| Nurses with Rayguns | |||||
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| What: A Sidri invasion is foiled | |||||
Cir-El is solar powered, the problem is, Metropolis is not always the sunniest city in the world. In fact, though it is not quite as bad as Gotham just across the bay, it is often foggy and clouds are not unknown. Thus, given the need for some recharging and the forecast, she headed north to a sunny place and is currently lying on the beach in a bikini. That is when she sees a streak of light heading towards the opposite side of the lake. Her Eyesight is not as good as her pure Kryptonian relatives, but she thinks it is something that looks like a large manta ray.
A flash of gold.
In the blink of an eye, a beam of light lances down from outer space to strike the ground near the lake in Westchester - leaving a few startled pedestrians in its wake as the beam fades. A man in a spacesuit of red and gold (that looks like something out of a 1950s comic - complete with bubble-helmet) hovers mid air in the space left by the teleport-beam. He touches a finger from his right hand to the gauntlet on his left, and a hard-light Heads-Up Display materializes in front of him. The spaceman frowns, and shakes his head.
"Alright, I'm here," he tells someone on the other end of the communications-line. "This is where the signal ends, are you s--" he pauses.
The spaceman finds himself hovering not far from other onlookers - including a young girl (Cir-El) - staring in the same direction at the manta-ray ship. "I... think I'd better call you back," Strange says as his arms drop to his sides. He fires up his jetpack to bring himself a bit closer. "Seen anything like it before?" he asks of no one in particular in a deep, British accent. "That thing looks almost... alive?"
The silver form of the Seeker appears, cutting swiftly and smoothly through the sky, even as the object comes into view. Aboard, Dyson is at the helm, already geared up in his armor. He activates a control on his HUD, and speakers outside his craft broadcast:
"I sense an unusual mind--more likely, a network of minds--aboard that vessel. They have refused telepathic contact, but I perceive a clear intent of hostility--and hunger."
He rises, keying in an autopilot sequence, and then opens the hatch of his vehicle. A moment later, he steps out into the air, white cloak whipping freely in the wind.
Cir-El says to the others on the beach, "You people better get out of here, hostile aliens might think you are food. Let the professionals handle this." She has momentarily forgotten she is dressed in a black bikini at the moment instead of her costume...
To the man in the odd spacesuit, "Closest thing I ever have seen was a Durlan Link-ship in the records of the Invasion when they attacked Australia."
Cir-El recognized Dyson and the Seeker from her arrival, he had saved her life, and the world from her. She says, "Good to see you again Dyson, it has been what, two weeks since we met?" A kind of busy two weeks for her...
"That's funny; you don't look like an expert in alien cultures," the spaceman replies brightly. He smirks within his helmet. "Then again, I've been wrong before. Once or twice."
He frowns and glances at the crowd. "Invasion... swell. Just swell." The man rockets a little closer to the largest group of onlookers and holds up an arm: a large holographic image displaying SHIELD credentials appears in the air above his head. It lists his name, 'Doctor Adam Strange', and occupation, 'Xeno-Archaeologist with SHIELD. "You heard the young lady, folks - scoot! Preferably in that direction!" He points in the opposite direction to the alien ship, as people start to go. With his other hand he motions toward the ship and runs a diagnostic scan.
"I'm not getting much," he tells someone via his comlink. "It's organic technology, and blocking my scans. I'm going to have to get closer..." The man's voice trails off as he notices the other ship in the area, and the emergence of its pilot - Dyson. "Friendly, I hope!" he mutters and looks at both Dyson and Cir-El. "Doctor Strange, at your service." Peering at Cir-El, he adds: "Shouldn't... you be leaving too, Miss?"
"I recommend containment protocols," Dyson says, his armor amplifying his voice enough to be easily heard by those nearby. Above, the Seeker departs to a safe distance and begins broadcasting warnings to any aircraft in the vicinity to stay clear of this airspace. Dyson, meanwhile, begins to ascend toward the rapidly descending alien ship. "It's plausible," he declares in the amplified voice, "That I lack the firepower to engage this threat effectively. "Their physical abilities remain unknown to me, but I will attempt to gauge their psychic threat level."
Cir-El frowns and looks at herself, then realizes what she is wearing. She comments, "No, but it is time I get dressed for the occasion." She seems to blur for a second as she moves at super speed to take her folded costume out of her beach bag and puts it on. When the blur fades she stand dressed as Superlass.
The ship is rapidly descending to the north side of the lake. It seems likely that they elected to land here because fresh water is in fairly short supply in outer space, taking on water is likely a high priority for any freshly landing ship.
As he gets closer, Dyson can make out more details. There appears to be two grasping appendages and a large eye-like structure on the bottom side of the ship. He realizes that, while possibly intelligent, the creature or creatures (he is not sure which) are so alien to him he is mostly limited to sensing things like basic drives.
"...I realize that, but if I don't go in then this whole... trip across the galaxy has been for nothing. Alright? Thank you."
Adam Strange shakes his head ruefully and does a 'double-take' when he belatedly notices that the girl in the bikini has... transformed. "Not bad, kid..." he murmurs with a smirk, then he shifts his attention to the departing Dyson. "If you have the means, I'll be transmitting what I - and... he's already gone." He looks back at Cir-El.
"Wish me luck." Without actually waiting for any well-wishes, the spaceman/rocketeer blasts up and away from the ground - 'loops-the-loop' in the air above Cir-El, and heads straight for the alien vessel after Dyson. "Set all scanners to maximum," he instructs his suit and he shifts trajectory to pass underneath the vessel... "Research log: in accordance with other available records, the vessel has not responded to any attempts at communication...I'm not getting paid enough to - hang on... It's firing!!"
By this time, some of the more reluctant onlookers gasp as a beam of coruscating red energy lances out from the manta-shaped vessel, narrowly missing the spaceman, as another beam is fired at Dyson. People turn and run... as a group of cyclists round a bend on a course for the ship.
Dyson, who had been waiting for the attack, is able to spin sharply to one side, pinwheeling away from the blast. "Hostile intent confirmed. Taking fire," he broadcasts aloud and over several common radio frequencies, including the police band. Obviously Cir-El and Adam know this, but one hopes the authorities are also listening in. He taps a module on his belt, which detaches in his gauntleted hand. He flings this gleaming pod toward the alien craft, guiding it telekinetically to attach to the hull.
Cir-El knows her priorities, get the civilians clear, then stop the aliens. She has one difficulty with rescuing people, she can only accelerate them so fast without hurting them. That, and she only has two hands. She runs at super speed up the trail and grabs the first cyclist, bicycle and all, and deposits him a mile away before returning for the next. In case they are racing or something, she tries to put them back the same distance apart. It takes about a second each bicycle, so she is busy a short time.
The device touches the ship, with a strange effect. The section of ship breaks off, and the entire ship suddenly falls apart into hundreds of creatures that look like a cross between a crab and a spider, but with only one eye each. These fall to the ground immediately, but seem unharmed by the fall.
"Takes me back to my World War VI days... different planet, though..." Adam Strange mutters as he ducks down through some trees below the 'ship', and he flips onto his back to get a better look straight up at the monstrosity above him. He spots Dyson's projectile as it is fired, mouth-shrugs, and suddenly gapes as the 'ship' comes apart. "Now that's a new development!" he mutters as he swerves around another tree and raises his raygun.
He fires.
The blast is large for just a hand-gun, but does little in the way of damage as the 'pieces' of the techno-organic vessel fall past him to the ground. He blinks. A shudder passes through his body and he narrowly avoids colliding with a public amenities building. "Spiders!" he gasps, having sudden trouble breathing.
"You. Didn't. Tell. Me. They. Were. SPIDERS!!!!"
Several of the creatures head in Strange's direction, even as others attempt to converge on Dyson. Strange fires rapidly at them, his movements highly erratic - and he fires up his jetpack to put some distance between himself and the descending swarm. "Spiders! Bloody spiders! I'm getting too old for this sh--" and he shoots at several others. "Need a new plan..." Instead of pressing his attack, the archaeologist/rocketeer heads for the nearest civilians to help move them away.
The pod attaches, and it begins to scan the creature its plugged onto, transmitting the information back to Dyson.
Dyson hesitates a moment, outwardly impassive in the face of this development. (Full helmets are so useful for masking expressions of surprise, though in his case, behind the mask, he pulls a Spock and just arches one eyebrow. He withholds comment, though, until the data begins to display for him. "Alive," he broadcasts, "A hybrid of carbon- and silicon-based life. Attempting to devise non-lethal containment measures." He taps another node on his belt, deploying a second pod into his hand, and then tosses it at the shore. Where it impacts, the pod begins to emit a thick particle fog. It should not cause harm, but this--Dyson hopes--may discourage them from advancing. If not, at least he'll learn something.
A beat later, he broadcasts, "Beginning psychic scan." He casts out his mental perceptions, seeking to determine what manner and level of intelligence is guiding the spider-crab aliens. Are they unintelligent servitors? Individually sentient? Hive-mind controlled?
The bicyclists are clear, as long as they do not turn round, that leaves...ugh a horde or two of bugs. Superlass rushes back to see if she can deal with them...or at least keep them contained. The first one she gets close to fires a force beam at her, that knocks her off her feet for a moment, but she braces herself against the pressure. She grunts, "You will have to do better than that!" as she braces herself and advances. Apparently the Sidri reaches the same conclusion, as it links together with others nearby to form a larger, semi-humanoid, Sidri.
Adam spots the bikers, suddenly well away from the ship and headed away, they should be out of trouble unless they turn around. There are still a few people near the lake. Looks like one guy is trying to get his boat back on his trailer. Someone dressed as a Nurse is seemingly setting up an emergency treatment center at the offices.
Dyson can tell it is a hive mind of some kind. He is not sure how intelligent the individual creatures are, but the collective mind has great power, it can probably defend itself against any direct attack. He can tell it has pretty basic priorities, including gather resources, reproduce, defend the hive.
When the Space Ranger lands on the ground, he leans forward - hands resting on his knees - trying to get his breathing under control.
"Send in the Cavalry," he tells the other person on his com-line. "Whatever SHIELD or SWORD personnel you can scramble..." He tries to stop hyperventilating. "...No. It's a hive. They're not IN the ship..." and he looks up at the swarm across the lake from him - as well as those still fighting off the Sidri, or getting civilians clear.
"They ARE the ship."
He pauses to listen for a moment, and blasts off the ground to head to the man struggling with his boat and trailer. Strange does not stop, but picks up the man - despite his complaints - and carries him back toward the emergency treatment center that is still in the processing of being set up. The Space Ranger lands, trying to ignore the man as he stares back at the swarm of aliens. Adam's face is... ashen.
Then he frowns, and starts butting the handle of his raygun against his helmet in as near an approximation of a 'facepalm' effect as he can manage. "There's got to be something I can do..." And instead of using his suit, he focuses his Rannian eyesight on the swarm, opening his mind to the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
It's a lot of information - not just from the swarm, but everything else. Radiation waves, radio signals, X-ray, infrared... "C'mon you blighters!" he snarls, suppressing a grimace. His eyes hurt. "Give me something besides a heart-attack..."
In fact, while everyone was fleeing, an ambulance drove up here from the city, sirens off to avoid attracting attention. Thankfully, the traffic was bad only in the other direction. The vehicle pulled up near the offices, and two people in nurse uniforms got out of it: the driver, a towering fridge-shaped man in a white coat and with a shaved round head who could conceivably work either as a psychiatric hospital warden or as a bouncer at a mad scientists' dance club, and, shotgun side, a leggy, tallish reddish-blonde-head young woman. They take a few steps away from the vehicle. The big man crosses his arms and, at the same time, the young woman clasps her hands behind her back. They stand still, and, for a few seconds, stare at the events unfolding before them: this huge spaceship breaking down in many smaller bits, and superheroes zipping about trying to deal with the emergency. "Yup, I think this is the right the place.", says the man, to which the woman replies, "Good job, Bear Nurse." "Thanks, Night. We'd better start setting up camp. Hopefully, it'll be just a precautionary measure, and we won't need to patch up anyone." "Ten dollars to the contrary.", says the woman, holding up a bill with her index and middle finger.
And cue to the present, where Bear Nurse and Night Nurse rush towards the man being brought to them, the former looking disgruntled and the latter pocketing what looks like two ten dollar bills. "What do we have here?", Night Nurse asks the Space Ranger, managing to hide the concern almost completely behind a professional voice.
A moment later, Dyson touches down beside Adam. "Greetings," the silver-armored one intones in his synth-modulated voice, no longer amplified for broadcast. "I fear that the hive-mind is too strong to engage lightly. I expect I could defeat them... eventually... but it would be a costly encounter. I'm going to employ an alternative technique, as it seems my smoke-screen did not deter them. Please continue to prioritize civilian safety, and if non-lethal measures fail, you may need to take point on something more destructive."
This said, Dyson falls silent. Raising one gauntleted hand to the temples of his helmet in a practiced gesture, he stretches out with his mind, beyond the tangible world and into the Astral Plane. There, invisible to physical senses, he begins constructing a barrier of pure thought--given psychic form but no actual substance. Any normal living creature could walk through it easily enough, but he's not attempting to stop that. Rather, he attunes this barrier to the very hive-mind that controls the spider-crab aliens, seeking to create a "bubble" of psychic energy that will prevent the hive from extending its control beyond a small, contained radius.
If he succeeds, then the control range on the spider-crab drones will be reduced to the immediate vicinity, perhaps a dozen or two meters. If nothing else, it would allow time for options.
Superlass slams the larger alien collective, smashing the central portion and causing the rest to revert to smaller aliens...but even as she does so several more form around her, these ones are heavily armored as the hive mind learns from the encounter...
Adam sees that these creatures are adapted to deep space, able to withstand the intense cold and lack of atmosphere indefinitely, but they are designed to absorb heat to keep from freezing in the depths of space, not dissipate it.
The man dropped off by the space-suited man is physically unharmed, but seems mad that his expensive boat is being left for the aliens to steal.
Creating the dome is a large working, and Dyson realizes it will not work perfectly, the first Sidri to step out of the dome will be acting in instinct, a basic hunt/defend mode, but any others that pass outside will form a second collective.
Strange blinks.
Firstly, to refocus his vision to something more manageable. Then, he blinks at the nurse who addressed him - whom he recognizes - and finally at the armored Dyson. A moment later, the Space Ranger's helmet completely retracts, leaving his sandy blond-haired (and somewhat rugged) face exposed as he stares at the nurse. "Night Nurse?" he asks before a roguish smirk crosses his features, dispelling (for the most part) the panic he is still trying to quell inside him. "Fancy meeting you here. You know, if you're not busy later...oh." and he shifts his attention to Dyson.
"Heat. The... things are vulnerable to heat. Overload them. There's some kind of central structure - a core. It's organic... in part. I can't get a clear reading from here, but if I can GET to it..." and he trails off whilst trying to track Cir-El's movements against the swarm. He swallows. "Girl's got spunk. Swell. Why did it have to be spiders..." Strange completely ignores the boat-owner, and half-wanders off a few steps, his head bowed in thought, brow creased, and with the barrel of his raygun tapping against his chin.
He looks at Dyson.
"Can we destroy the core?"
After a few moments of concentration, Dyson turns his helmet to look at Adam. He also spares the Night Nurse a polite nod in greeting. "It's no good," he says, the synth-modulated tones coming over flat, frustrated. "The hive-mind reforms like drops of water on the other side. All I can do is slow them down momentarily." He hesitates, considering the suggestion about heat. "Interesting. I'll have to ask how you knew that--but later."
He turns his head again to regard the swarming aliens. "I dislike the idea of killing them, but--if we cannot contain them, then destroying the core might help. However, I do not believe it would stop them. Their intelligence is a 'cloud' form. It reforms actively. Do you have a sense of their physical strength?"
As if seeking to answer his own question, Dyson extends one gauntleted hand toward the nearest alien. Unseen telekinetic forces reach out as well, seeking to ensnare and lift it, testing its power to see if he can immobilize the creature.
Linda Carter nods her head back to Dyson in greeting, while writing down something on her clipboard. She looks up again at Adam, and smirks back in recognition. "Doctor Strange, it has been some time!" She narrows her eyes at his face a bit, then looks down and resumes writing down on her clipboard. "Sounds like we have a temporary hematic deficiency, probably stress-induced. Which means you're either in the middle of fighting an alien menace, or working up the courage to talk to me again after all this time has drained you out.", says the nurse. Ignoring the protests of the boat owner who is still yelling, she puts down the pen and clipboard on a nearby table, and out of it, grabs a small plastic bottle of water, pops open a small tube of tablets, and, after unscrewing the cap of the bottle, she throw one tablet into the liquid, which starts fizzing. She turns to give Cir-El an approving nod while she wait for the reaction to stabilize, and comments, "The lass is good.", and then she turns to Dyson: "It always has to be things.", she says in his direction. "If life gives you lemons, there's a ninety percent chance you're allergic to lemons. And gifts.", she comments to Dyson. Careful not to place the cap back onto the bottle (you don't want it to explode... yet?), she hands the drink to Adam Strange. "Have some of this. It'll help either way."
Cir-El has excellent hearing, and so can hear Adam's remark about heat. Well heat she can so. She points her hands at the two nearest larger collectives and says, "Eat heat guys, try a Red Star Burst for size."
The Sidri are gathering water and any animals they can catch, some is being consumed on the spot, the rest is being carried to the core. The two Cir-El focuses on are reduced to ashes. The others start firing beams of energy back at her, fortunately her uniform hides the bruises so she can appear confident and unharmed.
Adam Strange watches the heat-blasts from the Kryptonian girl (not that he really knows she is Kryptonian), and smirks.
He barely notices the bottle of water handed to him by Carter, until he hears something of an ahem! and he snags it from her. Holstering his raygun, he takes several mouthfuls of the bottle, and then puts it down on the ground. "I'm fine, thanks, 'Night. Really. Bloody hell..." As the Space Ranger's helmet reforms around his head, he looks toward Dyson, and then at the telekinetically-grasped Sidri.
Twin hard-light cannons form around Strange's gauntlets and he fires them both at the alien's head. "I hate spiders," he mutters under his breath just as his jetpack flares to life and carries him up into the sky. With his 'holo-cannons' he fires across the sky in front of him, from right to left, hitting as many of the space-spiders as he can. "Bloody--uugh." The rocketeer looks down at Dyson, and then across at Cir-El. "I got an idea, God help me," and he briefly pulls out a spherical device from within a compartment on his belt.
His Zeta-Beamer.
The means to travel lightyears across the galaxy in the blink of an eye.
"I have to reach that core - any and all help would be appreciated. ...And therapy afterward." With that, he puts the teleport device back, extends his arms in front of him, and blasts toward the heart of the swarm - just as more of the creatures angle off to attack Cir-El, Dyson and others nearby.
Dyson observes first Cir-El's attack and then Adam's, and as he grasps their intent he gives a single, decisive nod. Dropping all his other mental projections, he raises both arms, hands aimed forward, and then pushes out a new wave of telekinetic force. This time its not an attack, but a tunnel of pure force--he's seeking to give Adam a clear path to his goal, using his mental powers to physically hold back the aliens from the space ranger.
"I will cover your approach," Dyson says, now broadcasting again as well as speaking aloud. Including Cir-El, he continues, "Cover fire would be helpful." And then, to Night Nurse, without broadcasting, "You may have an opportunity to examine alien wounded, if such a thing is of interest."
Linda Carter cups her hands in front of her mouth, "I'll make sure to reserve you a session with Bear Nurse!", she yells playfully at Doctor Strange, while Bear Nurse plays along by grinning mischievously and starting to crack his knuckles. "He hasn't cracked anyone's bones into place for a few days now, he's getting antsy!" At the mention of the chance to examine alien wounds, she manages an expression difficult to describe, 'excited grimace' is probably what comes closest. She watches the two superheroes blast off again with her hands on her hips, and after a few seconds of silence, since there are no wounded that need urgent attention, yet, she shakes her head with a smile, picks up the discarded bottle, and turns the other way to face Bear Nurse. "Looks like Doctor Strange is going to perform one of his famous xeno-core-octomies. This is going to be good." What she gets in response is a bit of thoughtful silence, followed by a grunt. "Oh, fine!", she says, rolling her eyes and rummaging into her pocket. "Here are the twenty bucks." After the bills exchange hands, and both nurses have turned to watch the scene, standing side to side, Linda squints sideways to her colleague. "...for now. The day is not over, yet- WILL YOU CUT IT OUT? There's Earth at stake, here!", she yells, and the vocal boat owner is silenced. For now.
Cir-El braces herself, this is going to be a lot of effort. She can combine her powers, and does...aiming and firing at over twenty aliens faster than a normal human could get off one shot. What she does not say is what it costs her, her Red Sun Burst is her most expensive power, in terms ofher solar energy reserves, if she keeps it up long enough it will weaken her...eventually leaving her powerless.
The telekinetic tube keeps the aliens off Adam, and Cir-El keeps most of the aliens off the tube so they do not break it down. Adam reaches the edge of the core. He could try placing his Zeta Beamer here, but logic says it should be placed as near the center as possible to get the whole thing.
Dyson notes that the hive mind has sensed he isa Threat. So far, it has Cir-El as most dangerous, but Adam as a closer threat to something important, so he is lower priority...but some of the spiders are looking his way...
"Aaaaaarrrrrggghhhhh...!!"
The 'battle-cry' from Adam Strange's lips grows louder the nearer he gets to the core... and sounds less and less like something to do with 'battle', and more to do with 'terror'. By the time he reaches the mass that still forms the 'heart' of the Sidri-swarm, his voice is hoarse. Having already stopped firing at the space-spiders, he quickly adjusts the settings on his hard-light cannons, and focuses tighter beams - like cutting lasers - on the semi-organic outer-substance of the mass.
"Just a few more seconds..." he grates through his teeth as chunks of the 'shell' fall away. When the lasers from his gauntlets have cut their way in far enough, a greenish light shines out from the opening, washing over Strange and any Sidri or others near him.
He flies inside.
Dyson is concentrating almost entirely on maintaining the tunnel of telekinetic force to protect Adam, so as the Sidri begin to approach him, the only action he takes is to broadcast over his armor's speakers, "Please keep well back! They may attack, and at present I can offer only limited defense." He does prepare a countermeasure, just in case, but it's hardly the most ideal solution--he'll have to hope that Adam can get the job done. Or that Cir-El comes to his own rescue! "You start with an incision of the first layer of epidermis in a rostro-caudal direction, along the coronal plane.", comments Linda, one index finger raising from her crossed-arms-position to point to Doctor Strange's lasers. A smirk. "Just like the old days." And a puzzled eyebrow quirk. "Except he didn't utter a battle cry at the time. Must be a new thing." She turns to take a look at Dyson for a moment, but then, her head snaps back to stare at Doctor Strange again. "Wait, he's going /in/? Is he /crazy/?!", and then, her wide eyes narrow in a wince. "Right. Doctor Strange alright." A head shake, a smirk. "Just like the old days."
Whatever the central core is made of, it must be radiation resistant, once it is cut open the area is flooded with Kryptonite radiation. Superlass is having trouble keeping her breakfast down as the nausea hits her, and immediately has her powers all reduced to a fraction of normal. The attacks of the larger collectives find her much easier to knock around and she fails to hit anything significant with a meaningful attack.
Adam sees that the center is built for zero gravity, with a spherical web anchored in all directions to a central core of glowing green rock. That is where his device needs to go. The thing is the egg masses webbed to every wall covered with what looks like millions of hand-sized spiders shooting tiny stinging bolts of power, and the half-dozen man-sized tenders who have been arranging food and water near the egg masses and are now turning their attention to the intruder.
Dyson feels the alarm of the collective as Adam enters the core, many of the Sidri turn to head for the core to stop the intruder, though about a third of them focus on him and the struggling Cir-El.
"I'm in my happy place. I'm in my happy place. I'm in my -- Goddamnit, I hate this place!!"
Whether or not anyone can hear him, Doctor Strange is bellowing with each blast he shoots at the different breeds of Sidri within the center of their space-faring home. For now, at least, his terror is channeled by anger - and the attacks against him splash off his hard-light shielding around his suit. He stops dead-center amid the green light all around him, and removes the Zeta-Beamer orb from his belt. A grimace passes over his face, as he deposits the sphere on the nearest surface, and continues firing at the larger Sidri that come too close. A warning light attracts his attention and he grimaces for the second time in as many minutes. Shields are almost out of power.
"Just a few more seconds...Bloody spiders!!" Strange fires rapidly at the oncoming swarm, shuddering as some of the smaller bugs crawl over his boots, and attempt to climb up his legs. "UGH! Happy. Place! You buggers!"
Dyson activates a control within his armor, and another pod drops from his belt. This one flickers, shimmers, and then begins to project a force-field around him and anyone within a few feet of him, hopefully enough to keep back the Sidri until Adam can complete his task. Meanwhile, Dyson's full mental strength remains focused on keeping a buffer of safe space around the space ranger, so none of the "bugs" are able to harm him.
Linda Carter clenches her fists around the binoculars she's using to look at the battle, Cir-El in particular, and makes an indistinct angry, frustrated utterance, before she puts the optical instrument down on the previously mentioned table. "It's moment like these that kill me. Here I am, stuck a lake away from a hero in need... and there is nothing, nothing I can do but sit and wait.", she vents, her arms moving around in frustration in the meantime. Bear Nurse just turns slowly to look at her with sleepy eyes. Linda squints back. "...yes. Yes. I know. Normally I don't really care for this kind of stuff. I'm happy to be who I am, and wouldn't like to be anyone else in the world. But in very, very, /very/ rare cases, like now..." she turns to gaze at the fight taking place far away, unable to hear much but indistinct battle sounds. "...I wish I could just, you know, fly there, and have enough strength to pick up a wounded hero, and..." Bear Nurse cocks his head the other way. Linda looks back, and the tension in her eyebrows is released. "...and if I was like that, I'd probably be battling the monster myself. And there would be nobody here to take care of them." Bear Nurse narrows his eyes in reprimand. "...except you." Night Nurse shudders. "Quite the scary thought." Bear Nurse smirks, walks back a few steps, and sits down on a stool. Night Nurse sighs, and does likewise: she sits at the table next to her colleague, and props up her chin with one hand, while gazing at the battle in the distance, without binoculars. "...has anyone ever told you that you really, really have a way with words?"
As far as Cir-El can recall, this is her first encounter with Kryptonite, it is just as unpleasant as she has always been warned. Still, she can master the Nausea to focus her powers, though those powers are getting weaker with every second of exposure to the nemesitic radiation. She thinks of something she was once told, about how Kryptonite works, but she will wait until she is weaker before trying to test the implications, they are a bit frightening. She manages to clear off a number of Sidri, though they are now leaving smoking bodies rather than ashes.
Adam places his device on the rock and turns to go. He hopes he set the timer for long enough to get clear, or he will be stuck out in space with a horde of hungry hatchlings and no place to retreat to.
Dyson's shield will protect him, for a time. So far he is not a big enough priority to warrant concentrated attacks.
It is clear that Cir-El is taking a beating, and Adam has not come out of the core yet...it is hard to tell about Dyson, as he is wearing armor. Still, if they survive, at least Superlass is going to need some help.
"Thank yoouuu, Dyson!" Strange exclaims as the other hero's force-field replaces his own, and he turns to leave.
Straight through a multi-formed 'super-sidri' that almost has his exit-tunnel completely covered. Strange tries not to throw up inside his helmet.
That would be... unfortunate.
Also, gross. "On my way out!" The Space Ranger triggers the Zeta-Beamer, closes his eyes, and blasts toward the larger Sidri-creature - hoping Dyson's energy field can protect him... He puts his arms in front of him, and uses the last of his gauntlets' power to fire continuously in front of himself... blindly, literally through the creatures blocking his path and out into the air of Westchester once more. A brilliant golden light fills the sky above the lake, and then elongates into a beam way out into the heavens - taking the bulk of the colony of Sidri with it.
Strange opens his eyes, and peers about through his arms that he has wrapped about his helmet, covering his face as he hovers over the emergency medical center. "Someone please tell me..." he mutters. "Are there any of the little buggers still on me?"
Linda Carter looks up from the laptop she's using to consult the medical database when the sky is pierced by the golden beam, she closes the database application she's consulting and slams the screen shut, and scrambles for the binoculars. Once she has them, she takes a closer look at the events, and when she sees Adam approaching, she rushes towards the figure. When he stops and hovers, she looks up, shielding her eyes with one hand, and lets out a sigh of relief. "A masterful excision, Doctor!", she yells, ecstatic, waving with her other hand. She breathes in and smiles between excitement or relief, waiting a couple of seconds with her lungs full before releasing her tension by exhaling. She looks more relaxed now, and casts a glance sideways to where the battle was, and then looks up at Adam again. "I'm not suturing that." A short bit later, after squinting harder and , "...I can give you two possible answers, Doctor. Do you want a 'no' or do you want the truth?"
The abrupt removal of the Kryptonite fixes her nausea problem, though she remains at about one tenth her normal potency. Well, one tenth her power is a lot more than most people ever get. Of course, there is the minor problem of the fact that, with the core gone, she is now the focus of almost all of the alien spiders in the area...
Adam is back out of the ship, and close to the medical center. Of course, he is not exactly comfortable with the Night Nurse's answer...
While not the focus of as much attention as Superlass, there are enough Sidri focusing their energies on Dyson to cause his field to start glowing and throwing off sparks as it comes close to collapse.
Clearly Linda cannot help Adam if he is hovering up there out of reach...
Strange's head comes up, and he glances down at Carter - his face aghast. In the next moment, he cuts power to the jetpack, and drops several feet to the turf - and instantly starts jiggling himself about in an attempt to shake off any remaining mini-Sidri. He continues this behavior for the next thirty seconds or so, and finally turns to face the Night Nurse.
"Are they gone? 'Night, seriously - I'm not joking. Are they gone? If there is even ONE of the blighters on my person I give you full authority to -- " and he pauses, holding out his raygun, grip-first, to the nurse. " -- it's for them, not me..." Strange glances behind him, partly in an effort to see if he is spider-free, and partly to catch sight of Dyson and Superlass. "Still clean-up to do...Where's the kid? She okay? And... where the hell is SHIELD?! I sent them a -- " Something twitches against his inner thigh and he stands stock-still.
Still holding out his raygun to Linda.
Refusing to look down.
Dyson pulls his telekinetic power in close just in time for the force field to collapse, now holding back the creatures with an energy field powered only by his own mind. As he does so, he spares a stray thought to key in a few commands by remote to the Seeker. The craft swoops in suddenly, dropping like a stone, and with a sudden kick of its repulsors it hovers just above the swarming mess of the Sidri. "With... regret..." he says, his vocalizer carrying the words to those nearby. Then he activates the control, and the Seeker opens the exhaust ports of its engines, venting superheated plasma right over the swarming aliens. It may damage his armor, but he's fairly sure Cir-El will come through unscathed...
Linda Carter hesitates at first, at the strangeness and suddenness of the request. "A weapon? Doctor, you know very well that I cannot-" And exactly at the same moment he stands stock-still, Linda stands there, gaping in shock with one fist close to her face, in one of those dramatic poses that would look great on the cover of a 1970s comic book. Yes. She sees the movement in the inner thigh. She grabs the gun, holds the grip in both her hands, barrel pointing down, closes her eyes, and mutters something like, "It's not a weapon. It's a medical instrument. Not weapon. Instrument.", and in a sudden, swift motion, she kneels over to place the barrel against the thigh, for extra stabilization, tip millimeters away from the beast, at an the angle such that the beam will end up impacting against the ground, and such that recoil would not cause any damage, if there is recoil at all (does this thing of energy weapon have recoil anyway?). Without thinking twice, or giving other people the time to think twice, she pulls the trigger, closing her eyes, being hurled back if there /is/, indeed, recoil. Her hair is definitely messed up by the operation, though, be it because of recoil, static energy, or both. She wipes rebel tufts away from her face, and adds, as if it was an afterthought, "...this might burn a little."
When the smoke clears...smoke because the Plasma set the underbrush on fire, it is clear the Aliens are gone from the area...though less clear if any have fled the vicinity. Superlass is still standing, though the visible skin on her face is red with small blisters, like a second degree sunburn, some of her hair looks a bit singed too.
Dyson is unharmed, though his armor will need some repairs...or at least cleaning.
Adam is glad he is wearing a space suit, as it only gets uncomfortably warm for him.
Linda sees that she only hit the small alien.
"My ap--ogies for that dra--ic act--n," Dyson says, though the speakers crackle and pop--clearly, he's taken a bit of damage. Rising into the air, somewhat wobbly, he says, "I will p--sue any p--sible escap-- ali--s." Moving swiftly through the air, he approaches the Seeker. As he draws near, its hatch opens to admit him, and the armored man vanishes inside, pausing to toss off a vague sketch of what might be a salute at the others. Then, the hatch seals, the Seeker rises swiftly away, and Dyson is gone, presumably following his mental senses to make sure all the aliens have been dealt with.
The Spaceman fainteth.
Well, almost.
Standing as he is - legs apart, hands outstretched as though frozen in mid-gesture of 'Oh please, God, no!' - he looks rather like a wax-work dummy of Doctor Adam Strange. Almost completely unmoving.
Well, except for the twitch in his left eye.
"You shot it... Bugger me, Night', you actually shot it..." He lets out a shuddering breath and swallows, letting his eyes fall closed for a moment as he wets his lips with his tongue and tries to talk some more. "I can't feel my -- never mind. I'll check later." A few more seconds pass and he holds out his hand to take his raygun back. The Space Ranger remains still, breathing in and out in a valiant attempt to calm himself down and actually enjoy the moment of victory -- Space-Spiders Invasion thwarted!
"You shot it," he murmurs again in disbelief once more. He frowns suddenly and finally starts to move about a little. "Where is the kid? The one with the really fast costume-change - she make it out okay...?" The man pauses. "...I just realised I'm stuck here..."
Linda Carter clambers up to a more dignified standing position, still having to move hair out of her face once again when done. "I... YOU TOLD ME TO!", the nurse snaps back in reply, still clutching the raygun in her right hand and gesticulating wildly in the direction of the lake."You gave me the authority and-" Her head jerks rightwards as she feel a pressure on her hand. It's Bear Nurse, slowly, but determinately, pushing down her right hand in an arc, to make the gun point to the ground, again. He clicks his tongue and shakes his head in disapproval. "...right. Sorry. Must be careful with possibly loaded medical instruments." She looks back to Adam, and notices the outstretched hand. After a short pause and a nod, she places the medical instrument slash weapon back in the hands of its owner. "Yes, I think this is yours." And after the doctor mentions the kid, she slaps her forehead. "The kid! Oh, no!" Immediately after Doctor Strange mentions being stuck, there is the sound of an engine starting, and the honk of a horn. Linda turns, to see Bear Nurse at the wheel of the ambulance, ready to flick on the siren. "...care for a ride, doctor?"
Superlass has one last act to perform before she can consider her work done, putting out thefire before it spreads. She rushes back and forth across the surface of the lake, raising an enormous splash of water that she pushes with a force burst from her into dousing the area with water. She stamps out anything still smoldering before sitting down with a sigh of exhaustion.
The ambulance circles the lake and up the slope to the top of the cliffs, finding Superlass resting...actually kind of dozing...
As Strange heads off to the ambulance, he suddenly stops to respond to a communique from SHIELD.
"Oh sure, NOW you call me back. You're doubling my fee... Psychological Hazard-Pay...plus benefits. I'm on my way back - Bear Nurse is giving me a ride. ...No, not 'Bare Nurse', 'BEAR Nurse'. It's a - oh, I don't know. It's a super-nurse name...thing... shut up. I'm coming back. No, shut up. They were spiders, damnit! Spiders!... Why me...?"
NURSES WITH RAYGUNS
A Four Weirdos Production
Starring:
Cir-El .... The Scene Runner
Dyson .... Too Bad He Had To Leave Earlier
And introducing...
Doctor Adam Strange .... Just Some Weirdo I Guess
Linda Carter .... Guestly Guest
(after the credits have stopped rolling, and the music finished, the screen abruptly cuts from full black to a movie scene)
Linda Carter breathes in and smiles between excitement or relief, waiting a couple of seconds with her lungs full before releasing her tension by exhaling. She looks more relaxed now, and casts a glance sideways to where the battle was, and then looks up at Adam again. "I'm not surtur... rust..trusur...." she bursts into laughter and winces. "I'll /never/ be able to say that word!" In the background, a voice yells, 'Take 25...", while Bear Nurse slaps his knee and guffaws.