11253/The Right Hands

From Heroes Assemble MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
The Right Hands
Date of Scene: 26 May 2022
Location: Triskelion
Synopsis: Red She Hulk infiltrates the Triskelion labs to destroy information on how to make Hulks like her...and is fought and talked down by Fitz, Valerie, Mary Jane and Tom McCarthy before surrendering.
Cast of Characters: Betty Ross, Tom McCarthy, Valeria Richards, Mary Jane Watson, Leopold Fitz




Betty Ross has posed:
    SHIELD handles all sorts of threats, with the Avengers being their flashiest method of dealing with the big problems. But behind the scenes, they're just as important when it comes to cleaning up after a threat has been neutralized, when making sure that any remaining devices or information involved are safely retrieved, studied if needed, and disposed of, either through material destruction or in a SHIELD vault in the vent it might become useful.

    A month or so back, one such event happened near the military town of Vista Verde in New Mexico, near the Hulkbuster Base. A low ranking soldier was exposed to a gamma radiation battery and mutated, giving him superhuman intelligence and minor psychic powers - Samuel Sterns. Despite his newfound arrogance and sociopathic tendencies, General Thunderbolt Ross, commander of Hulkbuster Base, chose to bring Sterns into a secret project intended to unlock stable gamma mutations as a new method of creating super soldiers. Sterns was happy to do so...until he betrayed Ross, not just stealing the project data and a variety of gamma-based equipment, but by killing his daughter Betty Ross and stealing her body.

    A later investigation by the Hulk and She-Hulk combined with Black Widow and Spiderwoman was able to track the missing gear to an abandoned Hulk containment base, that Sterns, now dubbing himself the Leader, had taken over, converting a section of it into a gamma mutation ray aimed at Vista Verde. Worse, he had successfully cracked the information on how to create Hulks, specifically red Hulks, and had found a female subject to convert as his right hand, along with a variety of robot and gamma mutated creatures. He was defeated; the Red She Hulk escaped.

    And SHIELD recovered the Leader's encrypted files on the means of how exactly to recreate the process, amid various gamma weaponry and experiments. It's really, really good encryption....but SHIELD is patient and has some of the finest experts in the world to work on it, which is why the hard drives and other material are currently held in a secure lab within the Triskelion.

Tom McCarthy has posed:
Dressed in a nice set of black BDUs, is Tom. He was told there may be a need for support, and his role as a lower-ranking agent put him in direct line of that detail. It wasn't anything he was concerned over, he'd done a truckfull of missions before as pararescue. I mean, they didn't involve gamma-powered people who could turn your bones to powder - but, you know.

For now, he was quiet, letting those with intel and expertise do the talking and discussion. It was clear he was more interested in reading the room and understanding the people with him. It might help him later if he needs to pull somebody out of a situation!

Valeria Richards has posed:
Consult jobs are so nice. Makes one feel like she's actually earning her own money for a change and not just letting the last name sell merchandise. Of course VAl still has to fly the flag especially inside a nifty little place SHIELD HQ.

"So not to give Sterns any more of a boost to that gamma over inflated head but nobody has plugged those drives into anything here yet I hope. Busted out the standalone gear without somuch as a coax networking port or an RJ-11? Sniffed the drives to make sure they don't have any network hardware installed and any other suprises?" Valeria asks with some valid concenr

"Last thing we need is like a bunch of us suddenly looking like upset fitness models when all we want is some nice easy if time consuming cyber forensics. It's a good look for most of us but the hangovers gotta be awful!" Val says thumbing a couple of rings around her middle finger while looking at a display on her wrist computer.

The young blonde woman dressed pretty casuall but mostly in the family colors. Bluejeans, white leather racing jacket with a molded and padded circlular enclosed 4 on the back. Matching boots.

If she needed to fight the rings and the thingsuit tech along with some nice doomtech forcefields have her covered.

But now is tech time.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson has come looking for Fitz to check up on the forge he had said he had nearly done. She's on her way up the stairs along with the large sword that Sonja has always used on her back. She's in no particular hurry even as she's going along to where his ID tag location had said he was. It's not where he has things setup but it's no reason to not drop in.

It's not particularly classified so there's no reason to doubt she could get there, and it's good to explore

Betty Ross has posed:
    It's been weeks of patiently letting the computers grind away at the code...whatever else he might be, the Leader seems to be quite good at security. But a few supercomputers tasked to the project and the information has slowly been unscrambled, to where the hard drives are readable, at least. Understandable requires a bit more scientific knowledge than your average person, of course...the Leader was also fond of stream of consciousness writing, random notes, and occasionally ranting about the glorious future he would create with himself as ruler along with his army of "monsters."

    And there were some nasty surprises, but they were generally caught by those working on it and defused. Including a really nasty computer virus or five.

    Meanwhile, at the front entrance to the base, a woman walks in. She's dressed simply enough, her dark brown hair falling free down to her shoulder, her athletic form dressed in a business style purple skirt with a button up green blouse, with a lab coat worn over it. She walks up to the security guard, offering a visitor's badge with her name and face on it.

    The SHIELD agent in charge of security looks it over. "Dr. Ross? Just a moment." He checks the visitors list and identifies that yes, there was a specialist coming in to assist with an ongoing investigation, with clearance requested and given for one General Ross. Or so the computer says.

    "If you'll just step through security here ma'am." the agent says politely as Ross smiles faintly and nods, then steps through. No threat detected. "One moment, I'll call someone down to escort you in." And then the agent will call up to the lab. Specifically, to McCarthy. "Agent, we've got a visiting doctor here to help with a decryption and reverse engineering project? She's down at the main security desk out front."

Leopold Fitz has posed:
One Dr Leopold Fitz was one of those tasked to work on the files, reverse engineering and compiling data so it makes sense to any level that might read it, from the operative to the scientific. He was one of a few, but the moment Agent Romanoff had come in with the items initially, Fitz was looking for answers. Weeks back and forth, consulting with others in other departments, in other services...

And he found them.

Once again, he's back in the labs, his manner of dress professional, that is, button down shirt, tie, slacks with his ID badge slung low off his belt. He's looking focused, talking more to himself than to anyone else, though he does let out a couple of comments in order to direct the research, and help with organizing and coordinating the studies.

When Valeria chimes in with her concerns, Leo looks up from his spot, his brows crease in that silent, 'Did you just say what I think you did?' expression, his mouth open.. and finally, does give voice to some of it, "We're not new to research." It's a quiet, Scottish burr that softens any admonishment. "I'm certain that.."

Looking away and at another screen, he's taking a few hurried steps, "No, tha's not the way.."

*chuff*

Valeria Richards has posed:
"I'm absolutely asking that. It's called double checking your work. And it's not meant to be a put down. Supervillains are awful for this stuff. You try wading through Doomtech. So so much automated "Hah, you failed to  anticipate my yadda yadda,Mu ha ha ha!" and so on. Val states wiith a smirk to the doctor.

"Sterns probably grew a goatee just so her could stroke something besides his ego and his gamma bits. So I won't put it past him." she points out.

Once the decryption itself is done Val grins like someone just heard the ding on a bag of microwave popcorn. "If this ends up with abs for days I'll weigh up smashing you first." she jokes and grins.

"So wanna see how unoriginal all his plans are because you just know we've both probably come up with some of this stuff ourselves just being bored. And no I didn't write any of it down. You wanna try and expain to your big green aunt why you have a gamma beam generator in your bedroom."

Because despite looking like her mother at twenty, and as smart as her father, Valeria might still have body image issues when hanging around other super heroines.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would walk in and give a wave, "Hey Fitz! I was just dropping in to ask about the forge, but you look like you have enough things up already." She would glance at Valeria and give a wave, "Hey, I don't think I've seen you at the facilities before." Not like she goes up to R&D much and SHIELD does use specialized outside contractors on occasion. So it's not like that means anything.

The name of 'Stearns' catches her attention over and she scrunches her face up. "Lovely. I really hope that whenever all this stuff is looked over it's going to be gotten rid of." That was what the waitress had really been worried about. Mary Jane makes a mental note to when she hears this to go ahead and drop back down to the Swordfish to let Liz know next time she's on shift.

Tom McCarthy has posed:
This is so above his pay-grade to chime in on! Tom simply stands towards the back, watching and listening. Names are noted, at least for potential targets. Right now, peace time. Honestly, he was rather fond of peace time - it was much better than being shot at. A nod to MJ, as someone he'd met at the taco social.

At the mention of yadda yadda, evil monologue - he does manage to stifle a chuckle. Barely.

A chirp and a message in his earpiece. "Excuse me, all. Need to collect a visitor." A nod to those present, as he turns towards the door. He moves through the halls quickly, familiar with the layout. Soon enough, he's at the front desk, nodding to those manning the entrance. A look to Betty, and a smile. "Ma'am? I'm here to escort you to your destination?" No need to spell out where she's going - not everyone is necessarily cleared. Hell, he's likely still under clearance!

Betty Ross has posed:
    Betty waits impatiently, until McCarthy arrives, nodding to him. "Agent, hello. Thank you." She moves to follow McCarthy, asking as they begin the trip back. "How is the decryption going? Have they completed getting through the security yet?" She moves with a fairly quick pace as she walks along, almost like she already has some idea where she needs to go.

    The data on the hard drives can be pulled up fairly easily. There's quite a variety of designs and ideas...the sort of thing you'd get from someone whose mind is constantly jumping from topic to topic. Some of the larger folders have titles like ACME, Mutation 1, Mutation 2, Mutate 7, Mutate 11, Cube, Autobots, and Robes and Regalia. There's a variety of what appear to be random notes and audio recordings accompanying many of them of varying lengths.

    And the wallpaper, of course, which is a full monitor shot of the Leader smirking out of the screen with a superior look to him.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
"Gamma is overhyped," is murmured, even as he's watching his screens. "An' I have too many things in my apartment to add 40K to it." The isotope that offers up the most gamma.

Moving around the lab, his home court as it were, he pauses to look up to Valeria, "I've checked an' rechecked. You could do aught else an' look at the findings over there an' not distract." Not amused!

Where is Jemma right now? These other 'lab partners' are difficult for the baby-faced doctor. Fitz chuffs another breath, and the words come softly, spoken to himself, "Right.. now, t'get on with it."

Spinning around when MJ enters, there's a quick smile and a 'I'm over here' wave. It's distracted, but there none the less. "It's closed up, but I'll get it for you soon enough. It came out fine an' more than serviceable for your friend, there." He pauses before, "It's a one sword forge, though. It's set to a good temper temperature. An', I've managed t'find some good whet stones." Probably imported from Scotland.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would nod over, "No rush, it's a minor thing. I really appreciate it. But it's not something really important right now. I have places I can go to get thing sand I don't use the sword that often.. At least, as much as Sonja would like." Then htere's a squawk of glee over and she's heading along.

"That's amazing Fitz, you're the best. I owe you big time!" What follows is, so long as there's not an indication of him of discomfort, she would move to give him a hug so long as it was allowed.

Valeria Richards has posed:
There's a smile to Mary Jane and a waggle of fingers. "Valeria Richards. Didn't I see you on a runway for Van Dyne not long ago? Think all the top models are secret agents these days. Good cover really." The blonde scrunching her brow up in an attempt at reccollection.

"Doctor Fitz. Any energy that can create those kinds of transformations shoudn't be low balled. No way we just found a fanboy file stash. Or porn or something. So start with ACME I've watched enoughy old cartoons? Best case it's shipping orders and blueprints." she suggests with a curious look. "Then move to Autobots?" she carefully considers.

Tom McCarthy has posed:
"As far as I am aware, they are making headway on it, ma'am." Tom offers with a polite smile. "It's not really my schtick, so I cannot say for certain. But I am sure the team will break through, if they have not already." He grins, walking alongside Dr. Ross as they move through the building. Their path brings them to the lab where the others are, with Tom opening the door for their visitor.

He steps in after her, nodding. "Excuse me, all. Dr. Ross is here." He introduces, having gotten her name from the initial alert to her presence. Sneaky agents.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Urf..

Fitz does take the hug, turning away from his work for that briefest of moment. He can't help himself, however, and in the hug, whispers with a touch of concern mixed with high levels of amusement, "Who is hugging me?" Just for future reference!

Once done, the good doctor is back to work, blue eyes on the screens. He leans over, the words trailing, and he's reading the lines in his head, but mouthing them at the same time as he works on commiting some of it to memory in order to save time moving between files. He's been looking at the files, referencing and cross-referencing them as new data emerges. Now, however, as Valeria chimes in once more, he's raising a hand in that 'disturbing my concentration' gesture as he remains in place. He's looking up at some of the other monitors before he crosses the room once more, his voice sounding that frustration, "I'm sure I'm speakin' English," and the burr is even thicker, "C'n ye look at that compilation an' actually //do// something as I've asked?" There's a pause before, "Please." There.

Jemma would be proud.

The announcement of a Dr Ross catches Fitz' attention, and there's a brief expression of confusion on his face. He considers for a long moment, a good few second pause before, "I don't remember another comin' in t'help out.." Holding up a finger, rather than relying on memory, he's taking the few moments out of his time to check the roster..

Betty Ross has posed:
    As she enters with McCarthy, Betty's eyes immediately go to the drives plugged into the various machines, a frown coming to her lips immediately as she sees that Fitz and Valeria have already started going through it, stopping just inside the door. "Automated Collator Maser Emitter. He really wanted it to spell ACME." she notes to the room at large, seeing the first file that's open. "He found a way to reproduce the accident that mutated him, but selecting for strength, toughness, but low intelligence and loyalty. Minds he could dominate. He estimated about a 37 percent kill rate of lethal mutations, of course. But he'd have his army of semi-Hulks.

    She then spots MJ, blinking slightly.

    Well, crap. At least she got here first before running into her....

    "Autobots isn't as interesting...repurposed security, maintenance and digging drones."

    She adds, taking off her glasses and setting them aside on a lab table.

    "I'm sorry about this." she apologies, even as her eyes harden a bit.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
There's a grin from Mary Jane to Fitz, "Hey, all's good here. I think you deserve it." Then as someone would be announced coming in she would frown over and take her attention to 'Dr. Ross'.
    "Liz? What are you doin ghere? You're a waitress at the Swordfish." There's the sudden awareness that something is very unusual. A Doctor isn't going to take a side job as a waiter at least without some mention being of it. Much less one that's not having some sort of deal about it or at least gossip.

"What's going on here?" She's not calling her 'Dr. Ross'. "I'm going to have to ask you to stay here for a moment while you answer some questions."

And they're right around where all of Stern's data was.

$##!@

Tom McCarthy has posed:
There's a bit of tension? Confusion? It's hard to read immediately for Tom, but he stands ready - just to the side of the door inside the room. He keeps his eyes on MJ and Betty, not certain what exactly was going on. "She was cleared to come up here, I got the call to escort her to this lab."

Sure, he's got a sidearm - but... who knows if that's going to be needed. Or if it is even going to be useful. "Is there an issue, then?"

Valeria Richards has posed:
There's another waggle of fingers as another Doctor makes her way in. But valeria goes back to watching the code and other things flit on screen. and absolutely amused as much by the attempt at acronyms as Fitz is trying not to be distracted.

"That chunk of code needs calling back. The choosing form manifestation. If he's not hitting someone with Banner level power we might have a better chance of turning people back. Shame the comments are just all evil monologue in forward slashes. Banner dumb, Leader genius." she points out and pinches her nose at how embarrassing Sterns can be.

"The drones could be repurposed but they could also be used to carry the emmiters in ACME. Three guesses on the Mutation and Mutate folders? Extra odds he has used it as porn." she suggests with an almost evil expression and tone.

Betty Ross has posed:
    "One is about me. And that's why I can't let anyone have that." Ross says, her eyes shimmering and turning yellow, before she starts to grow, her shirt and skirt promptly shredding along with her shoes as she gains a few feet in height, a red streak in her dark hair, an da whooooole lotta red muscle. Luckily she was apparently wearing a one piece underneath that seems fitted to change with her as she grows, even if it leaves her arms bare and shows off a generous amount of cleavage in the process, all black leathery armor in look.

    "No more monsters." Red She Hulk says, starting to walk towards Fitz and Valerie and the hard drives beyond them. "Step aside." she adds, in a tone of warning.

    She very much gives the impression of someone who will walk THROUGH if needed to get to what she's after.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
There's a sudden SNAP over as Red Sonja goes to snap into full control, and that large sword is drawn out and centered on Red She-Hulk, "We had thought you peacable, wench. You lied to us." There's venom in her voice. Sonja at having not seen the manipulation, and for Mary Jane having not been as wary as she should.

"You would keep the sorcery to make more of your own monsters to yourself? Just like the one that made you? And you still work for him?" Red Sonja's challenging, blade out in front of her. Her intent is purely to ensure that attention is on her and that it's giving the otehrs room to evacuate or call for backup.

"Come then monster."

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Fitz pauses mid-cross, that dawning awareness. All of that.. and, he'll give the Leader a pass on the naming conventions. It's pretty common in Agencies to think of a really cool word and force the project into the acronym. Happens ALL the time. However, what doesn't happen all the time?

Red hulking women.

Gotta give it to him. He's quick, and 95% of SHIELD underestimates his ability as an Agent. He's moving to the side, ostensibly to get out of the way, but at the same time? He's making a dive for the panic button that is in his lab. All of the labs are equipped with them, for obvious reasons. It happens to be near Valeria, and in the next second, he's standing in front of the young woman as a protective shield.

Beyond the labs, alarm klaxons go off, indicating the point of origin as the labs...

Tom McCarthy has posed:
Yep. Things have started to move towards the universal constant of Tango Uniform. Tom shifts to block the door, while smoothly drawing his .45 Kimber sidearm. The alarms are sounded, the man speaking into his mic as he levels the pistol at the back of the red Amazon's knee. "Situation on my location. Red She-Hulk engaged."

Understanding that his shot is likely going to have zero affect, it's still his job. There's a breath of hesitation, seeing... a sword? MJ has a sword? What is even going on? The shot is true - landing directly in the back of Dr. Ros.. er... Red She Hulk's right knee. If it even leaves a mark from the gunpowder, he'd be surprised.

Valeria Richards has posed:
"Hey, hey Doctor Ross. I get it. I've got an Uncle and and Adopted aunt with gamma and cosmic radiation behind their changes so I understand. But we need to sift through this crap. You think Sterns doesn't have this commited to memory? Doctor Fitz and I could come up with this stuff in our spare time. But having this data will let us fix any damage Sterns might create. Stopping us might mean that bulb headed dork coujld win and do what he wants. Let us work please Doctor!" she states and cracks her kuckles and puts those two rings together on her middle fingers. "Val rings, are good bling!" she states and when the two pieces of jewelring come together her clothes change thanks to unstable molecules and a healthy dose of Thing Suit tech and forcefields. The look more like a stardard Fantastic Four style in blue with more padding as if it was for motocycling.

"Please. Don't let the Leader win!" she pleads from the blonde to the much buffer and bigger red hued woman.

Betty Ross has posed:
    The towering red Amazon glances over towards Sonja at her accusations, then at the sword she draws. A lazy smirk comes to her lips at that, along with a brief snort. "Cute." she says, dismissively, not moving to engage Sonja since she's not been attacked. Nor does she stop Fitz from diving for the panic button, though her lips twitch in faint annoyance at the noise of the klaxons.

    She doesn't move towards the door. She DOES pause for a moment when the heavy slug hits the back of her knee...and flattens, bouncing off as it skitters across the floor. "....really?" she says dryly, but spares only a glance back.

    And now it's just...Fitz guarding the much more heavily armed Valerie in her suit, her pupil-less yellow eyes narrowing slightly. "I will not let this knowledge exist. Not this. There will be no more monsters like me." she says steadily, a hint of annoyance in her voice now. "Sterns didn't have a chance to take anything with him when he ran; all of it is here. He might be able to start new experiments from scratch...but this information..." She reaches out to rest a hand on one of the hard drives. "This was stolen. Some of it is even my research. He can't just remake it."

    She raises a fist, then swings....right past Fitz and Valerie and straight down into one of the drives. Which shatters as its crushed into tinfoil nearly, the more delicate drive resembling beach sand from the impact as it shakes the room slightly. "So. Get. Out. Of. My. Way."

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Before Red She-Hulk can hopefully smash into the drives, Red Sonja is going to leap up and through the air. Her intent is to try and land over on the back of Betty while the woman is rearing back with a fist. The woman is a troll. A small one. But still a troll. Bulky. Big. Strong.
    So Red Sonja goes to try and if she can leap up and over onto Red She-Hulk's back while snapping out with a dagger from a boot. Her sword is too big for this sort of motion.. But the way one deals with a troll is to attack bits of them where there isn't quite as much bulk.

So presuming she can, Red Sonja launches herself through the air, going to land atop Red She-Hulk's back, and then goes to if she can maintain her position try to slash the dagger over her throat in a clean slash. PRobalby to little to no damage at all (otehr than tot he dagger) but what would be a killing blow against almost anything not so super strong. Playing for keeps.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
It's stupid, really. Not sure why Fitz would do such a thing, but knowing that Valeria has.. something to help, and he nods his agreement with her small speech, he's reaching out to try and keep her from smashing his equipment. "It's child's play, really," he seconds. That attempt to hold her back? Standard SHIELD maneuver. As the swing winds up, they're unbalanced, and doing anything to thwart that phase might mean that, at the very least, less damage will happen.

*red lights flicker outside the lab.. and the klaxons continue to blare*

Latching on to the arm, then, there is that bit about //letting go//. The speed and force of the punch sends the scientist flying, feet up and over, doing more damage to himself than what he hits.

Ouch.

Tom McCarthy has posed:
OK. So, that was ... anticlimactic. "We need backup. Proper weaponry. Get the good ones." He calls into the mic, as much as into the room. Maybe Fitz has clearance to unlock the big-guns from the armory. The gun is holstered as he moves forward - ducking to avoid the flying Fitz. "Are you ok, sir?"

The question is asked, even as he draws the stungun. This is going to hurt - someone.

Moving quickly and surely, he squats to get closer, again aiming that stungun for the back of the giantess' knee.

ZAP!

Valeria Richards has posed:
Hopefully there's emough strength behind the suit to help restrain the understandably upset Red Shulkie. "Doctor Ross! Please!" she pleades and steps in under that punch when it hands to try and wrestle Betty back with about seventy five percent of the Thing's strength. So about a class sixty five.

"Doctor Fitz. Please don't be dead! Unplug the rest of the stuff and run like hell? Superpowered chick fight!" she warns as the building shakes again.

"Agents. Let the smart ladies have the room. It might get kinda loud in here. No pictures. Well maybe a few but nothing on the socials! There's NDA's!" she snarkily requests while really trying to save the data and the lab and probably the building with one hell of an uphill battle. "If you take a swing at me, you'll only make the shields and the suit stronger. You're doing the Leader's work. You want to be an unwitting minion cause that's how you get unwitting minions!"

"You're smarter than that and you damn well know it! THINK!" she continues to plead while doing her best to keep more equipment and evidence intact.

Betty Ross has posed:
    There's a faintly annoyed tch as Rulkie pulls her fist out of the first destroyed hard drive.....two left! And, well, she didn't MEAN to throw Fitz across the room, but....he'll be fine? Right? Right. Those monitors and the desk broke his fall perfectly.

    But now she has a Sonya trying (and failing) to slice her throat. She starts to reach up to grab for her, her knee twitching at the shock but otherwise not seeming to bother her much as she shoots a glare at McCarthy, a hand reaching back to try and grab hold of Sonja. Possibly because she sees Val making for her. Thus - redhead goes McCarthy-wards before Val slams into Betty as she shifts, baring her teeth a bit.

    "Ah. So the shield only gets stronger from impacts?" Red She Hulk says conversationally. "Good to know. Is that just things impacting you, or do you become an even more useful club if someone does THIS?" She buckles a knee, shifting to try and throw Val's balance off, then brings her non-punchy hand Val didn't grab to try and scoop the younger woman up with her other hand....annnnd body slam her down on top of hard drive number 2 as she twists to the side. It's a bit awkward, but she's definitely pretty focused on breaking stuff!

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Red Sonja goes to leap up and over Red She-Hulk's back, managing to mostly maintain her position over while the others are scrambling around and trying to engage her. Sonja is yelling while swearing in languages long since dead to the planet. Her attempted dagger was useless at the throat. but she has her own backups..
    Namely, the dagger goes around and she moves to try and stab it upwards. Trolls had weak points. That might not have been a weak point..
    But, this one is trying to slam the dagger up and into Red She-Hulk's eye. That has to be squishier than the rest of her!
    In her position admittedly she doesn't have great leverage and she's struggling to hold on while Red She-Hulk is latching on to Valeria, but she doesn't have the leverage for a strike as she's picked up and hurled away towards McCarthy, hitting the ground right -before- him hard as the dagger goes flying!

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Collateral damage. It's hard to know if that would refer to the good doctor, or the things he took out on his way down. Down he goes, and for a full couple of seconds as he tries to draw air into his lungs, down he stays, even as he hears Valeria calling out to him.

His systems are mirrored; no agency worth its budget goes for single point of failure. Besides, they also have project managers, which means they have iterations of the same active project as well.

Welcome to government research and development.
A groan rises from the Scotsman, and as soon as there's some wits about him, he rolls over and away from the fray, if only to give him a few moments of a breather before trying to gain his feet.

Tom McCarthy has posed:
Well, dang. Tom skitters back a bit as the Red She Hulk continues her rampage. At least he gave her a good buzz on the knee! The equivilant to a TENS unit for any other normal person, it would seem. Then there's a blade-wielding MJ tossed in his direction. A wince as she lands hard. "Are you all right?" He offers a hand to the fallen woman, to provide a quick help up. "I have to check on Fitz."

Assuming that Red Sonja is more than able to get to her feet, he dashes towards where Fitz crawled - crouched low. No need to give a good profile as a target. "Sir, are you all right?" Medic training kicks in, trying to assess the situation.

Valeria Richards has posed:
Yes the potential for being a weapon is not lost on Val. Or found the second that it's demonstrated. The crunch of electronic equipment mixed with the buzz of that shield absorbing the kinetic force.

"Seriously, you're being as irrational as a damn vapid teenager!" Val starts with the directed banter towards Betty. Hanging on to the woman by those hands she does her best to wiggle and position a leg and just try and kick Betty in the head or chest wherever the heck the blonde in the very nicve looking power armor can reach.

"You know I've seen enough of the code. You know Doctor Fitz has. You gonna start on us if after the drives. The tech is out there already dammit! This is stupid and futile. Sterns isn't that smart I keep telling you. You're wasting your and my time and we could be working to undo any hulk armies!"

Betty Ross has posed:
    "I resemble that remark!" Then Rulkie grunts and skids backwards, smashing through one of the lab tables as the kick lands, with accompanying shattering monitors and miscellaneous glassware. Perhaps a favored coffee mug!
    Red She Hulk straightens up, shaking off some of the debris from her arm as she does. "I've heard it before. Again and again and again. We're just going to CURE them. We wouldn't make MORE Hulks." she grates, then smashes a fist down angrily, reducing what's left of the lab table she's resting against to kindling. "I HAVE HEARD IT BEFORE!!" She stalks forward. "Every time. EVERY GODDAMN TIME! I trust someone to not fuck it up. Do know how many DECADES I have been trying to cure this?!?

    She narrows her eyes. "And every time. EVERY TIME. Someone like you comes along and tells me they won't misuse it. That it's better to have the information out there. Because it'll be a cure. But you know what?"

    She narrows her eyes. "I'm tired of trusting groups like SHIELD or anyone else to have this info. Maybe you're brilliant enough you can remake some version of what the Leader did to me, given time. But you DAMN well will NOT have what he's already done. I won't have another idiot like my father decided to start some black books operation, AGAIN, to make a Hulk super soldier." She points at the group. "And none of you....NONE OF YOU can promise that it won't happen, because none of you have the authority to say no to someone above you if they decide to do it. That the needs of world security or the Avengers or whatever the hell reason they make up justifies it.

    The protest draws an eye roll from her. Which is pretty impressive, considering she doesn't have pupils to roll, really. "You might be smart. Brilliant. One of a kind genius. But I've been doing this a long time. I know how complex the genome is. It's not something you can just figure out the resonance for off the top of your head. I'm fine with setting the work back decades, and I'm really, REALLY fucking fine with making sure what he stole from me never gets used by anyone else BUT me!

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
hitting the ground and bouncing off it and rolling up to her feet, Red Sonja would narrow her eyes, "Your words inspire little faith in me beyond showcasing your paranoia. You would proclaim superiority over others when you act in poor faith and give no chance? You have already defined everyone else by your own merits and found them wanting. There is no point in bargaining with you. You will always find something else to fear. And to lash out. And to attack over. Your kind -never- stop until they decide that they must have the power all to themselves and they must slay and rule all others. And then it is simply ensuring that you kill all whom you perceive as a threat. Your kind, monster.. Defines everyone and everything as an adversary. We will not bow dow nto your paranoia nor make promises to one that sees everything in bad faith adn prejudgement. You have already made up your mind."
    Then Red Sonja goes to smoothly draw out her large sword and goes on the attack from Red She-Hulk's side! She's going to slash over at her from the flank and trying to skewer Red She-Hulk in a brutal swing! She's twisting the blade behind her as she would run for extra momentum, arcing it up and high.. This swing is attempting to at the last moment go to a firm stop to let her leverage build up and get extramomentum and power from her digging her heels in to slow down.
    Blade going high in an arc towards Red She-Hulk with intent to separate head from body and slash her clean over the throat!

Leopold Fitz has posed:
There's a bit of heavy breathing as Fitz tries to take stock of himself. There'll be bruises, absolutely. He may even get consigned to light duty.. god forbid. Nodding his head in McCarthy's direction, he pulls himself up with the aid of a table, holding on to his side with the other hand. "I'm fine," is breathed. "Really." The lab is beginning to look like, well, a war zone. Broken monitors, smashed equipment.. glass and shards of metal.

More importantly, Valeria is being Hulk-handled, and while the suit might mitigate a lot, it's not right.

"She's right, you know." Fitz calls out with pained breath from behind his table. "We've already deciphered the important stuff. It's an easy build. It's not the information that's dangerous. It's people an' purpose. An' morality. We could make an army if we wanted to, what with Dr Banner. But we won't. We could make an army of Steven Rogers, but we won't. We wouldn't." Fitz is hurting, but moreso, he's worried about the young woman. "Put her down, an' we'll talk."

Straightening a little more, the look of pain visible with the scrapes beginning to ooze pink, Fitz shakes his head. "You're wrong. Every one of us won't obey an unlawful order, no matter who it comes from. I'd destroy my own work if I thought that someone would use it for their own gain." The young Scots doctor sounds deadly serious. It might be one of his sore points, or possibly a reiteration of a conversation he's had when he took the job.

"An' you know we can. We're smart. Resonance programming and sequencing won't take decades. More like days to possibly a week or two." After all, he has Jemma, too, and the pair are notoriously good at what they do when they're together.

Sonja's attack, however, has him calling out, "No! Don't!"

Ouch.

Tom McCarthy has posed:
Well, Tom is torn. There's a parley in the midst of a melee. There's a red woman smashing a power-armored woman against lab equipment, while another sword-swinging woman attempts to decapitate the first. This really isn't covered in Special Forces training. No one appears to be severely or concerningly injured - though he suspects Fitz may have a concussion.

"Sir, do we have anything that can immobilize her?" He asks, looking to the fracas - hand on the hilt of his nigh-useless pistol. "Just to stop the damage, and better discuss things?"

Valeria Richards has posed:
"HORSE CRAP! My last name is Richards. Half of my dad's goddamn work is trying to undo what happened to Ben Grimm. Or at least make his situation manageable. You think I don't want to do something like that for others. What kind of energy made you thart color again?" she yells and kicks and kicks as best she can putting as much force into her legs as she can and damn if she's gonna skip leg day for a while now cause human muscles still have to handle some of that strain.

"I get this is a whole Mengele thing. But here's the thing. We can use this work to fix it, screw over Sterns and up his light bulb shaped head in it like a puppy that crapped on the carpet." she points out. "How's that for incentive? Prove you are godamn better and smarter than that loopy asshole! Help us make sure he can't win and make sure Sterns knows it!"

Betty Ross has posed:
    Red She Hulk brings up her arms in a defensive position as the kicks come in, slamming into her forearms as she's pushed steadily back, a low humorless laugh coming from her as she digs in a foot to halt her retreat. "Oh, you think Sterns did all this by himsef, hmm?" The next kick she twists to the side, slapping up a hand at the underside of the leg to try and topple Valerie on her back while she's off balance. She bares her teeth, glancing up at Fitz. "He just got it to work this time. The U.S. government set it up. You think you can prevent other countries from NOT misusing the information?"

    Her other hand snaps up as Sonya's blade slams into her palm, stopping dead as her fingers close over, it. "And you....it's not paranoia....when it keeps happening. It's called learning from experience." Her fingers flex powerfully...and the blade just shatters between her fingers as the front half clangs to the ground.

    From her expression, she's rapidly losing what little patience she has. "I don't care anymore. I can't stop it from being researched. I can't be everywhere. But I can at least make sure this particular piece of the puzzle is destroyed completely." Her eyes narrow. "And if I have to destroy every lab in this place to do it, I will. So you tell me...you really want to protect this information that badly?"

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
The blade which is well over ten thousand years old, if not twice that, is caught in the hand of Red She-Hulk even as it doesn't seemingly so much as knick the woman. Sonja goes to struggle over with the blade, going to snap her fist back as she would struggle, going to try nd lash it out at the face of the other woman to no doubt any remote effect beyond possibly squishing her hand against it and breaking her wrist if she does connect.
    She would cry over from the contact, "NO!" The blade that meant little to her as a person. Sonja had wielded many blades in her life. It had no particular attachment to her. but here?
    Here it was the last thing she had of the wretched, hateful realm that had spawned from her. The thing which had brought whatever was left of her to the present day from eons in the past. That had connected her for whatever reason to the modern age. Of fate, of destiny..
    Or simply a freakish chance done by a god that cared for little and had forgotten.
    "NO!" It was all she had left. Even if it was such a pathetic thing. She would fall to her knees at it and slump down.
    "Then kill us all, troll. And ready to kill many others as well. The data is simply not just here. Others have it. The Avengers. the Justice League." She does not speak of Richards, but tehre's a light shift o fher head even as she would heave. "So will you plan on killing each and every single being in the realm to satisfy your rage?"

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Fitz takes a step back, and looks concerned. His 'impassive' doesn't work in field settings. "Yes," he offers up, sounding mostly definite. "We can't catch them all, all the time, but neither can you."

Sonja's cry that rises over the broken blade actually makes him sad. He's worked with too many people with attachments to their chosen creations? Weapons? That the loss is almost like losing a friend. He'll attend to that later.

It's to McCarthy that he turns, "Dr Simmon's lab. File I19, drawer 7." That's it. Nothing more..

It's back to the hulk of a woman that he returns his attention, "It won't be destroyed completely. Ever. That cat's from the bag, an' you can't change it."

Tom McCarthy has posed:
Well, those were Tom's next waypoint. There's a quick nod to Fitz, as the agent bolts for the door. Hopefully he won't collide with any onrush of backup. The man all but sprints, bouncing off the walls as corners are made. Bruises will happen!

Thankfully most people are clearing out, hearing the smashing - or moving to secure various projects. Tom bursts into Jemma's lab, eyes scanning quickly.

Filing cabinet... filing cabinet! There it is! Drawer 7 is pulled open, the man quickly looking for I19. Thank goodness for efficient labeling! The cannister is snatch up, and Tom starts to reverse course.

Valeria Richards has posed:
The blonde puts her own guard up when Rulkie tries to hit back and that hum of energy being absorbed feeds into the suit's power supply to keep the shields up and working. "I want to speed the damn process of undoing the damage already caused. I want to help my goddamn family. I wanna help their goddamn friends. There's one more kick and a punch from Valeria. There's shaking and quaking of the room and the ground and probably a few spilled coffee mugs everywhere in the building.

"You can't unring the bell. But you can turn an enemie's punches against them. Like what I was really, really bad at just then." she states and tries to get Betty to see reason with a bad boxing analogy.

Betty Ross has posed:
    Sonja's reaction to her sword being destroyed at least shuts Red She Hulk up for a moment, as she focuses on just defending against the punches coming at her. They do hit home, but other than a faint grunt, they don't seem to be doing a great deal of damage.

    There's a flash of pure frustration in her eyes. "God damnit..." she says, suddenly stepping into the next punch and just slamming her shoulder hard into Valerie, more to knock her away than to seriously do damage. Other than to Fitz's lab, anyway.

    She backs off, breathing in and out deeply. Not like she's winded, but like she's struggling with her emotions, her fists clenching and unclenching as she stands still.

    "...dammit..." she says, a bit brokenly, and drops her her knees with a solid thud that rattles the room. "It'll just happen again....it always does..." She closes her eyes, her arms resting across the top of her thighs. Unmoving now.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Red Sonja would slowly get up. Exhausted. Looking over at the others. Winded. Exhausted. Bruised. Battered. There's no more of a soul rearing scream in her posture. Instead she goes over to a compartment and gets up wordlessly. She comes out to take out one of the emergency blankets there in case of an accident or exposure. She goes to walk on over towards Red She-Hulk and very, very carefully so long as she was allowed wrap it over the woman's upper body. The intent honest.
    "IT will be okay. IT will be okay. We just want to help." Mary Jane in full control now presuming there were no more signs of rage. Hopefully enough to soothe Red She-Hulk down.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Fitz watches the tableau before him, and he sets his second hand on the table, his elbows straight to rest his weight, with his head down. With a brush of his hand under the table, he quiets the alarm and klaxon, and the lights and sounds go silent. There is a soft yet audible *hiss* of the doors as the lock system resets.

He draws a breath and his hand snakes to his ribs again, his fingers kneading in what is a particularly sore spot.

"We're in this together."

Pushing away from his anchor, Fitz moves to where the discarded clothes are, and the ID badge that allowed her entrance. Palming it into his slacks, he backs away again.

"I'm not lying when I say it'll be okay. But if it's not, it's not for all of us."

Thus the tacit promise that The Raft isn't going to be pressed into service.

Oh.. his poor lab.

Tom McCarthy has posed:
The run back is just as fast, with Tom arriving before backup - just. He skids into the all but demolished lab, brandishing a spray deployer of some sort. But... the fight seems to be passed. MJ is covering the Red She Hulk in blankets, no longer trying to strike her with weapons. Everything seems less violent, for certain.

"Are we clear? Green?" He asks, looking to Fitz, then to the blanket-draped former Dr. Ross. "Do we stand down?" He's not firing the spray, but he's also not coming to rest.

Another breath. "Is anyone hurt?" He can't help it, it's the medic in him.

Valeria Richards has posed:
Just cause Val can take the hit doesn't mean she can't be knocked off balance. The forcefield set to fit the shape of Val's figure more than any dome of spgere that could probably have helped or maybe just smashed things itself.

So she's knocked on her backside by the shoulder charge and skidding back with a squeaky sound before she watches Betty finally stop and lets Val at least shut down the forcefield. "At least if we can, we can just nope it and undo as soon as possible. If we get hulks, we can unhulk quick enough hopefully." she reassures as best she can while keeping herself parked right on her behind and out of breath.

Betty Ross has posed:
    "Hah. Tell that to Bruce." Red She Hulk mumbles. "It's like trying to unscramble an egg and stick it back in the shell." She closes her eyes, shaking her head. "....just lock me up already." And she won't say a word more until the security team summoned by the klaxon and the battle show up to take her into custody and lead her off to the special Hulk cell they have. For reasons.