned to Bobby and said, "While you're humor is awful you did rather well being lead around by the nose. What are you doing tonight?"
Sophie then turned to the other sister, "Esme! For once, just stop it."
Thankfully there aren't any self destruct systems. But once the rocket's systems register it's being tinkered with, it shuts down.
Bobby waves off the concern and grins. "Dude, didn't you see me save like...all of China? It'll take more than these goofs to take me down," he laughs. And then Esme is asking him out. Bobby stares for a moment, remembering how he flirted with Emma and almost asked her out...then learned the Professor and Emma were a couple in the past...and now a girl that looks like mini-Emma is asking him out. "Sorry just...no. No on so many levels."
Patrick meanwhile has calmed down and gotten bandaged. And he's nervously approaching Sophie. "Umm...excuse me?" he chirps. Seems like he's going to ask Sophie out.
Joseph looks to Hank. "If there's anything I can do besides hold it, let me know."
Hank Pym answers the cuckoos, "Hopefully, though there are ways to get around that-- but I'll be sure to give it a thorough going over once it's--" that's about when it reactively shuts down. Hank tchs! If there's any sort of hard storage visible, he tries to yank it, or ask Joseph to possibly, before something inside might try to fry it. But if all it did is shut down, he worries it's destination data might have been RAM stored..and thus lost when the power is. He seems oblivious to the mutant speed-dating going on to one side.
Sophie smiled a the boy knowing exactly what was coming next, "Patrick. While I am flattered for what you are about to ask. There are three things you should know, darling. One, a date with a telepath when you are a teenage boy, just think of ever accidental perverted thing you've thought of just today and then imagine I'm wearing a tight, short, cleavage baring leather dress and how much worse that would be for me to hear it. Two, me and my sisters are permanently and always linked together through a telepathic hive mind. What I experience, they experience. It would be like dating all five of us at once, and one of us is gay. Three, well honestly one and two are plenty aren't they."
Sophie reached into her purse and pulled out a card, "But here, think about it and call this number. If you dare." She flashed him a predatory smile yes they were certainly Emma's girls.
There's no storage immediately visible but there's nothing trying to fry things either. The power supply fried itself so it'll need a new one before anything can be gotten out of the rocket's systems.
Patrick stares, clearly intimidated. He takes the card though, nodding and mumbling a thanks before walking back into the clinic to debate whether or not he dares.
Hank Pym shakes his head a bit. "..Well, it looks like it's done everything it's going to. I'll take this if you don't mind..?" He only now notices the others are mostly paying attention to one another.
Sophie reaches out and takes another card from one of her sisters, "Of course you can have it Doctor Pym," she hands the card to him it has their cellphone numbers on it listed by the names, "But we do request that you keep us in the loop. We have a particular hatred for the U-Men and the man who has set them up. We'd would like to do all we can to help in finding out where these samples went."
"I'm good but uh," Iceman reaches for the bandana around his arm and carefully pulls a card with a phone number out. "Gimme a call if you find anything?" he asks, handing the card to Hank.
Hank Pym takes both cards, shifting the rocket to one arm so he can put them in his pocket. He nods. "Of course. I, ah, I just switched positions, I don't have any cards yet, but I can give you my number too?" he glances back to the clinic, reflecting what sort of person it would take to stage such an attack. The five identical girls all smile and say, "Don't worry Doctor Pym, we already know it. You were thinking it as we handed you the card."
Sophie then nods slightly and then looks to Bobby, "Mr. Drake it was a pleasure to meet you, and you as well Joseph, and of course Doctor Pym. But our clothes are ruined and we need to go by new ones. Do please keep us in mind when answers start to come."
"Sure, what's the number?" Bobby asks, fishing his phone out of the bandana as well. See, that's why he wears it...it has stuff. He'll plug the number into his contacts. He offers a wave to the girls and after all the numbers are exchanged, he'll go help out however he can in the clinic.