11301/A Round of Lethal Protecting

A Round of Lethal Protecting
Date of Scene:	23 May 2022
Location:	Queens
Synopsis:	When Juggernaut id deposited Earth-Side after an unwanted adventure in the Crimson Cosmos, his confusion and disorientation require the intervention of Venom The Lethal Protector and She Hulk: Attorney at Law to keep things from getting too far out of hand.
Cast of Characters:	Cain Marko, Eddie Brock, Jennifer Walters

---

Cain Marko has posed:
It's a typical busy afternoon in New York. Traffic is heavy. The streets are full of people. Their daily lives are under way with the usual cacophony of noises, smells, sights and colors.

Of course a typical day in New York these days is to expect the atypical instead. They are all to often besieged by the phrase ?We live in interesting times.? and once again, this is about to be apparent.

A loud /BOOM/ rumbles through the immediate area nearby a park. The impact is accompanied by a rumbling quake. A seismic disturbance that causes people to stumble and cars to swerve.

Another BOOM resounds. Then another, and then another. The quakes increase and people look on in confusion. Cars crash and a fire hydrant erupts. When the next BOOM happens, the air in the middle of the streets nearest to the parks entrance ...crack. Literally fracturing like glass with a brilliant red glow emerging through the cracks. The thunderous seismometer level impacts happen again and then again. The cracks increase and then finally a HUGE arm blasts its way through. A massive fist with a gigantic red knuckle duster and red arm guards. Muscled such that the bicep girth is more like that of swamp trees. Thick and hairy and frightening. As reality seems to shatter the people go into a panic, camera phones flash and another atypical afternoon begins.

Eddie Brock has posed:
Eddie Brock is talking a walk to cool down from his daily workout routine when this comotion starts.

   <<Venom>> "Eddie did you hear that!? Trouble! A chance to EAT someone."

   <<Eddie>> "Calm dow that could be almost anything."

   <<Venom>> "People Need Protecting Eddie!"

   <<Eddie>> "Yeah Yeah but If there is no bad guy you don't get to eat anyone"

   <<Venom>> "Fine."

The symbiote covers Eddie as they become Venom. They then quickly start leaping from building to building in the direction of the clatter and comotion.

Cain Marko has posed:
@emit The arrival of the Lethal Protector is timed well.

No sooner has Venom swunt into view does the air in the streets seem to shatter like some sort of gigantic funhouse mirror that's been struck by a wrecking ball.

The Juggernaut arrives, crashing through into an earthquake inducing stumble that sends him down towards one knee, the very ground caving in from his weight and the sheer pressure of his strength. Crimson energy crackles around him like the tendrils of lightning as a quick glimpse of the realm beyond the sundered air can be seen..a whirling maelstrom of red clouds and lightning. But it is brief as the dimensional breach, for that is what it is, begins to rapidly heal and seal itself back up .. leaving a glowing red and confused Cain Marko rocking unsteadily to his feet. His helmet is missing, and his skullcap, revealing his confused and almost drunken expression. The energy of the crimson cosmos continues to whirl around him as if some sort of residual effect and he staggers while putting a hand to his head..deep voice rumbling out a gravely, "Where the..hell..am I...?"

Meanwhile cars honk and wildly swerve to avoid the titan. Some crash into lightpoles, others screech to a halt. A delivery truck is less fortunate. The driver slams on the brakes but finds himself barely down towards the looming behemoth who begins to slowly turn towards it, illuminated by the approaching glare of the head lights.

Eddie Brock has posed:
Venom pounces on the juggernaut.

    <<Venom>> "You're Trouble!"

    <<Eddie>> "You're in Queens and you're wrecking everything."

"We are here to stop you from hurting more people" black tendrills extend out from venom's arms to try to restrain the Juggernaut.

Cain Marko has posed:
The Juggernaut, a being whose strength is such that the bones of legends as powerful as Thor and Hulk are at risk, is unfortunately not so easily grappled with or moved..even in this slightly drunken state. But it does draw his attention and as the tendrils grapple around him and his body stiffens and braces his attention is turned towards the yelling discordant voices. "Wha??? Who the hell are you??! Queens??"

Sadly, this does not aid the driver. The truck was careening towards Juggernaut and was far easier to redirect or move then the Exemplar of Power. Now it hits him. It's a terrible sound of metal wrenching and crates of food splattering. The airbag goes off, saving the drivers life coupled with the brakes but Juggernaut doesn't even blink, move or acknowledge the impact even as the metal folds around him seemingly in slow motion and then the truck rebounds and flip upwards and upside down, careening through the air and headed for a crash in the streets, driver still within.

Eddie Brock has posed:
Venom quickly releases the juggernaut and jumps over to catch the flipping truck. The truck is on the upper limits of what Venom can muster but They shall try.

They do their own homage to Action comics #1 Catching the truck and with great strain and difficulty placing it down in a manner that wont kill the driver, and might even save a few packages too.

Jennifer Walters has posed:
MAYBE A MINUTE AGO

"... I'm doing him a FAVOR by not billing him for extradimensional travel-- what?"

Jennifer Walters stops cold on the sidewalk for a precious second and actually stares at her cell phone.

"He's trying to pay us with a GIF of WHAT--"

*BOOM!*
        *BOOM!*
                *BOOM!*...

"... yeah-- no, yep, my end. Yeah, no, it's fine-- I think? Nothing in the SKY here-- look, just tell his girlfriend to sit there and wait for me."

Sighing, Jennifer sloughs off her navy blazer and kicks black pumps in the vague direction of the nearest alley. If she's lucky, at least ONE piece of her wardrobe will still be there when she comes back; she has very good friends with very good washers, a little dirt won't hurt.

"I might be a few minutes--"

                        *B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O M !*

NOW

*THOOOM!*

"Hey, Juggernaut," Jennifer exhales, still crouched in a crater maybe five feet in front of Cain in a white blouse and a pencil skirt ripped on the sides for freedom of movement with her emergency biker shorts underneath.

"Buddy," she tentatively adds, straightening and stepping towards the mountainous man. En route, she saw enough to piece together that this is less of a rampage and more of a walkabout situation-- a different kind of crisis from Cain's norm.

"You okay?" she asks, reaching to place her hand firmly against his chest. It's not about stopping the Juggernaut, obviously; Jen just wants to pause him, a little.

Cain Marko has posed:
It's a job well done! Perhaps a step too late as the crash could have been averted all together but the driver certainly isn't complaining. Either way, Venom's strength -is- more then sufficient even if the added force of the hurtling truck caused the lethal protector to have to strain to keep the collision from running its course. The driver lives and..hey..some crates of foodstuff are intact so good job.

For his part, Juggernaut blinks in confusion, eyes flashing and crackling with red discharges that still flicker sights of the home of his patron before his gaze and intermingle them with the chaos of the streets of New York. He sees and yet he doesn't see. Hears and yet understands little. Whatever process dumped him back into the here and now has left him clearly scrambled though his mind forces itself to begin trying to piece together the real world like a static filled radio or monitor attempting to slowly obtain its picture.

He's still abit out of it though and he stumbles forward through the wreckage caused by the previous crash, huge foot stepping forward onto the front of a swiftly abandoned car and flattening it under his weight as he staggers ahead only to suddenly slow and then indeed pause as Jennifer makes her presence known to him. He stares at her, unblinking for a moment before finally rumbling out, "Cyttorak..he.." There's a pause and he attempts to formulate, "..A war..I.. Summoned.." His mouth quirks in confusion as the memories are leaving him. Whoever ganked him didn't want it to stay with him long.

Then his eyes widen. The person before him is green. He's not fully parsing how unique this particular green vision is.

Suddenly, swiftly, his massive arm lunges forward, huge hand reaching to try and grasp for She-Hulk's arm in a sudden gesture of alarm.

Eddie Brock has posed:
<<Venom>> "Green lady!"

   <<Eddie>> "Behave yourself"

   <<Venom>> "GREEN LADY!"

   <<Eddie>> "Can anyone fill me in on what exactly is going on here?"

   <<Venom>> "GREEN LADY MAY I EAT RHE BIG ONE?"

   <<Eddie>> "oh my god"

Venom's chaotic mindset is on full display.    <<Eddie>> "I assume you're She-Hulk?" "We are Venom, And this big guy was smashing his way through queens. Beyond that we don't much know whats going on here"

Jennifer Walters has posed:
"Hey--!"

Anyone else would've lost an arm, here. As it is, Jen promptly buckles, trembling for a beat before steadying and forcing herself to stand upright.

"Looked-- to me-- like he was walking--"

Any attempt at a conversational tone is neatly undercut by the taut readiness that comes with being in the Avatar of Cyttorak's grasp, forced through clenched teeth in clipped, groaning snatches. And yet:

"Marko," Jennifer exhales, low and firm.

"Cain."

She doesn't fight back. She even shows him her other hand, fingers splayed and palm raised.

She even leans towards him, trembling faintly and swallowing hard while pain arcs down through her whole body.

"I'm not going to hurt you," she promises as their eyes grow ever closer. Unwilling to cede any ground in this quasi-nonviolent conflict, she holds fast for several seconds before sparing a glance for Venom, then the truck.

"Make sure the driver's okay."

A beat.

A nose wrinkle.

"... guys," she quietly adds.

Cain Marko has posed:
The truck driver is stunned, pinned, but again..alive. Most people have managed to clear the d area as well though the sound of sirens reverberates in the distance now.

Something breaks within the mind of Juggernaut. His expression was growing more and more dire. A building curl of his lips that was headed towards a dangerous snarl. A flexing of his body that was beginning to trigger building earthquakes. Eyes burning and bleeding red energy from within as his rage continued to boil up and up and up like the pressure building before a volcano erupts and theeeeeen..

He blinks, snapping to the here and now for a moment of clarity following the road paved by the sound of his spoken name. "Wha.. What's happening?"

And he releases her. His hand draws back and he takes a step backwards before putting a hand to his head, his supernatural stamina and all to human sense of self and stubbornness beginning to finally reassert itself after the disorientation of being shunted through realities by unforgiving forces.

His backwards movements sends him into a stumble into a seated position as his rear impacts the top of an abandoned car and flattens it under him. Then, he finally grumbles out a weary quip: "You definitely aint the Hulk.."

Eddie Brock has posed:
Venom forms Claws in their hands and then rips open the truck. "We have you mr delivery man." They say in a strange, Heroic? tone of voice as they reach in to try to pry the driver out of his predicament. With the strengh enough to mimic the Jaws of life the driver is soon plucked out of the truck.

   <<Venom>> "Doesn't look like I'm going to get to eat anyone. And the Green Lady ignored us"

   <<Eddie>> "Oh well thats too bad I guess we should go"

   <<Venom>> "Noooo what a waste!"

"Do you need us for anything?" Venom asks.

Jennifer Walters has posed:
"Just Hulk enough to knock you on your ass," Jen quips back with a small, cautious smile and rippling arms folding across her chest.

From there, she gives it a few seconds more, just-- to be sure-- that he isn't going to erupt in another bout of Crimson Madness, before stepping forward and crouching to offer him a hand up. "Apparently, you were... walking?"

She looks towards Venom for confirmation, since she only knows what she saw in high-speed, bird's eye snatches.

"In the middle of the street," she continues, "without looking both ways. Which is fine for YOU, but the cars, and the unbelievably soft people inside of them...? Not so much. That--"

Beat.

"-- those... guys," she gestures towards the bonded pair, "the, uh, Venomses-- I guess they were already on the scene? To catch a truck that slammed into you. So."

"I mean," she exhales, refolding her arms and canting her head curiously.

"Really, you tell me: what happened, Cain?"

Cain Marko has posed:
The Juggernaut simply stares at She Hulk, looking her over for a few long seconds before wobbling back and forth to attempt to regain his balance. He accepts her hand and is pulled up while rumbling slowly, tone still mildly confused, "Walkin'? No...wait..how'd I -get- here? Where.. someone said Queens."

More settles into his mind as he looks around, finding more to focus on then simply She Hulk alone, though certainly that's quite abit to take in. Let alone Venom.

Venom.. Yes. Now it's beginning to return to him more readily. Faster.

"I was...at home. I heard something calling me.. I got suited up and then.. Then I got ganked! Someone summoned me with magic! Into the crimson cosmos, using spells that called upon Cyttorak but..I don't remember what I was doing or why and then.. I musta got turned loose afterwards.."

He stands again, wobbling but growing stronger by the second, his body straightening up again and then tensing as he brings his colossal arms up and clenches his fists infront of him. Biceps that gives more of the impression of a fifty ton boulder then a bicep, swells in size as flexes and stretches his arms out and then chest with audible creaking motion that culminates with him lifting one arm up to pointing at Venom. His sneer returning in full form now "..Next thing I know..-you- were grabbing me with your..your -stuff-!"

Eddie Brock has posed:
"You were causing trouble!" Venom shouts back. "Breaking everything and smashing stuff. We were trying to stop you!"

   <<Venom>> "And Eat you!"

   <<Eddie>> "Don't listen to him."

Venom stands ready to fight the giant if need be.

Jennifer Walters has posed:
"Well--"

Jen does a doubletake towards Venom, squinting and bemused. Shifting to stand firmly between them, she places her hand back on Juggernaut's chest; her other palm's held out in Venom's direction, communicating her intention to keep the two separate.

"He's stopped now," she points out, looking Venomwards. "And it... sounds like he was kinda the victim here--"

A quick, confirming glance up at Juggernaut.

"-- and the driver's... fine? So. Unless you want me to find you guys a nice, barren desert somewhere to figure this out in, I think it can be done, right?"

Cain Marko has posed:
Juggernaut is a master at finding reasons to be mad and even better at being mad for no other reason then wanting to be mad... A fist clenches, knuckles cracking like swamp trees splintering in a fire as he eyes Venom despite Jennifer's intervention. But then..

"She's right.." This more to himself, begrudgingly mind you, but nevertheless admitted. "..I got bigger fish to fry then this.. like figuring out who summoned me and then had me dumped back here.."

At the end of the day, the trick and route to victory was to de escalate the situation and lacking a true target for his ire, the patented Juggernaut Rampage loses its appeal and necessity. And then there's the fact that he's not -quite- as unstoppable as he would like to be right now. Those sirens are getting closer and undoubtly one team or another has been called now with his sighting now being so confirmed. That lack of a helmet, skullcap and certain members of the supers sphere knowing just what to do with that when that opportunity presents itself means that he needs to reconsider his next moves.

"Let's call it a day then eh, since I get to be the victim I'll just let bygones be bygones and get the hell gone..." He gives Jennifer a cheeky grin at that and then Venom a final junkyard dog of a snarl and then turns and starts stumbling towards an alleyway wide enough to accommodate his vast bulk.

"Man...I'd forgotten how it feels to have a hangover..."

Eddie Brock has posed:
"We are willing to leave. We saved the delivery guy. We protected. Our job is done." Venom says as he turns to climb up a building and jump away.

   <<Venom>> "I demand Brains or chocolate!"

   <<Eddie>> "fFine We'll get you some chocolate"

   <<Venom>> "YEEEEESSS"

Jennifer Walters has posed:
Venom gets a salute for his -- their -- service, solemn and resolute.

It lasts all the way until Jen has watched the symbiote climb, jump, and swing away, after which she exhales slowly and shifts towards massaging her forehead.

"What the fuck," she mutters to herself, turning her attention back to Cain. Louder:

"I'm gonna bill you for this mediation, Cain!" she calls after the retreating Juggernaut. "I promise I'll be fair: all you've gotta do is get me drunk enough to think that this was all really funny, next time we see each other."

Cain Marko has posed:
At the alleyway entrance, Juggernaut leans a hand up to steady himself. He starts to move forward but pauses as he hears Jennifer hollar at him. There's a blink of surprise before he turns slowly and looks back at her and then simply gives her another sharkish grin and a two fingered wave his forhead back to her.

"Heh!"

And then he turns and actually starts into an earth pounding jog that carries him further into the alleyway as he tries to make his way to somewhere where even he can discretely discard his armor and disappear into the city depths.